The Rural cook book

Almond Bars.— Roll puff paste into thin narrow strips. Beat one egg white slightly and mix it with two tablespoon fuls of powdered sugar and one cupful of finely-chopped almonds. Spread this mixture over the strips of paste and brown them in the oven. Sometimes the almonds are rolled into the paste. Mix two tablespoon fuls of powdered sugar with the same amount of chopped almonds and sprinkle over the paste when first rolled out. Fold and roll again, then repeat the process. Finally cut into long sticks, brush with white of an egg and brown in the oven. One teaspoonful of cinnamon may be used in place of the almonds, when the result will be cinnamon bars. Apple Pie. — This is how a Michigan housekeeper makes it; The under crust was first brushed over lightly with white of an egg and allowed to stand while the rest of the work went on; this to keep the juices from soaking into the crust before baking. Next a half cupful of sugar was put in, along with a half to a tablespoonful of flour, according to the degree of juiciness of the apples, and a generous pinch of cinnamon or allspice according to choice. These were rubbed smoothly together to insure a jelly-like consistency of the finished pie, without the unpalatable doughy lumps. The fruit is then added, the remainder of the sugar poured over (a cupful in all for very sour apples), the top dotted thickly with butter, and unless the apples are very juicy a dessertspoonful of water added. The edge of the under crust is now moistened with water, the top applied and the two pinched neatly together; the whole brushed over with rich milk to insure an even golden-brown ness, and a tiny funnel made of writing paper twisted and pinned into shape inserted in the air hole cut in the top. These details observed you may now put your pie into the oven with a certainty that it will come out a thing of beauty, with none of its savory juices burning to a crisp in the bottom of the oven. For very young apples, however, she always used instead of the water, a generous tablespoonful of spiced vinegar (left over from any spiced Sweet pickle) with a little more flour. Or if apples had been kept sofhe time and were shriveled and insipid, she found the same treatment a vast improvement. Lacking the spiced vinegar she sometimes used lemon juice with an additional sprinkling of sugar and spices. Other fruit pies were made in a similar manner, always taking into consideration the qualities of the fruit as to acidity and juiciness. For canned fruits already sweetened, such as huckleberries, elderberries and the like, which were very juicy and required no extra sweetening, she usually rubbed the flour (in same proportion of a spoonful to a pie) in a bit of the juice, and added it with whatever spices were necessary to the rest of the fruit, and set it over the fire until the flour was cooked, adding a little butter. When cold the mixture was filled into the prepared paste, e^K-brushed as before. For custard or pumpkin she usually prepared the paste by setting the pan on top of the stove until the crust was nearly cooked through, then adding the custard and putting it at once into a hot oven. When sweet cider is at hand, it may be used to give additional flavor to an apple pie. Warm half a cupful of cider and, 10 minutes before the pie is taken from the oven, pour the cider into it through the hole in the center of top crust, using a little funnel of stiff paper to prevent splashing. Applelcss Apple Pie. — Soak two large soda crackers in a large cup of boiling water. Add small piece butter. When cool add two tablespoonfuls vinegar, one cup sugar, a few raisins and a little nutmeg. Bake with