Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Cut a pumpkin into long strips. Remove the soft pulp and the seeds. Pare the strips, and cut them into small pieces. Wash and measure these pieces, and put them into a stew-pan containing one-fourth as much boiling water as there is pumpkin. Cover, and place on the fire. When it has boiled for ten minutes, set back where it will simmer for six hours. When it has cooked for four hours add one cupful of molasses for every six quarts of the vegetable. Stir frequently, to prevent burning. When done, rub through a sieve, and measure. For two large pies use five cupfuls of the strained pumpkin, one quart of boiling milk, one small cupful of sugar, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one table-spoonful of cinnamon, four eggs, and one-fourth of a nutmeg, grated. Mix the salt and spice with the pumpkin. Add the boiling milk, a little at a time, stirring all the while. Add the sugar, and set away to cool. When cold, add the eggs, well beaten. Line two deep plates with plain paste. Pour the mixture into them, and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour It is always best to cook the pumpkin the day before the pies are to be made. Orange Pie. For a plate that holds a pint, use the rind of one large orange, and the juice of two large or three small ones, a cupful of water, a cupful of sugar, two level table-spoonfuls of corn-starch, one of powdered sugar, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of salt, and two eggs. Use four table-spoonfuls of water to mix with the cornstarch, and put the remainder on the stove in a stew-pan. When it boils, stir the mixed corn-starch into it, and cook for three minutes, stirring all the while. Take from the fire at the end of that time, and add the salt, orange rind and juice, and the cupful of sugar. Set away to cool ; and when it becomes cold, add the white of one egg, and the yolks of two, all well beaten. Put two heaping table-spoonfuls of flour into a bowl, and rub into it one heaping table-spoonful of butter, and a quantity of salt about as large as a pea. Add enough cold water — perhaps a level table-spoonful — to make a stiff dough. Sprinkle a moulding-board with flour, and roll the paste very thin. Line the buttered plate with this dough, and pour the orange mixture into the plate. Bake in a moderate oven for thirty-five minutes. At the end of that time beat the reserved white of an egg to a stiff, dry froth, and then beat into it the table-spoonful of powdered sugar. Spread this mixture over the pie, and cook for ten minutes, with the oven door open. Close the door for two minutes (making twelve minutes' cooking of the meringue in all) to give a good color to the froth. Set the pie away to cool before serving. Lemon Cream Pie. To make the filling for this pie there must be taken the juice of three lemons and the rind of one, a teaspoon- ful of butter, a table-spoonful and a half of corn-starch, a large cupful of water, a cupful of granulated sugar, four table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar, and four eggs ; and the crust will require three large table-spoonfuls of flour, one large table-spoonful of butter, and some water. Make the crust by rubbing the butter into the flour, adding cold water enough to make a smooth, stiff paste, and then rolling very thin.