ne could depend on, even with a long
drive cross-country in prospect.

Harking back to the supper table--syllabub, as nearly as I recall, was
made of thick cream lightly reinforced with stiffly beaten white of
egg--one egg-white to each pint--sweetened, well flavored with sherry or
Madeira wine, then whipped very stiff, and piled in a big bowl, also in
goblets to set about the bowl, just as snow balls were set a-row about
the stacks and the bride's cake. Flecks of crimson jelly were dropped on
the white cream--occasionally, there were crumbled cake, and cut up
fruit underneath. Thus it approximated the trifle of the cook books. It
had just one drawback--you could not eat it slowly--it went almost to
nothing at the agitation of the spoon.

Far otherwise boiled custard--which was much higher in favor, being
easier made, and quite as showy. For it you beat very light the yolks of
twelve eggs with four cups white sugar, added them to a gallon of milk,
and a quart of cream, in a brass kettle over the fire, stirred the
mixture steadily, watching it close to remove it just as it was on the
point of boiling, let it cool, then flavored it well, with either
whiskey, brandy, or sweet wine. Meantime the egg-whites beaten with a
little salt until they stuck to the dish, had been cooked by pouring
quickly over them full-boiling water from a tea kettle. They hardly lost
a bubble in the process--the water well drained away, the whites were
ready to go on top of the custard in either bowls or goblets, and get
themselves ornamented with crimson jelly, or flecks of cherry preserves.
Like syllabub, boiled custard necessitated spoons--hence the borrowing
of small silver was in most cases imperative. Plutocrats had not then
been invented--but tradition tells of one high gentleman, who was
self-sufficient. The fact stood him in good stead later--when he was
darkly accused, she who had baked cakes for all his merry-makings said
stoutly: "The Colonel do sech as that! Lord in heaven! Why, don't you
know, in all the years I've knowed him, _he never had to borrow a single
silver spoon_--and I've seen five hundred folks there for supper. I
wouldn't believe them tales ef Angel Gabriel come down and told 'em to
me."

Is anybody left, I wonder, who can cut oranges into lilies? Thus cut
they surely looked pretty. The peel was divided evenly in six, the
sections loosened, but not pulled free at the base. Instead the ends
were curved backward after th