OCR Text |
Show Married Life the Third Year Helen Makes Some Green Tomato Pickle and Incidentally Enrages Warren, By MABEL HERBERT URNER. r-r-j HINK that's line enough?" s Helen paused In her chop- ping and held out the bowl A of green tomatoes for Maggie's Mag-gie's Inspection. "Don't know, m'am," doubtfully. "Somo pretty big pieces there." "Then you chop It a little moro whllo I wash the peppers." Maggio took tho chopping bowl rather sullenly. It was plain she did not approve of this extra work on her Ironing day. It had been just a week since tho dinner at which Warren had been so enthusiastic about IUr3. Steven's pickle. When Helen had asked for the recipe, ho had scathingly remarked re-marked that as she had never made any pickle, it was not likely sho could make any so good as that. But Mrs. Stevens had sent tho recipe re-cipe the next day, and now Helen with anxious painstaking caro was following it faithfully. She was making mak-ing this without Warren's knowledge, wanting him to think when he tried It that It was part of the jar Mrs, Stevens had given them. If ho did not notice the difference, she would then triumphantly declare it was HER pickle! So whllo sho washed and chopped the tomatoes, cauliflower and peppers sho was happily hap-pily planning this denouomcnt. Her Recipe. "That'll do, Maggie, that'3 fine enough. Now you'd better go to the drug storo for that turmeric. Wait, let's see if there's anything else we'll want." And once more Helen read over the recipe. " 'Take 2 quarts of green tomatoes. toma-toes. I quart of onions, 1 head of cauliflower, .' red peppers, 6 green peppers. I dozen small Bwcot gher- ' kin pickles.' " 'Chon tho tomatoes', onions, ra.nll- flower, peppers and gherkins In small pieces. Add ono cup of salt, cover with water and lot stand over night. " 'Next morning boll for five minutes min-utes and drain thoroughly.' ' 'Dressing: 1 quart of vinegar, 2 cups of sugar, 2J tablespoonfuls of ground mustard. 4 tablespoonful of turmeric. :i lablcspoonfuJs of flour, J pint of water.' " 'Mix the mustard, turmeric and flour to a smooth paste with the water. wa-ter. Stir well In tho vinegar and sugar. Boll for ono mlnuto and pour ovor the pickle.' "No, that's all. Just the turmeric, wc havo everything else." It was not until after Maggio had gone that Helen realised the turmeric was for tho dressing, and they would not need It until tomorrow. Helen was now chopping tho onions, they were red onions and particularly par-ticularly strong, and in a few minutes min-utes her eyes wero smarting and watery. "Let me chop that now, ma'am," said Maggie sympathetically, when she came back from tho drug storo and found Helen almost Weeping oVer tho onions. "Them red ones do mako your eyes smart." Helen relinquished tho onions and began work on the peppers, cut out tho black specks, the cores, and threw them into another chopping bowl. Then the cauliflower had to be washed and cut up. It was noon beforo everything waa chopped and put to soak In the big yellow bowl. "Oh, there's such a lot of it!" exclaimed ex-claimed Helen. "And isn't it pretty," as with a long spoon sho stirred up the red, green and whlto mixture. "How much do think thla'll malec, Maggie?" "It boils down a lot that won't make no more than three quarts." Helen Is Eager. Holhii covered the bowl and put It upon the pantry nhclf. If or.lv it did not havo to soak over night! She wn3 so eager to see how It would turn out that it was hard to wait until morning. morn-ing. Several times during the afternoon :ihc went In to stir It up and taste It tentatively, but of courso It was only raw and salty and had no roscmblanco to Mrs. Stevens's finished product. . If It would only be enough like hern so that Warren would not know the difference! dif-ference! Tho next morning as soon as Maggio was through with tho breakfaut dishes Helen donned hor big apron and went to work. "Maggie, do you think this is too much to boll all at onceV" as eho took down the large yellow bowl. "No ma'am, you can boll that all risht in tho soup kettle." While she was waiting for It to boll Helen got out the reclpo and the things to mako tho dressing. "Is this all the vlnesrar wa have 7 "Oh, no. m'am, thero's plenty moro down there; wait. I'll get it." "It don't say what kind of sugar suppose granulated will do." When Helen had measured and dissolved dis-solved tho sugar In tho vinegar, she turnfld to tho recipe. "Now let's see." reading aloud. " '25 tablespoonfuls of ground mustard. Whoro's tho mustard? Oh, here It In." Then a moment lator, in a tonn of dlemay, "Oh, Maggie, look! I put 1 the mustard In tho vinegar, and It says mix it into a paste with tho flour and turmeric." Maggie glanced disapprovingly at the yollow powder floating around on top of tho vinegar. "Don't think you can mix that in. ma'am, you better skim it off and mix your mustard right." Helen carefully skimmed off the yellow particles, then measured tho mustard, turmeric and flour In a small bowl, and with half a pint of water made it Into a. paste. Cooking the Pickle. "You'll have to watch that, ma'arn, or It'll burn," cautioned Maggie, who was polishing tho knives, for Helen bad said that aho wished to make the pickle all by herself. "Oh, look, It's almost boiling." as Helen took off tho soup kettle lid and stirred the pickle well from tho bottom. bot-tom. "I'd lower the flamo a bit, m'am." Tt was soon bubbling up, and It was all Helen could do to keep It . from boiling over. "Boll for live minutes," tho reolpe said, and Helen was anxiously watching tho kitchen clock. In the moanllmc she had put on the sauce, and that too had to bs stirred to keop from burning. When the five minutes wero up to a second. Helen tried to tako the still boiling kettle from tho stove. "Now, Maggie, you'll have to help me here. You hold tho colander while I pour it in. Oh, no, I can't do it that way It's loo heavy. Walt, I'll have to dip It out." Whllo they were busy with this there was a sizzling found from the stove. The sauco was boiling over! "Turn off the gas quick I" With tho flamo shut off, the yollow bubbling foam sank back, still hissing a sort of sullen doflancc. When the pickle was thoroughly drained they put It back in the big yellow bowl and poured the steaming . sauce over it. "Oh. now it begins to look right," as Helen stirred it around so tho sauce would mix In thoroughly. "Get me a teaspoon. Maggie. ''Oh,'" tasting tast-ing It cautiously. "I'm afraid It's too sour! Waa that vinegar extra strong?" "You can't tell anything about it while it's hot, ma'am. I'll cover it up and put it over hero by tho window.'' win-dow.'' Helen waited with anxious Impatience Impa-tience for it to cool. It LOOKED like Mrs. Stevens's pickle, but would It TASTE like It? It was after luncheon before It wns thoroughly cool, and Helen had tasted it so often that It had become tasteless. taste-less. But Maggie assured her that it was just as good as Mra. Stevens's. Stev-ens's. So for the rest of the afternoon Helen was happily planning Warren's War-ren's surprise and astonishment when sho would triumphantly declaro that it was not Mrs. Stevens's pickle, but her own. At last came tho critical moment, whon aL dinner Warren icached for the pickle dish. Helen pretended to bo absorbed in buttering a baked potato, but she was watching him covertly. Would ho make any comment? Would he notice no-tice the difference? Evidently not. for he kept on talking of tho firm that had moved Into tho offices adjolnlng-hla. adjolnlng-hla. But when he reached for tho picklo dish the second time, and helped himself even moro liberally, Helen could' keep silent no longer. "Dear, do you think tliat pickle keeps all right? Does it taste quite as good as when Mrs. Stevens gave it to us?" "Keeps? Of course it keeps. That picklo geta better every day. "Then you think it's Just as good as when wo first got it?r' "Better, if anything." Warren Is Angry. And now Helen fairly bubbled over in her gleeful excitement. "Tills Isn't Mrs. Stevens's picklo at all! I MADE IT!! Come out I ntha pantry and Til Bhow you throe big jars! But I didn't want you to know I I was afraid you'd say It wasn't so good. But now," triumphantly, "You'va said t was even better!" For a moment Helen was appalled at the black scowl on Warron's face. Ho was cutting viciously at a piece of roost beef on his plate. "Another ono of your blamed tricks, Is It?" he snarled. "You're always up to nomc Infernal subterfuge. Any i other woman would come straight out ' with a tiling, but you or, no. you A n fH rather do It in como uly underhand I'H way. By George, if you wero a man. ft!H I'd hato to do business with you. C-H You'd bo a slick proposition, all right, a J Well, vour blamed picklo'll last a long time 1'TjT. not want any nioro of it. ' B You can be dead suro of THAT!" ll |