To be able to prepare nice, tempting dishes from the odds and ends that are left over is not only desirable, but should be regarded as a duty; for it is wrong to waste food, even if we have abundant means. By waste I do not mean such remnants of food as are given away or fed to animals, but all good food which is thrown into the refuse barrel or the fire, because there is so little of it.

With care not a scrap of food need be wasted. Because there is not enough for an entire meal, or for every member of the family, is no reason for throwing it away. By combining small portions of different foods that will blend agreeably, quite a large dish may be prepared.

Eight here I am tempted to tell you of a dish that I prepared; and although you may not have the same materials, it will show you how to save and combine fragments of food. About a pint of meat left from a roast leg of lamb was made into a stew, with potato, onion, and tomato. After serving for two meals for a family of two, there was left what would fill one small soup-plate,- mostly meat and broth. I carefully removed all the meat, and strained the broth; chopped the meat very fine and put with it the yolk of a boiled egg left from breakfast, and two broken slices of egg toast, also chopped fine; warmed the broth, thickened it slightly with flour, and mixed it with the meat. As it needed more moisture, an egg was beaten, and part of it put with the meat. As the stew had been highly seasoned, no seasoning was needed except a little salt. From this mixture I made eight cylinder-shape rolls about three inches long, rolled them in fine bread crumbs, then in the remainder of the egg (to which two tablespoonfuls of milk had been added), then in crumbs again, and browned them in fat. So from several fragments, each of which seemed hardly worth saving, enough was prepared, in a tempting form, to serve as a part of two more meals, making that small leg of lamb seem not unlike the " five loaves and two small fishes."

These pieces of meat which we are to use to-day have been cooked until they were tender, and we only need to look them over carefully, and remove the bones, skin, and gristle, and some of the fat, before chopping them. But some kinds of meat which you may have occasion to use at home, such as the tough ends of steak and chops, and the harder and poorer parts of roast meat, should be cooked slowly in just water enough to cover until they are very tender. They may then be cut fine, and used in any of the ways we are to learn about in this lesson.

The secret of warming over meat successfully is to warm quickly such parts as are already tender, and to make tender by long, slow cooking such as are hard or tough. Care in removing all objectionable portions, and a judicious use of seasoning materials, are also necessary.

The chief objection to hash is the presence of small bones, hard gristle, skin, etc., in the mixture, or the greasy, half - browned, soggy condition in which it is served. But when carefully prepared it is a savory and palatable dish. It is not necessary to have corned beef, as many suppose. Fresh beef, if made tender by stewing and seasoning properly, is more wholesome. It may be varied by making it into round, flat cakes and browning each side, or by using warm boiled rice instead of potato, with such seasoning as may be desired.

Other easy and attractive ways of serving nearly every kind of cooked meat or fish are the cottage pie and the scalloped meat. The latter admits of a great variety of combinations, care being taken to use such foods as are agreeable when combined. Potatoes are best with beef or fish. Rice, macaroni, oysters, and bread crumbs may be used with mutton, veal, or chicken. Onions and tomatoes improve every kind of meat. -White sauces are best for fish and light meats; brown gravies are best for dark meats; and tomato or some acid sauce blends well with everything.

All the bones and scraps of gristle, fat, etc., that are not used in the made-over dishes should be covered with cold water, and simmered until the bones are clean and the gristle dissolved. Then strain it, throw the scraps away, and when the liquid is cool, remove the fat, and clarify it for dripping; use the water for gravies witli warmed-over meat, or combine it with some vegetable pulp, and use it for soups.