Lest my readers should be startled to see sea-kale on the list, and think that our housekeeper was forgetting her economy, I will explain at once that it was not the expensive sea-kale at eighteenpence the basket that one sees wrapped in blue paper in the green-grocers’ shops. It was some sold at twopence the pound—a quite small kind—that Marion had discovered at some local “stores” which she occasionally frequented. It was not as delicate as the expensive kind, but it was very nice. The salesman told her that they were the siftings of the finer kind. The ptarmigan she bought on a day when they were for sale very cheap, as there had been a large supply in the market, and they hung for a day or two until they were wanted. They took so little time to cook—about twenty-five minutes, that it was hardly more trouble to cook them than to warm up a pie or stew as they often did on a Sunday. The oat biscuits and the Loch Lomond pudding were both made from recipes given some years before to Marion’s mother by a Highland lady famous for her good things. Here they are:—
Oat Biscuits. —Mix a teaspoonful of baking powder with six ounces of flour; mix in four ounces of fine oatmeal with two ounces of brown sugar; mix with beaten egg to a dough. Roll out, stamp into rounds with a wineglass, lay on a greased tin and bake in a rather slow oven about twenty minutes.
Loch Lomond Pudding. —Beat a quarter of a pound of dripping to a cream, stir in two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, two tablespoonfuls of raspberry jam, and half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda; add four ounces of flour, and lastly beat in two eggs one by one. Bake in a buttered pie-dish about three-quarters of an hour.
The food bill for the week was certainly economical. The breakfasts on the alternate mornings, when they did not take porridge, were dried haddocks, Monday and Wednesday, and bacon on Friday. The haddocks were left to soak in milk and water all night and then cooked in a frying-pan in the milk and water until quite tender, skimmed carefully, drained on a fish-slice, put on a hot dish that had first been rubbed with a little piece of butter, and another bit was put on the top of the fish. Then they were peppered and brought quickly to table.
Food account:—
| £ | s. | d. | |
| Two ptarmigan | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Three and a half pounds of loin of pork | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Half a pound of chuck steak | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| One pound of sausages | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Four sheep’s hearts at 3½d. | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| One pound of liver | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| One and a half pounds of bacon | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Two haddocks | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Four small whitings | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| One pound of artichokes | 0 | 0 | 1½ |
| Celery (for flavouring) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| One pound of onions | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| One pound of small sea-kale | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cauliflower | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Cabbage | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nine pounds of potatoes | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| One pound of prunes | 0 | 0 | 6½ |
| Tin of potted meat | 0 | 0 | 4½ |
| Small tin of cocoa | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Half a pound of tea | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Eight loaves of bread | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Milk | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Sundries (peaflour, jam, etc.) | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Quaker oats | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Fat for rendering | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| One and a half pounds of butter | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Tin of sardines | 0 | 0 | 10½ |
| £1 | 2 | 7 |
Towards the end of the month, as oranges were getting much sweeter, and were very cheap, they made some excellent marmalade. Jane, Marion and Abigail cut up the oranges one Saturday morning, put them in a large earthenware pan with the right quantity of water, covered the pan and let the contents soak all Sunday. On Monday Marion cooked it until it was sufficiently firm and put it in jars, which she tied down on the following day. This is her recipe—
Orange Marmalade. —Shred finely sixteen Seville oranges, twelve sweet ones and four lemons, carefully removing the pips as you do so, and put them to soak in an earthenware pan with six quarts of water, cover the pan and let it soak for forty-eight hours. Put in a stewpan or fish-kettle with eight pounds of loaf sugar. As soon as the sugar has melted, boil the marmalade, quickly skimming all the while for twenty minutes, and then let it simmer until the marmalade jellies.
(To be continued. )