1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
i4i 
Prudence  Primrose’s  Diary. 
JANUARY  1. — “  But,  dear  me,  who 
cares  for  refinement  !”  protested  the 
invalid  when  I  read  to  her  what  our  kind 
Chief  Cook  had  to  say  to  those  in  poor 
health,  about  compensations.  “Why,  I 
would  rather  be  the  mother  of  six  roister¬ 
ing-  boys,  fat  and  frowzy,  and  up  to  my 
ears  in  work  all  day  long-,  than  have  the 
face  of  a  Mater  Dolorosa  and  write  any 
number  of  newspaper  articles  !” 
But  this  was  merely  one  of  those  pro¬ 
tests  that  Nature  will  now  and  then  make 
against  fate,  and  not  the  invalid’s  normal 
state  of  mind.  I  imagine  that  one  does 
not  endure  10  years  of  invalidism  without 
learning  to  submit  meekly  to  the  inevit¬ 
able,  to  make  of  life  the  best  one  can  and 
not  what  one  would,  and  to  try  to  count 
one’s  mercies.  Our  invalid  at  Primrose 
Farm  had  hinted  that  she  would  some  day 
write  a  page  of  this  diary  for  me,  so  when 
this  subject  came  up  I  at  once  handed 
over  the  pen,  and  this  is  what  she  wrote: 
“  The  Primrose  pen  is  never  a  very 
ready  one,  and  it  has  held  itself  suspend¬ 
ed  some  time  above  the  paper  inquiring 
what  it  is  worth  while  to  say  to  the  in¬ 
valid  sisterhood.  The  first  impulse  of 
the  untutored  pen  when  essaying  to  write 
for  the  papers  seems  to  be  to  offer  advice. 
This  is  doubtless  because  we  all  go  to 
our  favorite  columns  for  that  commodity. 
Have  you  not  often  been  amused  at  the 
clamor  that  will  now  and  then  arise  in 
women’s  columns  when  some  housekeeper 
arises  to  recommend  her  methods  to  the 
world,  issuing  a  proclamation  of  emanci¬ 
pation  from  flat-irons  or  corsets?  Immed¬ 
iately  other  housekeepers  arise  crying, 
‘  Give  us  flat-irons  or  give  us  death  !’ 
“Of  course  advice  is  the  last  thing  in 
the  world  to  offer  invalids,  for  the  poor 
dears  have  hard  enough  times  following 
the  doctors’  and  their  own.  As  for  com¬ 
fort,  we  all  have  our  Bibles  and  Thomas 
A’Kempis,  St.  Augustine  and  Bishop 
Taylor,  to  say  nothing  of  the  favorite 
corner  in  most  of  our  home  papers  de¬ 
voted  to  matters  spiritual;  for  an  in¬ 
valid,  being  so  shut  off  from  temporal 
affairs,  must  look  to  the  eternal  verities 
and  resign  her  ways  to  the  fatherly 
hands  of  a  faithful  Creator,  or  be  of  all 
souls  most  miserable. 
“Condolence  is  always  in  order,  and  I 
would  that  I  knew  how  to  express  my 
sympathy  for  all  the  poor  in  health.  Is 
not  it  hard!  sometimes  terribly  hard  ! 
Those  who  lie  peacefully  down  and  die, 
in  one  supreme  moment  turn  away  from 
life.  The  invalid  must  die  daily  to  cares 
and  hopes  and  pleasures,  right  in  them¬ 
selves  but  denied  to  her.  How  can  we 
endure  it  but  in  knowing  that  it  is  no 
accident,  or  freak  of  chance,  but  that 
back  of  it  all  is  the  wise,  loving  pur¬ 
pose  ? 
“I  think  that  a  mistake  we  are  liable  to 
fall  into  is  the  feeling  that  our  invalidism 
is  a  permanent  thing.  It  is  a  pity  that 
any  should,  like  Pandora,  leave  hope  shut 
in  the  box  when  all  the  ills  and  troubles 
have  swarmed  out  and  settled  down  upon 
them.  Many  a  “  hopeless  invalid ’’has, 
by  systematic  attention  to  rest,  diet  and 
as  much  open-air  exercise  as  she  could 
venture  upon,  surprised  her  doctors,  and 
won  back  a  degree  of  health  that  no  one 
had  thought  possible  to  her.  Nature’s 
tendency  is  always  toward  repair  and 
health  ;  and  rest,  quiet  and  cheerfulness 
are  her  best  helpers.  Not  the  will  to 
drive  the  energies  to  further  exertion, 
but  the  will  to  throw  off  disease  is  what 
we  need.  I  have  been  helped  by  reflect¬ 
ing  that  good  was  really  stronger  than 
evil,  that  it  was  only  when  we  put  our 
faith  in  evil  that  it  could  triumph  over 
us  ;  then  I  would  call  my  bad  feelings  and 
When  Baby  was  sick,  we  gave  her  Castorla, 
When  she  was  a  Child,  she  cried  for  Castorla, 
When  she  became  Miss,  she  clung  to  Castorla, 
When  she  had  Children,  she  gave  them  Castorla 
difficulties  all  so  many  bad  spirits  and 
fight  them  off  as  Christian  did  old  Apol- 
lyon,  till  at  last  they  spread  forth  their 
dragon  wings  and  sped  away. 
“  ‘Aren’t  you  writing  too  long,  dear?’ 
asks  a  solicitous  voice.  (If  I  live  to  be  a 
hundred  I  suppose  I  shall  still  feel  a  flash 
of  impatience  at  such  reminders,  though 
maybe  I  should  be  sighing  long  before 
that  because  no  one  was  left  who  cared 
whether  I  overworked  or  not.)  This 
danger  of  overtaxing  nerves  and  muscles 
is  one  of  the  rocks  in  midstream  that  we 
invalids  learn  to  fear,  for  who  can  be  even 
amiable  upon  the  tag  ends  of  worn-out 
nerve  force  ?  Thoreau’s  philosophy  is  ex¬ 
cellent  reading  for  us.  Simplify,  simplify, 
is  his  panacea,  and  I  wish  that  all  who 
are  tempted  to  let  work  and  pleasure 
run  away  with  their  judgment  had  the 
force  of  character  to  remodel  their  ways 
upon  that  principle.” 
Helps  For  Girls.  II.  Pies. 
IT  is  said  that  Americans  are  a  nation 
of  pie-eaters;  and  a  well-seasoned  pie 
baked  to  a  turn  at  bottom  and  top,  neither 
too  thick  nor  too  thin,  too  sweet  nor  too 
sour,  is,  indeed,  a  very  toothsome  dessert 
Well  do  I  remember  in  the  early  days 
of  my  house-keeping,  what  a  dread  I  had 
of  making  pies.  Sometimes,  they  were  all 
right,  but,  alas!  oftener  all  wrong. 
After  repeated  trials  I  succeeded  in  ac¬ 
quiring  the  art — I  think  it  should  be  so 
called — of  inakfhg  pies  which  I  could  put 
into  the  oven  with  a  reasonable  certainty 
that  they  would  neither  waste  their 
sweetness  on  the  oven-bottom  nor  have  a 
soggy  under  crust. 
For  three  round-tin  pies  take  a  heaped 
cupful  of  lard,  one  of  very  cold  water 
and  half  a  teaspoonful  of  salt.  Have  the 
sifted  flour  ready  in  a  pastry  pan.  Wash 
the  hands  thoroughly,  giving  due  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  nails  and  removing  finger 
rings.  Make  a  hole  in  the  center  of  the 
flour  for  the  lard,  which  should  be  just 
soft  enough  to  mix  easily.  With  the  fingers 
of  the  right  hand  mix  the  flour  and  lard 
together  with  the  salt,  adding  the  water 
slowly  as  you  proceed.  When  the  water 
is  all  used,  the  mass  should  be  a  very  soft 
dough.  Remove  the  clinging  dough  from 
the  fingers  with  flour;  give  the  mass  a  few 
quick  turns  to  make  it  stiff  enough  to 
roll  out — no  more — and  the  crust  is 
ready. 
Now  just  a  few  words  as  to  the  tins  or 
plates  in  which  to  bake  pies.  If  those 
having  perpendicular  sides  like  jelly-cake 
tins  are  used;  there  is  less  chance  of  the 
juice  running  out  in  the  oven;  this  fault 
is  so  exasperating  to  a  cook. 
The  crust  ready,  the  next  thing  is 
the  filling,  which,  of  course,  is  in  readi¬ 
ness  for  use.  We  will  suppose  it  to'  be 
apples,  which  are  already  pared  and 
sliced.  Cover  the  tins  with  moder¬ 
ately  thin  crust  in  which  there  must  be 
no  suspicion  of  breaking  ;  but  do  not 
trim  the  edges.  Fill  with  slices  of  apple, 
which  may  be  of  any  tart  variety  having 
good  cooking  qualities.  The  Greening 
and  the  Northern  Spy  are  among  the  best. 
Cover  the  apples  with  a  cupful  of  sugar 
(the  light  brown  is  preferred  to  white  in 
apple  pies  by  many  people)  and  over  this 
place  bits  of  butter  and  give  a  sprinkling 
of  any  seasoning  desired.  At  our  house 
allspice  is  the  favorite.  Moisten  the  edge 
of  the  crust  all  around  with  cold  water, 
but  put  none  in  the  pie,  as  the  juice 
of  the  apples  is  sufficient. 
Roll  out  the  top  crust  a  trifle  thinner 
than  the  lower  one.  Decorate  it  fanci¬ 
fully  with  a  knife  for  the  escape  of  steam, 
spread  it  over  the  pie  and  press  the  edges 
of  the  two  crusts  firmly  together,  yet  not 
so  firmly  as  to  break  them  and  give  the 
juice  a  place  to  escape  when  the  apples 
begin  to  cook.  Trim  around  the  tin  neat¬ 
ly,  but  not  too  closely.  Give  a  final 
pressure  with  the  palm  of  the  hand, 
smoothing  the  crust  round  and  round, 
occasionally  dipping  the  hand  in  flour  to 
prevent  sticking.  A  minutes’  additional 
work  at  this  stage  may  save  much  annoy¬ 
ance  in  baking. 
Should  the  pie  be  of  more  juicy  fruit, 
as  cherries  or  berries,  take  a  piece  of 
bleached  cotton  an  inch  and  a  half  wide, 
wet,  and  bind  it  around  the  edge,  using 
flour  to  keep  it  in  place.  This  makes  it 
perfectly  secure  and  is  easily  removed 
when  the  pie  is  taken  from  the  oven. 
The  baking  of  a  pie,  simple  as  it  may 
seem,  is  one  of  the  most  important  points, 
for  the  best  of  pies  may  be  ruined  in  the 
oven.  There  is  no  way  of  giving  definite 
directions,  as  no  two  ovens  bake  exactly 
alike.  Much  must  be  left  to  the  personal 
experience  of  the  cook.  I  find  best  suc¬ 
cess  by  placing  it  first  upon  the  top  grate 
of  the  oven  until  the  crust  is  slightly 
baked,  then  transferring  to  the  bottom. 
Pies  require  long  and  slow  baking  where 
the  fruit  must  be  cooked,  as  in  the  case 
of  apples,  and  they  must  have  good  bot¬ 
tom  heat.  Try  with  a  fork  and  see  if  the 
fruit  is  soft  and  completely  cooked,  as 
half-cooked  apples  spoil  the  product  en¬ 
tirely.  To  tell  when  pies  are  done  on 
the  bottom,  try  them  as  you  do  flat-irons, 
by  applying  the  moistened  finger  quickly 
to  the  under  side  of  the  tin  as  you  re¬ 
move  it  from  the  oven.  If  it  emits  a 
hissing  sound,  it  is  sufficiently  baked  ;  if 
not,  return  it  to  the  oven. 
In  making  berry  or  cherry  pies,  to  mix 
flour  and  sugar  together  is  an  improve¬ 
ment  on  adding  these  ingredients  sepa¬ 
rately,  as  they  are  more  perfectly 
blended. 
Hake  the  crust  first  for  lemon  or  other 
pies  having  but  one  crust ;  then  add  the 
filling  and  return  to  the  oven.  Never 
throw  away  the  bits  of  dough  that  are 
left  after  making  pies.'  Add  a  little  but¬ 
ter  in  bits  when  partly  rolled  out,  lap 
together  and  roll  thin.  Bake  on  patty 
tins,  without  a  tinge  of  brown  ;  fill  with 
jelly  or  jam  and  see  how  they  brighten 
the  tea  table.  ki,u  rockwooii. 
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