Oyster toast.-Select fifteen plump oysters; mince them, and season with mixed pepper and a pinch of nutmeg; beat the yolks of four eggs and mix them with half a pint of cream. Put the whole into a saucepan and set it over the fire to simmer till thick; stir it well, and do not let it boil lest it should curdle. Toast five pieces of bread and butter them; when your dish is near boiling-point remove it from the fire and pour it over the toast.

Fried oysters.-Beat up the yolks of four eggs with three ta blespoonfuls of sweet oil, and season them with a teaspoonful of salt and a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper; beat up thoroughly. Dry twelve fat oysters on a napkin; dip them in the egg-batter, then in cracker-dust; shake off the loose cracker-dust, dip them again in the egg-batter, and lastly roll them in fine bread-crumbs. Fry in very hot fat, using fat enough to cover them. The oil gives them a nice flavor. (Private receipt of a prominent Philadelphia caterer.)

Broiled oysters.-Rub the bars of a wire broiler with a little sweet butter. Dry twelve large, fat oysters and place them upon the broiler plain. Broil them over a clear fire, and when done on both sides send to table on a piece of buttered toast, with a little melted butter in a separate dish. Should you hanker after a delightful case of dyspepsia cover them with egg-batter and roll them in crumbs before broiling.

Oysters a la Poulette.-Blanch a dozen oysters in their own liquor; salt and remove the oysters; add a tablespoonful of butter, the juice of half a lemon, a gill of cream, and a teaspoonful of flour. Beat up the yolk of one egg while the sauce is simmering; add the egg, and simmer the whole until it thickens. Place the oysters on a hot dish, pour the sauce over them, sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top, and send to table. (This is a favorite dish of Hotel Brunswick habitués in New York.)

SOUPS.

Sir Henry Thompson says "that soups, whether clear or thick, are far too lightly esteemed by most classes. They are too often regarded as the mere prelude to a meal, to be swallowed hastily or disregarded altogether." And the Almanach des Gourmands tells us that ten folio volumes would not contain the receipts of all the soups that have been invented in the Parisian kitchen alone.

Soup Stock. In making soups from raw meats break the bones apart, place them in a pot, cover them with cold water, and boil slowly for five or six hours; add salt to quicken the rising of the scum, which should be thoroughly removed. Cut up three carrots, three turnips, two heads of celery, and two onions; add to the stock, together with six or eight cloves, a bouquet of herbs, and a teaspoonful of whole peppers; strain into a deep saucepan, and clarify with the white of egg. It will then be ready for an indefinite variety of soups.

Veal Stock.-Chop up three slices of bacon and two pounds of the neck of veal; place in a stew-pan with a pint of water or beef stock, and simmer half an hour; then add two quarts of stock, one onion, a carrot, a bouquet of herbs, four stalks of celery, half a teaspoonful of bruised whole peppers, and a pinch of nutmeg with a teaspoonful of salt; boil gently for two hours, removing the scum in the meantime. Strain into an earthern crock, and when cold remove the fat. A few bones of poultry added, with an additional quantity of water or stock, will improve it.

Veal Broth.-Stew a knuckle of veal in about three quarts of water; add two ounces of rice, a little salt, and a blade of mace; boil until the liquor is reduced one-half.

Gumbo Soup.-Cut up two chickens, two slices of ham, and two onions into dice; flour them, and fry the whole to a light brown; then fill the frying-pan with boiling water, stir it a few minutes, and turn the whole into a saucepan containing three quarts of boiling water; let it boil forty min

utes, removing the scum. In the meantime soak three pints of ochra in cold water twenty minutes; cut them into thin slices, and add to the other ingredients; let it boil one hour and a half. Add a quart of canned tomatoes and a cupful of boiled rice half an hour before serving.

Southern housekeepers use the leaves of the sassafras-tree as a substitute for ochra when the latter is scarce and dear. They gather the young leaves and spread them in the shade for a few days; then they dry them in the sun. When they are thoroughly dried they put them in a bag and hang them up for two or three months; they are then pulverized and bottled.

Mock Turtle Soup.-Take half a calf's head with the skin on; remove the brains. Wash the head in several waters, and let it soak in cold water for an hour. Put it in a saucepan with five quarts of beef stock; let it simmer gently for an hour; remove the scum carefully, take up the head, let it get cold, and cut the meat from the bones into pieces an inch square and set them in the ice-box. Dissolve two ounces of butter in a frying-pan; mince a large onion and fry it in the butter until nicely browned, and add to the stock in which the head was cooked. Return the bones to the stock; simmer the soup, removing the scum until no more rises. Put in a carrot, a turnip, a bunch of parsley, a bouquet of herbs, a dozen outer stalks of celery, two blades of mace, and the rind of one lemon, grated; salt and pepper to taste. Boil gently for two hours, and strain the soup through a flannel cloth. Mix three ounces of Barlow's prepared browned flour with a pint of the soup, and simmer until it thickens; then add it to the soup. Take the pieces of head out of the ice-box and add to the soup; let them simmer until quite tender. "Before serving add a little Worcestershire sauce, a tablespoonful of anchovy paste, a gobletful of port or sherry, and two lemons sliced, each slice cut into quarters with the rind trimmed off." Warm the wine a very little before adding it to the soup. Keep in ice-box three or four days before using. Serve the brains as a side-dish.

Pea Soup.-Cut two large slices of ham into dice with a sliced onion, and fry them in a little bacon fat until they are lightly browned. Cut up one turnip, one large carrot, four outer stalks of celery, and one leek into small pieces; add these last ingredients to the ham and onion, and let them simmer for fifteen minutes; then pour over them three quarts of corned-beef water or hot water, and add a pint of split peas which have been soaked in cold water all night; boil gently until the peas are quite tender, stirring constantly to prevent burning; then add salt and pepper to taste, with a teaspoonful of brown sugar. Remove the soup from the fire and rub through a sieve; if it is not thick enough to suit your taste or fancy add a few ounces of flour mixed smoothly in a little cold milk; return the soup to the fire, and simmer for half an hour. Cut up four slices of American bread into small dice, and fry the pieces in very hot fat until nicely browned; place them on a napkin or towel, and add a few of them to each plate or tureen of soup just before it goes to table.

Economical Pea Soup.-Boil two quarts of green-pea hulls in four quarts of water, in which beef, mutton, or fowl has been boiled, four hours; then add a bunch or bouquet of herbs, salt and pepper, a tablespoonful of butter, and a quart of milk. Rub through a hair-sieve, thicken with a little flour, and serve with croutons, as in the foregoing receipt.

Tomato Soup.-Cut four ounces of ham into dice; slice two onions and fry with ham in two ounces of butter; when browned turn them into a saucepan containing three quarts of stock or corned-beef water, and add three carrots, two turnips, one red pepper (lady-finger), and a dozen outer stalks of celery; simmer gently for one hour, then add a quart of canned tomatoes; boil gently for another hour, rub the whole through a sieve, and simmer again with the liquor a few minutes; add salt and serve with croutons.

Oxtail Soup.-Take two oxtails; cut them into joints, and cut up each joint into four pieces; put them into a pan with

two ounces of butter, and fry them ten minutes. Slice two onions, one turnip, two carrots, a dozen outer stalks of celery, and fry in the same butter, with three slices of bacon cut up fine; fry to a light brown. Turn the ingredients into a saucepan with a quart of stock or ham-water, and boil quickly for half an hour; then add two more quarts of stock, a bouquet of herbs, two bay-leaves, a dozen whole peppers crushed, a few cloves, and salt to taste.

Simmer until the meat is quite tender; then take it out, strain the soup, skim off the fat, and thicken with two ounces of Barlow's prepared flour; return the meat to the soup, add a tablespoonful of Worcestershire, a cupful of sherry, and serve with grated rusks.

Chicken Soup.-Take three young male chickens; cut them up, put them in a saucepan with three quarts of veal stock; a sliced carrot, one turnip, and one head of celery may be put with them and removed before the soup is thickened. Let them simmer for an hour. Remove all the white flesh; return the rest of the birds to the soup, and boil gently for two hours. Pour a little of the liquid over a quarter of a pound of the crumbs of bread, and when they are well soaked put it in a mortar with the white flesh of the birds, and pound the whole to a smooth paste; add a pinch of ground mace, salt, and a little cayenne pepper, press the mixture through a sieve, and boil once more, adding a pint of boiling cream; thicken with a very little flour mixed in cold milk, remove the bones, and serve.

Chicken Soup, No. 2.-Cut up one chicken; put into a stew-pan two quarts of cold water, a teaspoonful of salt, and one pod of red pepper (lady-finger); when half done add two dessert-spoonfuls of well-washed rice. When thoroughly cooked remove the bird from the soup, tear a part of the breast into shreds (saving the balance of the fowl for a salad), and add it to the soup with a wineglassful of cream.

Beef Tea. Take half a pound of lean beef; cut it up into small bits; let it soak in a pint of water three-quar