If possible, always boil lobsters at home. If a lobster is cooked when purchased, see that the tail is stiff and elastic, so that when it is bent out it springs quickly back ; otherwise the lobster was dead when boiled. Choose the small lobster that is heavy in proportion to its size. Those with hard, solid shells streaked with black will be found full of meat. The thin-shelled lobster is watery. The male lobster is preferred for eating, and the female for sauces and soups. The female has a broad tail and not so many claws as the male. Canned lobster is very convenient in case of emergency for making salad.

To Boil A Lobster

Fill a kettle nearly full of boiling water, and add a large spoonful of salt. Wind a string around the lobster to secure the claws to the body, and plunge it head first into the kettle. A medium-sized lobster should boil in half an hour; a large one in forty-five minutes. Too much cooking toughens the meat.

To Open A Lobster

Let the lobster cool after boiling, and wipe the shell perfectly dry. Break off all the claws, and separate the tail from the body and the body from its shell, leaving the stomach or "lady," as it is called, in the shell. The "lady" is found directly under the head. Save the liver, which may be known by its greenish color, and also the coral, which is used in sauces and salad. Split the body through the center, and pick the meat from the cells, cutting the under side of the tail shell open also, and taking out the meat in one solid piece. Split this piece open, and there will be uncovered a little vein running its entire length. This is the intestinal canal and must be removed. It is not always the same color, being black, red or even white ; but it is not fit to eat-Break off all the gills before picking the meat from the joints, as they' are liable to drop off with the meat and are too woolly to be palatable. The gills, stomach and intestines are the parts not eaten. When the shells of the large claws are thin, cut off a strip down the sharp edge, and remove the meat whole ; or the shell may be broken, when too thick to be cut, by hammering it on the edge. The claws should never be pounded in the middle, as the meat is thus crushed and often filled with pieces of shell.

To Serve Lobster Plain

Arrange the meat in the center of a dish, and garnish with the small claws, sprigs of parsley or hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters. Each person at table seasons to suit with pepper, salt and vinegar or oil.

Lobster Chops

These are at present a very fashionable dish, being served at teas, luncheons and evening parties. They are very dainty.

Two cupfuls of boiled lobster. Two eggs (yolks only). One cupful of cream or milk. Three table-spoonfuls of flour. One table-spoonful of butter. One-eighth of a nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the butter in a stew-pan, and when it bubbles, stir in the flour. Cook this paste, slowly stirring all the time; then pour in the cream, and add the lobster, cut into small dice. Stir until scalding hot, take from the fire, and when slightly cooled, stir in the yolks of the eggs, well beaten, the grated nutmeg, and the salt and pepper. Return to the fire and cook two minutes, stirring all the time. Butter a platter, and on it spread the mixture half an inch deep. When cold, form in the shape of chops, pointed at one end; roll the chops in beaten egg, then in bread or cracker-crumbs, place them in the frying basket and plunge them in boiling-hot fat until of a nice brown color. The frying should not take longer than three minutes. Drain well, and stick the end of a small claw in each chop to represent the bone. Serve on a napkin, placing the chops so they overlap each other, and garnish with parsley.

Lobster Farci. (Stuffed.)

Two cupfuls of lobster meat. Three hard-boiled eggs (yolks). One-half pint of milk. One-fourth of a nutmeg, grated.

One table-spoonful of chopped parsley.

One table-spoonful of butter.

Two table-spoonfuls of bread-crumbs.

One table-spoonful of flour.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Cut the lobster into small pieces. Two lobsters will be required for this quantity. Put the milk on to boil in the double boiler, and when hot, stir into it the butter and flour, rubbed well together. Stir until smooth, and cook three minutes ; then remove from the fire, and add the crumbs, parsley, lobster, salt and pepper, and the yolks of the eggs mashed very fine. Mix all well together. In opening the lobster for the stuffing, be careful not to break the body or tail shells. Wash them and wipe dry, and with a pair of scissors cut off the under part of the tail shells, using the tails of both lobsters. Join the large ends of the tail shells to the body shell, with the ends of the tails out, thus forming a boat-shaped shell. Put the stuffing into this boat, brush over the top with beaten egg, sprinkle lightly with bread-crumbs, and bake in a quick oven for fifteen minutes.

Stewed Lobster

Cut the meat fine and put it in a small frying-pan with milk enough to nearly cover it; when the milk boils, thicken to a cream with a little corn starch wet with milk, seasoning with salt, pepper and butter. Serve on toasted bread laid on a hot platter.

Deviled Lobster

This is made the same as deviled crab, using two cup. fuls of finely chopped lobster where twelve crabs are used in the recipe. This will require two small lobsters. Serve in the lobster shells.