Part 26 (1/2)
”Roast beef, and custard pudding, with two or three kinds of vegetables.
Can we do all that?”
”Yes, indeed. I'll make the pudding right away, and have it baked before the meat goes in. I can cook as many vegetables as you please, and soup too.”
So the order was given and all went well, if one might judge by the sounds of merriment in the kitchen. Patty made her best gingerbread, and cooked some apples with sugar and spice for tea, and at the stroke of two had a nice dinner smoking on the table, to the great contentment of the hungry boys, who did eat like hunters, and advised mamma to send old Nancy away and keep Patty for cook; which complimentary but rash proposal pleased their cousin very much.
”Now this is useful cookery, and well done, though it looks so simple.
Any girl can learn how and be independent of servants, if need be. Drop your cla.s.s, Edith, and take a few lessons of Patty. That would suit me better than French affairs, that are neither economical nor wholesome.”
”I will, mamma, for I'm tired of creaming b.u.t.ter, larding things, and beating eggs. These dishes are not so elegant, but we must have them; so I may as well learn, if Pat will teach me.”
”With pleasure, all I know. Mother thinks it a very important part of a girl's education; for if you can't keep servants you can do your own work well, and if you are rich you are not so dependent as an ignorant lady is. All kinds of useful sewing and housework come first with us, and the accomplishments afterward, as time and money allow.”
”That sort of thing turns out the kind of girl I like, and so does every sensible fellow. Good luck to you, cousin, and my best thanks for a capital dinner and a wise little lecture for dessert.”
Rex made his best bow as he left the table, and Patty colored high with pleasure at the praise of the tall collegian.
Out of this, and the talk the ladies had afterward, grew the lunch which Edith proposed, and to the preparation of which went much thought and care; for the girls meant to have many samples of country fare, so that various tastes might be pleased. The plan gradually grew as they worked, and a little surprise was added, which was a great success.
When Sat.u.r.day came the younger boys were all packed off for a holiday in the country, that the coast might be clear.
”No hiding under sofas in my house, no meddling with my dinner, if you please, gentlemen,” said Edith, as she saw the small brothers safely off, and fell to work with Patty and the maid to arrange the dining-room to suit the feast about to be spread there.
As antique furniture is the fas.h.i.+on now-a-days, it was easy to collect all the old tables, chairs, china, and ornaments in the house, and make a pleasant place of the sunny room where a tall clock always stood; and damask hangings a century old added much to the effect. A ma.s.sive mahogany table was set forth with ancient silver, gla.s.s, china, and all sorts of queer old salt-cellars, pepper-pots, pickle-dishes, knives, and spoons. High-backed chairs stood round it, and the guests were received by a very pretty old lady in plum-colored satin, with a muslin pelerine, and a large lace cap most becoming to the rosy face it surrounded. A fat watch ticked in the wide belt, mitts covered the plump hands, and a reticule hung at the side. Madam's daughter, in a very short-waisted pink silk gown, muslin ap.r.o.n, and frill, was even prettier than her mother, for her dark, curly hair hung on her shoulders, and a little cap was stuck on the top, with long pink streamers. Her mitts went to the elbow, and a pink sash was tied in a large bow behind. Black satin shoes covered her feet, and a necklace of gold beads was round her throat.
Great was the pleasure this little surprise gave the girls, and gay was the chatter that went on as they were welcomed by the hostesses, who constantly forgot their parts. Madam frisked now and then, and ”Pretty Peggy” was so anxious about dinner that she was not as devoted to her company as a well-bred young lady should be. But no one minded, and when the bell rang, all gathered about the table eager to see what the feast was to be.
”Ladies, we have endeavored to give you a taste of some of the good old dishes rather out of fas.h.i.+on now,” said Madam, standing at her place, with a napkin pinned over the purple dress, and a twinkle in the blue eyes under the wide cap-frills. ”We thought it would be well to introduce some of them to the cla.s.s and to our family cooks, who either scorn the plain dishes, or don't know how to cook them _well_. There is a variety, and we hope all will find something to enjoy. Peggy, uncover, and let us begin.”
At first the girls looked a little disappointed, for the dishes were not very new to them; but when they tasted a real ”boiled dinner,” and found how good it was; also baked beans, neither hard, greasy, nor burnt; beefsteak, tender, juicy, and well flavored; potatoes, mealy in spite of the season; Indian pudding, made as few modern cooks know how to do it; brown bread, with home-made b.u.t.ter; and pumpkin-pie that cut like wedges of vegetable gold,--they changed their minds, and began to eat with appet.i.tes that would have destroyed their reputations as delicate young ladies, if they had been seen. Tea in egg-sh.e.l.l cups, election-cake and cream-cheese with fruit ended the dinner; and as they sat admiring the tiny old spoons, the crisp cake, and the little cheeses like snow-b.a.l.l.s, Edith said, in reply to various compliments paid her:--
”Let us give honor where honor is due. Patty suggested this, and did most of the cooking; so thank her, and borrow her receipt-book. It's very funny, ever so old, copied and tried by her grandmother, and full of directions for making quant.i.ties of nice things, from pie like this to a safe, sure wash for the complexion. May-dew, rose-leaves, and lavender,--doesn't that sound lovely?”
”Let me copy it,” cried several girls afflicted with freckles, or sallow with too much coffee and confectionery.
”Yes, indeed. But I was going to say, as we have no prize to-day, we have prepared a little souvenir of our old-fas.h.i.+oned dinner for each of you. Bring them, daughter; I hope the ladies will pardon the homeliness of the offering, and make use of the hint that accompanies each.”
As Edith spoke, with a comical mingling of the merry girl and the stately old lady she was trying to personate, Patty brought from the side-board, where it had stood covered up, a silver salver on which lay five dainty little loaves of bread; on the top of each appeared a receipt for making the same, nicely written on colored cards, and held in place by a silver scarf-pin.
”How cunning!” ”What lovely pins!” ”I'll take the hint and learn to make good bread at once.” ”It smells as sweet as a nut, and isn't hard or heavy a bit.” ”Such a pretty idea, and so clever of you to carry it out so well.”
These remarks went on as the little loaves went round, each girl finding her pin well suited to her pet fancy or foible; for all were different, and all very pretty, whether the design was a palette, a skate, a pen, a racquet, a fan, a feather, a bar of music, or a daisy.
Seeing that her dinner was a success in spite of its homeliness, Edith added the last surprise, which had also been one to Patty and herself when it arrived, just in time to be carried out. She forgot to be Madam now, and said with a face full of mingled merriment and satisfaction, as she pushed her cap askew and pulled off her mitts:
”Girls, the best joke of all is, that Rex and Alf sent the pins, and made Phil bring them with a most humble apology for their impertinence last week. A meeker boy I never saw, and for that we may thank Floy; but I think the dinner Pat and I got the other day won Rex's heart, so that he made Alf eat humble pie in this agreeable manner. We won't say anything about it, but all wear our pins and show the boys that we can forgive and forget as ”sweet girls” should, though we do cook and have ideas of our own beyond looking pretty and minding our older brothers.”
”We will!” cried the chorus with one voice, and Florence added:--