Pickled Grapes.
Remove from ripe grapes all imperfect and broken berries; line an earthen jar with grape leaves and fill with grapes. To 2 quarts vinegar add 1 pint white sugar, 1⁄2 ounce ground cinnamon, and 1⁄4 ounce cloves. Let vinegar and spices boil five minutes; then add the sugar, and, when moderately cool, pour over the grapes.
Forced Tomatoes.
Peel and slice some large-sized tomatoes, and put in a colander to drain. Cut in small pieces 1 pint of mushrooms, adding some minced parsley, a slice of finely chopped ham, some summer savory, thyme, salt, and cayenne pepper. Put all these in a saucepan with some butter, and 1⁄2 cup of water. Boil together ten or fifteen minutes, and set away to cool. Have ready some fine bread crumbs, add to them seasoning, and the yolks of 2 or 3 well-beaten eggs. Mix the mushrooms and tomatoes together; pour into a baking-dish a portion of it; then sprinkle over it a layer of the bread-crumbs and add the remainder of the tomatoes; cover with bread-crumbs, and put some bits of butter on top. Bake half-an-hour in a well heated oven.
Broiled Flounders or Smelts.
Have medium-sized flounders or smelts, cleaned with as little cutting as possible; wash thoroughly in salted water, and dry on a towel; mix in a saucer three tablespoonfuls of olive oil, and 1 of vinegar, with salt and pepper; score the sides of the fish at intervals of an inch, with a sharp knife, and rub all over with the mixture of oil, vinegar and seasoning. Place them between the bars of a buttered gridiron, and broil a light brown over a moderate fire.
Onions.
There is no more healthy vegetable or article of diet in general use than onions. Taken regularly, they greatly promote the health of the lungs and digestive organs. Used in a cooked—either fried, roasted or boiled—or in a raw state, their virtues are marked and beneficial. They are among the most popular of old-time remedies for colds, having the advantage of always being readily procured, and it is said that affections of the lungs and liver have been largely benefited, and even cured, by a free use of this palatable esculent. They are also resorted to as a sedative and remedy for sleeplessness.