Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

This is delicious without any sauce, but English people usually serve cream or soft custard with it. Currant tarts are made in the same manner. * Rhubarb Pie. Put into a chopping-bowl a cupful of sifted flour, a teaspoonful of sugar, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, and four table-spoonfuls of butter, and chop until the ingredients get well mixed ; then add a little more than one-eighth of a cupful of cold water, and continue the chopping until a smooth paste is formed. Put away in a cold place until needed later. Mix a cupful of sugar and a teaspoonful of flour, and afterward add a well-beaten egg and a heaping cupful of chopped rhubarb. Now take a part of the paste which was put away, and roll it rather thin. Use it for lining a deep pie-plate, and turn the rhubarb mixture into the plate. Roll the remainder of the paste thin, and cover the plate with it, pressing together the edges of the paste, — that is, of the covering and lining. Bake in a rather quick oven for forty minutes, reducing the heat after the first ten. How to Line Plates for Pies. These directions apply only to squash, pumpkin, and custard pies. Butter a deep pie-plate. Roll the pastry a little larger than the plate and about one-eighth of an inch thick. Cover the plate with this paste, being careful not to shut in air between the paste and the plate. It is a good plan to lift one side of the paste and lower it slowly, passing the left hand over it from the centre to the edge as it touches the plate. This will force out any air that may have lodged under the paste. Treat both sides in this manner. The paste should hang about half an inch over the edge of the plate. Roll it up until it rests on the edge of the plate, — the rolled part being underneath. There will then be a thick edge all round the plate. Pinch this with the thumb and forefinger until a thin scalloped wall is formed. It is always necessary to build a barrier like this, because plates are not made deep enough for squash, pumpkin, or custard pies. It is a singular fact that many housekeepers do not know the difference between a pumpkin and squash, and cook both in the same manner. The squash can be prepared in many ways ; the pumpkin is desirable only in pies. The squash can be boiled or steamed in half an hour ; the pumpkin must be cooked for six hours. * Squash Pie. The materials needed for two large pies are five cupfuls of stewed and strained squash, five cupfuls of milk, one table-spoonful of butter, one heaping cupful of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of salt, the grated rind of a lemon, a piece of stick cinnamon about five inches long, four eggs, and about one-third of a nutmeg, grated. Put the milk into the double-boiler with the stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces, and the lemon rind. Let it cook for half an hour. Add the butter, and then strain the liquor on the squash. Stir constantly while adding the milk. Now add the sugar, salt, and nutmeg, and set away to cool. Beat the eggs well, and add them to the squash mixture. Fill the plates, and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour. * Pumpkin Pie.