Baked Oysters

Ingredients

• Oysters in shells
• rock salt
• melted butter
• few drops of lemon juice
• salt
• paprika

Method

1. 1

   Wash and scrub oysters in shells, then place on rock salt in a tin pan.

2. 2

   Bake in a hot oven until the shells open.

3. 3

   Remove the flat side of the shell, leaving oysters in the deeper half.

4. 4

   Dress each oyster with melted butter, lemon juice, salt, and paprika.

As published

This recipe was extracted from For the comfort of the family (1914) by Josephine Story, page 13. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

salt which have been sifted together. Butter the cups of an iron gem pan and into each cup put one teaspoon of melted butter, then pour the mixture into them. Bake in a moderate oven thirty-five minutes. This recipe makes a dozen muffins. If they are a success there will be none too many; if 64 COMFORT OF THE FAMILY they are not, you will have just twelve more than you need. There are no degrees of ex- cellence in pop-overs ; they are good or they are impossible. We enjoy bran muffins when cold and sliced more than any others. Mix and sift one cup of flour, one teaspoon of soda and one teaspoon of salt. Add two cups of bran, one and one- quarter cups of milk, and one-half cup of molasses. Beat thoroughly and bake in but- tered gem tins, having placed strips of date on each muffin top before placing in oven. The time and thought spent on the first meal of the day is the most momentous expenditure in the twenty- four hours. Start the members of the family off to office or school, after an appetizing, nourishing breakfast, with a kiss and a Godspeed, and the clouds of fortime must roll up very heavy, dark and threatening before they can spoil the day which has begun so happily. CHAPTER SIX: OUR INVALID NEIGHBOR CHAPTER VI OUB INVALID NEIGHBOR After we had become friendly with the fam- ily across the way and had visited the invalid we named her room The Abode of the Princess. Every comfort which love and thought could procure without much expenditure — alas, there was little money to use ! — ^was there. The walls were of a soft cafe-auiait color, while muslin curtains of the same delicate tint draped the windows. They told me the secret of those curtains. White ones had been dipped in water which had been colored with coffee until the desired shade had been obtained. The hard pine floor, which had been stained and waxed, had soft-toned rugs, small enough to be easily and often taken out into the sun and air. There were few pictures on the walls and no ornaments anywhere. The room gave one a sense of restf ulness as soon as one en- tered it. 67 68 COMFORT OF THE FAMILY There was a wicker chair in the sunny win- dow, but near at hand a light screen with bamboo frame stood ready to be pulled into place to shelter the invalid from breeze or sun. There were a few tiny pillows which when needed could be tucked behind a tired back, and there was a footstool in front of the chair. A small white enameled towel rack, such as one sees in a nursery, stood on castors within easy reach. On this were arranged the wraps of the Princess ; a soft, woolly thing to throw over her knees; a dainty knitted jacket and a flimsy scarf gave variety for different temper- atures. A light table, high enough to allow her knees below it, was fitted out with every conceivable requisite for writing. There was stationery from grave to gay; a fountain pen; stamps; pencils; pencil sharpener and penknife; eraser; scissors; tubes of paste and glue, and a card index box in which to file clippings. There was a dictionary and a calendar and there was even a finger bowl half filled with water and a dainty towel for restoring pasty fingers to a state of smooth eflSciency. OUR INVALID NEIGHBOR 69 Another table of the same kind held toilet accessories that the invalid might beautify and refresh to her heart's content without using an ounce of her carefully conserved strength searching for materials. Beside the bed on a small table was an electric night lamp, a ther- mos bottle for cold water — ^perhaps for a hot drink — a glass and a clock with an almost soundless tick. , A completely equipped work basket made I the Princess a person of great importance and kept her in constant demand, for the f anuly flew to her when a refractory button journeyed i off into space or a garment required the pro- verbial stitch in time. There were no fingers quite so nimble as hers, I was assured, nor a personaHty more soothing when things went wrong. There were books and magazines and al- ways flowers, in the Abode of the Princess, sometinies a bowl full of lovely blossoms, often but one beautiful spray. The trays when arranged for her meals were things of beauty. The china was inexpensive but charming. Sets with pink tones, white and 70 COMFORT OF THE FAMILY gold, a delicate green, and pale yellow for the breakfast tray. There was even a gaudy decoration of splashy red flowers with blue leaves which the invalid laughingly explained they used when they wanted to "handsome-up" a lamb stew. There was always a flower on the tray or a bit of green to give the meal a festal air. And those meals! Simple, perhaps, but so delicious. Some of the recipes I procured, but having been cooking for weeks for a hungry horde I felt as I read the amount of the in- grediente that I had a prescription for bird feed. There was a delicious celery soup made by cooking one stalk of celery which had been chopped in two-thirds cup of milk in double boiler twenty minutes, then thickened with one-half tablespoon of butter and three-quar- ters tablespoon of flour which had been cooked together. The mixture was then cooked one minute, seasoned with salt and pepper, and served with a floating island of whipped cream. One day, as the tray for the Princess was OUR INVALID NEIGHBOR 71 being carried by, I caught the aroma of oys- ters. Oysters in shells had been used. These had been washed and scrubbed, then placed on rock salt in a tin pan, so that the shells would not tip. They were then baked in a hot oven till the shells opened. The flat side of shell was removed, leaving oysters in the deeper half. These were arranged on a napkin in a soup plate and each oyster was dressed with melted butter to which had been added a few drops of lemon juice, salt and paprika

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.