The Cook Book, by "Oscar" of the Waldorf

Take some mussels that have been hustled or plainly cooked, remove the half shell that does not contain the fish, take off the beard and weed, remove any young crabs there may be, and put them on a dish either piled up or packed closely together. In the meantime prepare a little melted butter, made with the mussel liquor instead of water and a good quantity of butter, and sprinkle over a little pepper and sufficient vinegar to give it a sharp taste ; make this mixture hot, pour it over the mussels and serve at once. Nutmeg, mace, or chopped parsley and chives may be added to the sauce if desired to heighten the flavor. Scalloped Mussels. Put some mussels into a saucepan and toss them over a quick fire for a few minutes until the meat will come away easily from the shells. Take out the beards, weeds, etc., remove the fish from their shells, squeeze all the liquor out of them, and add to it that which came from them while being cooked : strain it into a saucepan, put in the mussels and warm them up, adding a little flour, butter, grated nutmeg and pepper ; care must be taken not to let them boil and not to use any salt, as they generally contain sufficient. Clean some scallop shells, cover them with breadcrumbs, put a layer of the mussels over it, then another layer of breadcrumbs and another of mussels ; moisten them with a few tablespoonfuls of the liquor, put a layer of crumbs on top, place on it *a few pieces of butter, scatter over a little dried parsley, and put them in an oven to cook until they are a bright brown. They may be browned in a salamander instead of the oven, if desired, and must be served hot. Stewed Mussels, Mariniere. Steam three dozen mussels in a saucepan for about ten minutes, without any water. Take them out, remove half of their shells, put them into a saucepan with two ounces of fresh butter, a small quantity of chives and finely-chopped chervil, a very little pepper and a teacupful of finely-sifted breadcrumbs ; pour over one-half breakfast cupful of water and boil for two minutes longer. Turn the whole into a dish, squeeze over the juice of one-half of a lemon, and serve. The mussels should be arranged in the dish with the half shells downwards. Garnish with parsley and quarters of lemons. Mussels, Villeroy. Wash and thoroughly cleanse some mussels, changing the water five or six times, if necessary, and remove the sinewy strings that are to be found inside, put them into a saucepan, pour over a wineglassful of white wine, toss them over a fire until the shells open, then turn them into a colander over a pan and let them drain. Pull them out of their shells, and when they are cool dip them into a little villeroy sauce ; arrange on a baking sheet, and when the sauce has cooled sprinkle them over with breadcrumbs, repeating it to have them thoroughly covered. Plunge them into a fryingpan of boiling fat, fry to a light brown color, then take them out, drain, put them on a napkin on a dish, and serve with a garnish of fried parsley. Oysters. Oysters are in season eight months in the year, .he four " close " months being May, June, July, and Augfust; the other months having the letter ** r " in their spelling, accounts for the saying that oysters are in season when there is an ** r " in the month. The oyster (ostrea edulis) is found on almost every coast, being especially io8 , SHELL-FISH.