Home › Ninth Day › Ninth Day: Mabel

Ninth Day: Mabel

But Mrs. King was already far on her way to the kitchen, where her sister sent the three girls to join her, while she herself descended to the parlor to receive her company. "Not an egg in the house!" said Aunt Jane, after a rapid survey of the pantry. "Mabel, take a dish and run in and asked Mrs. Lane to lend us half a dozen. Tell her it is a case of necessity. I'll look in the cellar and see what the butcher left for dinner. Tomatoes? Why, we're rich! Grace, make a mayonnaise dressing instanter. Amy, wipe the tomatoes and pick off the stems, and then cut them up just as we do at home." And Mrs.

King herself broke up a cake of chocolate into small pieces, and put it in a saucepan with water over the fire to melt. "Ah, Mabel, you have the eggs! Now break them carefully, whites and yolks separate, and beat them up. Amy, when you have done cutting up the tomatoes, get out a frying-pan and put it over the fire with a tablespoonful of butter, and stir this chocolate every minute or two, to keep it from burning." And in the mean time Mrs.

King was rapidly cutting fair, even slices of bread from one of Rhoda's loaves. "Now, girls, the first one that has time, toast this bread as nicely as you know how, and butter each piece on both sides as soon as it is done."

When she had cut enough bread for toast, Mrs. King took the yolks which Mabel had been beating, and added to them a small cupful of milk, some pepper and salt, and lastly the whites of the eggs. The butter in the fryingpan was now "hissing hot," so, pouring her omelette gently in, she set it over the fire. From time to time as it cooked, she slipped a broad-bladed knife under it to prevent its burning, and in seven or eight minutes, when it was done, she laid a dish bottom upward over the top of the frying-pan, which she turned upside down, leaving the omelette in the dish. In the meantime, Grace, having finished making the dressing and poured it over the tomatoes, prepared the chocolate under her aunt's directions, by adding more boiling water and milk to it; then scalded the teapot and made a cup of tea, and the lunch was ready to serve.

Mary had set the table nicely, and was now at liberty to wait on it. The omelette and buttered toast came first, with the chocolate; then the plates were changed and a tomato salad came on with plain bread and butter, and to finish off the meal there were canned peaches with a plate of crackers, and a cup of tea for those who wished it. "It isn't twice in a season that I am caught without cake in the house," said Mrs. Vernon, after her friends were gone; "but to-day happened to be one of the times." "Why can't we make some this afternoon, mamma?" inquired Grace, whose taste for cooking seemed to grow with exercise, instead of wearing off as her mother had feared it would,--"though I don't believe any one missed the cake at all, for they all seemed to enjoy their lunch very much." "I think your idea is a good one, Gracie," said Mrs. King, "and I have some nice recipes that we haven't tried yet; so if mamma has no objection, we'll do as much as we have time for. What are you going to have for dessert?" "I haven't the slightest idea," said Mrs. Vernon, "I suppose Rhoda will make a pudding of some sort." "Well, if we happen to think of anything nice, we'll make it, and Rhoda won't object to having some of her work done beforehand. Come, girls, on with your aprons again, that is, if you want to, and we'll see what we can do."

The little girls had become such enthusiasts in the matter of cooking, that this invitation was never given in vain, for Aunt Jane was a charming companion, and enlivened the hours passed in the kitchen with such pleasant conversation that they wanted no better amusement. "I wish we could make some blanc-mange," said Mabel. "I like that better than anything else." "It is too late to have that to-day," replied Aunt Jane, "because it wouldn't have time to get hard. We can make some for to-morrow's dessert, but even then we must use farina or corn-starch, because gelatine needs to soak for a long time. Most people prefer these because there is more body to them; but I will give you some recipes for both kinds."