SUGAR CRISPS.—­Make a soft dough of two and one fourth cups of Graham flour, one half cup of granulated white sugar, and one cup of rather thick sweet cream.  Knead as little as possible, roll out very thinly, cut in rounds or squares, and bake in a quick oven.

VARIETY CAKE.—­Make the same as Gold and Silver Cake, and mix a half cup of Zante currants and chopped raisins with the yellow portion.  The white portion may be flavored by adding a very little chopped citron instead of the cocoanut, if preferred.

TABLE TOPICS.

If families could be induced to substitute the apple—­sound, ripe, and luscious—­for the pies, cakes, candies, and other sweetmeats with which children are too often stuffed, there would be a diminution of doctors’ bills, sufficient in a single year to lay up a stock of this delicious fruit for a season’s use.—­Prof.  Faraday.

    Food for repentance—­mince pie eaten late at night.

    Young Student—­“This cook book says that pie crust needs plenty of
    shortening.  Do you know what that means, pa?”

    Father—­“It means lard.”

    “But why is lard called shortening, pa?”

    “Because it shortens life.”

    The health journals and the doctors all agree that the best and most
    wholesome part of the New England country doughnut is the hole.  The
    larger the hole, they say, the better the doughnut.

An old gentleman who was in the habit of eating a liberal slice of pie or cake just before retiring, came home late one evening after his wife had gone to bed.  After an unsuccessful search in the pantry, he called to his wife, “Mary, where is the pie?” His good wife timidly acknowledged that there was no pie in the house.  Said her husband, “Then where is the cake?” The poor woman meekly confessed that the supply of cake was also exhausted; at which the disappointed husband cried out in a sharp, censorious tone, “Why, what would you do if somebody should be sick in the night?”

Woman (to tramp)—­“I can give you some cold buckwheat cakes and a piece of mince pie.” Tramp—­(frightened) “What ye say?” Woman—­“Cold buckwheat cakes and mince pie.” Tramp—­(heroically) “Throw in a small bottle of pepsin, Madam, and I’ll take the chances.”

GRAVIES AND SAUCES

Gravies for vegetables, sauces for desserts, and similar foods thickened with flour or cornstarch, are among the most common of the poorly prepared articles of the cuisine, although their proper preparation is a matter of considerable importance, since neither a thin, watery sauce nor a stiff, paste-like mixture is at all palatable.  The preparation of gravies and sauces is a very simple matter when governed by that accuracy of measurement and carefulness of detail which should be exercised in the preparation of all