Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Pare, quarter, and core the apples. Put a cupful of sugar and a cupful of water in a small stew-pan, and boil for eight minutes ; then add a pint of the quartered apples, and cook gently until tender — perhaps for ten minutes. Take the pieces from the syrup, and place them on a large plate to cool. Now put another pint of the apples into the syrup, and cook and cool as before. When the second pint has been removed from the syrup, cook the third one, with the cover on the stew-pan, until the apples are so soft that the fruit will mash readily. Take from the fire, and put away to cool. Now prepare the paste for the tartlet. Butter the plate, and roll out a piece of paste large enough to cover it. Then roll out another piece, one-third of an inch thick, and large enough to go around the plate when cut into strips an inch wide. Wet the edge of the paste that is on the plate, and lay the strips upon it. Grate half the nutmeg and half the lemon rind upon the whole quarters of apples, and half upon the mashed apples. Put the latter in the bottom of the pie-plate, and arrange the whole quarters on top of it, putting them close together, and being careful to have the rounded sides up. Put the tartlet into a rather hot oven, and bake it for three-quarters of an hour. When it has been baking for half an hour, put the remaining sugar and water on to boil for fifteen minutes. When the tartlet is taken from the oven, pour over the apples, by means of a spoon, the hot syrup made by boiling the water and sugar together ; then return to the oven, and cook five minutes longer. On removing the tartlet from the oven slip it on to a cold plate, and put it away to cool. This is a very attractive dish, and not much more work is required to make it than to make an apple pie. Each piece of apple in the tartlet should be whole and of a bright rich color. Lemon or cinnamon may be substituted for nutmeg. * Gooseberry Tart. For six persons use one quart of gooseberries, one cupful of sugar, a slight grating of nutmeg, one cupful and a half of flour, one-third of a cupful of butter, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, and about one-third of a cupful of cold water. Mix the baking-powder, salt, and butter lightly with the flour. Add the water gradually, stirring with a knife. When a smooth paste is formed, turn it on to a board that has been sprinkled lightly with flour. Roll the paste down to a thin sheet about one-fourth of an inch thick. Fold it up and roll down again ; then put in a cool place until the fruit is ready. If possible, put it on ice. Free the berries of stems and blossoms ; then wash them and put into an oval vegetable-dish, heaping them in the centre. Grate the nutmeg, and sprinkle the sugar over the fruit. Now roll the paste into the shape of the top of the dish, but somewhat larger, to allow for turning the edges in a little. Cut a small slit in the centre of the paste, and lift it from the board to the dish, being careful to put it on evenly. Turn the edges in a little, and press them against the sides of the dish. Bake in a moderately hot oven for an hour; then set away to cool. At servingtime sprinkle the top of the tart with sugar.