““One of the stewpans was all dinged up and Mrs. Lynde straned her ribs. The doctor came and gave her medicine to rub on her ribs but she didn’t under stand him and took it all inside instead. The doctor said it was a wonder it dident kill her but it dident and it cured her ribs and Mrs. Lynde says doctors dont know much anyhow. But we couldent fix up the stewpan. Marilla had to throw it out. Thanksgiving was last week. There was no school and we had a great dinner. I et mince pie and rost turkey and frut cake and donuts and cheese and jam and choklut cake. Marilla said I’d die but I dident. Dora had earake after it, only it wasent in her ears it was in her stummick. I dident have earake anywhere.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
1/2 cupful of butter. 2/3 cupful of sugar. 1 generous cupful of flour. 2/3 cupful of stoned raisins. 2/3 cupful of blackberry jam. 2 tablespoonfuls of sour cream or milk. 1/2 teaspoonful of soda. 1/2 of a nutmeg, grated. 2 eggs. Beat the butter to a cream, then beat in the sugar. When very light, beat in the jam and nutmeg. Dissolve the soda in one tablespoonful of cold water, and add it to the sour cream. Add this and the egg, well beaten, to the other ingredients. Now add the flour, and beat for half a minute. Sprinkle a tablespoonful of flour over the raisins, and stir them in lightly. Pour the batter into a well buttered pan, and bake for fifty minutes. This makes one small loaf. This cake may be put away to be used as a pudding when convenient. Steam it for one hour, and serve with a wine sauce. It is almost as good as a plum pudding.
Sources: The passage is from L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery, Anne of the Island, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Parloa, Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — teal cloth, cheese stamp.