brown in a
hot oven. A crab shell will hold the meat of two crabs.

CRABS. (Soft Shell.)

Crabs may be boiled as lobsters. They make a fine dish when stewed.
Take out the meat from the shell, put it into a saucepan with butter,
pepper, salt, a pinch of mace and a very little water; dredge with
flour and let simmer five minutes over a slow fire. Serve hot; garnish
the dish with the claws laid around it.

The usual way of cooking them is frying them in plenty of butter and
lard mixed; prepare them the same as frying fish. The spongy substance
from the sides should be taken off, also the sand bag. Fry a nice
brown and garnish with parsley.

OYSTERS.

Oysters must be fresh and fat to be good. They are in season from
September to May.

The small ones, such as are sold by the quart, are good for pies,
fritters, or stews; the largest of this sort are nice for frying or
pickling for family use.

FRIED OYSTERS.

Take large oysers from their own liquor into a thickly folded napkin
to dry them; then make hot an ounce each of butter and lard in a
thick-bottomed frying pan. Season the oysters with pepper and salt,
then dip each one into egg and cracker crumbs rolled fine, until it
will take up no more. Place them in the hot grease and fry them a
delicate brown, turning them on both sides by sliding a broad-bladed
knife under them. Serve them crisp and hot.

_Boston Oyster House._

Some prefer to roll oysters in corn meal and others use flour, but
they are much more crisp with egg and cracker crumbs.

OYSTERS FRIED IN BATTER.

_Ingredients._--One-half pint of oysters, two eggs, one-half pint of
milk, sufficient flour to make the batter; pepper and salt to taste;
when liked, a little nutmeg; hot lard.

Scald the oysters in their own liquor, beard them, and lay them on a
cloth to drain thoroughly. Break the eggs into a basin, mix the flour
with them, add the milk gradually, with nutmeg and seasoning, and put
the oysters in a batter. Make some lard hot in a deep frying pan; put
in the oysters one at a time; when done, take them up with a sharp
pointed skewer and dish them on a napkin. Fried oysters are frequently
used for garnishing boiled fish, and then a few bread crumbs should be
added to the flour.

STEWED OYSTERS. (In Milk or Cream.)

Drain the liquor from two quarts of oysters; mix with it a small
teacupful of hot water, add a little salt and pepper and set it over
the fire in a saucepan. Let it bo