" There!" said Aunt Jane, when the last one had been written down, " I think I have given you occupation for along time — that is, if you make up all these good things. Which do you mean to begin on? ' 44 Oh, please let us make ginger-snaps and some one other kind, and we'll all help each other. Tell us some kind of nice cookies." " You might better take something that is not to be rolled out, as there is but one rolling-board and pin. Suppose you try Tudor cake? The materials are not ex- pensive, and if you spoil them there will not be much lost." " Now, Aunt Jane, that's too bad! "We're not going to spoil anything! Just examine us and see if we don't know how to put cake together I * " Well, take that recipe, and tell me how you would go to work." " First, we'll rub the butter to a cream, then stir in the sugar, then the yolks of eggs ; (while one has been mixing AUNT JANE'S COOKING GLASS. 59 it, the others have been beating the eggs, you know, — ) then the milk and part of the flour; then — " "No," said her aunt; "you've left out something." "Oh, yes; first you measure the cream tartar and sift it with the flour; then you put the whites of the eggs, then the soda, carefully dissolved in warm water, and poured off without the dregs; then the rest of the flour, and then you bake it." " Very well indeed, and you musn't forget to line your cake-pan with buttered paper if you want the cake very delicate, though it is not absolutely necessary. And you must always warm the pan or cake-tins first. Now tell me how you'll set about the ginger-snaps." " Oh, that's easy. Let me see — no eggs; I'll take lard, because that's easiest; set it near the fire to soften, stir in the sugar, and then the molasses and ginger; dissolve the soda in warm water and put it into the sour milk, and stir them in; and then just keep stirring in flour✪ Ginger-Snaps until you think you can roll it out." " When it gets too hard to stir with the spoon, you may mix it with your hand," said Aunt Jane. " But don't get in too much flour; it wants to have just as little as possible; and don't forget to flour the pie-board." 60 SIX LITTLE COOKS. " Why do yon say < softened' butter, Mamma, in some of these receipts?" asked Amy. " Because you never really melt butter for cake, even quite common cake; that is, you don't let it turn to oil. The nicest way is to set the cup or bowl with it in, into a pan of boiling water, and then it softens enough to have the sugar stirred into it, which is the main thing. For the more delicate kinds of cake, butter must be rubbed to a cream, either with a wooden spoon or with the hand." " It seems to me nearly every thing has the juice and rind of a lemon in it," said Mabel. " Fresh lemons are a great addition to cake," said Aunt Jane, " but you musn't make the mistake of flavoring every thing alike. There are some houses where all their cakes and custards and puddings taste alike, though they have a variety of recipes, because they make every thing with lemon, or nutmeg, or cinnamon, or whatever their taste may incline them to. For instance, I would never put lemon into any two things to be eaten at the same meal. You can have vanilla, or bitter almond, or rose water, or, what is often best, no flavoring at all."

AI-modernized reading of the original text

" There!" said Aunt Jane, when the last one had been written down, " I think I have given you occupation for along time — that is, if you make up all these good things. Which do you mean to begin on? ' 44 Oh, please let us make ginger-snaps and some one other kind, and we'll all help each other. Tell us some kind of nice cookies." " You might better take something that is not to be rolled out, as there is but one rolling-board and pin. Suppose you try Tudor cake? The materials are not expensive, and if you spoil them there will not be much lost." " Now, Aunt Jane, that's too bad! "We're not going to spoil anything! Just examine us and see if we don't know how to put cake together I * "Well, take that recipe, and tell me how you would go to work." "First, we'll rub the butter to a cream, then stir in the sugar, then the yolks of eggs; (while one has been mixing it, the others have been beating the eggs, you know, — ) then the milk and part of the flour; then — " "No," said her aunt; "you've left out something."Oh, yes; first you measure the cream tartar and sift it with the flour; then you put the whites of the eggs, then the soda, carefully dissolved in warm water, and poured off without the dregs; then the rest of the flour, and then you bake it."" "Very well indeed, and you musn't forget to line your cake-pan with buttered paper if you want the cake very delicate, though it is not absolutely necessary. And you must always warm the pan or cake-tins first. Now tell me how you'll set about the ginger-snaps." "Oh, that's easy. Let me see — no eggs; I'll take lard, because that's easiest; set it near the fire to soften, stir in the sugar, and then the molasses and ginger; dissolve the soda in warm water and put it into the sour milk, and stir them in; and then just keep stirring in flour until you think you can roll it out." "When it gets too hard to stir with the spoon, you may mix it with your hand," said Aunt Jane. "But don't get in too much flour; it wants to have just as little as possible; and don't forget to flour the pie-board." "Why do you say 'softened' butter, Mamma, in some of these receipts?" asked Amy. "Because you never really melt butter for cake, even quite common cake; that is, you don't let it turn to oil. The nicest way is to set the cup or bowl with it in, into a pan of boiling water, and then it softens enough to have the sugar stirred into it, which is the main thing. For the more delicate kinds of cake, butter must be rubbed to a cream, either with a wooden spoon or with the hand." " It seems to me nearly every thing has the juice and rind of a lemon in it," said Mabel. " Fresh lemons are a great addition to cake," said Aunt Jane, " but you musn't make the mistake of flavoring every thing alike. There are some houses where all their cakes and custards and puddings taste alike, though they have a variety of recipes, because they make every thing with lemon, or nutmeg, or cinnamon, or whatever their taste may incline them to. For instance, I would never put lemon into any two things to be eaten at the same meal. You can have vanilla, or bitter almond, or rose water, or, what is often best, no flavoring at all."

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Six little cooks