The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

It would, of course, be unreasonable to open a bottle of champagne on purpose, but should a bottle be open, a small glass of champagne added to kidney soup, whether in tins or made from fresh kidneys, is a very great improvement. KIPPERED HERRINGS.— See Herrings. KIRSCHENWASSER. -Kirschenwasser is a very delicious liqueur made in Switzerland in the neighbourhood of Montreux, from morella cherries. Perhaps its chief characteristic, and that which makes it so highly prized, is that it is not sweet. It is a dry liqueur. The chief objection to most liqueurs is that they are too sweet. There are few liqueurs that are more suited for what is known as cleansing the palate than Kirschenwasser. In some places, after turtle soup, it is usual to take a glass of punch, and in others a glass of good old madeira. Kirschenwasser is well worth a trial, as there is no doubt that, so far as cleansing the palate goes, it is infinitely superior to the other two. Kirschenwasser is also used occasionally in cooking. There are few sweets nicer than omelette au Kindi. This is simply a small quantity of kirsch, which is heated in the ordinary way, and then poured alight over the plain sweet omelet, which has been sprinkled over with white powdered i sugar. As I have known housekeepers experience difficulty in lighting spirits such as brandy, rum, etc. , to pour over puddings, I will here explain how this can be done. If the spirit is very strong it will ignite at once, but when it is weak— or rather, I should say, when it has considerable age, as should be the case with all spirits used for the table — it will not light unless it is heated. Act, therefore, as follows. Fill, say, a gravyspoon with Kirschenwasser, and take a piece of lighted paper and hold it under j the spoon. This will, of course, have j the effect of warming the spirit. In a : very short time it will be seen that the i spirit will easily ignite, when it can at i once be poured over the omelet or pud- j ding, wlien once in flames, if the dish j is very hot, more spirit can be added to 1 the dish ; it will not be necessary to heat a second quantity. In making omelette au kirsch the omelette should be well sprinkled over with powdered sugar before the lighted spirit is added. Kirschenwasser is sometimes used for flavouring biscuits. Francatelli recoin- , mends its use in making Victoria bis- | cuits. I have been informed, though I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the statement, that Kirschenwasser is one of the very best spirits that can be taken by persons who suffer from dyspepsia. KNIVES, VARIOUS.— Many years ago, in one of the comic papers, a series of pictures were published exhibiting apparently a desperate struggle in a railway carriage. The last picture was that of a six-bladed knife on the ground, of which every blade had been broken. At the end it was stated, “ However, Mr. Jones had only been trying to open a