The fun of cooking

'*I Ve been looking over the boxes of Christmas candy, and I find we have lots of candied cherries. And, Norah, you had some of the citron left from the plum-pudding, had n't you? Norah said she had a large piece put away. **Well, then, suppose we cut the citron into thin slices, and cut those up into little bits of green leaves, and cut some of the cherries into tiny bits to look like berries ; then we will ice the little cakes and around each one, right on top, we will make a green holly wreath with holly berries in it. Won't those be pretty!" "Oh, Mother, let me, let me!" Brownie begged. "Very well, you make the leaves and berries while Mildred ices the cakes," said Mother Blair. So while Mildred mixed the icing. Brownie took some small scissors and cut up the citron and the cherries. At first her scissors bothered her by getting sticky, but Norah showed her how to dip them in water often and wipe them dry, and after she tried that way, she had no trouble. Mildred's rule for icing was this : ICING The white of one egg. 1 teaspoonfull of cold water. 1 cup of powdered sugar. % teaspoonful of flavoring. Put the white of the egg in a bowl, add the water, and beat till light; stir in the sifted sugar and the flavoring, and spread on the cakes while they are still a little warm ; smooth over with the blade of a knife. After the cakes were iced, the leaves were laid in a wreath around the edges, with the tiny red berries among them ; and they were the prettiest things for Christmas anybody ever saw. When, at last, they were put away, Norah told them she had some bits of pie-crust left over from her mince-pies that they could have, if they wanted it. Brownie dashed into the hall, shouting, ** Mother, Mother I What can we make with piecrust? Norah says we can have some. * ' "Tartlets," called Mother Blair from upstairs. And when Brownie ran up for it she gave her this receipt : TARTLETS Flour the pastry board ; roll out some piecrust very thin, and press it into little scalloped tins; prick holes in the THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS 21 bottom to let the air in. Cut oft the edges smoothly, and bake till light brown. Just before you need them fill the shells with jelly. The very moment when the tarts disappeared in the pantry, Jack came up with his pans of pop-corn. "Real cooking is just for girls," he said, with his mouth full of a stolen macaroon. "It's all right for boys to make pop-corn balls, though. Only how do you do it?" His mother told him to wash his hands well, and then gave him this rule: POP-CORN BALLS 1 cnp of molasses. % cup of sugar. 2 teaspoonfuls of vinegar. % teaspoonful of soda. 2 teaspoonfuls of butter. Boil fifteen minutes, stirring all the time. Pour a little over a pan of com, and take up in your hands all that sticks together, and roll it into a ball. Keep the candy hot on the back of the stove, and pour on more till it is all done. This made a great dishful of lovely balls, and they set them away in a cold place; and then Norah told them they must run out of the kitchen, because she wanted to get luncheon ready. After lunch. Jack had to go and shovel out paths again, because those he had made had all disappeared. Mildred and Brownie dressed a tiny doll for a cousin they were afraid might not have quite as many as she would want, and when that was done, they said they wanted to cook some more. Their mother told them she had one very, very nice receipt meant especially for holidays, which, strangely enough, had Brownie's name. *' Because you are so very, very nice yourself,'' she said with a hug, ** perhaps you can make these all by yourself, too. ' ' BROWNIES 3 squares of chocolate. 2 eggs, beaten together. % cup of flour. 2 cups of sugar. % cup of butter. 1 cup of chopped English walnuts.