Loading...
The Clinton News Record, 1920-12-16, Page 3. ug estions for the Christmas Dinner Although I don't b.lneee in having my Olnistmas table laiden with sew. eral kinds of •desserts and an outs.. rageous variety oe yeeetaibles, X do try to have,sonethiug a little unusual, I like to decoraTe my table • prettily, and plaza cunning favors, so that the eye as well as the appetite will be appealed to, Oarrying out Rome color Kleine Makes the Christmas (linnet, so much mere attractive, and will cause very little extra trouble. Red and white, it seems to pie, is the most'• appropriate color selene for the holi- day season, s I serve my Paled as an extra course. It is much nicer and scarcely any more trouble, There tare many salads, that are inexpensive to make and yet so delicious. After a heavy dinner, such as the Christmas feast always is, we like a light dessert, and 'cake, or a pudding, leather than a rich pastry. A chilled dessert is easily prepared, and noth- ing is nicer. We finish up, of course; on raisins, nuts, and candy. I usually plan my dinner so I«won't have to prepare it all in one day. 1 make the salad dressing and cake, and prepare as many of the vegetables the day 'befon as possible, for T do not like to be hurried with this din- rier. Most of us who do our own work know that this preparedness stakes things eases'. Here are a few recipes I have found especially popular with my family: Duchess Potatoes. Two cups cold mashed potatoes, 1 egg, 34 cup hot milk. Mix the .mash- ed potatoes with the beaten egg; stir in the hot milk, season, and mix thor- oughly. Place in a buttered baking dish, and brown in the even. Escalloped Corn. One can corn, 8 teaspoons butter, s! cup milk, 1/4. chopped green pep- pers, 1 egg, salt, 14 cup crumbs. To the corn add the beaten egg and milk; add butter, season, and mix in the chopped green pepper. Cover with crumbs, and bake in a buttered bald- ing dish. Stuffed_ Celery Hearts. Take small celery hearts, clean and let stand in cold water. Mix up creast cheese with chopped pimento, and add enough cream to make soft cheese. -Season the cheese, and stuff it in .centre of celery stock. Chill and serve when. firni. Pear Salad. Drain and chill canned pears, Pre on a letttiee leaf, gnomishwith nits and ohernies a and serve with whipped cream dressing, A small portion of Dream cheese limy be added to salad if desired, Red Apple Salad. Siva ,apples, 2 cups sugar, 3 cup choppedcelery, y/4 cup chopped nets, 1 cup water. Wash, pare, and core the apples; ` Make a syrup of sugar and water, and add enough coloring to make a deep red color. Wean the syrup comes to a boll, drop in the apples. Turn apples over and over, and let cock until tender and soft. Take out of syrup and chill. Place the apples on a lettere leaf, and stuff with celery. Serve with whipped cream dressing, and garnish with nuts. Cherry Sponge. One tablespoon gelatin, 1 cup boil- ing water, le cup lemon and orange juice, '/4 cup cold water, It cup cherry juiee, 3h cup sugar, 8 egg whites. Swell the gelatin in cold water ,gond dissolve the sugar in fruit juices and remaining water. Stir in mixture, cool until it thielcens, beat thoroughly, and add beaten egg whites. Place in wet molds. Serve with whipped eseam, and gainish top with cherries. Steamed Suet Pudding. Half cup suet, 3 cup molasses, salt, 'iz teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 tea- spoon cloves, w4 teaspoon soda, 1/4 cup raisins, le eup sour milk, 1 cup flour, 14 cup currants. Chop suet fine. Wash and dry the raisins and currants. Cut the raisins; sprinkle suet, raisins, and currants with flour to keep them from settling. Thor- oughly mix the molasses and milk, then add fruit and suet. Sift the flour and 'spices and -add to milk. Pour into buttered molds, and -steam for "three hours. Serve hot -with hard or cream sauce. Date Pudding. Half pound dates, G egg whites, 1 cup sugar, 1 pound nuts, 8 teaspoons baking pewter. Stone and chop dates. Shell and chop nuts. Beat the egg whites until stiff and day. Mast the baking powder with the egg whites, and add the sugar. -Fold the chopped dates and nuts into the mix- ture. Pour the mixture into a shal- low baking tin, and bake for twenty or thirty minutes. :-: The Uninvited Guest BY VIRGINIA STANARD. When the long, lighted train pulled intoi i Fa tweed on Ohristmas Eve, Roderick•Dale was there to meet the little guests who were coming to spend the holidays with hien. Mr. Dale swung the children to the platform. "klive--six—seven—eight," he counted. Then he hurried then out to a big sleigh antd tucked all of them in under furry robes. The driver spoke to the horses, sena away they went, shaleing• music from their silver _bells across the snow. When the sleigh reached the house ten minutes later the children swarm- ed up the broad steps. - Mrs. Dale met them at the top. '!All eight of you here.?" she asked. "All !hut Rick Payson!" they cried. "He couldn't comet" Roderie.k's father stopped short. "But I trounted eight," he declared. The -children did. not know how that could be; they had thought he was counting Roderick in, they 'said. "I'll -count them again!" cried Rod- erick. So in the light that streamed from the hall he counted his guests carefully. Three Prestons, two Tor- reys, a Morton and a Ray—that made seven. Then he stopped short in front of a dark, silent little figure that stood apart from the rest, "Who is this boy?" he asked. -Sure enough, who was he? -They hurried into the lighted hall, and all eyes were turned en the stranger. He was very small and was bundled up in a big overcoat. Between his coat collar and' his funny peaked cap a pale of large black eyes staredsod-- emnly out, "What is your name?" asked Mrs. Dale. The little boy implied briefly -that it was Timothy. "Timothy what?" ' "Baxter. And I was going alone to visit niy grandfather at Haywood. Wire is my grandfather?" errs. Dale turned to her husband. "0 William, how did you get hold of this child? His people must be anxious!" Mr. Dale looked worried. "The boy must have thought the conductor called Tay -wood,'" he said. "Aad then I scooped hinn up with the rest and didn't notice," Ito hurried only to telephone to ,the other station, while _the children took orf their wraps and began to laugh end talk again, still casting curious glances a,t the odd little stranger; "I've baileed to his granslfathem," Roderielc's father said, coming baste. "It's all right, There's no other train' toesigaht, and so Timothy will stay here with us," Timothy 'ate his supper slowly and afterwards Withdrew to a corner, where he watched the other childemes games seeds wondering eyes. "We shouldn't dam play with hire," they said. • "He looks so solemn," When it was nearly bedtime Rod- 8lcrick wandered into the mibting- s.'o,om. There was a Crown en las face. • "I wish that stupbcl little old The - tally didn't haw° to be here!" he con. plained. "PIs is so funny and brae eyed—like an owl.- And. mother bays he's to sleep in my WM. Nobody Asked' him here, and there's no place for hint to stay," . Roderiel: s grand"fathor- laid down his book. "This little Timothy's having the same tastable another child had," he said. "Only in a whole town He youldn't find anywhere to stay." "What chilli•?" Roderick inquired, interested. "And what town? It must have been a pretty poor sort of place, I should think. Where did the boy -sleep, grandfather?" . The old man packed up his book again. "In a stable, so the story runs," abe 'sand "The name of the town was Bethlehem," Roderick s, cheeks grew scarlet. Ile walked over to the window end press- ed his hot face to the frosty •glass. A big •gold stacr was shining just above the sky line. After a while he turned away without a word. A few minutes later the household was startled to hear peals of laughter from the playroom. Timothy, waeder- ing round alone, had found Rodereck's hobbyhorse behind the door. It was plain that he had never seen such a thing in all his life. He stood in front of it =and "shouted with delight. Then some one put him on the horse's back, and he gathered up the reins, still shouting, and began to ride. He rode hard and fast until it was time to go to bed. Early the next morndsig the chil- dren came creeping downstairs to get their stockings. They gathered in a joyful circle round the bright fire in he living room. Suddenly the door opened softly, Timothy Baxter steed on the thres- hold. IIs was dressed in a suit oe Roderieic's night •clothes, and iris hair 'stood up all over lids head.; he gazed with pleasure at the hatdf-emptied stockings, "Which is my stocking, please?" he 'asked in a clear, high little voice. No one answered, aind se he spoke •agaiai. "If you please," he repeated quietly but firmly. • Tho children looked eneoanfortable. This :was too bad. They realized what hire happened: in the bustle and confusion the unexpected guest haul' been overlooked. They eyed one an- other• in dismay. "Perhaps mine fell on the floor," Timothy suggested gently. At.that Roderick scrambled to his feet. "See here, Timothy," he said. "You run back to bed for just five minutes, and then come doten and get your stocking." As the door closed, he turned quick- ly to the others. "We'll have to make up a stooking for him," he said, "And there's, no time to lose." When Timothy eppeared, five min- utes later, be hart his share with the rest. Right after breakfast a big ahabby sleigh drew up in the yard-Blm- othy's grandparents had come to get him. The family went to look Tor Tinn- othy and found him riding the hobby - hose. Ito was (Melted' out in all his Christin'as .presents—aa zed teboggrasi dap,.ae drum, and a horn slung over his shoulders. When he heard that his gti'andrather was ready Tor him he dismounted briskly and pulled a pair of coleeed reletee11nother Christmas gift--frole hie pocket, He faaitened the reins on the horse's' shaggy peek, "Conan along, Racer!" he Dried., Poor Timothy, he had made a ter- rible mistake! lie had understood that the hobbyhorse, toe, was to he hie, to take home, end be believed that if he only pulled hard enough it would move forward tie well as up and down. Tie had even gluon it a name, When he found out the truth„•lie bow- ed his head with its gay toboggan cap and he his fan in Racers mane, Ile did not cry; he only stood in dumb despair. A 'bigger boy would not have made such a medals°, but Tins, ethy was only five years old.. "Mother,” sell Roderick, "let 'him have the horse. Ire must have it, Don't you see?" "Do you mean that, Roddy?" asked Mrs. Dale. Roderick nodded, "I don't want it so very much," he sand. So -'they lifted the 'horse into the back of the big sleigh, while old Mr. and Mrs. Baxter looked on, smiling, and the Dales and all the little -guests Stood by to watch. Timothy would not stir until the horse was leanly' tied in with its head toward the real horses' head's. Then, when Mr. Dale started to lift him into place between the old people, he squirmed out of his hands and scramlbled over the side. "I will ride Racer; he said in posi- tive tones, No one could stop him. He climbed to the hobbyhorse's back and at there, clutching the reins. As the sleigh drove slowly out of the gale, the hobbyhorse bounced up and down. Timothy sat ereet, drum, horn and all, It was a strange sight; all the way drown the road people turn- ed round and looked, Roderick stood on the porch laughing. The last thine he caw, as the team turned a bend', was a spot of bright reel bobbing gay- ly in the Christmas sunshine. A Prayer. I pray that while I live here in this world, • Though I should poorer grow, alone and sad, I still may have one candle burning bright In my best window on God's, holy night; A holly spray to make my room seem glad— And in my heart the blindfold hope to rise Singing dream carols of the Christmas skies. Ohristmas was abolished by Act of Parliament in the reign of Cromwell. Ye ChristWassa Logge In "Morrie I,nglend" tIso Yule log'- ,.-,never celled that, by the way, but the Yule Oloe, the Christmas Butch, - or Block—was e great inasilitutioai• The "dreg" was load` in same time befeee C.luristmes, was :generally o£ birch•, barked and dried, and oe no meagre dimenteens, It WW1 'NOW on Cifristriras Eve, and weak was not -consumed by Chriatmas night was saved and 'burnt on Christmas Day.' It was deemed 'very lucky to pre- eerie a piece wherewith to light next year's clog. ! There ' was a custom that se •long ss the Yule clog burned the servants mad a right to demand ale at their! meals, This may or may not account' for the supersized clogs. One old; svelter says that they burnt for eight days! The ecclesiastical authorities of the past did not look loinddy on the burn- ing of the Yule' clogs "The blazes," . in thole opinion, were "fo•olish and valne," But their fulminations had no effect. Yule clogs were burnt until: coal tires mud smaller fireplaces gave them a mortal blow. But in `remote rural parts of Enge lend a big log is still set ankle for Chaistma's, and in the North a big clump of coal, In Linooinabire the na- tives still refer to the "Gtile block," and "oldest inhabitants" provide a link with bhe past by'dubbdng any big piece of firewood a `"Puller." Some of the learned folic who go deeply ,into these matters say. that the burning of the Yule log is a relic of paganism. Others, more prosaic, say the leg ways merely to provide extra light and warmth and cheerful - nese. ••'1 Christman Prayer for 1920. Greatest Babe of every age, Teacher, Prophet, Monarch, Sage; Send .a vision now, we pray, For rampant sin beclouds our way,. While we celebrate Thy birth, Blind confusion sways the earth; $o we kneel and humbly pray, In compassion guide our way, Most gracious God, Lord on high, Spread Thy Ight and carne Thou nigh; Help us tide our fiery day, Lift us from the miry clay. Lift us up and out of self, Cure us of our love of pelf; Still the din and fearsome strife, Teach us of that higher life. Great Jehovah, only King, Throne secure, Thy praise we sing; Hearts illuminate again, Let good will forever reign. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall, be to all peo- ple. ---St. Luke, ii,, 10. Encourage the children, to play Santa Claus to some one who may not otherwise have mucic Christmas cheer. Where the patient oxen were, by the ass's stall, Watching my Lord's manger knelt the waking cattle all; 'Twas a little country maid vigil by Him kept— All among the country things my good Lord slept. Fair was Rome the city on that early Christmas morn, Yet among the country- folk was my Lord born! Country lads that followed Him, blithe they were and kind, It was only city folk were hard on Him and blind: Ay, he told of lilies, and of grain and grass that grew, Fair things of the summer fields my good Lord knew, By the hedgerows flowering there He laid His head— It was in the country- that my Lord was bred. When the• cross weighed down on Him, on the grievous road, - • 'Twas a kindly countryman raised my good Lord's load; Peasant girls of Galilee, folk of Nazareth, These were fain to follow Him down the ways of death— Yea, beyond a city wall, underneath the sky, Out in open country did my good Lord die. When he rose to Heaven on that white Ascension day, Last from open country did my good Lord pass Rows of awa golden seraphim watched where He should dwell, Yet it was the country folk had my Lord's farewell; Out above the flowered hill, from the mossy grass, Up from open country did my good Lord pass. Where the jewelled minsters are, where the censers sway, There they kneel to Christ the Lord in this bearing -day: But I shall stay to greet Him .where the bonny fields begin, Like the fields that once my good Lord wandered in, Where His thorn -,tree flowered.once, wh'ere•His sparrows soared, In tl_a open country -land of my good Lord! Queer Christmas Cus toms of Other Lands. Throughout the Christian world the Chrlstmea season is celebrated in much the same spirit, though cus- toms differ greatly, and in •soave lands church -going is more general than in Canada. In Italy, particularly, there is much ohurch-going, and the Christ- mas ties is little knewn, though gifts VG exchanged, and each family has a great dinner, the feature of which is a ,capon, which takes the slime rank as the Canadian goose; The Russian wol'king people have always seized upon Christmas as an excuse for ceasing all work for a somewhat lengthy period—sometimes for a month. Before the recent revo- lution "Ie endo" was the celebration on Christmas Eve, when the peasants gathered about the houses of the nobles, sang carols and scrambled for the coins teased to them from the win- dows, Then came a great masquer- ade, when peasants of all ages dress- ed themselves to represent animals, the idea being to perpetuate the memory of the lowliness of the Sa- viour's birth in the stable. In Rumania it is the custom to bless the Danube on Christmas, and a procession of priests and people dressed to represent biblical charac- ters moves through the streets sing- ing chants and so to the bank of the river, The ice is broken, and a small wooden crass is terown into the water, Any one who can recover this cross is regarded as extremely lortun:ate and sure of good luck for the year t� come. A quaint ceremonial is observed in Holland on Christmas Eve. At inid- tiglut the men of the towns and vil lagoe, dressed in varied ecstumes, meet in the public squares. One is selected and into his chosgo is given 'a large illuminated -sear . iirotinted upon a pole, anti with this star is a guide—as the Wise men were guided to Bet lehem—a proeession winds through the streets, the men chant- ing the "Gloria in Exceisis." . After the parade a greet supper is served, and the Christmas Day has begun. In Norway they have a pretty cus- tom. Above every ridge polo is hung a sheaf of wheat, a Christmas feast for the birds. ' The Mexican Christmas is a strangely mixed week, of s'porte, revels and religious observances, The "Passion Play" never fails to attract great meets, nor do the bull fights. In the Philippines grand masses are hold in the •churches in the morn- ing, the buildings •bein'g elaborately decorated with palms ausd flowers. Great chains of -flowers are carried to the churches by the clniidven, who parade through the streets singing Christmas songs, bands preceding ihean. In the afternoon there is danc- ing and'merrymelcing. In Spain the religious mote is prodonninaunt at Chrtstinas and there are curious per - /antenna of mystery plays. In France tee 'Christmas celebration lasts three days, and 3s the occasion for much charity, In the south of France there is a quaint custom of blessing the Yule log, not unlike that of England, and .on December 25 there is a great family sapper. Ohnistmas is a festival that appeals to every one because every ono can understand it. The source of the fellowship which pervades our common life is our common share in the gifts of the world's greatest Lite, which was given to the whole world. There seems to be a Magic in the very name of Christmas.' Kindly hearts that have yearn- ed toward each other, but have been withheld by false notions of pride and self -dignity are again reunited, and ail is kind- ness and benevolence! Would that Christmas lasted the whole year . through (as it ought). Dickens. "While She/Maras Watched Their Flocks" was written by Nahum Tate, who became Poet Latinate in 11590 Oharles Wesley wrote "Harts! The Herald Angels Sing." tvk Revels at Windsor. Ever sbnee, and l3mg before Henry IV., 'as we read, "kept Christmas with the usual Meetings and sports at Windsor," Windsor's historic castle has 'been the scene of such Yuletide junketings as no other castle in the world can boast, Unlimited good cheer has always been the chief feature of the cele- brations, and the be'ar's bead and the baron of beef, which shill figure nn our Sovereign's table, were custom- ary even then. - As to the sports and pastimes, they Were of a boisterous and sometimes barbarous kind. It was at C:hn!st- mas that a "lord of misrule" was elected as a sort of nnaster of the ceremonies; and one of the special diversions led by him was called the "Festival of Fools,"'in which was en- acted a "mummery" that was an ex- traordinary jumble of religion, pro- fanity and buffoonery.. Queen Victoria spent many happy Christmases at Windsor, until te,,t terrible December of 1861, wh,,••h brought with it an untimely widow- hood, But it is worth rentemberine that Icing Ed -ward VII. spent the first Yuletide of his life there. In one of the Prince Consort's let- ters, he tells of the Christmas tree lit up in one of the drawing -rooms, and of how it delighted the Princess Royal, while the baby hair -apparent was brought in to see it also, and gazed 'estoniehed and open-eyed at its many lights, as a babe of lint seven weeks might well do. - Tbe Ctsristmas Tree_ •-. Tho Christmas tete is the most widespread and most delightful of alt festal institutions. While ninny so•m- tri•es have their loge es claineng for them the honer of having given the Ohristmas tree to the world, the 111-1- jority •of • tsthorities are ,of the opine ion -that Europe is responatble for this never ending joy to both young and old, and that the holiday ever- green is a remnant of the pageants cf the Middle Ages. There is a pretty legend wheel t_- cribes the origin of the Cluishu::s tree to Marlin Luther and tells how, after wandering about through a pine forest one Ghrisl:mas Eve he can- ceived the idea of setting up a pine tree in lits hone to represent the Tree of Life, and decorating it with candles as an image of the starry heavens from Which Christ carne down. The Christmas tree 1,;rs come to occupy a ,place in the hearts and minds of Canadians unequaled by any other custom rennet -0d with the holiday season. It almost outshines old Santa Claus in its uni.crcal adap- tion. "Peace on earth, good will to seas is heard all over Christendom on Christmas morning, but closely asso- ciated with this, and intinmtely ccn- necte.d with that spirie, is the ever- green of antiquity, Thsugh these niay have been invented Christmas ce"e- brations which are "evergreenicwc," in recent days, yet to the Christmas tree do we turn for fondest memor- ies of the holiday that our ebildi„ied days knew and loved so well. The Year's End. To the Giver of all blcseings Let our voices rise rn praise, For the joys 'and countless mereie•s Ile 'hath sent to crown our days; For the homes of peace and plenty, And a kind so flair and wide, For the labor of. the noonday And the rest of eventide._ For the wealth of.golden harvests, For the sunlight and the rain, Far the, grandeur of: the oco'an, For the' menafain and the plain, Fol' the ever-ehaaiging seasons, And 'the comforts which they bring, For Thy love, so grand, eternal, • We would thank Thee, Our Ring. As many mince pias as you taste at Christmas, so many happy months will yeti have. --Old English Saying. What eonstitutes the happi- ness of Christmas? The fact that for one day in the year at least, a larger proportion of Imelda contrives.• to forget self, and give a thought to "tho other follow" than upon any other day, In other wos•da, on One day of the year we eon- sciousiyal.low the principles and rules of O:hrdstden altruism to may our conduct; for one, 'day in the year we look -on the world as the Master of Christmas looic- ed . upon it, with eompaatsion, mercy, and love. Wo soy: "It's Chelwstmas," and wo make a genuine effort to conform to the spit+it of Oheiratente. And whet is that spirit? It is the skit of peace on earth, Which Is the inevitable outcome of gooc4•will among men.