Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Pare and cut, in very thin slices, enough peaches to measure three pints when sliced. Put the fruit in a large bowl, and sprinkle it with a generous cupful of granulated sugar. Let it stand in a cool place for half an hour or more. Mix one quart of flour, one teaspoonful of soda, two of cream-of-tartar, one of salt, and one of sugar, and rub the mixture through a sieve. Now rub into the dry mixture four table-spoonfuls of butter. Add a cupful and a half of milk ; mix quickly until smooth dough is formed. This should be divided into six parts, and each part be rolled down to the size of a tin pie-plate of medium size. Butter three plates, and lay a piece of dough on each. Spread lightly with soft butter; then lay a second piece of dough on each plate, and place in a hot oven. Bake for ten minutes. When the cakes are done, tear them apart, and spread with the peaches. Put on the top pieces, and heap whipped cream on them. Serve the short-cake at once; it will not be good cold. * Strawberry Short-cake. Mix well together in a sieve, and then rub through it, one pint of flour, a teaspoonful and a half of bakingpowder, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Rub into this mixture three table-spoonfuls of butter, and wet it with almost a teacupful of milk. After sprinkling a board lightly with flour, lay the dough upon it, and roll down to the thickness of about half an inch. Place a jelly-cake plate upon the dough, and cut around its edge with a sharp knife. Enough dough can be made with the materials mentioned above for one to obtain four small cakes. Butter two jelly-cake plates, and place the cakes in them — two in each plate. Bake in a quick oven for twelve or fifteen minutes. On removing them from the oven, tear them apart (you will not require a knife), and spread between the matched cakes a quart of strawberries, slightly crushed, and sprinkled with a cupful of powdered sugar. It is an improvement to add a pint of whipped cream to the fruit. Serve immediately. * Adirondack Strawberry Short-cake. This rather novel delicacy calls for the use of three pints of strawberries, one cupful of sugar, one quart of sour milk, one quart of flour, two eggs, four table-spoonfuls of melted butter, two teaspoonfuls of soda, and one teaspoonful of salt. If the cake be desired for supper, in the morning pour the sour milk upon the flour, and beat thoroughly. Let the mixture stand in a warm place until evening ; then dissolve the soda in one table-spoonful of cold water, and add it to the batter, together with the salt and the eggs, well beaten. Fry this batter on a griddle, like common griddle-cakes, but have each cake the size of a tea plate. Butter the cakes as they come from the griddle, and spread each with a thin layer of crushed strawberries. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. There should be three griddle-cakes and three layers of berries for each plate, and the short-cake should be served hot. By many people a dish of whipped cream will be found to be an agreeable accompaniment. The batter for this cake makes very nice plain griddlecakes, and if it be used for such the eggs may be omitted. Cream Waffles.