Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Take two terrapins, half a cupful of butter, two tablespoonfuls of flour, three eggs, two teaspoonfuls of salt, half a pint of the water in which the terrapins were cooked, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of white pepper, one-tenth of a teaspoonful each of cayenne, mace, and allspice, one cupful of grated bread crumbs. Put the butter on the stove in a stew-pan, and when it becomes hot, add the flour. Stir the mixture until it is smooth and of a light brown color ; then add the water and the terrapin and seasoning. Simmer for a quarter of an hour. Beat the eggs well, and add a table-spoonful of cold water to them. Draw the stew-pan back to a cool place, and stir the eggs into its contents. Have the upper shells of the terrapins carefully cleaned, and pour the mixture into them. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, and place in a hot oven to brown. The crumbs should acquire a rich color in about ten minutes. MEAT. WERE it possible to teach every housekeeper how to boil, roast, and broil meat properly, one might be satisfied that a most successful life-work had been accomplished. In ninety out of a hundred households, grades of meat, from the choicest to the coarsest pieces, are ruined every day in the week. About half the housekeepers are conscious of this, and it frets them from day to day, but not enough to rouse them to take steps toward changing the condition of things. The other half know no better, and go on from year to year giving their families meat cooked in such a manner that it is neither nutritious nor digestible. Most wives and mothers are anxious to do that which is best for their families. If they could be brought to see the waste of material and — what is more important — the impairment of health, and consequent loss of happiness, which improperly cooked food causes, they would make constant efforts to bring about a better state of things. A little thought and study would show where the fault lies, and also what the remedy is. A few general principles cover the whole subject of boiling, roasting, and broiling. Once understanding these, a housekeeper can apply them to the cooking of all kinds of meat. There are three things to keep in mind when cooking a piece of meat. It should be so cooked that it will be juicy, well-flavored, and as tender as possible. Now, when albumen and fibrine are exposed to a temperature much higher than the boiling-point, they become hard and indigestible, — as, for example, if we put an egg into boiling water and continue the boiling for four or five minutes, we shall find that the white has become hard, unyielding, and indigestible j but if we put the egg into boiling water, and let it stand in a warm place for ten or more minutes, we shall find that the white is soft and creamy, and therefore digestible. If we should let the egg stand in water just below the boiling-point for an hour or more, we should find that the white would yield under a slight pressure, and still be soft and digestible.