C»c R U R AL N EW-Y O R K E R 
Checkerboard Cake 
Cream one cup sugar with butter the 
size of an egg. Break into this two eggs 
and beat together with egg beater. Stir 
in one cup of sour milk. Beat in two 
cups of flour sifted with a level teaspoon 
eoda and pinch of salt. Turn one-half 
49/ 
How the Checker Cake is Put Together 
the batter into another bowl and add 
two tablespoons cocoa wetted with two 
tablespoons hot water and one teaspoon 
vanilla. To the yellow part add a tea¬ 
spoon of lemon extract. Use small cake 
tins, and with yellow batter, teaspoonful 
at a time, make a ring a little more than 
an inch wide. Inside- this ring lay a ring 
of dark batter and fill center with yel¬ 
low. Make two of these layers, one other 
with dark batter on the outside ring and 
dark in center (this is to be middle lay¬ 
er). Three layers in all. Ice with half 
pound confectioner’s sugar wetted with 
sweet cream and vanilla extract. Bake 
cake in moderate oven. Hope the read¬ 
ers will like this recipe, it makes a very 
nice cake. 
Can some of the readers send in a re¬ 
cipe for good spice cup cakes, as I would 
time, and how few think of it as a priv¬ 
ileged time when they can teach great 
lessons and mold character as impossi¬ 
ble in later years! 
By accident I was obliged to stop at a 
farmhouse where there were two small 
children, five and six years of age. The 
family were entire strangers to me, ten¬ 
ants, and hard-working people, I was 
seated in the kitchen. The mother was 
washing dishes, and the boy was stand¬ 
ing on a chair wdping them. Presently 
the little girl awoke from her nap and 
coming out in a matter-of-fact way be¬ 
gan to carry away the dishes. The way 
they worked showed that it was an 
everyday occuii’ence, and when finished 
the little girl showed me a scrap of paper 
where she had laboriously written the 
first few letters of the alphabet. Her 
mother explained that the father had 
promised her a little gift when she had 
learned to write them all. The boy could 
read and write a fair hand, taught both 
by his mother. The mother said the dis¬ 
trict school was so far away that she was 
teaching them at home until both were 
old enough to go together. 
Quite by chance I was forced to take 
shelter in the same house one stormy 
night to get warm before finishing the 
trip home. These children were wildly 
excited over their first tooth brushes and 
paste, which they had received that day ! 
in the mail. While we ate the hot soup ; 
they insisted on preparing, we heard 
the children in the kitchen having their 
first lesson in cleaning their teeth, and if 
No. 646 is a centerpiece with a cherry design, which gives an excellent opportunity for 
attractive cross-stitch, the fruit being in shades of red and yellow. The centerpiece is 
square in shape and hasi four baskets. No. 646 is stamped* and tinted on fine quality white 
courtrai, size 35 inches. The price with mercerized floss, is 90 cents. There Is a table 
scarf to match this design, price 85 cents, size 18x54 Inches. 
like it? I enjoy reading all of the re¬ 
cipes sent in by the readers. a. s. 
Another Rule 
I.ight Part.—Two cups pa.stry flour, 
one-half cup of butter, two level tea¬ 
spoons baking powder, one-half cup of 
water, cups granulated sugar, one 
teaspoon vanilla, whites of four eggs. 
Cream butter and sugar, add water and 
flour alternately, then whites of eggs 
and beat hard. 
Dark Part.—Two cups pa.stry flour, 
one-half cup of water; two level tea¬ 
spoons baking powder, one-half teaspoon 
each of cloves and cinnamon and nut¬ 
meg, one cup of brown sugar, one- 
half cup of butter, yolks of four 
eggs well beat(*n. Lastly, one ounce 
of melted chocolate. Sift flour once then 
measure; add baking powder, and sift 
three times; cream butter and sugar; 
add yolks and beat hard, then flour and 
water alternately. Put in square layer 
pans in strips, light and dark alternately, 
when baked place together dark to light. 
ia.ss G. B. 
Another reader says that she some¬ 
times colorsi half the batter with pink 
vegetable coloring, and thus has a pretty 
checkered pink and white cake. From 
the fact that more than (50 readers sent 
in the first recipe given, it is evidently 
a standard rule that has been well tested. 
The Little Ones 
How many mothers dread the Winter 
days when the little ones are compelled 
to be in the house practically all of the 
their enthusiasm continues the dentist 
will have little work to do there. It 
seemed the boy had just had his first 
tooth pulled, and thought it a dreadful 
experience. His mother told him how 
much worse the second teeth hurt when 
pulled, and how he could preserve them. 
It seemed to me that this mother was 
using rare judgment in the training of 
her children, and was teaching them 
many things besides the rudiments of 
their education. Little children, especial¬ 
ly if one child is alone, must have some¬ 
thing to occupy their hands and minds, 
and it takes only a little time and fore¬ 
thought to start them playing in an edu¬ 
cational way, or doing simple tasks. Of 
coui’se, patience and common sense are 
needed. If a child on a bu.sy morning is 
not at all interested in his letter blocks, 
do not drive him to it as a hated task; 
let him .select something to do. Children 
have their own moods and inclinations 
the same as grown-ups, and must be in¬ 
dulged in them to a certain extent. 
Sometimes a few minutes spent in teach¬ 
ing a child to use a toy or game when you 
are not especially busy will save you 
many‘minutes on a busy day. I have 
seen children idle and unhappy with 
many toys simply because no one had 
played with them and taught them how 
to> use them. Remember not to allow a 
child to play too long with some close 
work, or nerves and temper will suffer. 
Teach them to relieve the tension in 
some romping game to exercise the stif¬ 
fened muscles. t. 
Facts 
Under the same conditions, a gpod 
dependable flour will produce the 
same satisfactory results every time. 
Pillsbury’s Best is, first of all, a de¬ 
pendable flour. It is milled to the 
same formula—day after day, year 
after year. Actual baking tests and 
hourly laboratory tests are carefully 
made to prevent any variation in 
quality. 
This mecins that with Pillsbury’s 
Best flour and proper methods your 
bread, biscuits and cake will be 
right — not once in a while, but every 
time! Those who use this sure-qual- 
ity flour never worry about spoiled 
bakings. 
It is true economy to bake with 
the flour that never fails. 
The Flour Question Settled 
“Because 
Pillsbury^s Best” 
I Send k#c for a copy of the famous Pillsbury Cook Book. Address Dept. F28 
Pillsbury Flour Mills Company, Minneapolis, Minn. 
