490 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



labits* Department. 



From the German. 

 THE STOCKING KNITTER. 



She stood beside the -window, at her kniiting worked 



the maid; 

 It was homtly work— you'll laugh at all my fancies I'm 



afraid. 

 But when her work was ended, and she laid her knitting 



down. 

 With a thoughtful face she gazed upon the stocking 



ribberi and brown. 

 Thus she poniiertd— "If each loop of this my knitting 



was a thoutrht, 

 And each wor^t 'd-strand a fancy, what strange lessons 



would b>^ taught 

 For the future from my knitting ? as I con it o'er again. 

 For the secrets of the future from the tangles of the 



skein. 

 There are woven dreams in knitting, and there's many 



a girl will look. 

 To the clicki gof her needles, on her knitting as a book. 

 As they rattle on po gaily, I am bl'the anr) of good chefT, 

 And ilVion a loop h is fallen— and I wipe away a tear. 

 With thf snapping thread how often has my darling left 



in pain; 

 As I jo n the yarn, in fancy he has come to kiss again. 

 All the loops :iro chains of thought, s^me bright as sun- 



riee on the wave, 

 And while some brought halm to sorrow, some were, 



darksome as the grave. 

 All the strange tales of my childhood they came hack 



to me once more. 

 The old rhymes i.f gnome and fairy, and the spectre 



shapes of yore ; 

 With the knots that I unravelled all those fearsome 



nights were fled, 

 They were swept into oblivion at the smoothing of the 



threal. 

 And I *rlt my heart was breaking as my needle snapt in 



twain — 

 'Twas an omen for the future of disaster, doubt, and pain 

 And I heard again in fancy all the tender words and 



vows 

 That I hoard from gallant lovers with the rose-flush on 



my brows; 

 They were sweet words of devotion, and my heart was 



very proud. 

 And they came from out my knitting, where they slept 



as ill a shroud.'' 

 Ab the lithe, small hands were idle, so the maiden, to 



my mind. 

 Thought and spoke. In work most homely poet-fancies 



you will fiijd. 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY; 



OK, 



HOW TO IMAKE HOIVIE PLEASANT. 



BY ANNE G. HALB. 



[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 

 1866, by R. P. Eaton & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the 

 District Court for the District of Massachusetts.] 



CHAPTER XIV. CONTiNUZD. 

 FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION. 

 Rye drop cakes are an excellent and healthy 

 bread for breakfast. Here is a simple rule : Beat 

 three epg.s very light, add one quart of milk, a 

 large pinch of salt, stir in a bandfal of flour; tlien 

 rye till the mixture is stiff enough to hold up the 

 spoon ; pour it into a French roll pan, or into muffin 

 rings, and hake fifteen minutes. For muffins, take 

 one egg well beaten, a piece of butter an inch 

 square, one cup of milk, one tablespoonful of 



sugar, one teaspoonful of soda, and two of 

 cream of tartar; stir in flour till it is a stiff 

 batter; pour it into rings, — or into a flat psn 

 for a broad loaf, which when baked should be 

 cut into squares. A good rule for Indian or corn 

 bread is the following: three eggs well beaten, one 

 quart of sour milk, a piece of butter the size of an 

 egg, two tea spoonfuls of saleratus; mix them 

 well, then stir in three tablespoonfuls of flour and 

 Indian meal enough to make it a stiff batter. Bake 

 it in a flat pan half an hour. 



For buckwheats take a quart of warm water, one 

 quarter of a yeast cake, and a little salt. Stir in 

 buckwheat flour — making it a thin batter. Let it 

 set by the stove over night ; in the morning stir in 

 half a teaspoonful of soda or saleratus. Make 

 them of milk if you have it. Using a teaspoonful 

 of saleratus and the same of cream of tartar, the 

 yeast can be omitted, and the mixture fried im- 

 mediately. Consume as little fat as possible in 

 frying them. For this a swab, made of a bit of 

 clean white cloth tied to a clean meat peg, \vith 

 which the fat can be applied to the griddle, is very 

 convenient. Leave a gill of the batter ss yeast for 

 the next set of cakes. Nice griddle cakes may be 

 made in the same way of rye and Indian meal, or 

 of Indian and flour. 



While there is such a demand for cake and pas- 

 try there must be receipts for making them. I 

 have no space for these, but give general directions 

 and suggestions for the making and baking of pies 

 and cakes. When preparing for pastry allow a 

 heaping handful of flour for each pie that you in- 

 tend to make. Sift it, and set it in a cold place till 

 you wish to use it, sometime beforehand. Get 

 your plates buttered and the filling materials ready. 

 Then, to three handfuls of flour allow two heaping 

 tablespoonfuls of lard ; half of this may be of but- 

 ter, or of soft, new, beef fat which has been clarified 

 by boiling in water. Rub one-third of this short- 

 ening into the flour — together with salt — a small 

 pinch for each pie ; rub lightly — mix a very little 

 saleratus — a piece the size of a white bean is suffi- 

 cient for two pies — in cold water or milk, with 

 which wet the flour ; stir it up as quickly as you 

 can— just get it together so that you can roll it — 

 don't mould it ; take it on the moulding board with 

 a sprinkling of flour for both board and pin. Roll 

 it to the quarter of an inch in thickness, spread 

 shortening over it as evenly as you can ; sprinkle 

 flour fronf the dredging-box upon if, and fold it 

 into a long roll ; flatten it a little with the pin, 

 spread more shortening, sprinkle again with flour, 

 and roll or fold it closely together. Cut a slice 

 from this ; roll it as nearly as possitile to a round 

 shape, fold it across the centre, to lift ii to f^e plate 

 easily, spread open, see that it lies closely to the 

 plate or dish ; then take the dish or plate on the 

 palm of theleft hand, and, holding a knife in your 

 right, jut;t under the edge of the plate, trim off the 

 pastry close and neatly; lay a row of the narrow 

 strip of pastry thus made along the edge, to make 



