191. When done, rub through a fine colander to remove all skins and to

render them homogeneous. Add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing on slices of zwieback which have been previously softened in hot cream. One half or two thirds fresh or dried apples may be used with the apricots, if preferred. ASPARAGUS TOAST.--Prepare asparagus as directed on page 255. When tender, drain off the liquor and season it with a little cream, and salt if desired. Moisten nicely browned zwieback in the liquor and lay in a hot dish; unbind the asparagus, heap it upon the toast, and serve. BANANA TOAST.--Peel and press some nice bananas through a colander. This may be very easily done with a potato masher, or if preferred a vegetable press may be used for the purpose. Moisten slices of zwieback with hot cream and serve with a large spoonful of the banana pulp on each slice. Fresh peaches may be prepared and used on the toast in the same way. BERRY TOAST.--Canned strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries may be made into an excellent dressing for toast. Turn a can of well-kept berries into a colander over an earthen dish, to separate the juice from the berries. Place the juice in a porcelain kettle and heat to boiling. Thicken to the consistency of cream with flour rubbed smooth in a little water; a tablespoonful of flour to the pint of juice will be about the right proportion. Add the berries and boil up just sufficiently to cook the flour and heat the berries; serve hot. If cream for moistening the zwieback is not obtainable, a little juice may be reserved without thickening, and heated in another dish to moisten the toast; of if preferred, the fruit may be heated and poured over the dry zwieback without being thickened, or it may be rubbed through a colander as for Apricot Toast. BERRY TOAST NO. 2.--Take fresh red or black raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries, and mash well with a spoon. Add sugar to sweeten, and serve as a dressing on slices of zwieback previously moistened with hot cream. CELERY TOAST.--Cut the crisp white portion of celery into inch pieces, simmer twenty minutes or half an hour, or until tender, in a very little water; add salt and a cup of rich milk. Heat to boiling, and thicken with a little flour rubbed smooth in a small quantity of milk--a teaspoonful of flour to the pint of liquid. Serve hot, poured over slices of zwieback previously moistened with cream or hot water. CREAM TOAST.--For this use good Graham or whole-wheat zwieback. Have a pint of thin sweet cream scalding hot, salt it a little if desired, and moisten the zwieback in it as previously directed packing it immediately into a hot dish; cover tightly so that the toast may steam, and serve. The slices should be thoroughly moistened, but not soft and mushy nor swimming in cream; indeed, it is better if a little of the crispness still remains. CREAM TOAST WITH POACHED EGG.--Prepare the cream toast as previously directed, and serve hot with a well-poached egg on each slice. CHERRY TOAST.--Take a quart of ripe cherries; stem, wash and stew (if preferred the stones may be removed) until tender but not broken; add sugar to sweeten, and pour over slices of well-browned dry toast or zwieback. Serve cold. GRAVY TOAST.--Heat a quart and a cupful of rich milk to boiling, add salt, and stir into it three scant tablespoonfuls of flour which has been rubbed to a smooth paste in a little cold milk. This quantity will be sufficient for about a dozen slices of toast. Moisten slices of zwieback with hot water and pack in a heated dish. When serving, pour a quantity of the cream cause over each slice. DRY TOAST WITH HOT CREAM.--Nicely prepared zwieback served in hot saucers with hot cream poured over each slice at the table, makes a most delicious breakfast dish. GRAPE TOAST.--Stem well-ripened grapes, wash well, and scald without water in a double boiler until broken; rub through a colander to remove sends and skins, and when cool, sweeten to taste. If the toast is desired for breakfast, the grapes should be prepared the day previous. Soften the toast in hot cream, as previously directed, and pack in a tureen. Heat the prepared grapes and serve, pouring a small quantity over each slice of toast. Canned grapes may be used instead of fresh ones, if desired. LENTIL TOAST.--Lentils stewed as directed for Lentil Gravy on page 226 served as a dressing on slices of zwieback moistened with hot cream or water, makes a very palatable toast. Browned flour may be used to thicken the dressing if preferred. PRUNE TOAST.--Cook prunes as directed on page 191, allowing them to simmer very slowly for a long time. When done, rub through a colander, and if quite thin, they should be stewed again for a time, until they are about the consistency of marmalade. Moisten slices of zwieback with hot cream, and serve with a spoonful or two of the prune dressing on each. One third dried apple may be used with the prune, if preferred. PEACH TOAST.--Stew nice fresh peaches in a small quantity of water; when tender, rub through a colander, and if quite juicy, place on the back of the range where they will cook very slowly until nearly all the water has evaporated, and the peach is of the consistency of marmalade. Add sugar to sweeten, and serve the same as prunes, on slices of zwieback previously moistened with hot cream. Canned peaches may be drained from their juice and prepared in the same manner. Dried or evaporated peaches may also be used. Toast with dried-peach dressing will be more delicate in flavor if one third dried apples be used with the peaches. SNOWFLAKE TOAST.--Heat to boiling a quart of milk to which a half cup of cream, and a little salt have been added. Thicken with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Have ready the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth; and when the sauce is well cooked, turn a cupful of it on the beaten egg, stirring well meanwhile so that it will form a light, frothy mixture, to which add the remainder of the sauce. If the sauce is not sufficiently hot to coagulate the albumen, it may be heated again almost to the boiling point, but should not be allowed to boil. The sauce should be of a light, frothy consistency throughout. Serve as dressing on nicely moistened slices of zwieback. TOMATO TOAST.--Moisten slices of zwieback in hot cream, and serve with a dressing prepared by heating a pint of strained stewed tomato to boiling, and thickening with a tablespoonful of corn starch or flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water. Season with salt and a half cupful of hot cream. The cream may be omitted, if preferred. VEGETABLE OYSTER TOAST.--Cook a quart of cleaned, sliced vegetable oysters in a quart of water until very tender; add a pint and a half of rich milk, salt to taste, and thicken the whole with two tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed to a smooth paste with a little milk. Let it boil for a few minutes, and serve as a dressing on slices of well-browned toast previously moistened with hot water or cream. _MISCELLANEOUS BREAKFAST DISHES._ BREWIS.--Heat a pint of rich milk to boiling, remove from fire, and beat into it thoroughly and quickly a cup of very fine stale rye or Graham bread crumbs. Serve at once with cream. BLACKBERRY MUSH.--Rub a pint of canned or fresh stewed and sweetened blackberries, having considerable juice, through a fine colander or sieve to remove the seeds. Add water to make a pint and a half cupful in all, heat to boiling, and sprinkle into it a cupful of sifted Graham flour, or sufficient to make a mush of desired thickness. Cook as directed for Graham Mush, page 90. Serve hot with cream. DRY GRANOLA.--This prepared food, made from wheat, corn, and oats, and obtainable from the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., forms an excellent breakfast dish eaten with cold or hot milk and cream. Wheatena, prepared wholly from wheat; Avenola, made from oats and wheat; and Gofio, made from parched grains, all obtainable from the same firm, are each delicious and suitable foods for the morning meal. FRUMENTY.--Wash well a pint of best wheat, and soak for twenty-four hours in water just sufficient to cover. Put the soaked wheat in a covered earthen baking pot or jar, cover well with water, and let it cook in a very slow oven for twelve hours. This may be done the day before it is wanted, or if one has a coal range in which a fire may be kept all night, or an Aladdin oven, the grain may be started in the evening and cooked at night. When desired for use, put in a saucepan with three pints of milk, a cupful of well-washed Zante currants, and one cup of seeded raisins. Boil together for a few minutes, thicken with four tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk, and serve. MACARONI WITH RAISINS.--Break macaroni into inch lengths sufficient to fill a half-pint cup. Heat four cups of milk, and when actively boiling, put in the macaroni and cook until tender. Pour boiling water over a half cup of raisins, and let them stand until swelled. Ten or fifteen minutes before the macaroni is done, add the raisins. Serve hot with or without the addition of cream. Macaroni cooked in the various ways as directed in the chapter on Grains, is also suitable for breakfast dishes. MACARONI WITH KORNLET.--Break macaroni into inch lengths and cook in boiling milk and water. Prepare the kornlet by adding to it an equal quantity of rich milk or thin cream, and thickening with a little flour, a tablespoonful to the pint. When done, drain the macaroni, and add the kornlet in the proportion of a pint of kornlet mixture to one and one half cups of macaroni. Mix well, turn into an earthen dish, and brown in a moderate oven. Left-over kornlet soup, if kept on ice, may be utilized for this breakfast dish, and the macaroni may be cooked the day before. Green corn pulp may be used in place of the kornlet. PEACH MUSH.--Prepare the same as Blackberry Mush using very thin peach sauce made smooth by rubbing through a colander. Freshly stewed or canned peaches or nicely cooked dried peaches are suitable for this purpose. Apples and grapes may be likewise used for a breakfast mush. RICE WITH LEMON.--Wash a cup of rice and turn it into three pints of boiling water, let it boil vigorously until tender, and turn into a colander to drain. While still in the colander and before the rice has become at all cold, dip quickly in and out of a pan of cold water several times to separate the grains, draining well afterward. All should be done so quickly that the rice will not become too cold for serving; if necessary to reheat, place for a few moments in a dish in a steamer over a kettle of boiling water. Serve with a dressing of lemon previously prepared by cutting two fresh lemons in thin, wafer-like slices, sprinkling each thickly with sugar, and allowing them to stand for an hour or more until a syrup is formed. When the rice is ready to serve, lay the slices of lemon on top of it, pouring the syrup over it, and serve with a slice or two of the lemon for each dish. TABLE TOPICS. The lightest breakfast is the best.--_Oswald._ A NEW NAME FOR BREAKFAST.--"Tum, mamma, leth's go down to tupper," said a little toddler to her mother, one morning, recently. "Why, we don't have supper in the morning," replied the mother. "Den leth's do down to dinner," urged the little one. "But we don't have dinner in the morning," corrected the mother. "Well, den, leth's do down any way," pleaded the child. "But try and think what meal we have in the morning," urged mamma. "I know," said the toddler, brightening up. "What meal do we have in the morning?" "Oatmeal. Tum on; leth's do."--_Sel._ Seneca, writing to a friend of his frugal fare which he declares does not cost a sixpence a day, says:-- "Do you ask if that can supply due nourishment? Yes; and pleasure too. Not indeed, that fleeting and superficial pleasure which needs to be perpetually recruited, but a solid and substantial one. Bread and polenta certainly is not a luxurious feeding, but it is no little advantage to be able to receive pleasure from a simple diet of which no change of fortune can deprive one." Breakfast: Come to breakfast! Little ones and all,-- How their merry footsteps Patter at the call! Break the bread; pour freely Milk that cream-like flows; A blessing on their appetites And on their lips of rose. Dinner may be pleasant So may the social tea, But yet, methinks the breakfast Is best of all the three. With its greeting smile of welcome, Its holy voice of prayer, It forgeth heavenly armor To foil the hosts of care. --_Mrs. Sigourney._ Health is not quoted in the markets because it is without price.--_Sel._ It is a mistake to think that the more a man eats, the fatter and stronger he will become.--_Sel._ DESSERTS Custom has so long established the usage of finishing the dinner with a dessert of some kind, that a _menu_ is considered quite incomplete without it; and we shall devote the next few pages to articles which may be deemed appropriate and healthful desserts, not because we consider the dessert itself of paramount importance, for indeed we do not think it essential to life or even to good living, but because we hope the hints and suggestions which our space permits, may aid the housewife in preparing more wholesome, inexpensive dishes in lieu of the indigestible articles almost universally used for this purpose. We see no objection to the use of a dessert, if the articles offered are wholesome, and are presented before an abundance has already been taken. As usually served, the dessert is but a "snare and delusion" to the digestive organs. Compounded of substances "rich," not in food elements, but in fats, sweets, and spices, and served after enough has already been eaten, it offers a great temptation to overeat; while the elements of which it is largely composed, serve to hamper the digestive organs, to clog the liver, and to work mischief generally. At the same time it may be remarked that the preparation of even wholesome desserts requires an outlay of time and strength better by far expended in some other manner. Desserts are quite unnecessary to a good, healthful, nutritious dietary. The simplest of all desserts are the various nuts and delicious fruits with which nature has so abundantly supplied us, at no greater cost than their harmful substitutes, and which require no expenditure of time or strength in their preparation. If, however, other forms of dessert are desired, a large variety may be prepared in a simple manner, so as to be both pleasing and appetizing. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. In the preparation of desserts, as in that of all other foods it is essential that all material used shall be thoroughly good of its kind. If bread is to be used, the crumbs should be dry and rather stale, but on no account use that which is sour or moldy. Some housekeepers imagine that if their bread happens to spoil and become sour, although it is hardly palatable enough for the table, it may be advantageously used to make puddings. It is indeed quite possible to combine sour bread with other ingredients so as to make a pudding agreeable to the palate; but disguising sour bread makes sweets and flavors by no means changes it into a wholesome food. It is better economy to throw sour bread away at once than to impose it upon the digestive organs at the risk of health and strength. Bread which has begun to show appearance of mold should never be used; for mold is a poison, and very serious illness has resulted from the eating of puddings made from moldy bread. Eggs, to be used for desserts, should always be fresh and good. Cooks often imagine that an egg too stale to be eaten in any other way will do very well for use in cakes and puddings, because it can be disguised so as not to be apparent to the taste; but stale eggs are unfit for food, either alone or in combination with other ingredients. Their use is often the occasion of serious disturbances of the digestive organs. Most desserts in which eggs are used will be much lighter if the yolks and whites are beaten separately. If in winter, and eggs are scarce, fewer may be used, and two tablespoonfuls of dry snow for each omitted egg stirred in the last thing before baking. Milk, likewise, should always be sweet and fresh. If it is to be heated, use a double boiler, so that there will be no danger of scorching. If fresh milk is not available, the condensed milk found at the grocer's is an excellent substitute. Dissolve according to directions, and follow the recipe the same as with fresh milk, omitting one half or two thirds the given amount of sugar. If dried sweet fruits, raisins, or currants are to be used, look them over carefully, put them in a colander, and placing it in a pan of warm water, allow the currants to remain until plump. This will loosen the dirt which, while they are shriveled, sticks in the creases, and they may then be washed by dipping the colander in and out of clean water until they are free from sediment; rinse in two waters, then spread upon a cloth, and let them get perfectly dry before using. It is a good plan, after purchasing raisins and currants, to wash and dry a quantity, and store in glass cans ready for use. To facilitate the stoning of raisins, put them into a colander placed in a dish of warm water until plump; then drain, when the seeds can be easily removed. For desserts which are to be molded, always wet the molds in cold water before pouring in the desserts. _SUGGESTIONS FOR FLAVORING, ETC._ TO PREPARE ALMOND PASTE.--Blanch the nuts according to directions given on page 215. Allow them to dry thoroughly, and pound in a mortar to a smooth paste. They can be reduced much easier if dried for a day or two after blanching. During the pounding, sprinkle with a few drops of cold water, white of egg, rose water, or lemon juice, to prevent them from oiling. COCOANUT FLAVOR.--Cocoanut, freshly grated or desiccated, unless in extremely fine particles, is a very indigestible substance, and when its flavor is desired for custards, puddings, etc., it is always better to steep a few tablespoonfuls in a pint of milk for twenty minutes or a half hour, and strain out the particles. The milk should not be allowed to boil, as it will be likely to curdle. One tablespoonful of freshly grated cocoanut or two of the desiccated will give a very pleasant and delicate flavor; and if a more intense flavor is desired, use a larger quantity. ORANGE AND LEMON FLAVOR.--Orange or lemon flavor may be obtained by steeping a few strips of the yellow part of the rind of lemon or orange in milk for twenty minutes. Skim out the rind before using for desserts. Care should be taken to use only the yellow part, as the white will impart a bitter flavor. The grated rind may also be used for flavoring, but in grating the peel, one must be careful to grate very lightly, and thus use only the outer yellow portion, which contains the essential oil of the fruit. Grate evenly, turning and working around the lemon, using as small a surface of the grater as possible, in order to prevent waste. Generally, twice across the grater and back will be sufficient for removing all the yellow skin from one portion of a lemon. A well-grated lemon should be of exactly the same shape as before, with no yellow skin remaining, and no deep scores into the white. Remove the yellow pulp from the grater with a fork. TO COLOR SUGAR.--For ornamenting the meringues of puddings and other desserts, take a little of the fresh juice of cranberries, red raspberries, currants, black raspberries, grapes, or other colored juices of fruits, thicken it stiff with the sugar, spread on a plate to dry, or use at one. It may be colored yellow with orange peel strained through a cloth, or green with the juice of spinach. Sugar prepared in this manner is quite as pretty and much more wholesome than the colored sugars found in market, which are often prepared with poisonous chemicals. FRUIT DESSERTS. _RECIPES._ APPLE DESSERT.--Pare some large tart apples, remove the cores, put into the cavities a little quince jelly, lemon flavored sugar, or grated pineapple and sugar, according to the flavor desired. Have as many squares of bread with the crust taken off as there are apples, and place a filled apple on each piece of bread, on earthen pie plates; moisten well with a little quince jelly dissolved in water, lemon juice, or pineapple juice, according to the filling used. Cover closely, and bake in a rather quick oven till the apples are tender. Serve with whipped cream and sugar. APPLE MERINGUE DESSERT.--Pare and core enough tart, easy-cooking apples to make a quart when stewed. Cover closely and cook slowly till perfectly tender, when they should be quite dry. Mash through a colander, add a little sugar and a little grated pineapple or lemon peel. Beat light with a silver fork, turn into a pudding dish, and brown in a moderate oven ten or fifteen minutes. Then cover with a meringue made with two tablespoonfuls of sugar and the beaten whites of two eggs, and return to the oven for a moment to brown. Serve cold. APPLE ROSE CREAM.--Wash, core, slice, and cook without paring, a dozen fresh snow apples until very dry. When done, rub through a colander to remove the skins, add sugar to sweeten, and the whites of two eggs; beat vigorously with an egg beater until stiff, add a teaspoonful of rose water for flavoring, and serve at once, or keep on ice. It is especially important that the apples be very dry, otherwise the cream will not be light. If after rubbing through the colander, there is still much juice, they should be cooked again until it has evaporated; or they may be turned into a jelly bag and drained. Other varieties of apple may be used, and flavored with pineapple or vanilla. Made as directed of snow apples or others with white flesh and red skins, the cream should be of a delicate pink color, making a very dainty as well as delicious dessert. APPLE SNOW.--Pare and quarter some nice tart apples. Those that when cooked will be whitest in color are best. Put them into a china dish, and steam until tender over a kettle of boiling water. When done, rub through a colander or beat with a fork until smooth, add sugar to sweeten and a little grated lemon rind, and beat again. For every cup and a half of the prepared apple allow the white of one egg, which beat to a stiff froth, adding the apple to it a little at a time, beating all together until, when taken up in a spoon, it stands quite stiff. Serve cold, with or without a simple custard prepared with a pint of hot milk, a tablespoonful of sugar, and the yolks of two eggs. BAKED APPLES WITH CREAM.--Pare some nice juicy sweet apples, and remove the cores without dividing. Bake until tender in a covered dish with a spoonful or two of water on the bottom. Serve with whipped cream. Or, bake the apples without paring and when done, remove the skins, and serve in the same manner. The cream may be flavored with a little lemon or rose if desired. Lemon apples and Citron apples, prepared as directed on pages 186 and 187, make a most delicious dessert served with whipped cream and sugar, or with mock cream flavored with cocoanut. BAKED SWEET APPLE DESSERT.--Wash and remove the cores from a dozen medium-sized sweet apples, and one third as many sour ones, and bake until well done. Mash through a colander to make smooth and remove the skins. Put into a granite-ware dish, smooth the top with a knife, return to the oven and bake very slowly until dry enough to keep its shape when cut. Add if desired a meringue made by heating the white of one egg with a tablespoonful of sugar. Cut into squares, and serve in individual dishes. The meringue may be flavored with lemon or dotted with bits of colored sugar. BANANAS IN SYRUP.--Heat in a porcelain kettle a pint of currant and red raspberry juice, equal parts, sweetened to taste. When boiling, drop into it a dozen peeled bananas, and simmer very gently for twenty minutes. Remove the bananas, boil the juice until thickened to the consistency of syrup, and pour over the fruit. Serve cold. BAKED BANANAS.--Bake fresh, firm, yelow bananas with the skins on fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. Serve hot. FRESH FRUIT COMPOTE.--Flavor three tablespoonfuls of sugar by mixing with it a little of the grated yellow rind of an orange, or by rubbing it over the orange to extract the oil. If the latter method is used, the square lump sugar will be preferable. Pare, quarter, and slice three medium-sized tart apples. Peel, remove the seeds, and cut in quite fine pieces three oranges. Put the fruit in alternate layers in a glass dish. Sweeten a cupful of fresh or canned raspberry juice with the flavored sugar, and turn it over the fruit. Put the dish on ice to cool for a half hour before serving. GRAPE APPLES.--Sweeten a pint of fresh grape juice with a pint of sugar, and simmer gently until reduced one third. Pare and core without dividing, six or eight nice tart apples, and stew very slowly in the grape juice until tender, but not broken. Remove the apples and boil the juice (if any remain) until thickened to the consistency of syrup. Serve cold with a dressing of whipped cream. Canned grape pulp or juice may be utilized for this purpose. Sweet apples may be used instead of tart ones, and the sugar omitted. PEACH CREAM.--Pare and stone some nice yellow peaches, and mash with a spoon or press through a colander with a potato masher. Allow equal quantities of the peach pulp and cream, add a little sugar to sweeten, and beat all together until the cream is light. Serve in saucers or glasses with currant buns. A banana cream may be prepared in the same manner. PRUNE DESSERT.--Prepare some prune marmalade as directed on page