The Fun of Cooking Part 4

Use bread that is at least a day old. Spread the b.u.t.ter smoothly on the loaf; if it is too cold to spread well, warm it a little; slice thin, with a sharp knife; spread one slice with the filling, lay on another, press together, and trim off the heavy part of the crust; cut in two pieces, or, if the slices are very large, in three. Put two or three sandwiches of the same kind together, and wrap in paraffin paper.

MEAT SANDWICHES

Take any cold meat, cut off the gristle and fat, and put it through the meat chopper. Add a pinch of salt, a pinch of dry mustard, a shake of pepper, and, last, a teaspoonful of melted b.u.t.ter; press into a cup, and put away to grow firm.

"Now you see the nice thing about this rule is, that any sort of cold meat will do to use, and if you have bits of two or more kinds, you can use them together. There are those beefsteak ends; all you have to do is to follow your rule, and they will make as good sandwiches as anything else."

"But, Mother, if you had nice roast-beef slices, you would not chop those up, would you?"

"No, indeed! I would make sandwiches of plain bread and b.u.t.ter and put the slices of meat in by themselves. But chopped meat makes better sandwiches than slices of meat between bread."

"But what do you make sandwiches out of if you don't use meat? I think plain bread and b.u.t.ter is horrid for lunches."

"Oh, there are plenty of other things to use; see, here are your next rules:"

EGG SANDWICHES

1 hard-boiled egg, chopped fine.

1 teaspoonful of oil.

3 drops of vinegar.

1 pinch of salt.

1 shake of pepper.

Mix well and spread on b.u.t.tered bread.

"And then sometimes you can have:"

CHEESE SANDWICHES

Spread thin b.u.t.tered brown bread with cream cheese; sprinkle with a very little salt and pepper. Sometimes add chopped nuts for a change.

"Or, here are these:"

LETTUCE SANDWICHES

Spread some very thin white bread; lay on a leaf of lettuce; sprinkle with a very little oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, as in the egg sandwiches.

SARDINE SANDWICHES

Drain off all the oil from a little tin of sardines; skin each fish, take out the bones, and mash smoothly, adding a teaspoonful of lemon juice; spread on white b.u.t.tered bread.

"And then, when you have no cake or cookies for lunch, you can have two or three sandwiches with meat and two more like these:"

SWEET SANDWICHES

Spread b.u.t.tered bread with a very little jam or jelly; or with chopped dates or figs; or with sc.r.a.ped maple sugar; or with chopped raisins and nuts; or with a thick layer of brown sugar.

"Those are just as good as cake, and better, I think," said Mother Blair, as Mildred finished copying them all down. "And now, what comes next in a lunch, after sandwiches?"

"Cake," said Mildred, promptly.

"Yes, sometimes, but not always. What else can you think of that would be nice?"

Mildred said she thought gingerbread might be good, or perhaps doughnuts; but she could not think of anything else.

"Oh, I can think of ever so many things," said her mother. "But we will put down the gingerbread first; and, by the way, what do you think Betty calls it? This:"

"PERFECTLY LOVELY" GINGERBREAD

1 cup of mola.s.ses.

1 cup of shortening (b.u.t.ter and lard mixed).

3 cups of flour.

1 teaspoonful each of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and soda.

1 cup of sugar.

2 eggs.

1 cup of milk.

Cream the b.u.t.ter and sugar, add the eggs, well beaten without separating, then the mola.s.ses mixed with the spices and soda, then the flour, then the milk. Stir and beat well. Put in a shallow tin and bake slowly.

"Things don't sound as good as they taste, do they?" said Mildred, as she read the receipt over. "I just love gingerbread, but b.u.t.ter and lard and soda don't sound appetizing."

"Well, then, try this," laughed Mother Blair; "every bit of this sounds good:"

PEANUT WAFERS

1 cup of sugar.

1/2 cup of milk.

1/2 teaspoonful of soda.

1/2 cup of b.u.t.ter.

2 cups of flour.

1 cup of chopped peanuts.

Cream the b.u.t.ter and sugar; put the soda in the milk, stir thoroughly, and put in next; then the flour. Beat well. Grease a shallow pan and spread the mixture evenly over the bottom, and scatter the nuts on top. Bake till light brown, and cut in squares while warm.

"Oh, those _do_ sound good!" Mildred exclaimed, as she wrote the last words down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Brownie and Mildred Making "Chocolate Crackers"]

"What sounds good?" asked Miss Betty's voice, as her pretty head popped in the door. So they told her all about the luncheons, and she said she knew some good things, too, and the first one was:

CHOCOLATE CRACKERS

2 squares of chocolate.

1 teaspoonful of sugar.

b.u.t.ter, the size of the tip of your thumb.

3 drops of vanilla.

Cut the chocolate up into bits and put it in a saucer over the tea-kettle; when it melts, add the sugar and b.u.t.ter and vanilla; stir, and drop in some small crackers, only one at a time, and lay them on a greased paper to dry.