Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Fruit is an important item in the housekeeper's list of supplies. Being of a perishable nature, judgment and care must be used in the purchase and use of it. If one have a cold, well- ventilated cellar, many things — such as apples, oranges, and pears — may be bought in quantity when cheap. But it is better to buy most of the fruits only as they are required for the table. When berries are in season it is best to buy only what is required for each day, unless one be at a distance from the markets. Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries keep about equally well ; raspberries are the most perishable of all our common fruits. You may put them in your cellar or refrigerator at night, expecting to find them firm and bright in the morning, and you will often be sadly disappointed to find them one mass of mould. When purchasing these berries for preserving, have all your plans so made that you can do the work as soon as the berries are brought home. This is the only way in which to be sure of saving all. Other berries will keep well for a day or more. To keep fruit, avoid crowding it. The boxes or bowls containing it should not be covered, and the room should be cool, sweet, and well ventilated. Washing fruit mars the flavor and softens the fruit, and it will not keep so well. To some tastes fruit is more palatable if it has been sprinkled with sugar and has stood for some hours afterward. Berries, however, should not be treated in this way unless it be necessary to do it in order to keep them for a few hours, because the sugar draws out the juice. Grapes, bananas, pears, watermelons, cantaloupes, and pineapples all keep well in cold places, and should be thoroughly chilled before they are served. MEATS. Among the various cuts of meat there are some which are well known only to a few butchers and caterers. In many small towns butchers do not know what the fillet of beef is ; and although they may know, they frequently are unwilling to cut it out for a customer, because it injures the sale of the rest of the piece. In a small part of the United States the hind-quarter of beef is so cut that what is called a " short fillet " can be, and is, taken from one of the cuts without loss to the buyer or the seller of the rest of the cut from which it is taken. This is often done in Boston. This short fillet is cut from the rump, and rarely weighs more than two pounds SIRLOIN ROAST. A, Tenderloin. B, Back of Sirloin. C, Flank. D, Suet. and a half. The price is seldom more than thirty-five cents a pound. When a fillet is cut from the loin the price charged is from seventy-five cents to a dollar a pound ; and even at that price it does not always pay SIRLOIN ROAST, WITH TENDERLOIN REMOVED. A, Tenderloin. B, Back of Sirloin. C, Flank. the butcher to sell it, because for most customers it spoils the roasts or steaks that are left. In a large or moderate-sized family it is not a bad plan to buy a large sirloin roast, as the fillet can be cut out and used for one dish, and the flank be used for braising, stewing, soup meat, etc. Or, the flank may be left on the roast, folded over the place from which the tenderloin was taken, and then fastened firmly with skewers, giving a handsome roast.