OYSTER STEW — Put the liquor from 1 pint of oysters with 1 cup of sweet milk in a kettle; let it just boil, add the oysters and let it boil up once; then season with jDepper, salt, and butter, with a few crackers toasted and broken in jjieces. Never salt oysters until just before removing from the fire, or they will shrivel and harden. SMOTHERED OYSTERS — Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a sauce^pan, with a little salt, white pepper✪ Oyster Stew and cayenne. Have ready a pint of oysters, which have been washed in warm water slightly salted, and thoroughly drained and dried on a napkin; when the butter is hot, put in the oysters and cook them until they are plump (2 or 3 minutes); stir them carefully all the time with a silver fork to prevent them from sticking to the sauce^pan. Serve on toasted crackers. OYSTER TOAST — Chop fine 1^ dozen good large oysters, and season with pepper, salt, and a dash of nutmeg. Beat together ^ cup of cream and yolks of 2 eggs✪ Oyster Toast; heat the oysters till they simmer, stir in the egg and cream, and pour it on prepared slices of buttered toast. OYSTERS UNSHELLED— Take oysters in the shell; wash and scrub the shell till perfectly clean; then, to keep in the juice, set them with the round shell down. Either steam them in the steamer 10 to 20 minutes, or roast them over hot coals on a gridiron, or put them in the dripping-pan on top of the stove, or in the hot oven. They will be done when the shells open. Then take ofip the flat top shell, and season each one with a little butter, salt, pepper, and lem- on juice. Serve hot. This method retains the natural flavor of the oyster better than any other. Oysters are wholesome and nutritious, but are more digestible when raw than when cooked, as cooking usually hardens and toughens them. SHELLFISH 93 SCALLOPS. This fish somewhat resembles the oyster in appearance and the crab in taste. It is com- 'paratively little known, although when fresh and well cooked it is very delicious. It is found in all parts of the world, and in ancient times the shells were used extensively in cookery, giv- . . ing us our prefix of "scalloped." They are in 1;^!^::^!^^ season in fall and winter. The muscle by which the scallop. it opens and closes its shell is the only part eaten. They can be stewed like oysters, or fry them, which is a better way. FRIED SCALLOPS.— Kinse them in cold water slightly salted, and dry in a napkin; dip them in cracker dust seasoned with pepper and salt, then in egg, then in crumbs again, and fry in hot fat. They are sometimes dredged with flour and fried in a frying-pan with pork fat, and some people prefer them that way. TEKRAPIN OR TURTLE. To dress terrapin, cut off the head and bleed thoroughly, then soak in cold water for an hour. Next boil 10 or 15 minutes, take it out into cold water and with a coarse cloth rub off all the black skin. Have another water heating in the kettle, and when the turtle is cleaned, boil until the shell loosens; the time will vary from ^ hour to 2 hours, according to the age of the terrapin. When done, put in cold water again, take off the under shell and carefully take out the gall-sack and the liver and sand bag, and throw away the head.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

OYSTER STEW — Put the liquor from 1 pint of oysters with 1 cup of sweet milk in a kettle; let it just boil, add the oysters and let it boil up once; then season with pepper, salt, and butter, with a few crackers toasted and broken in pieces. Never salt oysters until just before removing from the fire, or they will shrivel and harden. SMOTHERED OYSTERS — Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into a sauce-pan, with a little salt, white pepper and cayenne. Have ready a pint of oysters, which have been washed in warm water slightly salted, and thoroughly drained and dried on a napkin; when the butter is hot, put in the oysters and cook them until they are plump (2 or 3 minutes); stir them carefully all the time with a silver fork to prevent them from sticking to the sauce-pan. Serve on toasted crackers. OYSTER TOAST — Chop fine 1 1/2 dozen good large oysters, and season with pepper, salt, and a dash of nutmeg. Beat together 1/2 cup of cream and yolks of 2 eggs; heat the oysters till they simmer, stir in the egg and cream, and pour it on prepared slices of buttered toast. OYSTERS UNSHELLED— Take oysters in the shell; wash and scrub the shell till perfectly clean; then, to keep in the juice, set them with the round shell down. Either steam them in the steamer 10 to 20 minutes, or roast them over hot coals on a gridiron, or put them in the dripping-pan on top of the stove, or in the hot oven. They will be done when the shells open. Then take off the flat top shell, and season each one with a little butter, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Serve hot. This method retains the natural flavor of the oyster better than any other. Oysters are wholesome and nutritious, but are more digestible when raw than when cooked, as cooking usually hardens and toughens them. SCALLOPS. This fish somewhat resembles the oyster in appearance and the crab in taste. It is com- 'paratively little known, although when fresh and well cooked it is very delicious. It is found in all parts of the world, and in ancient times the shells were used extensively in cookery, giv- . . ing us our prefix of "scalloped." They are in 1;^!^::^!^^ season in fall and winter. The muscle by which the scallop. it opens and closes its shell is the only part eaten. They can be stewed like oysters, or fry them, which is a better way. FRIED SCALLOPS.— Rinse them in cold water slightly salted, and dry in a napkin; dip them in cracker dust seasoned with pepper and salt, then in egg, then in crumbs again, and fry in hot fat. They are sometimes dredged with flour and fried in a frying-pan with pork fat, and some people prefer them that way. TEKRAPIN OR TURTLE. To dress terrapin, cut off the head and bleed thoroughly, then soak in cold water for an hour. Next boil 10 or 15 minutes, take it out into cold water and with a coarse cloth rub off all the black skin. Have another water heating in the kettle, and when the turtle is cleaned, boil until the shell loosens; the time will vary from ^ hour to 2 hours, according to the age of the terrapin. When done, put in cold water again, take off the under shell and carefully take out the gall-sack and the liver and sand bag, and throw away the head.

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Oyster StewSmothered OystersOyster Toast

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