1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
835 
“  MARY  CHRISTMAS." 
“  I  don’t  flnk  It  Is  fair,” 
Said  Jamie  tv)  Ben, 
With  a  pout;  “  I  don't  care. 
1  don't  flnk  It’s  fair. 
“  If  but  once  In  a  while,” 
Said  Jamie  to  Ben. 
“  ’Twas  a  boy.  ’twould  be  fair; 
Don't  you  flnk  so,  Clare  ? 
“  Oh,  It’s  Christmas,  you  know,” 
From  Jamie  and  Ben; 
“  It’s  a  shame  to  be  so: 
A  girl  always!  ho.  ho!” 
“  But  you  don’t  mean  to  say, 
Wee  Jamie  and  Ben, 
You  think  Christmas’s  that  way?” 
“  But  we  do  mean  to  say— 
“  It’s  always  that  way,”  • 
Said  Jamie  and  Ben; 
“  ‘  Mary  Christmas,’  they  say; 
Was  It  named  after  May? 
“  Can't  we  have  It  a  boy  ?  ” 
Begged  Jamie  and  Ben; 
‘‘Santa  Claus  brings  the  toys. 
'N  ‘  Bil'y  Christmas  ’  for  boys 
“Just  sometimes,  would  be  fair,” 
Vowed  Jamie  and  Ben 
“  And  this  year,  would  ma  care 
If  we  said  so.  dear  Clare  ?  ” 
“  O.  mamma  dear,  and  May, 
Hear  Jamie  and  Ben! 
'  Merry  Christmas,’  they  say, 
Is  a  girl,  and  that  they 
“  Don’t  think  It  Is  fair. 
Poor  Jamie  and  Ben ! 
Shall  I  tell  them,"  said  Clare, 
“  He's  a  boy,  since  they  care  ?” 
“  No,  our  Christmas,  dear  lads, 
Mamma's  little  men, 
Isn't  *  .Mary.’  but  glad-, 
Happy  Christmas,  not  sad. 
“  Jolly  Christmas,  my  boys, 
Mv  Jamie,  my  Ben; 
Time  of  dolls,  games  and  toys, 
Chrlstmasglrls, Christmas  boys.” 
MYKA  V.  NORY8. 
RECIPE  FOR  A  MERRY  CHRISTMAS. 
How  many  of  The  Rural  readers  have 
ever  tried  having  a  poor  family  with  them 
at  the  happy  Christmas  time?  Five  years 
ago  I  began  to  invi'e  some  one  who,  I 
knew,  would  otherwise  have  no  Christ¬ 
mas  cheer,  and  as  long  as  we  can  afford 
to  have  a  gathering  at  our  home  at 
Christmas  time,  the  invited  guests  shall 
be  the  poorest  people  I  can  find.  It’s  the 
very  nicest,  happiest,  most  real  way  of 
spending  Christmas  to  be  found.  Two 
years  ago  we  had  a  man,  his  wife,  and 
four  children  with  us  They  lived  in 
one  small  rooml2  feet  square,  so  you  can 
imagine  how  poor  they  were.  They  had 
never  seen  a  Christmas  tree  and  their 
surprise  and  delight  were  good  to  wit¬ 
ness.  The  wife  took  in  washing  to  help 
keep  the  wolf  from  the  door,  and  all  of 
her  employers  were  only  too  glad  to  help 
me  get  up  a  tree  for  the  benefit  of  the 
fam’ly  as  they  were  worthy  people.  The 
result  was  a  large  tub  and  a  clothes 
basket  full  of  presents  for  them.  Such  a 
go  d  time  they  never  had,  and  it  well 
repaid  us  all  for  our  trouble  to  see  the 
joy  on  their  faces 
Last  year  we  had  another  neighbor¬ 
ing  family— a  man,  his  wife  and  little 
brother.  These  came  from  Kansas  and, 
like  the  others,  had  never  seen  a  Christ¬ 
mas  tree.  This  time  we  had  no  outside 
assistance,  but  had  a  lovely  tree,  a  fine 
Christmas  dinner  and  a  general  good 
time.  In  July  of  this  year  the  wife  died, 
and  the  home  was  of  course  broken  up, 
and  as  I  am  busy  preparing  our  Christ¬ 
mas  for  this  ye  r,  I  often  think  of  the 
poor  young  bride  who  was  with  us  last 
y.-ar,  and  is  now  let  U3  h  ipe,  where 
Christmas  joy  lasts  the  year  round. 
llut  while  we  remember  the  dead  we 
must  not  forget  the  living  ;  so  again  we 
have  invited  in  other  neighbors — this 
time  a  man,  wife  and  three  little  girls. 
What  a  merry  crowd  we  shall  be  with 
the  seven  little  girls  running  around  all 
day !  Our  friends  are  to  come  in  the 
morning  and  have  a  hearty  dinner  and 
the  children  will  be  sent  off  up  stairs 
to  play.  We  shall  lock  the  sitting-room 
doors,  but  at  night  throw  them  open 
to  the  children  ;  for  while  they  have 
been  playing  we  shall  have  been  busy, 
and  the  result  will  be  a  well-laden  tree. 
Then  we  are  to  have  songs  and  recita¬ 
tions  by  the  children  and  a  magic-lantern 
When  Baby  was  sick,  we  gave  her  Castorla, 
When  she  was  a  Child,  she  cried  for  Castorla, 
Whe  ’  she  became  Miss,  she  clang  to  Castorla, 
when  si?  ■  had  Children,  she  gave  them  Castorla 
will  help  make  the  time  pass  pleasantly. 
A  Merry  Christmas  and  Happy  New 
Year  to  you  all !  mabel  h  monsey. 
Washington  State. 
OUR  CHRISTMAS  DINNER. 
Christmas  is  always  a  company  day  at 
Hillside  Farm  Though  we  are  busy 
people  and  ordinarily  spend  but  a  short 
time  at  the  table,  we  like  to  make  our 
Christmas  dinner  a  social  occasion,  so  we 
serve  it  in  courses.  Last  year  our  pastor 
and  his  wife  dined  with  us,  and  I  would 
like  to  tell  you  how  we  entertained  them. 
Being  of  English  descent,  we  cling  to 
roast  beef  and  plum  pudding  for  Christ¬ 
mas,  so  we  arranged  the  following  bill  of 
fare : 
White  Soup  with  Quenelles. 
Crisped  Crackers. 
Fried  Oysters  Potato  Balls, 
Itoast  Beef  Yorkshire  Pudding. 
Mashed  Potatoes.  Baked  Onions.  Mashed  Turnips. 
Chicken  Salad. 
Plum  Pudding  Hard  Sauce, 
Confectionery,  Nuts  and  Raisins,  Fruit. 
Coffee. 
Christmas  came  on  Friday,  and  as  early 
as  Tuesday  we  killed  and  dressed  a  pair 
of  nice  fowls.  Wednesday  morning  we 
put  them  over  the  fire  with  four  quarts 
of  water,  salt  and  pepper,  and  an  onion 
They  were  brought  to  the  boiling  point, 
and  then  set  back  to  simmer  till  tender. 
The  meat  was  next  removed  and  the 
bones  allowed  to  boil  in  the  broth  until 
it  was  reduced  one-half.  After  careful 
straining  it  was  put  away  to  cool.  The 
stock  was  the  foundation  for  our  white 
soup. 
All  the  preparations  possible  were 
made  on  Thursday.  We  arranged  every¬ 
thing  for  the  pudding.  The  fruit,  nuts, 
raisins  and  confectionery  were  placed  in 
glass  dishes.  The  chickens  and  an  equal 
amount  of  celery  were  cut  into  dice  for 
the  salad,  saving  out  some  of  the  dark 
meat  for  the  quenelles.  These  too  were 
made  and  shaped.  The  bits  of  meat 
were  chopped  very  fine  and  seasoned 
nicely  with  salt,  pepper,  and  a  little 
parsley.  Three  tablespoon fuls  of  fine 
b”ead  crumbs  were  added  and  the  mix¬ 
ture  moistened  with  the  beaten  yolks  of 
two  ra  v  eggs  and  a  little  broth.  This 
was  divided  and  formed  into  twenty-four 
little  balls,  which  were  rolled  in  flour 
till  well  coated.  The  crisped  crackers 
were  butter  crackers  split  and  spread 
with  butter  and  then  heated  in  the  oven. 
These  also  were  made  ready  for  the 
morrow. 
Notwithstanding  so  many  advance 
preparations,  we  were  all  kept  busy 
Christmas  morning.  We  first  counted 
and  arranged  the  china,  glass  and  silver, 
placing  the  articles  required  for  each 
course  in  separate  groups  on  the  long 
kitchen  table.  This  p’an  made  it  easy 
to  remove  the  dishes  afterward  and 
substitute  others.  The  dining  table  was 
covered  with  our  finest  white  cloth  over 
one  of  canton  flannel.  The  window  gar¬ 
den  supplied  the  floral  decorations.  A 
glass  dish  wreathed  with  smilax  occu¬ 
pied  the  central  position,  and  contained 
a  few  choice  roses,  clusters  of  begonia 
and  pink  geranium  blossoms.  On  each 
napkin  was  laid  a  tiny  bouquet  of  sweet 
violets  that  had  bloomed  in  a  protected 
corner  of  the  south  garden.  The  table 
was  set  with  water  glasses,  large  spoons 
for  the  soup,  and  knives  and  forks  for 
the  second  course.  In  the  absence  of 
olives,  dishes  of  small  pickles  occupied 
opposite  corners.  WTe  also  thought  it 
better  to  place  a  plate  of  bread,  brown 
and  white,  upon  the  table,  than  to  serve 
it  in  any  other  way.  The  fruit,  nuts  and 
candies  would  be  brought  on  with  the 
dessert  after  the  removal  of  the  salad 
course. 
One  difficulty  attending  the  serving  of 
such  a  dinner  was  the  absolute  necessity 
or  a  cook  and  waitress,  and  we  had  but 
one  servant?  but  the  family  caterer  ar¬ 
guing  that  she  would  be  tired  and  over¬ 
heated  from  her  labors  of  the  morning, 
volunteered  to  remain  in  the  kitchen  and 
act  as  cook,  and  let  Norah  do  the  wait¬ 
ing.  That  was  the  best  that  could  be 
done  and  it  would  relieve  the  family  of 
misgivings  as  to  the  success  of  the  meal. 
Being  a  methodical  person,  the  caterer 
arranged  for  herself  a  schedule,  noting 
the  exact  time  at  which  each  separate 
dish  should  begin  to  cook  and  when  each 
should  be  ready  for  serving,  that  in  the 
hurry  of  dinner  getting  nothing  should 
be  forgotten. 
The  soup  was  made  by  adding  one  pint 
of  cream  to  a  quart  and  a  pint  of  chicken 
stock,  and  further  thickening  and  enrich¬ 
ing  it  by  two  tablespoonfuls  of  butter 
and  two  of  flour  creamed  together.  The 
quenelles  were  poached  for  five  minutes 
in  water  kept  at  the  boiling  point  and 
then  added  to  the  soup  in  the  tureen 
Three  quenelles  were  served  to  each 
person. 
Large  oysters  were  selected  for  frying, 
and  early  in  the  morning  were  wiped  dry 
and  dipped  in  beaten  eggs  and  then  rolled 
in  cracke-7  dust.  Fifteen  minutes  before 
the  time  for  serving  they  were  brought 
out  and  the  frying  began.  A  large  kettle 
of  hot  fat  was  ready  upon  the  stove. 
The  frying  basket  holding  15  at  a  time 
was  plunged  into  it.  One  minute  sufficed 
for  puffing  and  browning  them,  and  they 
were  sent  to  the  table  in  a  border  of 
parsley  garnished  with  triangles  of 
lemon.  The  potato  balls  served  with 
them  were  really  short  cylinders.  We 
had  no  vegetable  cutter,  so  we  used  the 
apple  corer  and  cut  pieces  from  large 
potatoes,  using  the  remnants  for  mashing. 
The  balls  were  served  with  salt,  pepper, 
butter  and  parsley. 
The  beef  was  a  rib  roast,  but  the  bones 
were  removed,  and  it  was  skewered  into 
a  neat,  round  piece,  and  baked  upon  a 
rack  p’aeed  in  the  dripping  pan.  Half 
an  hour  before  t^e  time  for  serving, 
the  gravy  was  emptied  from  under  the 
meat  and  a  batter  made  of  four  well- 
beaten  eggs,  one  pint  of  milk  one  cupful 
of  flour  and  one  teaspoonful  of  salt,  and 
poured  into  the  hot  pan.  The  platter 
containing  the  beef  was  garnished  with 
squares  of  this  pudding,  which  were 
served  to  each  person.  They  were  deli 
cious  with  the  rich  brown  beef  gravy. 
The  onions,  after  boiling  until  tender, 
were  p  it  in  a  baking  pan  and  covered 
with  a  white  sauce.  Bread  crumbs  were 
sifted  over  the  top  and  dotted  with  hits 
of  butter.  They  had  a  beautiful  brown 
crust  after  20  minutes’  baking. 
The  salad  made  a  fine  appearance. 
We  don't  like  oil,  so  we  made  a  dressing 
by  mixing  together  the  yolks  of  three 
eggs,  one  tablespoonful  of  melted  but¬ 
ter,  one  teaspoonful  of  salt,  one  salt- 
spoonful  of  white  pepper,  one-half  tea¬ 
spoonful  of  mustard  and  one  cupful  of 
cream.  We  heated  half  a  cupful  of  vine¬ 
gar  and  added  it,  boiling  all  together 
till  thickened  ;  then  we  poured  it  upon 
the  stiffly-beaten  whites  of  the  eggs.  In 
the  center  of  the  large  platter  of  salad 
was  a  mound  of  clear  jelly  made  of 
chicken  stock  and  gelatine.  It  was  cut 
into  small,  irregular  pieces  and  resembled 
icy  water.  Upon  this  miniature  pond 
sat  an  artistically-carved  swan.  The  boy 
of  the  family  had  expended  his  whittling 
propensities  upon  t  wo  white  turnips,  and 
the  result  was  much  to  h.s  credit.  The 
salad  had  an  inner  and  an  outer  border 
of  crisp  celery  leaves. 
The  pudding  was  a  modification  of  an 
old  recipe,  and  has  been  used  for  years 
in  our  family  with  great  satisfaction  : 
One-half  pound  each  of  raisins  and 
currants,  one-quarter  pound  each  of 
citron,  finely-chopped  suet,  bread  crumbs 
and  flour,  one-half  cupful  of  molasses, 
one  cupful  of  milk  and  two  tablespoon¬ 
fuls  of  vinegar;  three  eggs,  one  teaspoon¬ 
ful  each  of  salt  and  cinnamon,  one-half 
teaspoonful  each  of  soda,  cloves  and  all¬ 
spice,  and  one- quarter  teaspoon  ful  of 
mace.  Mix  crumbs,  suet,  molasses,  milk, 
vinegar  and  spice  together.  Beat  in  the 
yolks  of  the  eggs.  Add  the  flour  after 
sifting  twice  with  soda  and  salt;  then  the 
fruit,  and  lastly  the  well-beaten  whites 
of  the  eggs.  We  always  boil  this  pud¬ 
ding  three  hours  in  two  long,  narrow 
tins  The  sauce  was  ordinary  hard  sauce, 
one  half  of  which  was  tinted  pink  with 
cranberry  juice,  and  the  two  colors 
packed  side  by  side  in  a  baking-powder 
can.  A  moment’s  dip  into  hot  water 
caused  it  to  turn  out  perfect  in  shape. 
Our  d.nner,  while  not  so  extensive  as 
many,  by  careful  cooking  and  careful 
serving,  was  made  very  satisfactory. 
ALICE  A.  SMITH. 
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