y
steeping a few strips of the yellow part of the rind of lemon or orange
in milk for twenty minutes. Skim out the rind before using for desserts.
Care should be taken to use only the yellow part, as the white will
impart a bitter flavor. The grated rind may also be used for flavoring,
but in grating the peel, one must be careful to grate very lightly, and
thus use only the outer yellow portion, which contains the essential oil
of the fruit. Grate evenly, turning and working around the lemon, using
as small a surface of the grater as possible, in order to prevent waste.
Generally, twice across the grater and back will be sufficient for
removing all the yellow skin from one portion of a lemon. A well-grated
lemon should be of exactly the same shape as before, with no yellow skin
remaining, and no deep scores into the white. Remove the yellow pulp
from the grater with a fork.

TO COLOR SUGAR.--For ornamenting the meringues of puddings and
other desserts, take a little of the fresh juice of cranberries, red
raspberries, currants, black raspberries, grapes, or other colored
juices of fruits, thicken it stiff with the sugar, spread on a plate to
dry, or use at one. It may be colored yellow with orange peel strained
through a cloth, or green with the juice of spinach. Sugar prepared in
this manner is quite as pretty and much more wholesome than the colored
sugars found in market, which are often prepared with poisonous
chemicals.

FRUIT DESSERTS.

_RECIPES._

APPLE DESSERT.--Pare some large tart apples, remove the cores, put
into the cavities a little quince jelly, lemon flavored sugar, or grated
pineapple and sugar, according to the flavor desired. Have as many
squares of bread with the crust taken off as there are apples, and place
a filled apple on each piece of bread, on earthen pie plates; moisten
well with a little quince jelly dissolved in water, lemon juice, or
pineapple juice, according to the filling used. Cover closely, and bake
in a rather quick oven till the apples are tender. Serve with whipped
cream and sugar.

APPLE MERINGUE DESSERT.--Pare and core enough tart, easy-cooking
apples to make a quart when stewed. Cover closely and cook slowly till
perfectly tender, when they should be quite dry. Mash through a
colander, add a little sugar and a little grated pineapple or lemon
peel. Beat light with a silver fork, turn into a pudding dish, and brown
in a moderate oven ten or fifteen minutes. Then cover w