The drudgery is steadily going out of the work of the kitchen, and instead of pitying the woman who spends a certain amount of time in cooking (as well as in housework), we are inclined to envy her and wish that we, too, had the opportunity to use the fascinating labour-saving devices that can now be obtained.

Compare the kitchen of to-day with that of even a few years ago! Then there was the old-fashioned dresser on which were rows and rows of plates, rows of cups on hooks—all dust collectors if not in daily use—also plenty of wooden benches to be scrubbed, the lids of saucepans to be polished, and fires to be continually stoked. A pleasant enough picture, no doubt, but alas the work it entailed for the housewife! Going, too, are the old-fashioned coppers, which seemed to take such a lot of fuel and attention to bring the clothes “to the boil.” Peeping around the modern kitchen, we find gas or electric stoves, or other modern cooking appliances, built-in bins for sugar, flour, et cetera, crockery out of sight, and numerous gadgets for speeding on the work, and an air of placidity instead of the almost feverish rush of “the old days.” Now we are looking forward to the time when each kitchen will have its refrigerator.

Christmas cooking has no longer terrors for the housewife of to-day, as there is not the grind for weeks ahead to prepare for the festival season. No longer do the raisins have to be “stoned” and the lemon or orange peel cut up into infinitesimal slices for the cakes, or the suet shredded and chopped up for the puddings! It is therefore quite a simple matter to prepare the mixture for the cake, and here is a very good recipe:

1 ½ lbs. flour, 1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. butter, 10 eggs, level teaspoon baking powder, essence to taste, about 3 lbs. mixed fruits.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs—one by one—beating well all the time, then add flour and, lastly, the fruit. Bake for four hours.

Mincemeat.

½ lb. each of raisins, sultanas, currants, 1/4 lb. mixed peel, 1 lb. brown sugar, 1/4 lb. chopped almonds, 1 lb. apples, ½ lb. suet, 1 dessertspoon mixed spice, ½ teaspoon salt, grated rind and juice of 1 orange, and 1 lemon, 2 glasses of rum or brandy, 1 glass sherry.

Clean the fruit and chop the raisins. Peel and chop the apples. Have the chopped peel ready, also the suet shredded and chopped up. Mix all ingredients very well. Cover and stand until next day; add wine and spirits, pack closely into jars, cover in same way as jam. Make two or three weeks before using.

Orange Sweet.

Cut as many oranges as required into thin slices, and place in a dish. Arrange in layers, sprinkling each layer generously with castor sugar and desiccated coconut. Place a layer of sliced bananas on top and sprinkle with corn flakes.

Banana Snow.

Six ripe bananas, slice and mash as fine as possible. Add juice of one lemon, white of an egg, and whip to a cream. Add two tablespoons castor sugar, and beat again until sugar is dissolved. Decorate with walnuts and cherries.

Whipped Jelly.

One packet jelly, 1 ½ cups water, 1 egg, 1 cup milk.

Dissolve the jelly with boiling water. When nearly cold, beat in the egg and milk.