" Every thing must be cold for paste," said Aunt Jane, again, " so I have had both the lard and butter hardened on the ice, as you see. As we only want two kinds of crust to-day, Hose may make one and Edith the other. Grace can be general helper for the present; by-and-bye we shall find something for her to do." Each pastry-cook took her station at an end of the table, her materials being neatly ranged near her. A pitcher of ice- water stood between them. " The beginning is the same for both," said Aunt Jane. " Take the plate with the lard on in your left hand and cut off little bits of lard with a knife, throwing them into the flour as you go along. No matter if they are as small as peas. Now enough salt to make the lard as salt as butter; about half a teaspoonful, I think." " It seems to me there's salt in everything," remarked Grace. " Yery few things are made without it," answered her AUNT JANE'S COOKING GLASS. 79 aunt; "nothing, I believe, that contains flour. (Now, girls, stir that lard thoroughly through the flour with a large knife.) We don't put it into preserves or canned fruits, and there are a few things, like blanc-mange, where it is not needed ; but it must be added wherever there are eggs or flour, and is always present when any butter is used. Now, you pastry cooks, pour just enough water into the flour and lard to mix it into a loose paste that you can roll out with the rolling-pin. It must all be done with a knife, and as rapidly as possible. Never touch paste with your hands until you begin to roll it." While this direction was being carried out, Mrs. King gave the girls some of the various notions about making pie-crust. " Many people — indeed some of the very best cooks — think it quite as well to cut the butter as well as the lard, into the flour, and some people chop them in with a chopping-knife; but I like my old-fashioned way best. Now, Rose, as yours is the puff-paste, you may use the slab first and the others may look on. Sift a dust of flour over your marble pie-board." " Oughtn't some of the flour to have been kept out for that, Mrs. King?" asked Edith. 80 BIX LITTLE OOOK8. " No, that is not necessary when the paste is so rich. A few ounces more than the pound does it no harm, Now turn out the dough from the pan to the pie-board and make it into a compact pile in the middle, all with your knife. That is right; now flour the rolling-pin and roll it down to about half an inch of thickness." Kose did so. " I ought to have told you first to divide the butter into four equal parts ; that is, as nearly as you can make them so. Now cut the butter into just such little scraps as you did the lard, and spread them evenly over the surface." " How nice and fresh that butter looks," said Grace. " It does, indeed," replied Aunt Jane. " And that re- minds me of a queer surprise I had when I was in Eng- land. I had ordered bread and butter, with some other thingrs, for luncheon, and when the waiter asked me if I O / ' would have fresh butter, I said, ' Yes, of course!' taking fresh in an American sense, which means newly made, and, therefore, especially sweet. When they brought it to table I found that it was made without saltl" ""Wasn't it horrid, Aunt Jane?"

AI-modernized reading of the original text

" Every thing must be cold for paste," said Aunt Jane, again, " so I have had both the lard and butter hardened on the ice, as you see. As we only want two kinds of crust to-day, Hose may make one and Edith the other. Grace can be general helper for the present; by-and-bye we shall find something for her to do." Each pastry-cook took her station at an end of the table, her materials being neatly ranged near her. A pitcher of ice- water stood between them. " The beginning is the same for both," said Aunt Jane. " Take the plate with the lard on in your left hand and cut off little bits of lard with a knife, throwing them into the flour as you go along. No matter if they are as small as peas. Now enough salt to make the lard as salt as butter; about half a teaspoonful, I think." " It seems to me there's salt in everything," remarked Grace. " Yery few things are made without it," answered her aunt; "nothing, I believe, that contains flour. (Now, girls, stir that lard thoroughly through the flour with a large knife.) We don't put it into preserves or canned fruits, and there are a few things, like blanc-mange, where it is not needed ; but it must be added wherever there are eggs or flour, and is always present when any butter is used. Now, you pastry cooks, pour just enough water into the flour and lard to mix it into a loose paste that you can roll out with the rolling-pin. It must all be done with a knife, and as rapidly as possible. Never touch paste with your hands until you begin to roll it." While this direction was being carried out, Mrs. King gave the girls some of the various notions about making pie-crust. " Many people — indeed some of the very best cooks — think it quite as well to cut the butter as well as the lard, into the flour, and some people chop them in with a chopping-knife; but I like my old-fashioned way best. Now, Rose, as yours is the puff-paste, you may use the slab first and the others may look on. Sift a dust of flour over your marble pie-board." "Oughtn't some of the flour to have been kept out for that, Mrs. King?" asked Edith. " No, that is not necessary when the paste is so rich. A few ounces more than the pound does it no harm, Now turn out the dough from the pan to the pie-board and make it into a compact pile in the middle, all with your knife. That is right; now flour the rolling-pin and roll it down to about half an inch of thickness." Kose did so. " I ought to have told you first to divide the butter into four equal parts ; that is, as nearly as you can make them so. Now cut the butter into just such little scraps as you did the lard, and spread them evenly over the surface." " How nice and fresh that butter looks," said Grace. " It does, indeed," replied Aunt Jane. " And that reminds me of a queer surprise I had when I was in England. I had ordered bread and butter, with some other thingrs, for luncheon, and when the waiter asked me if I O / ' would have fresh butter, I said, ' Yes, of course!' taking fresh in an American sense, which means newly made, and, therefore, especially sweet. When they brought it to table I found that it was made without saltl" ""Wasn't it horrid, Aunt Jane?"

Six little cooks