After the first week or two,
however, she managed very well, and gradually learned the little
labor-saving ways which can only be learned by actual experiment. Getting
breakfast and tea she enjoyed, for they could be chiefly managed by the
use of the chafing-dish. Dinners were more difficult, till she hit on the
happy idea of having Mrs. Kenny roast a big piece of beef or mutton, or a
pair of fowls every Monday. These _pieces de resistance_ in their
different stages of hot, cold, and warmed over, carried them well along
through the week, and, supplemented with an occasional chop or steak,
served very well. Fairly good soups could be bought in tins, which needed
only to be seasoned and heated for use on table. Oysters were easily
procurable there, as everywhere in the West; good brown-bread and rolls
came from the bakery; and Clover developed a hitherto dormant talent for
cookery and the making of Graham gems, corn-dodgers, hoe-cakes baked on a
barrel head before the parlor fire, and wonderful little flaky biscuits
raised all in a minute with Royal Baking Powder.
She also became expert in that other fine art of condensing work, and
making it move in easy grooves. Her tea things she washed with her
breakfast things, just setting the cups and plates in the sink for the
night, pouring a dipper full of boiling water over them. There was no
silver to care for, no delicate glass or valuable china; the very
simplicity of apparatus made the house an easy one to keep.
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