Required: Three pounds of fillet of beef. A dozen mushrooms.

Four tablespoonfuls of chopped shallot or onion. A pint and a half of stock or water. An ounce of glaze.

A sprig of parsley, thyme, and marjoram. Half a pound of mashed potato. One ounce of butter. Two ounces of flour. Salt and pepper.

Trim and wipe the meat. Peel and chop the shallot, and examine and peel the mushrooms. Melt the butter in a saucepan, brown the meat on both sides, add the chopped shallot or onion, and flour and fry them carefully a nice brown; then add the stock and stir till it boils.

Now put in all the other ingredients, and let them simmer very slowly for one and a half hours, or till the meat is quite tender. Turn it now and then, skim off any grease that may rise to the surface of the gravy, and season the same carefully.

Arrange neatly on a hot dish, with mounds of mashed potato round the meat, placing a few mushrooms in the centre of each. Cost, 4s.

Stewed Fillet of Beef. This is one of the best ways in which to cook this part of meat to ensure it being tender and appetising

Eggs are most valuable articles of food, and, as their price varies much at different seasons of the year, it is a wise plan to procure them in large quantities when low in price, and preserve them for use in winter, when frequently fresh eggs are so expensive that they are positive luxuries. There are several methods of preserving them, the aim in each case being to keep the air from them.

No. 1. - In Water-glass

From all points of view this is the best method to adopt, for eggs, after lying for months in the solution, have exactly the flavour and appearance of new-laid eggs. The water-glass - that is, silicate of soda - can be purchased in tins, costing about Is. Full directions as to the proportion of water-glass to water are given on each tin.

The water-glass and water should be put in a large crock; then, as the eggs are brought in from the nest, they should be put at once into the solution. The fresher they are the better. Cover the crock with a lid or old tray, and see that the eggs are well covered with the water-glass solution. No. 2. - In Salt

Pack the eggs into boxes in layers of dry, coarse salt. The pointed end should be downwards.

No. 3. - In Fat

Brush the eggs carefully over with melted fat, and store them away.

No. 4. - In Lime Water

Put some cold water into a crock or jar, then add to it as much lime as it will take up. Put the eggs, which should be as fresh as possible, into this. Cover the jar with a lid or plate.

Eggs preserved this way keep excellently, but the disadvantage is that they very often crack when they are boiled, but for cooking in any other method they are very good.

An Important Hint

In whatever way the eggs are preserved, handle them very carefully, as any rough movement might cause the white and yolk to become mixed, and then the egg would soon deteriorate.