Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Mix the dry ingredients together. Beat the eggs light, and add the milk to them. Pour this on the dry mixture, beat well, and add the melted butter. When con- venient, oil is much better than butter in a batter, because it mingles freely with every part of the mixture. Butter congeals slightly unless the mixture is warm, which is not desirable. This batter is very good with only one egg. * Apple Fritters. Pare and core six large apples. Cut these in round slices about one-third of an inch thick, and lay them in a bowl. Sprinkle over these three table-spoonfuls of sugar, one fourth of a grated nutmeg, and the juice of a lemon. Let them stand for half an hour or more. Four table-spoonfuls of wine may be substituted for the lemon juice, if desired. Make the fruit-fritter batter. Dip the slices of apple into it, coating each slice thoroughly. Lift the slices of apple from the batter by passing a fork or skewer through the hole, drop them into the hot fat, and cook for three minutes. As soon as the fritters are done, take them from the fat and drain them on brown paper. Arrange them in a circle on a flat dish, sift powdered sugar over them, and serve very hot. * Banana Fritters. Pare six bananas. Cut each one in two, and split each half. Put the pieces of banana into a bowl with two table-spoonfuls of sugar and three table-spoonfuls of orange juice or wine, and let this preparation stand for an hour. Make a batter, and cook the same as apple fritters. * Orange Fritters. Pare the oranges, and with a sharp knife cut them in slices about half an inch thick. Take out the seeds, dip the slices in batter, and fry. Drain, arrange on a warm dish, sprinkle with sugar, and serve hot. * Peach Fritters. Peel the peaches, and cut them in quarters. Dip them in batter, and fry. Serve hot, with sugar sprinkled over them. Apricot fritters are made in the same way. *Pear Fritters. Treat ripe pears the same as apples. 'They may be cut in quarters or slices. * Grape Fritters. Have the grapes in clusters of five or more, and dip them in batter. Fry for one minute and a half. Drain them, and serve, sprinkled with sugar. * Pineapple Fritters. Pare and slice the pineapple, and cut the slices into small pieces. Treat the same as apple fritters. Custard Fritters. For the custard use one pint of milk, one gill of sugar, three table-spoonfuls of corn-starch, one table-spoonful of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, two eggs, the grated yellow rind of one lemon, one-eighth of a small nutmeg, grated, and two table-spoonfuls of gelatine. Soak the gelatine for two hours in four table-spoonfuls of the milk. Mix the corn-starch with half a cupful of the milk. Put the remainder of the milk, the grated lemon rind and nutmeg, on the fire in the double-boiler. When the milk is hot, add the sugar. Beat the eggs well, and add them to the mixed corn-starch and milk. Add the salt to this mixture, and stir into the boiling milk. Cook six minutes, stirring all the time. Now add the soaked gelatine and the butter. Take from the fire. Butter a shallow cake-pan, and pour the hot mix-