1432 
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:: Good Things for the Holidays :: 
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B AKED SQUASH.—Since our grand¬ 
mothers' time and the days of brick 
ovens the custom of baking squash whole 
has fallen away. Yet there is nothing 
more delicious and as a decorative 
scheme for the holiday meal it cannot be 
excelled. Choose either a dark green 
Hubbard squash, or one of the striped 
pumpkin colored squashes, like the De¬ 
licious or the Boston Marrow. It should 
weigh from five to eight pounds, accord¬ 
ing to the number to be served or the 
place it is expected to fill in the decor¬ 
ative scheme. A good way is to select 
one that is slightly flattened on the under 
side so that it will lie firmly on the plat¬ 
ter it is to be served on. Trim the 
ends, wash the outside, and cut out a 
circular piece about four inches across 
on the upper side to serve as a lid. Scoop 
out and scrape clean the inside. If the 
shell is unusually hard it would be well 
to score the outside with a very sharp 
knife in lengthwise sections and once or 
twice around the squash in even lines, 
cutting only just through the outer lay¬ 
er and as near invisibly as possible, the 
pieces to be of the size desired for serv¬ 
ing. Place in the oven in a deep cov¬ 
ered pan with just a little water in the 
bottom. This is to keep the squash from 
drying out too much in the baking pro¬ 
cess. Bake one to two hours, as seems 
necessary to cook tender, allow for plenty 
of time as a little overtime won’t hurt 
it. Keep the cover on and the water 
renewed until the last half hour. Then 
remove from the oven. Lift off the lid 
of the squash and give the whole inside 
a good sprinkling of salt and a dash of 
pepper. Then add one-half cup of butter 
and one cup of brown sugar. Place the 
lid on and return to the oven. After the 
butter has had time to melt mix it thor¬ 
oughly with the sugar and baste the in¬ 
side of the squash frequently for the next 
half hour with the mixture, leaving the 
lid off so that the inner surface can 
brown just a little. Serve very hot on a 
large platter surrounded with Christ¬ 
mas snowballs. The latter are made as 
follows: 
Christmas Snowballs.—Take quarters 
of large tart apples, roll them well in 
sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon. Then 
fold about them in the shape of a ball 
cooked white rice that has been salted, 
and cooled somewhat. Tie the balls up 
in little squares of cheese cloth and 
steam one-half hour. These are delicious 
served with maple cream made of one cup 
maple syrup and one cup sweet whipped 
cream, well blended. 
Apple Butter.—Another thing that 
should by no means be forgotten from the 
holiday preparations is a supply of ap¬ 
ple butter. This can be made in advance, 
and is delicious for sandwiches or cake 
fillings, or as a sweet by itself. Con¬ 
trary to popular belief, sweet or boiled 
cider, while very desirable as an addi¬ 
tion, is not a necessity in making this 
time-honored and very wholesome appe¬ 
tizer. Peel and slice up three times the 
bulk of butter desired of tart, quick¬ 
cooking apples, free from all gnarliness 
or blemishes. Put about half the quan¬ 
tity to cook in a large granite pan or 
kettle, with just a little water. Cover 
tightly at first. When these are tender 
add the remaining quantity a few at a 
time, as it cooks down. When all are 
cooked in and stirred until it is a smooth, 
lumpless mass, add sugar and spices to 
taste. It is more delicate in flavor if 
nothing is added but a very little cinna¬ 
mon. Cook slowly, stirring to prevent 
scorching on the bottom, until it is thick 
enough so that when a little is placed 
in a saucer the juice won’t separate from 
the butter. Place in a jar in a cool 
place and this will keep a long time, if 
it is possible to keep it from prompt con¬ 
sumption because of its deliciousness. 
Here are some wholesome foods to be 
served for suppers during holiday week 
or for Sunday night suppers: 
Brown Bread Sandwiches.—Cut long 
narrow slices of brown bread, and spread 
with snappy or cream cheese, with a 
sprinkling of nut meats. Or butter and 
Cream Celery Soup.—One quart of 
chicken or beef stock and one quart of 
milk or two quarts of milk. Cook one- 
half cup rice in salted water and rub 
it through a potato masher. Wash and 
grate one head of celery and rub this 
through the masher, after cooking tender 
in a little milk or water. Add to the 
boiling hot milk, season with one tea¬ 
spoon of salt, paprika and a dash of 
nutmeg. Serve hot with toasted croutons 
or diced bread. 
Cabbage Salad.—A quick and delicious 
salad is made by . slicing the cabbage 
very fine on a slaw cutter, and adding 
a dressing of equal parts prepared must¬ 
ard and sweetened whipped cream. 
Apple Cake.—A much liked fruit cake 
for the holidays is best made a week 
in advance—as it seems to ripen and 
soften by keeping. Three cups chopped 
apples cooked for five or ten minutes 
with one cup molasses. Cool and add one 
cup shortening, creaming thoroughly. 
Then add one cup buttermilk, two table¬ 
spoonfuls soda, four rather scant cups of 
flour, one teaspoon each, cloves, nutmeg, 
cinnamon, one cup raisins, or one-half cup 
raisins and one-half cup currants. This 
makes three ordinary loaves. Wrap in 
oiled paper for a few days. Cover with 
white boiled icing, or a brown sugar 
icing, one cup brown sugar boiled with 
one-half cup sweet milk, or a black choc¬ 
olate icing. A sprinkling of candied car¬ 
away seeds gives it a very festive, old- 
timey appearance. 
MRS. M. Cr. FEINT. 
Intestinal Fat; Scrapple; Blood 
Pudding. 
T was with much interest wo read the 
instructions concerning butchering as 
done in Illinois. From a chance conver¬ 
sation I overheard lately I believe all do 
not render the fat taken from the intes¬ 
tines with satisfactory results. As told 
on page 1861 the fat is more easily re¬ 
moved while the intestines are yet warm. 
The fat should then be placed in a kettle 
with enough water to cover then, a gener¬ 
ous handful of salt added. This removes 
all the blood. The next morning take 
from this water, wash well in luke-warm 
water, cut in small pieces, then put with 
enough water to start cooking, in a ket¬ 
tle on the stove. Over this should be 
sprinkled almost a teaspoonful of soda. 
Cook slowly at first, then more rapidly. 
You will find this white and sweet smell¬ 
ing. but as a precaution should be put in 
a separate vessel from the leaf lard and 
used first. 
Scrapple. —This seems to be one of the 
by-products of butchering time which is 
not very well understood in various com¬ 
munities. In Lancaster County. Pa., it is 
considered indispensable, and it certainly 
is fine when made just right. The head, 
heart, skins from lard and sausage pieces 
and in fact any trimmings not used for 
sausage can be made use of. The meat is 
placed in a boiler with enough water to 
cover and cooked until the meat is easily 
separated from the bones, when it is taken 
from the boiler with the aid of a wire 
ladle, the bones are all picked out and 
the meat put through a chopper, put back 
on the fire with the liquor in which meat 
After it reaches the boiling point, thicken 
with fine cornmeal and buckwheat or 
wheat flour in the proportion of three 
cupfuls cornmeal and one of buckwheat 
or wheat flour. When the consistency of 
a rather thick mush season with salt and 
pepper to suit the taste; then boil, stir¬ 
ring constantly, for it is easily scorched, 
until the fat seems to rise to the top of 
the mass. Remove from the fire and 
pour in pans from which it may be cut 
in slices and fried like mush. 
Blood Pudding. —We have heard this 
product spoken of. but never until quite 
recently did I ever see or taste of it. It 
was made by a little Swedish woman and 
to me was a decided surprise. About two 
cupfuls of blood were caught from the 
hog by the butcher. Care was taken to 
keep whipping the blood with an egg 
beater, so it would not coagulate. To 
this was added eight cupfuls of cold wa¬ 
ter, then thickened to a very stiff dough 
with graham flour to which was added 
two level tablespoons baking powder and 
one of salt. This was kneaded for some 
time like bread dough, then pieces the size 
of a large cup were pinched off and 
dropped into a large kettle of boiling 
salted water and boiled like dumplings. 
When done they were removed from the 
water into a drip pan and dried slowly 
in an oven only warm, not real hot. To 
prepare for the table it was sliced in 
small thin pieces like dried beef, browned 
in a pan in which butter or drippings had 
been heated, when browned, milk enough 
to form sufficient gravy was poured over 
all. and the pan was placed back on the 
stove, where it would simmer slowly. The 
flour in the pudding forms the thicken¬ 
ing. In cold weather these puddings will 
keep several weeks. k. c. w. 
Ohio. 
New and Delicious Confections. 
RANGE AND GRAPEFRUIT 
STRAWS.—These are perfectly de¬ 
licious and cost only in time and 
sugar, as they are made only from the 
skins, which may be saved after using 
the inside for breakfast, as they have 
to be washed thoroughly and boiled in 
several different waters. After washing 
take a knife and pull off all loose inner 
white skin and then lay on a breadboard 
and cut into small pieces about an eighth 
of an inch wide (I generally cut the skin 
into quarters before I begin this part of 
the operation). Then put into a kettle 
and cover with cold water, and put on 
to boil: let boil about 10 or 15 minutes, 
then drain off the water and cover again 
with cold water, repeating the same pro¬ 
cess from four to six times—four times 
generally being enough with oranges 
and six times with grapefruit, unless 
the latter is particularly mild. At 
any rate, they should boil about an hour 
and a quarter and then be drained. Take 
granulated sugar and add just enough 
water to keep it from burning; when 
melted, put in half or a third of the 
fruit and cook from half to three-quar¬ 
ters of an hour, or until the white part 
of the fruit looks clean. After it has 
boiled about 10 minutes you will notice 
that the syrup has become very thin. 
This should be remedied by adding more 
sugar, generally twice, as the syrup needs 
to be thick, and at the end the syrup 
will thread when dropped from a spoon 
or fork. Have ready a soup plate (any 
other dish of similar depth will do) 
filled with granulated sugar and two 
forks. Take out onto a wire strainer 
about two tablespoonfuls at a time of the 
fruit, let drain a few minutes and then 
roll each piece in the sugar and toss on 
to another plate or platter. The two 
forks are used to turn the fruit and 
transfer it from one plate to another. 
When the first lot of fruit is finished, 
put the second lot into the syrup and 
proceed as before. 
Of course if only a small quantity 
of fruit is fixed at a time it could ail 
be cooked together, but I generally make 
four or five pounds at a time as it keeps 
perfectly if put in an air-tight box; and 
December 10, 
the week I make the candy I use oranges 
for a short cake and a couple of puddings 
and have the grapefruit for breakfast so 
as to get enough skins at one time. They 
will keep all right in a cold place for 
about a week. I have made these 
“straws" for some of our church candy 
sales and we received 40 cents a pound 
for them, and no matter how much I 
made I could always have sold more if 
we had had it, which shows that it is 
popular. 
The syrup that is left after cooking 
the fruit can be utilized in several dif¬ 
ferent ways. For instance, shredded co- 
coanut can be added to it. thus making 
another kind of candy, as the flavor of 
the orange or grapefruit skins with the 
cocoanut is delicious. After cooking the 
cocoanut in the syrup for about 10 min¬ 
utes take from the fire and stir until 
stiff, when it can either be pressed into 
a square tin lined with paraffin paper 
and marked off into squares to be broken 
apart when cold; or dropped by spoon¬ 
fuls in little mounds onto waxed paper. 
Or the syrup can be used in making ap¬ 
ple sauce. 
One time I used the syrup when fixing 
the refreshments for our club, which i.» 
a small one of 12 members. As we are 
limited to one thing to eat and one thing 
to drink there is not much to choose 
from unless you vary the kinds of cake 
or sandwiches. First I baked a sponge 
cake mixture in muffin tins; then I cored 
(with an apple corer) and peeled small 
apples of uniform size and carefully 
cooked them in the grapefruit syrup, 
keeping a cover on the kettle as it made 
them cook more quickly, so th t the ap¬ 
ples would be whole when cooked. I put 
them onto a platter, and set them out to 
get perfectly cold. In the meantime I 
chopped some walnut meats (hickory or 
other nuts would be equally good) and 
then just half an hour before I expected 
my company I put a cake on each plate 
and on top of that an apple, filling the 
center with chopped pineapple and quince 
preserve (any kind of jam would be 
equally good). Over all that I spread 
sweetened whipped cream and sprinkled 
it with the chopped nuts. On top I put 
a red cherry. I served hot offee with 
cream with the apples and everybody 
said the refreshments were the most de¬ 
licious they had had in a long time. Of 
course a plain sugar syrup could be used 
to cook the apples in just as well as 
not. but if you have the orange or grape¬ 
fruit syrup it gives the apples a rather 
unusual flavor. 
Cherries and strawberries in season 
are done the same way, the stems and 
hulls being left on. and you don’t know 
how delicious they are until you have 
tried them ; and some of New York's best 
caterers serve them on smart occasions. 
They charge from 60 to 80 cents a pound. 
A pound of fondant will generally do a 
little more than a pound of grapes, and 
of course if any fondant is left over there 
are numberless bonbons that can be 
made out of it. 
And right here is a chance for the 
farm women in the South and West 
where oranges, grapefruit and Malaga 
grapes grow and who are near any of 
the large hotels or resorts to make some 
money. Put up in attractive boxes hold¬ 
ing from one to five pounds, large quanti¬ 
ties could be disposed of every week. 
Boxes could be made of bristol board, 
plain or decorated in water colors if one 
was handy with a brush. 
It will not come amiss to give a recipe 
for Turkish delight, which is a most de¬ 
licious confection also, inasmuch as the 
inside or juice of the oranges and grape¬ 
fruits could be utilized in making it if 
so desired. Soak two heaping tablespoon¬ 
fuls of gelatine in two-thirds cup cold 
water for five minutes; put one pound 
granulated sugar with two-thirds cup 
cold water on to boil and when it boils 
add the gelatine and boil slowly for 20 
minutes; then add the grated rind and 
juice of one large orange and one lemon 
(there should be one-lialf cup of fruit 
juice). Wet a square tin dish and pour 
in the mixture to the depth of one inch. 
When perfectly firm dip mold in warm 
water, turn out onto waxed paper, cut 
into cubes and roll in confectioner’s or 
powdered sugar to which a teaspoon of 
cornsta ?h 1 as been added. Different 
kinds of Turkish delight can. of course, 
be made by using different fruit juices 
and different coloring matter. 
Marshmallows.—All children and 
nearly all grown-ups like marshmallows. 
Take one heaping tablespoon gelatine 
and soak in 10 tablespoonfuls cold water; 
boil two cups granulated sugar with 10 
tablespoonfuls of water until it threads; 
then add gelatine to syrup and let stand 
until partially cooled. Then add a pinch 
of salt and flavoring to taste and beat 
with a whip until too stiff, and then 
with a spoon until soft enough to settle 
into a sheet. Dust square pans thickly 
with confectioners’ or powdered sugar 
(with a little starch added) and pour in 
the candy to about half an inch deep 
and set in a cool place until thoroughly 
chilled. Turn out. cut in cubes and roll 
in powdered sugar. 
Maple Fluff.—Two cups of maple or 
medium brown sugar (if you only have 
the very dark use one cup granulated and 
one cup brown sugar) boiled with about 
half a cup of water until it just hairs, 
then pour onto the stiffly beaten white 
of one egg and continue beating until the 
mixture is stiff enough to mold into dif¬ 
ferent shapes. It can be heaped in little 
mounds with a spoon or made into a rope 
and then cut into small pieces, etc. It 
is also very nice with chopped nuts add¬ 
ed tO it MRS. BELLE BEARDSLEY, 
was boiled, previously straining this 
a filling made of equal parts chopped liquor and adding enough water so there 
dates and nut meats. are three times as much liquid as meat. 
•Some Good Things for Christmas. 
