1900 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
279 
Crumb Covering for Coffee Cake. 
In a frying-pan put a tablespoonful 
of lard and half as much butter; when 
melted add a tablespoon ful of flour and 
one, or one and a half, of sugar, and 
as much ground cinnamon as desired, 
according to taste. With a spoon make 
smooth, turning over and over and 
round the pan for a couple of min¬ 
utes till all is heated through; then 
set away to cool. When cakes are 
ready for the oven put over the tops of 
cakes and bake in brisk oven. MRS. D. 
This is the crumb dressing for cof¬ 
fee cake, called “strensel”: One-half 
pound flour; one-half pound granulated 
sugar; one-half pound butter; one-half 
teaspoon ful powdered cinnamon. Rub 
all together in a bowl, using the hands 
in preference to a spoon, as the crumbs 
form better. Sprinkle over cake be¬ 
fore putting into oven. A. M. b. 
I have just read your second request 
for the covering for coffee cake, and 
will give what we call an excellent 
recipe for German kuchen which I 
found in a copy of the “Woman’s 
Home Companion”: Put one-third cup 
sugar; the same of butter; one-half 
teaspoon salt, in a mixing bowl. Pour 
over one cup scalded milk. When warm 
add one yeast cake dissolved in one- 
quarter cup warm water, two eggs 
slightly beaten and enough bread flour 
to make stiff batter. Cover and let 
rise. Then beat and spread in two cake 
pans. Mix one cup of soft stale bread 
crumbs (grated) ; two tablespoons 
melted butter; two and one-half table¬ 
spoons sugar and three-quarters tea¬ 
spoon cinnamon. Sprinkle or spread 
thickly on cake; let raise again and bake 
in a moderate oven. We warm it in 
the oven slightly before serving, but 
that is a matter of taste. MRS. T. L. 
The Fireless Cooker. ’ 
About three years ago a single para¬ 
graph in The R. N.-Y. gave me my 
introduction to fireless cookers. I had 
faith enough to try one, and that, when 
you have just been introduced, is con¬ 
siderable. I was living then in south¬ 
ern California. Oil boxes are to be 
found everywhere, so it was natural to 
use an oil box. “Line the box with 
several layers of paper,” so the direc¬ 
tions ran. It did not add that The 
R. N.-Y. without being torn apart, is 
just the thing, but it is. I filled my 
box with fine dried grass, raked out of 
the lawn, improvised a cushion for the 
top by filling a cloth flour sack with 
hay, made a nest in the box for my 
pail, found a board for a cover, and 
it was all done in less than an hour. 
The family did not think it would 
cook, and I had a circle of interested 
spectators as I tucked away my pail of 
rice heated to the boiling point. Amid 
doubting remarks we covered the box 
and left it. About four hours later I 
opened it and invited the doubting 
crowd to supper, the principal dish at 
which was rice, done to perfection. Then 
began a series of experiments. The 
oil-box cooker was supplemented by 
one made of a decoy bee hive, and I 
had room for three dishes. I used 
graniteware dishes, with tight covers, 
but was troubled because the tin covers 
would rust. Time and again I have 
put the dinner to cook as soon as break¬ 
fast work was done, and have spent 
the morning out of doors in the sun¬ 
shine, confident that my dinner was 
cooking all right, and would be ready 
with only a few extra touches at serv¬ 
ing time. Nothing is ever burnt. One 
need not stand over a hot stove. There 
is no need of watching and waiting for 
things to cook. 
Cereals are at their best when cooked 
all night in the cooker, but need re¬ 
heating in the morning. If they are 
Put into the cooker in the top of the 
double boiler they are easily reheated 
without disturbing them, and the cereal 
can be turned out in a molded cake, 
perfectly cooked. Soups are delicious 
when cooked so slowly, and stews, 
which otherwise might be tasteless, are 
rich and finely flavored. Boiled fish 
keeps, its shape perfectly when cooked 
in this way. Boiled ham does not boil 
to pieces, and slices well when cold. 
Cornmeal mush is smooth and cooked 
thoroughly; hulled corn and hominy, if 
reheated once, may be cooked tender 
and there is no burnt dish to wash. 
Since my California experience I have 
made many cookers, most of them made 
out of material at hand to convince 
doubting friends that they would cook. 
In New York State we made our cooker 
out of an old trunk filled with straw. 
There was hardly room for this in the 
kitchen, so we kept it in the yard under 
the big oak. In the Berkshires one 
Winter we found that a butter tub filled 
with excelsior did the work, and also 
discovered that a New England bean 
pot kept the heat better than granite 
ware. The only objection to this is 
the difficulty of heating it over a gas 
or oil flame without cracking it. 
In southern Connecticut we used a 
butter tub again, and found our best 
dish of all in an enamel pail with a 
tight-fitting cover of the same material. 
Here I learned to keep breakfast hot 
for late comers by putting it in the 
cooker; to raise my bread sponge by 
putting the bowl down in the hole where 
my pail had been, and to send the 
men’s dinner to the field in the cooker. 
A friend who keeps house with other 
busy women in a tiny apartment has 
been cooking her Sunday chicken din¬ 
ner in the stationary tub filled with 
papers. My latest is a cheese box filled 
with excelsior. I hope some time to 
have a nice box, varnished, fitted with 
brass hinges and handles, but I doubt 
it it will cook better. I v^ant also to 
try an aluminum pail as a cooking uten¬ 
sil, and to try baking with a heated soap 
stone. I am thoroughly convinced that 
an oil stove and a fireless cooker would 
do much towards helping to lighten the 
burden of cooking, especially in the hot 
Summer weather, when the heat from 
a roaring fire in tire kitchen is almost 
unbearable. The whole principle is to 
have the food boiling when put in the 
cooker, and then insulate it so that 
the heat is held. c. H. 
Pork Stew. 
We have a great liking for pork, and 
ask for nothing more toothsome and 
satisfying on a cold Winter’s night than 
pork stew, piping hot, for supper. Here 
is my recipe, which the men folks 
say can't be beat: 
For two pounds lean and fat fresh 
pork (lean side meat is excellent for 
this) use two quarts cold water, one 
carrot, one small turn in, two large 
onions, four potatoes and a small tea¬ 
spoon thyme or Summer savory. Cut 
the meat in small pieces and cook about 
an hour. Then add the vegetables cut 
up, and salt and pepner to taste. Cook 
till tender. If it dries out too rapidly 
add hot water. When done, thicken 
slightly with a tablespoon of flour 
moistened with cold water. The above 
is most savory, but cannot quite equal 
nry pork stew with dumplings, so my 
family all declare. Use the above 
recipe, omitting the turnip, herbs and 
carrot. When the meat and vegetables 
are tender, add the dumplings, being 
sure there is plenty of gravy, as the 
dumplings absorb a good deal while 
cooking. And now for the dumpling. : 
Many plain cooks never try to make 
them at all. saying they can never be 
sure they will be light. I was too fond 
of them to give up trying, though for 
a year or so after my marriage they 
were nearly always a failure, though 
I tried sweet milk, sour milk, and every¬ 
thing else in the line of a recipe I 
could get hold of. Finally I made up 
the following, which has never once 
failed to produce light, feathery dump¬ 
lings, and which will warm over the 
next day and still be light: To one 
pint flour add one teaspoon salt and 
two rounding ones of baking powder, 
sifting all together. Next add just 
enough cold water to make a dough as 
stiff as can be stirred with a spoon. Add 
the water by degrees and you will have 
no trouble. Have the stew boiling 
briskly; dip the spoon first in the stew 
and then in the batter, which prevents 
the latter sticking to the spoon. You 
will have about a dozen with this amount 
of flour. Now cover tightly and let 
boil for 10 minutes without uncovering 
—don’t forget this item! Then uncover, 
lift out each dumpling with a fork, put 
the stew in the middle of a large platter 
and place the dumplings around the 
edge—never underneath the stew. I 
use the same recipe for chicken and 
beef potpie. Try them. 
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Victors 
from 
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There are good reasons why this is so. 
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ough, Richard Jose, 
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recorded his farewell address 
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Write us, and we will send you his ad¬ 
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Write us anyway for illustrated catalogues showing styles of Victors from 
$10 to $100 and over 3000 records with portraits of the famous singers and 
musicians. 
Good music, true sentiment, and wholesome fun 
broaden the soul. They ease the daily grind; make 
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Why not get a Victor today? 
Why not find out about it anyway? 
now, before you forget iL 
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20th & Cooper Sts., Camden, N. J. 
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To get best results, use only Victor Needles on Victor 
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A complete list of new Victor Records for March will be found in the March number of Munsey’s, 
Scribner's, McClure’s, Century, Everybody’s, Current Literature uutl April Cosmopolitau. 
