A bachelors cupboard

'' Many dig their graves with their teeth" said Ben Franklin; but what a glorious way to dig them ! If eating and drinking were taken from us, life wouldn't be worth the living, and there are more who die from insufficient food than from good living. Good livers who take the proper amount of exercise are rarely troubled w^ith gout and the kindred ills the flesh of the gourmet is heir to. Then ho! for the next delicacy, which shall be a hitherto-unnamed dish of my own invention. I call it MACE- Into the blazer put two generous table- DOINE spoonfuls of butter or oil, and then a can of CHAUD |.j^g delicious French vegetables that come in such tempting form — or a glass of them, if this be preferred. There will be succulent French beans, petits poisj and tiny cubes of carrots, turnips, mayhap a bit of parsnip or salsify, and with all this you may like a suspicion of onion, which may be had by gently stirring in the melted butter for a moment tw^o or three Variations with Vegetables slices of onion, which are afterward removed. When the vegetables are hot, they are good enough to eat with almost anything; but if there is cream handy, a spoonful or two stirred through the vegetables is certainly an improvement. It has a very Frenchy bouquet, this dish, and suggests one of Verlaine's spring poems. Try it. BRUSSELS Suppose you are entertaining an English- SPROUTS man and want to give him something " homey." If you are perchance deviling slices of rare roast beef in one chafer, then give him some Brussels sprouts in the other, and he will beam upon you in truth. For Brussels sprouts are to Johnny Bull what rice is to a Chinaman. Wash a quart of sprouts and take off any decayed leaves, then boil until tender in salted water. They cook very quickly. Take out and drain, then melt some good butter in the blazer and saute the sprouts lightly in the pan, dusting lightly with salt and pepper. And no matter how hot your " devil," don't neglect to have English mustard handy for your Briton. SPA- This may properly come under the head of GHETTI vegetables, and do you know that it can be deliciously cooked in a chafing-dish? Have boiling in the hot-water pan some salted water, and take as much spaghetti as required, a few sticks at a time, and gently slide into the boiling water without breaking. The secret of good spaghetti is in not overcooking it, as Joe of the Cafe Angelo in Boston's Little Italy told me; Variations with Vegetables and he knows. When it is done, which w^ill be in about fifteen or twenty minutes, drain and put in the blazer some butter — two tablespoonfuls. Into this work a little flour, and, if you want spaghetti with cream, put in a cup of milk and salt and pepper to taste, and when it is smooth and thick, add the spaghetti. Pass grated Parmesan cheese with it when served. If, however, you want it in true Italian fashion, put in a cup of strained tomato juice instead of the milk, and either some button mushrooms cut in slices or some of the dried mushrooms that can be bought at any Italian grocery and soaked out in cold water. A little grated cheese may be stirred in, but it should be passed as well. Lastly, add the spaghetti. If you have any pieces of cold ham., cut fine and add them. They give a delicious flavor.