Part 3 (1/2)
”'A rich, with flour, 517.
”'Christmas, 517.
”'Cold brandy sauce for, 241.'
”We shouldn't care about that, so it's no use looking.
”'Good without eggs, 518.
”'Plain, 518.'
”We don't want _that_ anyhow. 'Christmas, 517'--that's the one.”
It took her a long time to find the page. Oswald got a shovel of coals and made up the fire. It blazed up like the devouring elephant the _Daily Telegraph_ always calls it. Then Dora read--
”'Christmas plum-pudding. Time six hours.'”
”To eat it in?” said H.O.
”No, silly! to make it.”
”Forge ahead, Dora,” d.i.c.ky replied.
Dora went on--
”'2072. One pound and a half of raisins; half a pound of currants; three quarters of a pound of breadcrumbs; half a pound of flour; three-quarters of a pound of beef suet; nine eggs; one wine gla.s.sful of brandy; half a pound of citron and orange peel; half a nutmeg; and a little ground ginger.' I wonder _how_ little ground ginger.”
”A teacupful would be enough, I think,” Alice said; ”we must not be extravagant.”
”We haven't got anything yet to be extravagant _with_,” said Oswald, who had toothache that day. ”What would you do with the things if you'd got them?”
”You'd 'chop the suet as fine as possible'--I wonder how fine that is?”
replied Dora and the book together--”'and mix it with the breadcrumbs and flour; add the currants washed and dried.'”
”Not starched, then,” said Alice.
”'The citron and orange peel cut into thin slices'--I wonder what they call thin? Matilda's thin bread-and-b.u.t.ter is quite different from what I mean by it--'and the raisins stoned and divided.' How many heaps would you divide them into?”
”Seven, I suppose,” said Alice; ”one for each person and one for the pot--I mean pudding.”
”'Mix it all well together with the grated nutmeg and ginger. Then stir in nine eggs well beaten, and the brandy'--we'll leave that out, I think--'and again mix it thoroughly together that every ingredient may be moistened; put it into a b.u.t.tered mould, tie over tightly, and boil for six hours. Serve it ornamented with holly and brandy poured over it.'”
”I should think holly and brandy poured over it would be simply beastly,” said d.i.c.ky.
”I expect the book knows. I daresay holly and water would do as well though. 'This pudding may be made a month before'--it's no use reading about that though, because we've only got four days to Christmas.”
”It's no use reading about any of it,” said Oswald, with thoughtful repeatedness, ”because we haven't got the things, and we haven't got the coin to get them.”
”We might get the tin somehow,” said d.i.c.ky.
”There must be lots of kind people who would subscribe to a Christmas pudding for poor children who hadn't any,” Noel said.