rlic; season with salt,
cayenne, and capers. Put the onion and ham in a pan, and fry; add the
other ingredients, and simmer until a thick pulp; add this to an omelet
just before folding it and turning out on a dish. Pour a well-made
tomato sauce round it, and serve.

The ingredients may be varied to suite the taste.

=Sweet Omelet.=--Beat up the eggs as usual, and, just before it is folded
in the pan, add a heaping tablespoonful of jelly, preserves, or other
ingredients that fancy may suggest.

POTATOES.

=Potatoes.=--Take a sound-looking potato of any variety; pay but little
attention to its outward appearance; cut or break it in two, crosswise,
and examine the cut surface. If it appears watery to such a degree that
a slight pressure would cause water to fall off in drops, reject it, as
it would be of little use for the table. A good potato should be of a
light cream-color, and when rubbed together a white froth should appear
round the edges and surface of the cut, which indicates the presence of
starch. The more starch in the potato, the more it will froth;
consequently the more froth on the potato the better it will be when
cooked. The strength of its starchy properties may be tested by
releasing the hold of one end, and if it clings to the other, the potato
is a good one. These are the general principles followed by
potato-buyers, and they are usually to be fully relied upon. About one
seventh part of the potato is nutritious, and this is chiefly
farinaceous, and is accompanied by no inconsiderable portion of saline
matter, more especially of potassa, which renders it highly
antiscorbutic, and a powerful corrective of the grossness of animal
food. When forming part of a mixed diet, no substance is more wholesome
than the potato. Even the wild potato found in the Yellowstone Country
is thought one of the best of edible wild roots.

=Boiled Potatoes.=--To retain the highest amount of nourishment, potatoes
should be boiled with their skins on. When so treated, they are twice as
rich in potassa salts as those which have first been peeled. It is a
good plan to place them in the oven or on top of the range after boiling
them, thereby allowing all surplus moisture to escape. Before sending to
table they should be peeled, and, if convenient, thoroughly mashed, as
they are more easily digested, and when they are lumpy or watery they
escape proper mastication, and in this way cause serious derangement of
the syste