Household hints

Escalloped Onions, — Boil till tender six large onions. Take them out of the kettle, separate them, and put a layer of bread or cracker crumbs in a pudding dish, then a layer of onions alternately until the dish is full ; season with pepper and salt and a little butter, moisten with milk, and brown for half an hour in the oven. Egg Plant. — Make a batter of flour and milk, cut the egg plant in slices, dip in the batter and fry in butter, or butter and lard mixed. In place of batter you can use an egg well beaten mixed with cracker crumbs. Many people who would otherwise enjoy having onions, cabbage, and turnips on the dinner table are often deterred by the dislike they have for the after odor, which it is almost impossible to get rid of. Oatmeal. — If you wish to have it for an early breakfast, let it soak all night in cold water, with a little salt in it ; in the morning cook for half an hour in the frying-pan, adding hot water as the grain swells out. If you have plenty of time, a better way is to steam the oatmeal. Fried Oatmeal. — Take steamed oatmeal when it is cold, cut it in thin slices, and fry until it is brown in a little lard or butter. Fried Pudding. — Have some water boiling in a kettle, stir in com meal a little at a time until you have the desired quantity. Cook until great bubbles of air rise, then tuni out into a mold or a pudding dish ; let it cool, cut it in slices, and fry same as oatmeal. Rice Croquettes, — One quart of boiled rice, three eggs, a little salt ; if the rice is very moist, put in some rolled cracker crumbs ; add a little sugar. Put some flour on the kneading-board, drop a spoonful of rice on the board, and roll in the flour into long rolls ; then drop into hot lard and fry as you would fried cakes. Cracked Wheat* — If put to soak over night, it will cook in a few moments in the morning ; cook the same as oatmeal. It is nice fried also. SALADS. Cabbage Salad. — This may be made with hard-boiled eggs chopped, or with raw eggs beaten into the dressing ; for one small head, or half a good-sized one, use three eggs, beat them till they are very light, then add six tablespoonfuls each of vinegar and made mustard, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Cook this dressing until it begins to thicken ; when it is cold, pour it over the chopped cabbage. When boiled eggs are used, chop the whites of the eggs with the cabbage, and after rubbing the yolks till they are fine, stir them into the dressing. When the eggs are cooked, the rest of the dressing does not need cooking. Chicken Salad. — To the white meat of two chickens allow four eggs. Cook the meat until tender, and boil the eggs hard ; the quantity of celery to be used depends upon your taste, but the usual rule is to put in equal bulk of chicken and of celery. It is no longer " good form " to chop the chickens or celery. They must be cut with a knife in pieces about half an inch long ; put the celery in just before serving, that it may be crisp and fresh. For the dress- PUDDINGS AND PIES, 37 ing, take the yolks of the eggs, rub them until they arc smooth and mix with melted butter or olive oil, nearly a cup of vinegar, with sugar, mustard, and pepper to taste. If one likes good salad, there is no difficulty about imparting the right taste. Lobster Salad, — For this you may use canned or fresh lobster ; if fresh, boil it first until it is tender. Some fine chopped cabbage may be used in place of celery ; lettuce is , nice with it, but must be perfectly fresh ; keep it in cold water till the time comes to send it to the table. PUDDINGS AND PIES.