ONCE upon a time, when I went visiting in a small family, who lived in a small apartment on a small income, I learned the possibilities of casserole cooking, and came home so impressed by its many-sidedness that I adapted all sorts of dishes to fit the earthen utensils. First, I invested in an entire set of casseroles from one large, red clay, lidded pot with an enameled interior to several sets of cunning, handled ramekins which afford plenty of crisped brown crust on the smallest dish. I have a half-dozen of the smallest size, which are just big enough to bake an egg, a tomato, or a portion of creamed potato for one person. There is another set of larger ramekins, which I use for individual chicken pies, or small meat dishes. Last of all comes an oval casserole in which you can cook a chicken, a steak, a few slices of veal, or a neck of lamb. The oval dish fits a chicken better than the round one. By the way, when speaking of chicken I mean a tough, old fowl which can be made really tender in the casserole.

While on the utensil subject, let me speak of the oven. We use no fuel but gas and I found it rather expensive to " blaze up " the oven every time I wanted to bake a few eggs, so I purchased what the clerk called a small "spinster oven." In two months it saved its price on the gas bill. See to it, however, that it will hold your largest casserole; mine did not and had to be exchanged. It is set on top of a burner and, when slow heat is required, I use nothing under it but the tiny gas simmerer. It can be pushed to the back of the stove out of the way and when not in use I keep it on a shelf beside the kitchen utensils.

Now for certain " casseroled " dinner dishes! You do not require tender meat for casserole cooking, therefore it is well to study cheap cuts of meat. French and Italian cooks know better than any other nation the value of these cheap cuts. At any table d'hote place you find very inexpensive meats, which have been converted to goodness by this method. Certain pieces of beef, such as cuts from the round, shoulder clod, flank, brisket, chuck, or even rump, if the latter is cut according to New York method, are well adapted for casserole cooking. In lamb, choose a neck or breast, with no fat, adding to its goodness by seasoning and any vegetables which help to make a rich gravy.

The first process before casseroling any meat is to cut it in pieces convenient for serving, then flour and season it, and brown in an iron spider using the fat fried from salt pork which adds not a little to the flavoring. Put in the vegetables, make a gravy with a cupful of water and the brown juice in the spider, or if you have stock, use that. Pour it over the meat, cover tight and set in a hot oven till it comes to the bubbling point, then turn down the gas and let it cook very slowly for two or three hours. Chicken and sliced veal may be treated in the same fashion and occasionally I have transformed a tough duck or rabbit into a delicious dish by slow casserole cooking. Kidneys, also a beef or calves' hearts, may be made tender and savory in this way.