1378 
December 1 , 1917 
^Ae RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day 
Winter: A Dirge 
The wintry "West extends his blast, 
•A nd hail and rain does hlaw; 
Or the stormy North sends driving forth and pleasures gives the finest foundation 
welcome. Waste and extravagance are 
really insidious forms of treason, but 
there are three separate and distinct 
classes who are entitled to share the joys 
of our Christmas; they are our fighting 
men abroad, those in need and sorrow at 
home, and the young and old of our own 
household, and thought for their comforts 
The blinding sleet and snaw; 
While, tumbling brow'n, the burn comes 
down. 
And roars frae bank to brae; 
And bird and beast in covert rest, 
And pass the heartless day. 
The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast. 
The joyless Winter day. 
I>et others fear—to me more dear 
Than all the pride of May; 
I'lie tempest’s howl, it soothes my soul. 
My griefs it seems to join; 
I’lie leafless trees my fancy please, 
’I'heir fate re.sembles mine! 
^J'hou Power Supreme, whose mighty 
scheme 
These woes of mine fulfill. 
Here, firm, I rest—they must be best. 
Because they are Thy will. 
Then all I want (oh, do Thou grant 
This one ivquest of mine!) 
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny. 
Assist me to resign ! 
—TtoijKRT Burns. 
* 
ScoLY.Arus, or Spanish salsify, also 
called golden thistle and Spanish oyster 
plant, is a vegetable we have been enjoy¬ 
ing this Autumn, and it is a very profit¬ 
able addition to the home vegetable gar¬ 
den. Its flavor is intermediate between 
salsify and parsnip.s, but very much like 
the former, and the product from a given 
area is much more than with the ordinary 
oyster plant, as the roots are larger, and 
the plants more productive. The roots 
may be dug in Fall or Spring; they go 
down so far that it is quite a task to dig 
them. The one fault of Scolymus is that 
the leaves are prickly, like a thistle, and 
hence uncomfortable to handle, though it 
is said that the leaves and stalks are 
blanched and eaten in Spain. We usually 
boil the wots, after scraping the skin off, 
and serve with cream sauce; they are 
beautifully white when cooked, but the 
skin stains one’s hands badly when pre¬ 
paring for cooking. They are also excel¬ 
lent scalloped or fried. The Spanish 
oyster plant is a biennial, bearing the 
second year bright yellow flower heads, 
which are said to be used to adulterate 
saffron. This vegetable is raised from 
seeds sown in March or April, and we 
urge a trial of it by home gardeners who 
are not yet acquainted with it. 
* 
Anyone who has odd balls or hanks of 
knitting yarn of different colors, left over 
from former work can knit them into 
squares to be joined into afghans or crib 
covers for destitute babies in Europe. 
Your nearest branch of the Red Cross 
will tell you about this. As this is plain 
knitting, and eas.v to do, it will be good 
practice wmrk for inexperienced knitters, 
before starting on soldiers’ mufflers or 
wristlets. Many households will find left¬ 
overs of colored wool that can be insed 
in this way. There are also many knitted 
articles of cotton used in Red Cross work 
that call for plain knitting and cost less 
for material than the expensive wool. 
Cotton knitting includes washcloths, sur¬ 
gical bandages of various classes, and bed 
socks, and some articles of this class 
would be desirable for the little girl who 
wants, like everyone else, to “do her bit,” 
but is not sufficiently expert to be trusted 
with expensive wool. 
Christmas shopping this year is to be, 
more than ever, a matter for thought and 
consideration, rathen than heavy expendi¬ 
ture. We do not approve of denying all 
Christmas giving to family and friends, 
or making the holiday period a time of 
gloom and mortification to the children. 
We shall not awaken their patriotism and 
benevolence by cutting off every pleasure, 
and telling them that it is all due to the 
great war. But we can use delicious 
dried fruits and nuts in place of elaborate 
candies that waste needed sugar; we can 
give so much thought to small gifts that 
they really do give pleasure to the recip¬ 
ient. and we can remember, too, if our 
vegetable cellar is well supplied, that a 
local hospital, old people’s home or or¬ 
phanage feels the cost of living like the 
rest, and is very possibly struggling with 
lessened revenues, that will make a bushel 
or so of potatoes, turnips or apples very 
for our own Christmas happiness. 
An Economical Christmas Dinner 
With the exorbitant prices of most 
foodstuffs, and the nation’s urgent appeal 
for conservation, many a housewife is won¬ 
dering how she will manage to get up her 
usual delectable (’hristmas feast this year. 
So I am going to do m.v best to help those 
who are puzzling the most. 
First, do away with all unneces.sary 
table decorations; Jack Horners, favors, 
and place-cards are not essentials for an 
attractive table. Have your cloth immac¬ 
ulate, of course, and use the very prettiest 
china, doilies, and napkins the house af¬ 
fords. For the center of the table arrange 
gracefully just a bit of Christmas green. 
The Rural Patterns 
In ordering always give number of pattern 
and size desired, sending price with order 
94()(> l.ong Coat, 34 
to 44 bust. 
ITice 15 cents. 
9500 Surplice 
n 1 0 u 8 e , .34 to 44 
bust. I’rice 15 cents. 
9550 Pour -Piece 
Skirt, 24 to 32 waist. 
l*rice 10 cents. 
9540 'I’ic-Cn Podice, 
34 to 42 bust. 
I’rice 15 cents. 
9550 Tucked .Skirt 
in I’anel Effect, 24 
to 32 waist. 
I’rice 15 cents. 
9.522 Cliild’s Press, 
C months or 1 year, 
2 and 4 years. 
Price 10 cents. 
Holly with: its glossy green leaves and 
red berries is always symbolic of the 
Christmas spirit, and when this can’t bo 
secured mountain laurel or ground pine 
would do. A small potted pepper tree, 
such as one finds at the florists, makes a 
lovely decoration for the center of the 
table on Christmas day. Any low-growing 
green plant, with a itrip of red crepe paper 
covering the pot that contains it, would 
be effective. If holly is u.sed reserve prim 
little sprigs to be placed on the folded 
napkin at each plate, and if the dinner is 
to be given at night, four tall caudles with 
red shades will give your table plenty of 
color and all the light it needs. As for 
the menu you will find, though it lacks 
some of the season's luxuries, it contains 
plenty of Christmas cheer : 
Halves of grapefruit 
Roast shoulder of lamb (stuffed) 
Potato puffs, creamed cabbage 
Apple and celery salad, cheese, wafers 
Christmas caramel pudding 
Raisins, nuts 
Coffee 
To make this an economical menu I 
find that either the first course, which 
usually consists of grapefruit, a fruit 
cocktail, or oysters, or the soup must be 
omitted. Grapefruit is never expensive 
at this time of the year; it makes a de¬ 
licious appetizer for the beginning of a 
dinner, it is easy to prepare, and when 
served in its own golden bowls adds much 
to the attractiveness of the table. Get 
the medium-sized fruit, smooth and clear¬ 
skinned. Cut into halves, then with a 
thin, sharp-bladed knife separate the fruit 
from the shell in sections and remove all 
seeds and memberane, keeping the sec¬ 
tions as whole as possible. Sprinkle this 
with powdered sugar and let stand in a 
cool place until needed, then return to the 
shells and add a candied cherry to the top 
of each. 
A fish cour.se is never a necessary ad¬ 
junct to a heavy dinner, so we will cut 
that out, and with the present price of 
turkey perhaps it will be .wi.se to consider 
somehting cheaper here, too. Chicken is 
always an excellent substitute, and there 
is nothing so delicious as a nice roast of 
lamb, a leg carefully baked and served 
within a border of potatoes, cut in eighths, 
lengthwise, parboiled, drained and brown¬ 
ed in the pan with the meat, or a crown 
roast, with the center filled with peas, 
drained dry and well-buttered, or some 
nicely cooked Brussels sprouts, the out¬ 
side garnished with parslev, or the shoul¬ 
der boned and stuffed with a well-seasoned 
stuffing, garnished with cress, and served 
with mint jelly and potato puffs. Either 
way would be appetizing and Christmassy 
enough for anyone. 
Chicken roa.sted, baked in a pie, or a 
pot-pie are the three most popular ways 
of .serving it. For a delicious chicken pie, 
select two young tender fowls, not over 
a year old, singe, draw, wash and wipe, 
then separate into pieces at the joints. 
Roll in well-seasoned flour, brown on each 
side in hot salt pork-fat, and turn into 
a casserole; add enough boiling water to 
cover it, cover and cook until tender. 
I’arboil several small white onions, twice 
as many tiny round potatoes or potato 
balls, and as many slices of carrot, drain, 
then brown slightly in the fat in which 
the chicken was browned, and add to the 
chicken in the casserole. Make a thin 
brown sauce with the fat in the pan and 
pour this over all, then cover the top with 
a rich biscuit crust and bake 20 minutes. 
Serve W’ith it either cranberry, currant or 
apple jelly, or a relish of some kind. 
To make the salad, wash and wipe some 
smooth red apples and core, then cut into 
tiny cubes, without paring, and ns soon 
as possible add the juice of one large 
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