, half cup sugar, third cup butter, third teaspoonful soda mixed with
one cup sifted pastry flour, half teaspoonful each of salt and cinnamon,
then add one cup rolled oatmeal, half cup each of shredded nuts and
raisins. Mix well, drop on greased tin, and bake in a slow oven. Do not
let the stiffness of the dough induce you to add milk or water.

_Tea Cakes_: (Betsy Vaughn.) Cream together a cup and a half of butter,
and two cups and a half of sugar, add to five eggs beaten very light,
mix well, then add a cup and a half of buttermilk with a small
teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it. Pour upon flour enough to make a
soft dough, flavor with nutmeg, roll out a quarter-inch thick, cut with
a small, round cutter, and bake in a quick but not scorching oven.

_Tea Cakes_: (M. L. Williams.) Beat five eggs very light, with five cups
of sugar, a heaping cup of lard, well creamed, and two cupfuls of sour
milk, with a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it. Mix through enough
flour to make a soft dough, roll half an inch thick, cut out and bake in
a quick oven.

_Plain Soft Gingerbread_: Dissolve a desert spoonful of soda in a cup of
boiling water, add to it a cup of rich molasses, along with three
tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Mix well through two and and one half
cups sifted flour, add ground ginger and alspice to taste, and bake in a
moderate oven.

_Mammy's Ginger Cakes_: Beat four eggs very light with a good pinch of
salt and a cup of coffee sugar. Add three cups of rich molasses, and a
cup of boiling water with two teaspoonfuls soda dissolved in it. Mix
well in two tablespoonfuls pounded ginger. Sift five pints of flour with
a teaspoonful of salt, rub into it lightly two cups sweet lard, then add
the molasses mixture and knead to a firm dough, adding more flour if
needed or, if too stiff, a little sweet milk. Roll out half an inch
thick, cut into big squares, bake in a quick oven, and brush over the
tops while blazing hot a little butter, molasses and boiling water. Let
stand in a warm place until dry. These might properly be called First
Monday Ginger Cakes, since our Mammy made them to sell upon that day to
the crowds which came to court, thereby turning many an honest fip or
picayune.

_Family Gingerbread_: Cup and a half dark molasses, half cup sugar,
small cup melted lard, cup boiling water with teaspoonful soda dissolved
in it, pinch of salt, sifted flour enough to make rather stiffer than
pound cake batter. Spices