Six little cooks

One quart flour, four eggs, one heaping tablespoonful of butter and one of lard, a teaspoon ful salt. Mix the shortening and salt through the flour with the hand ; beat the eggs light, and add to them three quarters of a pint of cold milk; work this into the flour; if not enough to make a stiff dough, add a little more milk; work it well with the hands for ten minutes, roll into cakes about half an inch thick of the size of a breakfast plate, and bake in a quick oven. At table these cakes must be broken, not cut " Here is something else that we must try some time or other. They are good for breakfast or tea." No. 187 — VIRGINIA WAFERS. One pound flour, two tablespoonfuls butter, half a teaspoonful salt. Mix with sweet milk to a stiff dough, working thoroughly. Roll out very thin, cut into round cakes and roll these out again as thin as you can handle them. Dredge a little flour over a baking pan and lay them carefully in. Bake in a very quick oven. When first made they should be as thin as paper. They swell a little in baking. " Is there anything we ought to get ready to-night, Aunt Jane? " asked Grace. " Nothing that is really necessary," replied her aunt, "but we may do something to shorten the work a little to-morrow. Amy, you may cut up the potatoes and parsley, Mabel may measure out the herbs for the omelette and chop the ham very fine, and Grace may cut up the mutton. Don't put in any fat, Gracie, or at least very little. A strong taste of it is sure to make the dish disagreeable." As there was somewhat more to do on this occasion than on the previous one when they had prepared breakfast, the young cooks condescended to allow Khoda to make the coffee. "We have graduated on that," they remarked, " As we've shown once that we are able to do it perfectly, we'd rather give our time to new things." Amy mixed up the belvidere cakes, which required the longest cooking of any of the dishes, while Grace collected the materials for the dish of mutton, and stirred up the rice muffins. Mabel gave her whole mind to the potatoes, and Amy, after her cakes had gone into the oven, prepared and cooked the omelette. " The griddle must have the whole front of the stove, and both muffins and omelette must be cooked the very last thing ; the others can be kept hot. If I had thought of that I should have advised a baked omelette, but it's too late now. Well, Amy, we'll give you the hottest place we can at the back of the stove, and remember next time." But after all, the back place didn't turn out to be hot enough, so after a part of the muffins were baked, the griddle was set back and the omelette took its place where the fire was best. Then the rest of the muffins were left for Rhoda to bake and send in hot, and the cooks exchanged the kitchen for the breakfast table. " This mutton-stew rather beats Rhoda," observed Mr. Vernon as he took his second helping, " though I've nothing to say against Rhoda, in a general way. And I don't believe there's any cook out of France can get up a better dish of potatoes than that; eh, Mabel? I always said my daughters should each have a profession, and I don't know but that we shall have to make cooks of them."