Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1888 — CHRISTMAS CHATTER. [ARTICLE]

CHRISTMAS CHATTER.

The Approaching Holiday and Borne Suggestion*. OHV-How to Pr»p »re a Tar. key-.Chrlstwy»< Six Handrod Years Ago, Ktc. THE CHRISTMAS TURKEY. ■ American A*rtcolturloc ... French' works on cooking tell us that poultry and game should never be washed. This may do for French markete and appetites, but where poultry is sent to markit undrawn the inside is sometimes sour, and apt to give an unpleasant taste to the stuffing and the flesh as well. If the fowl lias been drawn as soon as killed, and the gall has not been drawn, it will not need washing; but if there is the least suspicion of taint, wash it Well in cold water, to which a teaapoonfnl of soda and two of salt have been added. - There is an infinite variety of recipes for stuffing a turkey. A plain dressing, which is the basis of all, is made with bread crumbs mixed with butter, pepper, salt and thyme or sweat majors m. The bread should be soaked in cold water and squeezed dry in a towel. The excellence of the s»*awming will depend upon the skill of the cook. Add all seasoning a little at a time, and taste to see when you have it right If you have notserved an oyster soup previously an oyster or celery stuffing is boost excellent Use as much of the oyster liquor as may be necessary to moisten the bread, diluting it with half thequan-tity-of water or milk, and about two dozen small oysters to a ten pound turkey. In this case, an oyster sauce must be served with it. For this, bring to a boil the juice of half a pint of oysters and one-half pint of milk, also boiling, thicken with two teaspoonsful of flour, wet with cold water, add the oysters, give one boil and serve. For a celery stuffing, the celery must be stewed and mixed with the bread crumbs, which should have been moistened with hot milk. A sauce is made by heatin r a half pint of milk, thickening it as above, and adding celery that has been cut in half-inch pieces and stewed until tender; season with butter, pepper and salt, and the least trifle of grated nutmeg. You may also change your dressing by the addition of cold minced veal, orsausage meat. Now, having decided upon the style in which your turkey is to be dressed, and having washed it preparatory to the process, fill the body and craw as full as may be, and sew the aperture with cotton twine; draw the legs closely to the body, and tie or skewer them in place, or the bird will come out of the oven in anything but a shapely condition, with its limbs pointing to the four points of the compass. Bend the wings back under the body; place it in a baking pan, season it all over with salt and pepper and let it stand several hours before it goes into the oven, that the seasoning in the dressing may permeate and flavor the meat. Pour a little water into the pan, and put it into a moderate oven for the first hour, so that it may heat slowly. Baste infrequently, and increase the beat after the first hour. A ten-pound bird three hours. Half an hour before it is done dredge it with flour, and baste it every ten minutes until the cooking is finished. If it is not very fat skewer thin slices of fat larding pork over the breast before baking. Serve brown sauce as well, made from the gravy in the pan, from which you have skimmed thetst. Thtckeir it with flour wet with" cold water and the stewed giblets chopped fine, and put a* dash of lemon juice to the seasoning. Serve currant or cranberry jelly, or spiced plums, with the turkey. . SOME SIMPLE {CHRISTMAS GIFTS. Home Journa’. If you want to de’ight mamma, be sure you can not do it better than by fitting her out with “bags.” She will realize then what a useful and practical little daughter she has. Stocking bag: Cut a piece of cretonne 32 1-2 by 14 inches. Maae a half-inch hem on the short sides. Cut three pieces of cardboard 7by 5 1-2 inches. Round one end of each and cover both sides - with' cretonne, overhanging the edges neatly. Cut a piece of cretonne- 9 by 14 1-2 inches, and hem one of the longest sides with an’inch hem. Round the other two comers. Gather this rounded portion from hem to hem. Baste it on ope of the pasteboards, leaving the straight side open. Run elastic through the top and fasten securely. Place a bow in the center of the hem. This forms the pocket to hold the darning cotton. Gather one of the long sides of the cretonne and sew* it on the edge of the pocket Gather the outer long side and sew it on the second piece of paste,board. Cut of bright flannel and lay them between the second and third pieces of card-board, and- sew the straight edges together. This makes the needle-book. Sew five little brass rings on the half inch hem at the top and draw a braid through-them. Your bag is then complete. —' Nothing will delight a little two-year-old more than a soft, bright ball, and particiilarly one that will make a noise. First, find a small tin pill box and put in it a dozen or so of pebbles that will rattle finely. Make a muslin bag in the shape of a ball and fill it with cotton, placing the pill box in the middle. For the outside select worsteds of six colors that will contrast prettily. Use a pair of common knitting needles, setting six-

J teen stitches and knitting thirty-two rows just back and forth, Bew the edges together, slip in your ball and draw the ends together at the top and bottom. Baby will find as much delight in this treasure as if it were some expensive toy brought from Paris and cosing great sums of money. In every household the flithful serving maidshould be remembered, especially by the younger members,-for whom she takes so many steps. There are many thipga ahe will likay-but.ima. gift she will findhseful is an outfit for sweeping day A Make Bridget a petty cap to cover her hair, a wide apron, two olr three dusters and a pair of dusting -sheets, all from one piete of calico, or gingham, of a pretty pattern in dark colors, and see if she does not thank you warmly. A thoughtful little ma’d once noticed how often grandma wiped her spectacles, and also remarked the lint left by Un handkerchief on the glasses she wanted u> keep so bright. Christmas brought grandma a neat little article made of two bits of chamois skin, clesped like a leaf, and ornamented with little stiches of green representing the veins of the leaf. A. oit of ribbon to hang it to a button of her dre?s enabled her to keep it always at hand', and grandma’s spectacles were never linty again. w YULE-TIDE DON’tS. Harper’* Magazine. « 1 Don’tput R. 8. V. P. ph your present to your rich uncle. Don’t misspell the word “presence” in the invitations to your Christmas party. Don’t hang up more than three pairs of stockings if you are visiting friends in the country. : Don’t eat two mince pies, a plum-pud-ding, lobster salad, and ice cream and then comp ain that the climate does not agree with you. Don’t give your guest who has overstaid bis welcome a traveling bag. Don’t send the unreceipted Bill for her present to your fiancee in mistake for a Christmas card. Don’t decline a present * simply because the exprcssage or postage has not been prepaid. Don’t impersonate Santa Claus in a seal-skin sacque, rubber boots and auburn side whiskers. Don’t contribute your bonbon headache to the drum your enemy sent your son. Don’t borrow money from your friend to pay for his present. Don’t present your wife a handsome mahogany cigar-box; and Dont expect your husband to be pleased if you give him an ivory backed hand-mirror. CHRISTMAS NIGHT SIX HUNDRED YEARS AGO. Harper'* Monthly Magazine. Let ut go back in imagination some six hundred years. It is Christmas, night. In every town in Europe the bells are ringing merrily, and the people, noble and simple alike, are Streaming toward the church or cathedral, each family or group preceded by its lantern-bearer, for street lights are few and far between. We will suppose-cur-selves in Chester, in Rouen, in Verona, or in Seville—the name and the place matter little, the mediaeval Christmas usages from the eleventh to the sixteenth century being the same all over western Europe. Matins have just ended with the ‘ Te Deum,” and there is a movement of expectation in the church and a rustling of feet, for before the celebration ofmass we are to assist at the dramatic Office of the Shepherds. Behind and above the altar is placed the manger or creche, and beside it an image of Saint Mary. Five canons of the first rank, or at least their vigars, wearing the sarcedotall tunic, and over it the amice, or linen gown, represent the shepherd, and form a group in the transept in front of the entrance to the choir. The shepherds carry crooks, and have with them real sheep and dogs, and attendants with musical instruments and rustic offerings of fruit. We may imagine how picturesque and impressive this Office of the Shepherds must have been in some Lombardian church where the Architecture lent itself to effective pantomime. We may figure to ourselves the shepherds, feigning some to sleep and some to watch their flocks, when suddenly in the stillness of the church, all richly decorated with tapestry, drapery, garlands of evergreens, and with a profusion of, candles, a boy dressed as an angel mounts, artlessly with the aid of a ladder, the wall beside the ambon, or small pulpit, and there, after the musicians have sounded a long and pierceing trumpet blast, the angel intones in Latin these verses from St. Luke: “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is bora this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; “Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swadd ing clothes, lying in a manger.” Thereupon a number of singing boys, posted in the galleries in the clere-story of the cathedral—“aux voutes de 1’ eglise” says an old Rouen manuscript—and representing the “multitude of the heavenly host” begin to sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And from the indications of the old manuscripts, and from the judgments of competent critics, we may conclude that the music which accompanied thia Office was very grand and

simple, for the plain song was supple- 1 mented by special melodies, and the music of brass and stringed instruments was employed besides that of the organ. Meanwhile the shepherds enter by the great gate of the choir, and advance slowly toward the altar and the manger, chanting a rhymed Latin hymn, “Pax in terris.” Arrived at the manger, they are met by two priests of the first rank, wearing the long white dalmatica and figuring two midwives, who ask them, “Quem quieritis in pnesepe, pastures dicite?” (Say, shepherds, whom seek ye in the rriknger?) And the shepherds reply,‘ : Balvatorem,Christum Dom num.” (We seek the Saviour. Christ the Lord, the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, according to the angel’s words. ) Thereupon the two priests figuring midwives draw a curtain and show the child Jesus to the shepherds, arid bid them announce the Nativity to the people. The shepherds kneel in adoration, and salute the Virgin with a rhymed Latin hymn. After which they return processionally through the choir, singing: “Alleluia! Alleluia! sing all His coming, and say with the prophet, Unto us a child is born.” These words form the Introit of the Christmas tnass, which begins im-mediately,-the shepherd priests directing the choir—“pastores reguqt chorum” says the Rouen manuscript—and reading the lessons from the lectern. CHRISTMAS WEATHER PEOVEKBS. A warm Christmas, a cold Easter. A light Christmas, a heavy sheaf. A green Christmas makes a fat graveyard. A wind on Xmas Day, trees will bring much fruit. If Christmas finds a bridge, he’ll break it, if be finds none he’ll make one. If ice will bear a man before Christmas, it will not bear a man afterward. The shepherd would rather see his wife enter the stable on Christmas Day than the sun. If the sun shines through the apple tree on Christmas Day there will be an abundapt crop the following year. 5 » <■ THE MATERIAL SIDE OF CHRISTMAS. Harper* Magazine. Christmas cheer is not only as spiritual joy, but a satisfaction of the senses. It is spiritual meditation and invigoration, but it is also sitting “around the wassail-bowl.” r "The game of forfeits done—the gills all kits’d Beneath the sacred bush. •’ It is the mingling of the two, the satisfaction of the complete man, which is the English tradition of Christmas.