ame out into the
kitchen. "Oh, how lovely!" she exclaimed, "I never, never saw anything
so good as those macaroons. Perfectly delicious!"

"But see the scalloped cakes, Mother," said Brownie. "Aren't they
lovely, too?"

"Lovely? Of course they are. And I've such a bright idea about those
cakes, too!"

"Oh, what?" cried both the girls together, because Mother Blair's bright
ideas were always particularly nice, just like herself.

"I've been looking over the boxes of Christmas candy, and I find we have
lots of candied cherries. And, Norah, you had some of the citron left
from the plum-pudding, hadn't you?"

Norah said she had a large piece put away.

"Well, then, suppose we cut the citron into thin slices, and cut those
up into little bits of green leaves, and cut some of the cherries into
tiny bits to look like berries; then we will ice the little cakes and
around each one, right on top, we will make a green holly wreath with
holly berries in it. Won't those be pretty?"

"Oh, Mother, let me, let me!" Brownie begged.

"Very well, you make the leaves and berries, while Mildred ices the
cakes," said Mother Blair.

So while Mildred mixed the icing, Brownie took some small scissors and
cut up the citron and the cherries. At first her scissors bothered her
by getting sticky, but Norah showed her how to dip them in water often
and wipe them dry, and after she tried that way, she had no trouble.

Mildred's rule for icing was this:

ICING

The white of one egg.
1 teaspoonful of cold water.
1 cup of powdered sugar.
1/2 teaspoonful of flavoring.

Put the white of the egg in a bowl, add the water, and beat till
light; stir in the sifted sugar and the flavoring, and spread on
the cakes while they are still a little warm; smooth over with the
blade of a knife.

After the cakes were iced, the leaves were laid in a wreath around the
edges, with the tiny red berries among them; and they were the prettiest
things for Christmas anybody ever saw.

When, at last, they were put away, Norah told them she had some bits of
pie-crust left over from her mince-pies that they could have, if they
wanted it. Brownie dashed into the hall, shouting, "Mother, Mother! What
can we make with pie-crust? Norah says we can have some."

"Tartlets," called Mother Blair from upstairs. And when Brownie ran up
for it she gave her this receipt:

TARTLETS

Flour the pastry board; roll out some pie-cru