Eggs A La Patti

Take stale bread, about half an inch thick, cut in large rounds with biscuit cutter, then cut out the center with a smaller cutter. Butter a baking-pan, lay in the rings, cover with milk or cream, let it soak until soft, pour off the milk and put a raw egg into the middle of each ring. Season; put a teaspoon of butter on each egg. Bake in a hot oven until the whites are set. Serve on hot plates; garnish with watercress.

Eggs A La Duchesse

Six eggs, four tablespoons of cheese, three tablespoons of butter, slices of thin toast. Spread butter on the dish in which they will be served, then lay in the cheese, cut thin. Season, and add a little cayenne, then break the eggs in carefully, so as not to break; grate over them a little nutmeg, then two tablespoons of cheese. Bake ten minutes.

Soft Boiled Eggs

Put the eggs into a saucepan; cover with boiling water, and let them stand from six to ten minutes where the water will keep hot (180°), but not boiling. If cooked in boiling water, cook from three to five minutes.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Cook them forty minutes in water just bub-ling. The yolk of an egg cooked ten minutes in rapidly boiling water is tough and indigestible; cooked forty minutes it is dry, mealy and easily digested.

Omelette

Two eggs, two tablespoons of milk, one saltspoon of salt, one saltspoon of pepper. Beat yolks of eggs until light colored and thick; add milk, salt and pepper. Beat the whites until stiff and dry. Cut and fold them lightly into the yolks. When the spider is hot rub it around the edge with one teaspoon of butter on a broad knife; let the butter run all over the pan and turn in the omelette quickly, and spread it evenly in the pan. Cook carefully till slightly browned underneath. Turn over. Serve quickly.

French Omelette

Beat four eggs till well broken, but not light, add two tablespoons of milk, one-half teaspoon of salt. Have your pan heated, put in one tablespoon of butter. Pour in egg mixture. Shake the pan until the whole mass is as thick as soft custard. Let it rest for five seconds; roll up. Before rolling up, if you wish add a few cooked oysters, or chopped cooked ham, parsley or cheese.

Egg Nests On Toast

Six eggs, six small pieces of toast, one and one-half tablespoons of butter, one half teaspoon of salt. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a bowl, and leaving the yolks in the half shells. Set the shells in a pan of meal to keep upright. Add salt to the whites and beat until stiff. Toast bread, dip edges into hot water, butter, and pile the white on each slice. Make a depression in the center of each mound, put one-quarter teaspoon of butter in each, drop yolks in the hollows. Place in hot oven until firm and slightly brown.

Stuffed Eggs

Cut off the ends of hard-boiled eggs so that they will stand; then halve them and remove the yolks carefully; mash with a fork, add salt and pepper to taste, and a few drops of olive oil to moisten, and a little chopped parsley. To the yolks of three eggs use one teaspoon of vinegar. Fill the whites of the eggs with this paste. Set in a dish and pour around them cream sauce. For picnic put the eggs together and wrap in soft paper.

A Bad Habit When Coosing Meat

Some people have a habit of punching their fingers into a piece of beef to see if it is tender, which is useless and very annoying to the butcher, as it spoils the appearance of the piece.

Veal and pork should be eaten soon after being killed, but beef or mutton is much improved by keeping it in a cool, dry place until it " ripens." The length of time required depends on the season and the weather; in summer from a week to ten days, in a nice chest, and in winter as long, perhaps, as fourteen days.

Good beef should have a dark red color when first cut, changing to a brighter red or cherry color, after a few moments exposure to the air. This is probably due to the juices coming to the surface. A bluish, or dull dark red color indicates poor beef. It should look juicy, be smooth-grained and velvety to the touch, and somewhat firm and elastic. The bones and sinews should be comparatively small. The pale, moist muscle marks the young animal; a somewhat darker color, older ones.

Liquids take the form of vapor at the steam or boiling point. It is incorrect to say that meat is boiling, or rice is boiling, as solids cannot boil. Boiling, therefore, is cooking in boiling liquid. water boils when the bubbles rise to the surface, and steam is thrown off at 212°. If the fire is fierce, so that these bubbles are formed and expelled rapidly, and the water boils over, the water is no hotter; it simply boils away, and has to be oftener replenished. It is a waste of time, fuel and materials to keep water boiling at such a galloping rate. Water boils at a higher temperature when there is salt added. Fresh water boils at 212°, salt water at 224°. If we put salt in the water, in the lower part of a double boiler, a greater degree of heat is obtained by which to cook the articles on top. In cooking meat, fish or vegetables in water we must remember these two facts: Cold water draws out the albuminous juices; boiling water protects them. Meats are cooked in cold water to have all the nutriment in the water, such as beef tea, soups, etc., and meats are cooked in hot water to have part of the juices in the meat and part in the water, such as stews, fricasses, etc. Meats are cooked in boiling water to retain their juices.