rd mixed).
3 cups of flour.
1 teaspoonful each of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and soda.
1 cup of sugar.
2 eggs.
1 cup of milk.

Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs, well beaten without
separating, then the molasses mixed with the spices and soda, then
the flour, then the milk. Stir and beat well. Put in a shallow tin
and bake slowly.

"Things don't sound as good as they taste, do they?" said Mildred, as
she read the receipt over. "I just love gingerbread, but butter and lard
and soda don't sound appetizing."

"Well, then, try this," laughed Mother Blair; "every bit of this sounds
good:"

PEANUT WAFERS

1 cup of sugar.
1/2 cup of milk.
1/2 teaspoonful of soda.
1/2 cup of butter.
2 cups of flour.
1 cup of chopped peanuts.

Cream the butter and sugar; put the soda in the milk, stir
thoroughly, and put in next; then the flour. Beat well. Grease a
shallow pan and spread the mixture evenly over the bottom, and
scatter the nuts on top. Bake till light brown, and cut in squares
while warm.

"Oh, those _do_ sound good!" Mildred exclaimed, as she wrote the last
words down.

[Illustration: Brownie and Mildred Making "Chocolate Crackers"]

"What sounds good?" asked Miss Betty's voice, as her pretty head popped
in the door. So they told her all about the luncheons, and she said she
knew some good things, too, and the first one was:

CHOCOLATE CRACKERS

2 squares of chocolate.
1 teaspoonful of sugar.
Butter, the size of the tip of your thumb.
3 drops of vanilla.

Cut the chocolate up into bits and put it in a saucer over the
tea-kettle; when it melts, add the sugar and butter and vanilla;
stir, and drop in some small crackers, only one at a time, and lay
them on a greased paper to dry.

[Illustration: "I've got to make some this very minute."]

"Oh, Mother, I've just got to stop writing and make some of those this
very minute!" Mildred exclaimed. Miss Betty said she had lots of things
she wanted to talk over with Mother Blair while Mildred was busy.
Brownie came running in just then, and the two girls worked so fast they
had a whole plateful of crackers done in no time; and after everybody
had had one apiece to eat, Mildred said: "Now, I will learn to make some
more things."

"Let me see," said her mother, slowly. "Sandwiches and cake--what else
can you think of for luncheons, Betty?"

"Devi