The first thing was to blanch the almonds, which she did by putting them in a bowl and pouring water over them, which she was careful to have quite boiling; when they had stood two minutes, she took them out of the water with a fork, laid them on a coarse cloth, and pressed them between her thumb and finger, when they slipped easily out of their skins. She dropped them as they were done into cold water to keep them white. When all were finished, she dried and weighed them (two ounces of almonds _blanched_ being very different from the same weight in their skins), and then, as she had no mortar, she took the chopping-bowl, assured herself it bore no odor or trace of herbs, and first chopped them fine; then with the potato-masher, which she never used for its legitimate purpose, pounded them.[2] One-half of these she flavored strongly with bitter almond and the rest of the recipe she followed exactly, using cream instead of butter, as she had it, having saved it from dessert the day before for this purpose. She measured the table-spoonfuls of corn starch very carefully, for nothing is more disagreeable than too much, and she boiled it in a saucepan set in another of water, so that the starch might be long cooked without burning. She removed it from the range to the table, and allowed it to go slightly off the boil before stirring in the eggs; then returned it to the range and stirred till it came to the boiling-point again. When all was mixed, she poured it into an oiled mould and set it in the ice; and then prepared to watch Marta, who was delighted with her accomplishment, and to see it so much appreciated. Her face fairly beamed as she found herself giving instead of taking instruction. She said very little, but Molly stood by and noted what she did.