method is the need of frequent stirring to prevent
sticking, which breaks and mashes the hominy. From four to five hours'
slow cooking will be necessary, unless the grain has been previously
soaked; then about one hour less will be required.

FINE HOMINY OR GRITS.--This preparation is cooked in the same
manner as the foregoing, using three and one half or four parts of water
to one of the grain. Four or five hours will be necessary for cooking
the unsoaked grits.

POPPED CORN.--The small, translucent varieties of maize known as
"pop corn," possessed the property, when gently roasted, of bursting
open, or turning inside out, a process which is owing to the following
facts: Corn contains an excess of fatty matter. By proper means this fat
can be separated from the grain, and it is then a thick, pale oil. When
oils are heated sufficiently in a vessel closed from the air, they are
turned into gas, which occupies many times the bulk of the oil. When pop
corn is gradually heated, and made so hot that the oil inside of the
kernel turns to gas, being unable to escape through the hull of the
kernel, the pressure finally becomes strong enough to burst the grain,
and the explosion is so violent as to shatter it in a most curious
manner.

Popped corn forms an excellent food, the starch of the grain being will
cooked. It should, however, be eaten in connection with other food at
mealtime, and not as a delicacy between meals. Ground pop corn is
considered a delectable dish eaten with milk or cream; it also forms the
base of several excellent puddings.

To pop the corn, shell and place in a wire "popper" over a bed of bright
coals, or on the top of a hot stove; stir or shake continuously, so that
each kernel may be subjected to the same degree of heat on all sides,
until it begins to burst open. If a popper is not attainable, a common
iron skillet covered tightly, and very lightly oiled on the bottom, may
be used for the purpose. The corn must be very dry to begin with, and if
good, nearly every kernel will pop open nicely. It should be used within
twenty-four hours after popping.

MACARONI.

DESCRIPTION.--Macaroni is a product of wheat prepared from a hard,
clean, glutenous grain. The grain is ground into a meal called
_semolina_, from which the bran is excluded. This is made into a tasty
dough by mixing with hot water in the proportion of two thirds
_semolina_ to one third water. The dough after being thoroughly mixed is
p