Iht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
141 l 
sufficient boiling water to make it of a 
pasty consistency (so it won’t run, but 
will stick to the meat). Rub the meat 
well on both sides—skin and flesh side— 
and pack in hocks well around the bones. 
Lay the pieces on bench or table, not 
touching each other, and if there should 
be any of the mixture left rub it- on the 
thick part of hams and shoulders. Leave 
for 15 days; the middlings won’t take so 
long. Hang up and smoke with hickory 
wood. Don’t wash the meat before smok¬ 
ing. This recipe is for 1.000 lbs., gross 
weight, as it hangs on the gambrel. 
For 100 lbs. meat, 2 lbs. brown sugar, 
2 oz. saltpeter, oz. red pepper, five 
gallons water, salt enough to make brine 
bear an egg, which will be about S lbs. 
Put meat in pickle for 10 days. Then 
make new pickle, or boil the old and let 
it cool, put back on meat and leave it 
four weeks, then smoke. H. s. 
Suggestions for the Belated Christmas 
Gift 
No matter how early or methodically 
we go about our Christmas shopping or 
making our Christmas gifts, there are sure 
to be a number of belated ones. Or. per¬ 
haps, some of you had fully made up 
your minds not to do any giving this 
year; and you have said over and over 
again, quite positively, “It’s all nonsense, 
this fuss and flurry and expense at 
Christmas time.” You said it several 
months back, and now it’s nearly here, 
and you have “stuck to your guns.” But 
with the season’s spirit of loving and giv¬ 
ing filling the air you are experiencing a 
“change of heart,” just as it happened to 
me once, and there comes such a longing 
for gift-making and giving that you can¬ 
not resist, and you set about making 
things, even at a late hour, -with a joyful 
heart. 
These cannot, of course, be as elaborate 
as those made when there was more 
leisure time to spend on them, but the 
simple, practical gifts are usually the 
most acceptable. Just now the stores are 
filled with all sorts of pretty, useful novel¬ 
ties which can be copied by nimble fin¬ 
gers. Unbleached sheeting holds many 
charming possibilities for practical things 
—quaint aprons, dresser covers, table 
covers, pillow tops, play aprons for the 
little girl and bibs for the baby. They 
are bound or banded and appliqued with 
gay cretonne, or embroidered in colors. 
The running or outline stitch is usually 
used, though French knots and cross- 
stitch would be very effective, too. 
One sees any number of serviceable 
articles in the department stores made 
from white pebbled oilcloth—table run¬ 
ners with doilies to go with them, book 
bags, shoe bags and aprons are some of 
them that could be copied by the woman 
who paints or stencils. With the edges 
colored a deep blue, green or tan, and the 
decorations of fruit or flowers in their 
natural colors, they are very attractive. 
Every little miss of six or eight years 
likes her own stationery, as well as a 
place to keep it in. Writing paper hold¬ 
ers are made of the pebbled oilcloth. Take 
a strip 15%x7% in. of the material, line 
it with cretonne or Japanese crepe, and 
finish the edges all around with J4-in. blan¬ 
ket stitch of colored wool. Turn up 3 or 4 
in. at the bottom for a pocket, and fasten 
with the.wool, then decorate with Mother 
Goose designs or little Dutch boys or 
girls, stenciled, or cut from cretonne and 
pasted on. This may be folded or hung 
on the wall by two loops, one at each of 
the upper corners. The book bags made 
from the same material are lined and 
ornamented in the same manner. 
A pretty bureau set for a little girl’s 
room may be evolved in a surprisingly 
short time if you happen to have on hand 
two empty % -lb. and one 1-lb. baking 
powder cans and two or three shallow tin 
boxes, square or oblong, such as fancy 
cakes and crackers come in. A cover of 
one of the cake boxes makes the tray. 
The paper labels are soaked off and the 
boxes enameled to suit the color scheme 
of the child’s room, a lining of cretonne 
is pasted in, and the tops of the covers 
stenciled. 
Fascinating black-cat bags for holding 
a little boy’s marbles are cut from black 
cloth in the shape of a cat. yellow beads 
are sewed on for eyes, and white whiskers 
and a red nose embroidered with wool or 
silk. Another gift that will delight the 
small boy is a pair of “pussy slippers” 
made from gray or yellow eiderdown, and 
lined with silk to match. There are ears 
cut into the cloth in front, black bead 
eyes and black whiskers, and at the heel, 
fastened to the sole of the slipper, is a 
soft eiderdown pussy tail. 
Brilliant utility bags of all sorts and sizes 
can always be quickly created from rem¬ 
nants of silk or cretonne. Wooden button 
molds, tinted any color you like, or wooden 
beads, make effective touches to the cre¬ 
tonne ones. A very pretty book bag is 
made from an ordinary twine one. Line 
it with “juvenile cretonne,” and don’t 
forget to stitch a compartment in the 
lining for pencils. Gut out some of the 
figures from the cretonne and applique 
these to the sides, and ornament the bot¬ 
tom with dangles of small tinted molds 
or wooden beads. 
There is something pretty in a little 
sleeveless house jacket that would delight 
almost any college girl who likes a color¬ 
ful touch to her wardrobe, made of rich- 
colored cretonne, lined with old gold or 
blue silk. Another acceptable gift for 
the college or business girl who must live 
away from home is a chafing dish apron 
made from a yard square of cretonne. 
Cut off about 5 in. from one corner, them 
hem the edges all around and finish with 
cream upholstery fringe. Turn the square 
so that there is a point in front and one 
on each side, the cut-off one forming the 
bib. Narrow tucks are folded at the 
waist line to fit the form, and the apron 
is fastened at the back with a loop and 
button sewed to the side points. A pretty 
cap of the same material might be made 
to go with this. Among some of the novel 
styles for boudoir caps are the Egyptian, 
the poke effect, the tam-o’-shanter and the 
one-piece caps. Patterns for these as well 
as aprons and children’s toys can be 
bought at any department store where 
patterns are kept. 
An ordinary round wooden bread board, 
glorified with a touch of color or sten¬ 
ciled design around the edge, makes a 
useful gift for the young housekeeper or 
bride-to-be. A plain wooden handled 
bread knife, decorated to match, should 
accompany this. A simple white wood 
salad set, decorated in the same manner, 
makes another attractive and usable gift. 
Easily made lingerie and slip-on neg¬ 
liges are always acceptable gifts. These 
may have a Christmassy touch in hand 
embroidery or real hand-made lace. There 
are lovely designs in the imitation cluny 
and filet which can take the place of the 
real lace. kosamo.xd lajipmas. 
Community Dinners 
There is no better way to foster the 
community spirit in the country com¬ 
munity than by an occasional community 
dinner. The farm woman who gets three 
meals day in and day out enjoys one meal 
away from home now and then, even if 
she must help with getting it. However, 
work away from home with the other 
women of the neighborhood partakes of 
the qualities of play. 
In every village there should be one 
place where any organization may go for 
a dinner or social evening and have a 
convenient kitchen and dining-room where 
a meal may be served. It makes no dif¬ 
ference whether it is a church, a Grange 
hall or the school building. In our town 
we have fitted up the basement of the 
town hall for dining-room and kitchen, 
and any organization is free to go there 
for a dinner, a supper, a social evening— 
the only stipulation being that any 
broken dishes be replaced. 
There are two churches, a Grange and 
a woman’s club in our village, and all 
make use of the hall. There is a good 
range and table there, but the two ladies’ 
aid societies gave a dinner and took the 
proceeds to buy kitchen equipment. The 
town bought enough dishes to serve 100. 
Whether the dinner is given as a 
money-making affair or for the social 
time, it makes no difference. It gets the 
same result, namely, getting away from 
home and talking over common exper¬ 
iences and common difficulties and, too, 
fostering a community spirit. 
Here are several menus that may be 
served to a crowd, the food being fur¬ 
nished by the ladies. It is. best to decide 
on the meat first and plan the dinner 
around that. In planning meat dinners 
allow a quarter of a pound to a person. 
This will allow 'for bone and shrinkage 
and serve a good-sized portion to a per¬ 
son. Here is one menu : 
Boast Beef 
Esealloped Potatoes Gold Slaw 
Brown Bread Butter Milk to Drink 
Apple Sauce Cake Coffee 
In serving this dinner the cold slaw 
may 'be placed in large dishes around on 
the table when the tables are set, and the 
apple sauce dished out in sauce dishes 
and put around at the plates. It is less 
work to pass the cakes, though a piece 
may be put on a small plate beside each 
plate. The potatoes may be fixed at 
home, so many women being asked to fix 
potatoes. Wben preparing esealloped 
potatoes in large quantity, parboil for a 
few moments and have the milk hot be¬ 
fore pouring over them. If the potatoes 
are esealloped in a large-sized roaster, 
they will keep hot while getting to the 
hall, and may be placed in the warming 
oven or oven to keep hot. They should, of 
course, be served piping hot. Another 
menu is as follows: 
Chicken Gravy 
Baking Powder Biscuit with Gravy 
Mashed Potato Fruit Salad 
Coffee Cookies 
For a roast pork dinner it is nice to 
get fresh hams if possible. A little less 
pork may be provided for the same num¬ 
ber than beef. It seems to go further 
than beef when serving a crowd. The 
following is suggested: 
Roast Pork Potatoes Gravy 
Celery Bread Butter 
Jelly (makes tables look festive) 
Pie Coffee (for adults) 
Milk (for children) 
When planning a dinner of this sort it 
is best to have one woman at the head of 
the soliciting committee (not the same 
one every time) and one at the head of 
the dinner the day it is served. In our 
community the woman who has charge of 
the soliciting asks a woman on each tele¬ 
phone line to solicit her line and report 
to her what each one will furnish. 
The woman who has charge of the din¬ 
ner the day it is served should give a 
definite task to each helper. Half the 
charm of the meal is the service, and the 
ones assigned to wait on table should be 
on the job. It is a good thing at dish 
washing time to have the men don aprons 
and wield the dish towels. They need a 
bit of practice now and then. 
MAY HOOVER 1IU.MAW, 
SALT is like 
HAIL or SNOW 
Salt is either of hard hail-like 
crystals or hard solid flakes, 
that are slow dissolving and 
uneven in their flavoring qual¬ 
ities — or it is of fine soft, 
porous flakes that dissolve 
quickly, penetrate evenly, and 
flavor uniformly. 
Colonial Special Farmers Salt 
melts instantly like snow be¬ 
cause it is the only salt of soft, 
porous flaky texture. It is pure 
salt, all salt, with all of the 
moisture removed. That is why 
it does not cake or lump as or¬ 
dinary salts do. 
Best for cooking, baking, but¬ 
termaking, meat curing, table 
use and all farm uses. 
vu//w///w/w//n/nm/n/m/nt 
Put up in 70- 
lb. bags of 
linenized ma¬ 
terial which 
makes excel¬ 
lent toweling. 
Colonial 
Salt 
Each tiny speck 
of Colonial Special 
Farmers Salt is like 
a flat, soft, porous 
flake of 6now. Of 
course it dissolves 
quickly and com¬ 
pletely. 
Akron. - oH* 0, 
**1 M « l«1 
Ordinary 
Salt 
The cube-like 
hard crystals or hard 
flakes of other salts, 
make dissolving un¬ 
even, causing poor 
results. Insist on 
Colonial Special 
Farmers Salt. 
COLONIAL “ SALT 
THE COLONIAL SALT COMPANY, AKRON, OHIO 
Chicago, Ill. Buffalo, N. Y. Boston, Mass. Atlanta, Ga. 
FOR STOCK SALT—USE COLONIAL BLOCK SALT 
TELL TOMORROW’S 
White’s Weather Prophet fore- IIF . 1 
casts the weather 8 to 24 hoors YV 03.II10T 
- advance. Not a toy but 
a scientifically construc¬ 
ted instrument working automatically Hand- 
some, reliable and everlasting. 
An Ideal Present 
Made doubly interesting by the little figures of 
Hansel and Grctel and the Witch, who come in 
► and out to tell you what the 
weather will be. Sire 
' fully guaranteed. Post¬ 
paid to any address in U S. 
or Canada on receipt of 
Aginta Want ad. 
IDAVID WHITE, Dept 114,419 E. Water St , MiUeukee, Wi*. 
IIVII, "IIV VVIIIl III 
$ 1.25 
FOR CHRISTMAS 
TURKISH TOWEL BATH SETS 
1 Bath Towel—1 Guest Towel—1 Wash Cloth. White 
with pink and gold, or blue and gold striped bord¬ 
ers. Neatly packed in holly gift Vexes. $ 1.00 per 
set or 5 sets for $4.80 postpaid. 
STERLING TEXTILE MILLS Clinton. Mass. 
Qorralo OF ST.1C1ITLY OAMAGEO CltOt KERY 
DafTold Hotel Clilnawai-e. Cooklngwur®, ilnminuluwar*. ete. 
shipped direct from factory to consumer. Write us 
for particulars. E. SWilSElf « CO., Portland,Maine 
Tow Can't Get 
Away From It! 
TT’S the flavor! The wonderful flavor and quality of Van Dyk Teas and 
-*• Coffees that have made our 100 stores successful. Our Mail Order Department 
makes it possible for everyone to get this quality. Just mail your check or 
money order and we send the goods. If you don’t like the quality we promptly 
return your money. You want satisfaction and we only tvant satisfied customers. 
WE PAY THE PARCEL POST (within 300 miles) 
(Add 4c. per lb. postage for distances further than 300 miles from New York). 
COFFEES 
Freshly Roasted—All Pure 
(State if you want Bean or Ground) 
4 lbs. SAN BO for $1.00 
San Bo is a special blend of excellent 
coffees (no Rios) producing full strength 
and wonderful flavor. 
3 lbs. G. C. MARA for $1.00 
A Genuine Maracaibo Coffee. 
2% lbs. DUCHESS for $1.00 
The finest Coffee in America. 
4 lbs. COCOA for $1.00 
Absolutely Pure. 
JAMES VAN DYK 07. 
50 BARCLAY ST., NEW YORK, N. Y. 
100 Van Dyk Stores in Thirty Cities. Reference:—Your Own Bank. 
TEAS 
High Quality—Delicious Flavor 
3 lbs. VICTORY - TEA for $1.00 
2 lbs. QUALI-TEA “ $1.00 
Your choice :—Mixed, Oolong, 
Ceylon, Orange Pekoe, English 
Breakfast, Uncolored Japan, Young 
Hyson, etc. 
6 lbs. PEANUT BUTTER $1.50 
Absolutely Pure. 
