Catherine Owen's new cook book ..

Put four tablespoonfuls of sugar in a small thick saucepan, with two tablespoonfuls of water; let them boil ten minutes over a quick fire; then watch it till it colors golden; it will soon go from this to dark-brown; when it is all black like thick molasses, put a half cup of hot water to it; it will sputter, but never mind that; stir till it is all dissolved; then let it boil till it is syrup; pour it into a bottle; it should look when cold like black molasses and will keep for years. BOUQUET OF SWEET HERBS. Tie together two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, one bay leaf, wrapping them round so that they will not shed, and be easy to take out of the gravy or soup. TO CHOP HERBS. Always use the leaves only, never the stems; gather the leaves firmly between the thumb and three fingers of the left hand; let a sharp knife shave them through as you push them forward under it; turn them round; gather them up again and cut them across in the same way; then finish by chopping with both hands. General Instructions. I 2 7 This is the way to get them finely and evenly CHOPPED. When sweet herbs are called for, it means three parts parsley, two parts thyme, one part marjoram. GARKISHING. No matter how well a dinner may be cooked if it is ill served it will lose a great deal. Everybody should insist on the dishes being well arranged, and trimmed or garnished before they are sent to table. Corned beef is a very homely dish, yet if the carrots and turnips are cut into nice forms and served round it alternately, with here and there a sprig of green parsley, it will look far more appetizing than if it is on a bare dish, and so it is with most other things, from hash to croquettes. Parsley is probably the most useful garnish we have, yet a dish garnished with parsley does not mean a kitchen-garden of it, and the tendency is usually to overdo. The mere fact, that you insist on the dishes being made to look their best, tends to make a cook careful in her cooking. They are impressed with the fact that the slap-dash method will not do. An Hibernian damsel applied to me for a place, and in awestruck tones, as if it enhanced her own value to be so near the rose, told me her sister was cook to Mr. Y., who never had a dish sent to table without "Varnish." My thoughts flew to "glaze," and as it was rather an advanced form of cooking for our locality, I asked if she herself knew how to make the "Varnish." A bewildered look passed over her face, a suspicion that I was laughing at her, as she said in a tone of dignified rebuke: "It grows;"so I knew her "Varnish" was "garnish,"' her one idea of "garnish" parsley. 120 Practical Recipes, Fried parsley is suitable for any light brown article, such as savory patties, croquettes, cromesquis, sweetbreads, etc. ; and it makes a change from the too pervasive uncooked article, pretty as it is. For hot dishes with brown gravy, fried bread cut into pretty shapes will not take two minutes, or as they will keep a month in cool weather many may be prepared when there is leisure, and made quite hot in a slow oven. They will not be so nice, yet better than sodden toasted sippets.