Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Wash the tapioca, and soak it in the cold water over night. In the morning put the tapioca, milk, and grated rind of the orange in a double-boiler, and cook for half an hour. Meanwhile separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites. Put the whites in a cool place. Beat together the yolks, orange juice, salt, and one cupful of the sugar. At the end of the half -hour gradually pour the boiling mixture upon the second one, stirring all the while ; then turn into a pudding-dish. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff, dry froth, and gradually beat into this froth the remaining sugar. Spread over the pudding, and then cook for thirty minutes with the oven door open. Set away to cool, and do not serve until the pudding is perfectly cold. *Custard Meringue Pudding. For a pudding sufficiently large for six or eight persons use these materials : one quart of milk, four tablespoonfuls of flour, three eggs, half a teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of butter, one teaspoonful and a half of vanilla extract, half a cupful of granulated sugar, and three table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Reserve half a cupful of milk, and put the rest on the stove in a double-boiler. Mix the flour and cold milk, and stir the mixture into the boiling milk ; continuing to stir until the liquid is perfectly smooth. Beat together the yolks of the eggs, granulated sugar, salt, and one teaspoonful of the vanilla extract. Stir this mixture into that which already is cooking ; then take the boiler from the stove, and after adding the butter, pour the mixture into a pudding-dish. Bake in a slow oven for half an hour. At the end of that time beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff, dry froth, and then beat into them the powdered sugar and half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Spread this meringue over the pudding, and let it bake for a quarter of an hour with the oven door open; then set away to cool. This is nice for Sunday, as it may be prepared the day before. *Cold Custard Pudding. This is made of a quart of milk, four eggs, a stick of cinnamon, a table-spoonful of corn-starch, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a scant half-teacupful of sugar. Reserve half a cupful of the milk, and put the remainder, with the cinnamon, broken into several pieces, on the stove in a double-boiler. When the milk begins to boil, add the sugar, salt, and the corn-starch, mixed with the cold milk, and cook five minutes longer. Take from the fire, and set away to cool. Beat the eggs well, and when the cooked mixture becomes cold, stir the eggs into it ; then strain into a pudding-dish. Bake in a very moderate oven until the pudding becomes firm in the centre. Get this knowledge by inserting the blade of a knife or the handle of a spoon into the centre of the pudding ; for if it come out free of milk, the pudding need be cooked no longer. It takes about half an hour for the baking. Have the pudding ice-cold when it is served.