A bachelors cupboard

of half a lemon are added. Cook then about ten minutes, and if it is to be especially appetizing, half a pint of rich coffee cream is stirred in. If this be heated first it will be better, as the sherry and hot oysters are apt to curdle the cold cream. Serve on hot toast or slices of brown bread and drink with it just what you seem to crave at the moment — supposing, of course, that a cocktail has preceded. And, by the way, Rhine wine and seltzer doesn't go half badly with this particular dish, although of course if you prefer beer I've nothing to say. SHAD When the shad is smiling in the market ROE place, the festive bachelor bethinks himself of the succulent roe. For four people a pair of shad roe — if they be large — will be sufficient. Scald them in the hot water pan with a pint of hot water, a gill of vinegar, a bit of mace, and some lemon peel, not forgetting three peppercorns for the final touch of mystery. Boil fifteen minutes, then spread with butter blended with chopped parsley and the juice of a lemon. " The gentleman who dines the latest Is in our street esteemed the greatest; But surely greater than them all, Is he who never dines at all." OYSTER a la Sir John Bayley: "Bruise one small TOAST anchovy fine and take two dozen oysters and cast off their beards. Chop the oysters fine w^ith a silver knife and put with the anchovy in the chafing dish. Mix both together with sufficient cream to give Snacks of Sea Food It a pleasing consistency. Heat well, stirring all the time. Have ready some buttered toast, and serve the hot oysters on these rounds. Eat in solemn silence, and wash down with brown sherry." Sir John, by the way, stipulates always that the dinner hour be adhered to with military exactness. It is related of Cambaceres that Napoleon kept his dinner waiting half an hour, and in despair he sent for his cook and in true military phraseology exclaimed, '* Henri ! Save the entremets! The entrees are annihilated ! " The late Dr. Kitchener, who prided himself upon his punctuality, had written over his sideboard the motto, " Come at seven, go at eleven." Theodore Hook, who always liked the wee sma' hours best, added the word "it" to the aboveve, and great was the doctor's surprise when he found that by alteration the notice advised his guests to " go it at eleven." To this might be added the advice of Baillie Nicol Jarvie: " Don't accept a man's hospitality and abuse the scoundrel behind his back." CHAPTER VIII rrrr *' Clieese is but a peevist elf^ It digests all except itself," Cheese is one of the most valuable of foods, and contains, in one pound, as much nutriment as is contained in two pounds of beef. In its raw state it is rather difficult of digestion to some, but this it somewhat overcome by cooking. A small amount of bicarbonate of soda should always be added to cooked cheese. In the face of this, it seems strange that cheese should be eaten to aid digestion, but a small portion of very rich cheese eaten after a hearty dinner aids that function wonderfully. The various popular brands of cheese take their names from the places where they are made. Many foreign cheeses are now so well imitated in this country as to render im- A Chat on Cheese