Just before serving draw the pan forward to a hotter part of the fire, and stir for three minutes. Serve very hot.
Two tablespoonfuls of butter may be used instead of the beef fat.
Celery should be kept in a cool place, but it must not be wrapped in wet paper or kept in water. Break the blades from the stalks, and scrape off any brown spots that may be found; next wash the celery, and let it stand in ice-water for ten or twenty minutes to become crisp. Put it in a celery dish with some bits of ice, and serve at once.
Lettuce can be kept crisp and fresh for several days, if necessary, by placing the roots in water. Do not let the water come up as high as the leaves. When ready to serve the lettuce, wash it leaf by leaf in a pan of cold water, and drop it into another pan of ice-water. It will become crisp in a few minutes. Shake the water from the leaves before serving.
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THE white and yolk should be equally well cooked in a boiled egg, the white being soft and creamy. Put the eggs in a deep saucepan, and pour over them a generous amount of boiling water,—one quart or more of water for four eggs. Cover the saucepan, and set on a part of the range where it is so cool that the hand can rest on it comfortably. At the end of ten minutes the eggs will be cooked to a soft creamy consistency. If the eggs be liked medium well done, cook for five minutes longer; if to be hard, they may remain in the water for twenty minutes.
Put in a frying-pan boiling water to the depth of two or three inches. To each pint of water add a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of vinegar. Have the water just bubbling at one side of the pan. Break an egg close to the pan, and drop it gently into the water. Continue putting in eggs until you have the required number. When the white of the egg is set, slide a cake-turner under the egg, and lift it from the water. Slide it upon a slice of buttered toast.
In most parts of New England eggs cooked in this way are called dropped.
Muffin rings may be placed in the pan of water, and the eggs be dropped into them. This gives a better shape. There are several inventions in the market by the use of which eggs can be poached easily and successfully.