September, 1912 
comrade. If the care of her house becomes a fetish and 
she gives herself up to worrying over this thing and that, 
she becomes a slave to the house which she is expected to 
control. 
This kind of a housekeeper is not and never can be a 
“home-builder.’’ She just becomes a part of her house as 
the snail does to its shell. She may be the soul of kindness 
to others (when her work allows her to be), but she is 
merciless to herself. She 
becomes so conscious of 
dirt that her very soul has 
become dusty. She makes % oe 
a hard mistress if her hus- 
band’s success allows her 
to keep one maid or more, 
for she has for her ideals, 
dust and work. 
Our ideal “‘home-build- 
er’ does not worry over 
her house, nor does she 
worry over her children. 
Having made her home 
for her family first of all, 
she is absorbed into their 
conception of what a 
home should be. She is so 
much a part of that home, 
that from the tiniest tot 
up, nothing is complete 
without mother, for 
TWO RECIPES: 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
By Mary H. Northend 
335 
difficult ideal to live up to, just remember that this is the 
real work of the ““home-builder.”’ The making of a home, a 
real home for your boy or girl is quite as necessary as cook- 
ing proper food for the sustenance of their bodies. What 
greater thing can you work for? What greater goal can 
you choose? 
It is in the home that character is formed. If the early 
conditions are not favorable, the little human plants given 
us to develop and care for 
will become stunted. A 
joyous environment de- 
velops powers and _ re- 
scurces which would other- 
wise remain dormant. 
Your loving care, your un- 
selfish devotion will be re- 
produced for the world’s 
tetterment. Your honesty 
of purpose, your life in 
your home will bring forth 
greater results, results 
more practical, than any 
work outside may bring. 
Such a home as our 
ideal “home-builder” 
makes, qualifies her daugh- 
ters, trains them into that 
thoughtful consideration 
for others which will make 
them useful, helpful com- 
““mother understands.” 
We, mothers, must never 
lose sight for one moment 
that we are creating mem- 
ories. Now what kind of 
Escalloped Oysters: Place a layer of rolled crackers in a dish, 
and then a layer of oysters, and lay on small pieces of butter. 
Dredge with salt and pepper, and moisten well with milk. Add an- 
other layer of cracker and of oysters, and butter, and dredge and 
moisten as before. Continue these alternate layers until the dish is 
nearly full; then cover with a thin layer of cracker and pieces of butter. 
Bake and serve with a garnish of toast triangles and parsley. 
rades when their turn 
comes. The home-training 
of too many girls, instead 
of fitting them for wives 
and mothers, gives them 
memories are they to be? 
We would have them 
contented, joyous mem- 
ories. Happy the child 
who can say: “Don’t we 
have nice times at home ?”’ 
Happy the mother whose 
boys are always home and 
find there their happiest 
moments. Better far than 
to have the house too fine 
for daily use. There is an 
irrepressible longing for 
rollicking fun in young 
people, and if this longing 
were more fully met in the 
home it would not be so 
dificult to keep the boy 
and girl under our own 
roof. 
A happy, joyous home 
is a powerful magnet. 
The boy who can bring 
his friends home with him 
at all times never cares to 
belong to a fraternity, for 
his own home becomes a 
club. The temptations of the boy do not come into the 
well-ordered home, for mother’s influence is felt. 
The ideal “home-builder” will have her home ever ready 
for the friends of her boy and girl. She will be ready to 
help entertain these friends, or equally ready to let them 
alone. In short, she will treat them as she would her 
honored guests. By this example she is laying the founda- 
tion for the building of other homes. If this seems hard, a 
nutmeg, pepper, and salt to taste. 
Devilled Crabs: Mix a can of crabs with one half cup of 
cream, one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, one tablespoon of 
melted butter, one quarter cup of rolled cracker crumbs, one half wine- 
glassful of sherry, yolks of one and one half hard boiled eggs, a little 
Bake in shells, sprinkle plentifully 
with cracker crumbs and place a small piece of butter on each. Ar- 
range on platter, and garnish with lemon slices and parsley. 
false ideas of life and in- 
stills into their minds con- 
ceptions of the world 
totally at variance with the 
realities of existence. 
To be honest, to be sin- 
cere, to be loving, these all 
call for early training, 
without which all other 
gifts suffer. It is not neces- 
sary to have an ‘‘at-home”’ 
day if one is willing to be 
Pmiiene aus eed: salt ts nok 
necessary to have a five- 
course dinner previously 
arranged for, in order to 
entertain a guest, if you 
are truly hospitable. <A 
thoughtful consideration 
for others can only be de- 
veloped where the “home- 
builder” leads the way, 
for it is as natural for the 
young to be careless as it 
is for them to breathe. If 
the mother is kind and 
courteous, her daughter 
will instinctively follow her lead, and then we are told that 
the girl is ‘‘very much of a lady,” ‘‘why, it was just born in 
her.” This is true to a certain extent, but her mother’s 
training helped a bit, and her constant example helped 
more. 
So you see, at every turn, you find a grave responsibility 
resting upon the “‘home-builder.” It is she, whose influence 
enters into all phases of life, it is she who holds the power 
