"What next, Aunty?" " That will be enough for to-day. We will try all those, and if they do well you shall have some more next time. Now let us go down to the kitchen." Khoda, the black cook, looked with some suspicion on the small army invading her precincts, but she knew by experience that the children were well-behaved and re- spectful, never giving unnecessary trouble or returning saucy answers if checked ; so she made up her mind to bear the infliction with a good grace. " You shall make the cake, Grace, and Amy the cus- tard," said Aunt Jane. " Mabel may help you with these, now, and she and I will come again, just before tea, and attend to the popovers. Now begin by collecting what is named in your recipes." Every thing was soon neatly arranged on the large kitchen table, and Aunt Jane began her instructions. She told the girls to break the eggs with yolks and whites separate for the cake, together for the custard, and showed them how to do it neatly without mingling the two. AUNT JANE'S COOKING GLASS. 11 Those for the cake were to be beaten first, so as to use the same dishes for both, and not soil a second set. Each egg was to be broken by itself into a cup first, before going to join its companions in the dish, as a single one carelessly thrown in when not perfectly fresh, might spoil the entire mixture. This is a rule it is never safe for the most skill- ful cook to neglect. " But what shall we do with the two extra whites that are left from the custard, Aunty? " asked Mabel. " Rhoda will save them to clear the coffee with," re- plied Mrs. King. " But if there were more we could easily use them in our cooking, for many nice things are made with the whites alone," When the eggs were beaten, one part to a yellow cream and the other to a stiff white froth, the sugar and butter were rubbed together, little by little, with a strong spoon. Then the yolk of egg was added and stirred until the whole was perfectly smooth. The cream tartar was thrown into the flour, ready to be passed through the sieve, and then Aunt Jane told Grace to take a quarter cup of warm water (not boiling) to dissolve her soda in. " Some people throw the soda directly into the sour milk," said she, " but it is a poor way, and accounts for 12 SIX LITTLE OOOK8. the unpleasant little lumps of alkali we sometimes find in cake and biscuit. Mabel, while Grade is putting her cake together, you may butter and warm the cake-tins, otherwise she would have to wait and do that first, for the cake musn't stand a minute longer than is necessary after the soda is once in." Then the whites of eggs were stirred in, all but the liquid remainder which had settled, and which was well beaten before being added, and the water containing the soda was carefully poured off into the sour milk, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the cup. The milk bubbled and foamed, as much as to protest against such doings, and would soon have overrun its bounds altogether, but that just at the critical moment it was tumbled into the rest of the mixture, a beautiful cataract of white foam. "It's for your own good, you know," said Grace, ad- dressing it. u It's to make you sweet."

AI-modernized reading of the original text

"What next, Aunty?" " That will be enough for to-day. We will try all those, and if they do well you shall have some more next time. Now let us go down to the kitchen." Rhoda, the black cook, looked with some suspicion on the small army invading her precincts, but she knew by experience that the children were well-behaved and respectful, never giving unnecessary trouble or returning saucy answers if checked ; so she made up her mind to bear the infliction with a good grace. " You shall make the cake, Grace, and Amy the custard," said Aunt Jane. " Mabel may help you with these, now, and she and I will come again, just before tea, and attend to the popovers. Now begin by collecting what is named in your recipes." Every thing was soon neatly arranged on the large kitchen table, and Aunt Jane began her instructions. She told the girls to break the eggs with yolks and whites separate for the cake, together for the custard, and showed them how to do it neatly without mingling the two. Those for the cake were to be beaten first, so as to use the same dishes for both, and not soil a second set. Each egg was to be broken by itself into a cup first, before going to join its companions in the dish, as a single one carelessly thrown in when not perfectly fresh, might spoil the entire mixture. This is a rule it is never safe for the most skillful cook to neglect. " But what shall we do with the two extra whites that are left from the custard, Aunty? " asked Mabel. " Rhoda will save them to clear the coffee with," replied Mrs. King. " But if there were more we could easily use them in our cooking, for many nice things are made with the whites alone," When the eggs were beaten, one part to a yellow cream and the other to a stiff white froth, the sugar and butter were rubbed together, little by little, with a strong spoon. Then the yolk of egg was added and stirred until the whole was perfectly smooth. The cream tartar was thrown into the flour, ready to be passed through the sieve, and then Aunt Jane told Grace to take a quarter cup of warm water (not boiling) to dissolve her soda in. " Some people throw the soda directly into the sour milk," said she, " but it is a poor way, and accounts for the unpleasant little lumps of alkali we sometimes find in cake and biscuit. Mabel, while Grade is putting her cake together, you may butter and warm the cake-tins, otherwise she would have to wait and do that first, for the cake mustn't stand a minute longer than is necessary after the soda is once in." Then the whites of eggs were stirred in, all but the liquid remainder which had settled, and which was well beaten before being added, and the water containing the soda was carefully poured off into the sour milk, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the cup. The milk bubbled and foamed, as much as to protest against such doings, and would soon have overrun its bounds altogether, but that just at the critical moment it was tumbled into the rest of the mixture, a beautiful cataract of white foam. "It's for your own good, you know," said Grace, addressing it. u It's to make you sweet."

Six little cooks