"Isn't boiled ham hard to prepare?"
"No, indeed, nothing could be simpler. I bought a half of a ham—I like a piece cut from the large end—and I soaked it for an hour in cold water. Then I brought it to a boil in fresh cold water and a little vinegar, and transferred it to the fireless cooker for five hours. Then I baked it for an hour in the cooker, having first trimmed it, and covered it with brown sugar and almost as many cloves as I could stick into it. It is very tender and good, I think—one of the best of my fireless cooker recipes."
"I am planning to have a fireless cooker when I keep house."
"That is fine, Ruth! You have no idea how they save both gas and worry. Some day I'll give you all of my best fireless recipes; I use my cooker a great deal. For instance, this brown bread was steamed in the cooker. A fireless is invaluable for steaming. I usually plan to have Boston Brown Bread, Tuna or Salmon Loaf and a pudding all steaming in the large compartment at once. Then I've learned to bake beautiful beans in the cooker! I wonder what our grandmothers think of Boston Baked Beans and Boston Brown Bread all made in the fireless! I'm sure I could prove to any of them that my way is just as good, besides being much cooler and more economical! Well, shall we call Fred and Bob?"
The circus day supper consisted of:
Cold Sliced Ham
Boston Brown Bread Butter
Blackberries Cream
Spiced Cake
Iced Tea Sliced Lemon
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Spiced Cake (Sixteen pieces)
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
2 egg yolks
2/3 C-sour milk
1½ t-cinnamon
¼ t-ground cloves
¼ t-mace
1 t-soda
2 C-flour
1 egg white
1 t-vanilla