ason with salt and pepper inside and out,
and strew inside lightly a small pinch of powdered sage. A good sauce
for them is made by browning half a cup of grated bread crumbs in a
tablespoonful of butter, adding to it a spoonful of tart jelly, a
wineglass of claret, a tablespoonful of tomato catsup, with seasoning
to taste of salt and pepper.

_Possum Roasted_: Chill thoroughly after scraping and drawing. Save all
the inside fat, let it soak in weak salt water until cooking time, then
rinse it well, and partly try it out in the pan before putting in the
possum. Unless he is huge, leave him whole, skewering him flat, and
laying him skin side up in the pan. Set in a hot oven and cook until
crisply tender, taking care there is no scorching. Roast a dozen good
sized sweet potatoes--in ashes if possible, if not, bake them covered in
a deep pan. Peel when done, and lay while hot around the possum, turning
them over and over in the abundant gravy. He should have been lightly
salted when hung up, and fully seasoned, with salt, pepper, and a trifle
of mustard, when put down to cook. Dish him in a big platter, lay the
potatoes, which should be partly browned, around him, add a little
boiling water to the pan, shake well around, and pour the gravy over
everything. Hot corn bread, strong black coffee, or else sharp cider,
and very hot sharp pickles are the things to serve with him.

_Eggs_: Eggs demand an introductory paragraph. As everybody knows, there
are eggs and eggs. An egg new-laid has a tiny air-space at each end,
betwixt the shell and the silken lining membrane. If left lying, this
confined air changes its locality--leaves the ends for the upmost side
of the shell. Shells are porous--through them the white evaporates--thus
the air bubble on top gets bigger and bigger. By the size of it you can
judge fairly the egg's age--unless it has been kept in cold storage or
in water-glass. By boiling hard, throwing in cold water and peeling
intact, you can see for yourself if a fresh egg so-called is truly
fresh. If fresh there will be no perceptible marring of its oval--but if
it shows a shrinkage, and especially if the yolk is so near the shell it
shows through the cooked white, there is proof positive that the egg is
not new-laid--though it may be perfectly wholesome.

Eggs kept in clean cool space do not deteriorate under a month. Even
after that, thus well kept, they answer for cake making, puddings and so
on. But they have an