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

them till they are a nice pulp. A little pepper and salt may be added. When they are sufficiently cooked and the whole becomes a moist pulp, fill each tomato with this mixture, getting as much of it into the tomatoes as possible. When the forcemeat is put in place the tomatoes in a tin with some butter in the oven, and let them ' be there sufficiently long to get hot through. Owing to the forcemeat having been put in warm this will not be long. If the oven is a good one, ten minutes or a quarter of an hour will be ample time. Now take them out with a large flat spoon similar to that used for fried eggs, put them on a dish, and serve. A little rich brown gravy can be poured round the base, or they can be served plain as they are. This is an exceedingly delicious dish. Tomatoes in tins preserved whole make most excellent salad. Remove the pips and juice and simply cut them up into small pieces. Mix them in a salad bowl in the ordinary way with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt. This is a very cooling dish in hot weather. Another very delicious dish is tomato sandwiches. Cut some very thin white bread-and-butter. Sprinkle over each piece of bread a little fresh mustard and cress, pepper and salt. Now cut the tomatoes into thin slices and lay between two pieces of bread-and-butter ; press them together gently, and with a very sharp knife trim off the edges and cut into small squares. At garden parties, ball suppers, etc., these sandwiches are most delicious, especially if they are placed for an hour or so in a refrigerator. The delicious coolness of tomatoes in conjunction with the ice makes it one of the most refreshing sandwiches ever served. TONGUES, VARIOUS.— Tongues may be divided into three distinct classes— those that can be obtained ready cooked preserved in tins ; the tongue just as it is, that can be taken from the pickle tub ; and the dried tongue, such as reindeer tongue. With regard to the latter of these three, the great drawback to reindeer tongue is the dreadful trouble it gives you in cooking it. I am almost afraid to say how long it takes to soak reindeer tongue before it can be boiled, but as a rule it requires a week — at least such is my experience. With re- gard to the pickled tongue fresh from the pickle tub, this is a question for the butcher to decide rather than the grocer, though the latter often supplies tongues. The cooking of these tongues to a certain extent depends on the length of time they have been in pickle. Like many other things, time should be the happy medium. When kept too long in pickle they are very red, very hard and indigestible. If not kept long enough in pickle, when cooked they will have a beefy rather than a tonguey look. As soon as the tongue has been kept long enough in the pickle to look red through when cut in the thick part it should be cooked immediately. This is only found out by experience. Of course the tongue should be soaked in fresh water before it is boiled. One of the most convenient forms of tinned goods is what may be termed the modern breakfast tongue. When you have obtained a tinned tongue, the first thing to bear in mind is the importance of tinning it out neatly. As I have said under the heading ‘ 1 Knives,” the scissorknife is the best for opening nearly everything.