gotten in the above enumeration the crowning dish of all,
the Braousa, which drew down applause from the company; the
Mayonnaise, in short, which Madame Miau concocted with her own hands.
Every one thinks they can make the Mayonnaise sauce, because they find
the ingredients given in various treatises upon cookery; but there is
a secret, gastronomic reader, a very simple one; and this small secret
I shall now unfold, by which, if you try, you will see that oil,
vinegar, and egg, end in a very different result than when the usual
mode of mixing them is employed. But ere I enlighten you, let me
suggest to the Mesdames Jones and Thompsons, who will persist in
giving dinners with few servants and small means, that if they adopt
the above plan, they will better content their company, to say nothing
of saving their money, than by pursuing the accustomed mode of killing
off their acquaintance--namely, a huge 'feed' dressed by a common
cook, and served by hired waiters, who, scuffling amongst strange
plates and glasses, invariably crack many and break some.

_A Mayonnaise._--Beat the yolk of a large quite freshly-laid egg,
adding a little salt, with a teaspoonful of lemon juice: use a flat
dish and a silver fork, and beat them thoroughly well together. Then
take nearly a pint of the finest Lucca oil, which has been kept well
corked from the air, and drop _one_ drop. Keep beating the egg all the
time, and add another drop--drop by drop at a time: it will take half
an hour to do, and must be so thick as to require to be lifted by a
spoon. Prepare your cold meat, lobster, chicken without skin, veal, or
rabbit. Cut all in neat pieces, and set them round the centre of your
dish; then take the very inside hearts of two or three cabbage
lettuces, which have been well crisped in cold water, and place them
round the meat. Cut two hard-boiled eggs in quarters, and some
beet-root in strips, and place them tastefully, contrasting the
colours. Now, with a spoon cover all with the sauce, laid on thickly,
and upon it an anchovy cut in strips. Finish off with a nasturtium at
the top, and also a row all round the outward edge.

Several days having elapsed since I had seen the friend in need, who
had proved to me a friend indeed so lately, I went to ascertain
whether her unusual exertions of body and mind had not made her ill,
but was happy to find her in perfect health, seated at dinner with a
very fine gentleman, all curls, compliments, gilt c