December, 1912 
Christmas love is a delicate thing, and we mothers must 
have a care how we nurture it, and prevent the mercenary 
thought from coming in. 
Probably there is no one living who does not know many 
who are worse off than they. There are thousands who 
would be glad of a heartfelt call of “Merry Christmas.” A 
few flowers will keep the 
cheer of the day in a 
room. A little box of 
candy will keep the 
thought of the day. If you 
know of but one such 
lonely person, make every 
sacrifice that may have to 
be made, but in some way 
remember that person. 
We talk of utility pres- 
ents, give them too where 
you can, but it is the dear 
little frivolous something 
that lifts the mind from 
tievsordid cares of 
every day. Help your 
children to realize this, 
and help them to find 
some poor child or some 
poor family. Have them 
share their Christmas nuts 
and candy. What is left 
will have a better flavor, 
for love will have sea- 
soned it. 
We can prate and talk 
about Christmas love and 
Christmas spirit, we can 
plan and give according 
to Our means, we can de- 
velop the love of giving 
in our children, but, after 
all, the real thing lies 
quite as much in the 
Christmas-spirit of receiv- 
ing. Our attitude toward 
Christmas is becoming too 
critical. We are prone to 
consider values in one way 
or another when the gifts 
arrive. Is this Christmas 
love? 
In our own generosity, 
with love unbounded we 
send a gift more or less 
Fireplace Cakes: 
cover smoothly with icing. 
effect of red and white. 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
TWO CHRISTMAS SUGGESTIONS 
By MARY H. NORTHEND 
A Santa Claus Christmas design for icing cakes, and a snowball cocoanut iced cake 
Cut with an oblong cutter a rich cookie dough, and 
When cool, draw in a fireplace with a 
harmless vegetable coloring in red, 
Decorate with little fir twigs. 
half cup butter, one of sugar, two and one half of flour, one half tea- 
spoon of saleratus, dissolved in two of milk, one egg; flavor to taste. 
Roll thick, cut in oblongs, and bake quickly 
443 
hurt. Put an X-ray on yourself and your motives with 
merciless candor before sending out your gifts, then put 
yourself in the place of those who are recipients of your 
loving thoughts—and make very sure that the thoughts are 
loving. 
Why not try to be as simple as children in our joys? 
Why not learn the lesson 
of simple giving and prac- 
tice it, while teaching it to 
our little ones? This sim- 
ple lesson of love, which 
down in our hearts we do 
believe in, should be even 
more real to us for we 
know and_ understand 
more of its source and 
force. 
My little grand-daught- 
ers under the wise guid- 
ance of their mother gave 
me a useful and beautiful 
gift representing work 
which any child over five 
and under ten might do. 
It was a “kitchen shower.”’ 
Spread out it covered a 
good-sized table. There 
was a simple rosy muslin 
bag tied with ribbon to 
match, to hold strings of 
all kinds, which the New 
England housekeeper dis- 
likes to cut and throw 
away. It was very pretty, 
I thought it too delicate 
to hang in the kitchen, but, 
after two years of use it 
still does service and is 
always pretty. 
(here “were “half a 
dozen cheesecloth ‘‘dust- 
ers,” these might have 
been feather-stitched to 
make them prettier, but 
were not as we consider 
such work useless. Then 
half a dozen glass-towels 
barred with pink to keep 
the color scheme, half a 
dozen hand towels with 
loops, all ready to hang by 
the sink, half a dozen 
thus carrying out the Christmas 
Cookies: One 
costly either of time or 
money, to one we love, and 
who has far less to do than 
we have. In our personal 
joy of giving we forget 
that this dear friend may 
suffer in the receiving of 
our gift. “It is more 
aed x ES 
Snowball Cakes: 
Beat together 
till stiff whites of eleven eggs with one and three quarter cupfuls of 
sifted granulated sugar and one teaspoonful of cream tartar, then one 
Make an angel food cake as follows: 
cupful of flour and one teaspoonful of vanilla. Bake in a moderate 
oven forty minutes. When cold, cut off all the brown outside of the 
cake and with a fork take out fairly good-sized pieces. Roll these in 
soft white frosting, and when set, sprinkle with granulated sugar. Deco- 
rate with holly, the leaves cut from citron, and cranberries or candied 
cherries for the berries. 
holders covered with pink 
gingham and half a dozen 
broom-bags made of two 
thicknesses of cotton-flan- 
nel with strings run in the 
top to fasten each to the 
broom. These bags I use 
all the time to sweep bare 
blessed to give than re- 
ceive’ may be true, some- 
times. I doubt it, surely 
it is far easier, but in the joy of giving we should surely 
study out the possible pain of receiving and try to avoid 
giving that pain too. This is what I call ‘‘fitness” in giving. 
When one is full of love it is no trial to give thought to 
the personal desires of the one to whom the gift is to be 
sent. There is a deal of pride creeping into our giving. 
This it is which prompts the giving that is pretty sure to 
floors, keeping a dressed 
broom on each floor of 
the house. 
Here is my idea of the loving thought and loving ser- 
vice. There are many lessons which might be taught 
through the medium of such a gift. Truly a present of 
utility, with a little of the frivolous in the matter of pink 
holders and rosy string-bags, but a gift enjoyed every day, 
bringing fancies to my mind and sweet thoughts of the time 
when their mother was the little girl to give me presents. 
