Open a can of sardines, drain off the oil, and spread them on brown paper. Scrape off the skin carefully, and open each one on the side and take out the back bone. Sprinkle over them all the salt and mustard, and squeeze the lemon on. Then make the toast, large brown slices, and butter them a little; lay two together, trim off the crust, and cut them in strips. Open the strips, and between each two put one sardine and press together. Put them in the oven between two hot plates till needed. "Oh, those do sound _so_ good! Can't I make some for lunch to-day, Mother?" Mildred begged. "But they belong to the surprise! Let's wait till after the picnic, and then you may make lots of them." "Well!" sighed Mildred, "then let me have another receipt right away, so I'll forget them. I do want to make them so much." "Here is another receipt you will like just as well; part of it is for the picnic, and part of it is for a little bit of a party for you and Miss Betty and me, while the picnic is going on upstairs." "A party for us? What kind of a party?" "Lovely grown-up afternoon tea!" laughed her mother. "You can invite Miss Betty yourself won't that be nice?" "_Perfectly_ lovely! Do tell faster!" "Well, first you make for the picnic some sweet sandwiches like those we planned for the school lunches; these are simply, to begin with:" ORANGE MARMALADE SANDWICHES Spread thin white bread and butter with orange marmalade; trim off the crusts and cut into even shapes; a round cooky cutter makes pretty sandwiches. "I've made those for Jack, lots of times," said Mildred, as she wrote this down, "only I didn't cut them in round shapes, because boys don't care about that." "No," said her mother, smiling, "boys don't, but girls do! So make part of these in rounds, and put them away, and send the square ones upstairs. And when it's time for our party, just toast ours quickly, and you will find them the most delicious things you ever ate, especially with tea; that's what we three will have." "Those will be Miss Betty's surprise!" laughed Mildred, as she wrote down the word _toasted_ after the title of the sandwiches. "Now what next?" "Suppose you try some very easy cookies; those are just the thing for a picnic; you can make them Saturday morning, and then they will be fresh. Here is the rule:" SPICY COOKIES Sprinkle the baking board with flour and rub it smoothly over; do the same to the rolling-pin, and scatter a little flour evenly also over the bottom of some shallow tins. Have a panful of sifted flour ready on the table, as you may need to do this several times. 3/4 cup of sugar. 3 tablespoonfuls of butter. 6 tablespoonfuls of milk. 1 egg. 1-1/2 cups of flour. 1/4 teaspoonful of soda. 1/4 teaspoonful of salt. 1 tablespoonful of hot water. 1/4 teaspoonful of cloves. 1/4 teaspoonful of cinnamon.