Celery should not be allowed to stand in water.  To keep fresh until used it should be wrapped in a piece of damp cheese-cloth and placed in an ice box or cool cellar.

Lettuce should be broken apart, carefully rinsed, and put loosely in a piece of damp cheese-cloth and placed on ice to crisp before using.

BEVERAGES—­COFFEE

Scald coffee pot well before using (never use metal).  Place in it five tablespoons ground coffee. (A good coffee is made from a mixture of two-thirds Java to one-third Mocha.) Beat up with the ground coffee one whole egg.  Should the housewife deem this extravagant, use only the white of one egg, or peel off the white skin lining inside of egg shells and use.  Add three tablespoons cold water and mix well together.  Stand on range to heat; when hot add one quart of freshly-boiled hot water.  Allow coffee to boil to top of coffee pot three times (about eight minutes), pour over one tablespoon cold water to settle.  Stand a few minutes where it will keep hot, not boil.  Place a generous tablespoon of sweet thick cream in each cup and pour coffee through a strainer over it.  Always serve hot.

A larger or smaller amount of coffee may be used, as different brands of coffee vary in strength and individual tastes differ, but five tablespoons of coffee, not too coarsely ground and not pulverized, to one quart of water, will be the correct proportions for good coffee.  Use cream and you will have a delicious, rich, brown beverage not possible when milk is used.  Better coffee may be made if whole grains of roasted coffee be bought, reheated in oven and freshly ground whenever used, rather finely ground but not pulverized.  Coffee, when ground for any length of time, loses strength.  If coffee is ground when purchased, always keep it in closely covered cans until used.  Or buy green coffee berries and roast them in oven; when coffee has been roasted, stir one whole raw egg through the coffee berries; when dry, place in covered cans, then no egg will be needed when preparing coffee.  As a substitute for cream, use yolk of fresh egg mixed with a couple tablespoonfuls of milk.

COCOA

Mix four tablespoonfuls of cocoa to a smooth paste with one cup of boiling water.  Add one more cup boiling water and boil fifteen or twenty minutes.  Add four tablespoonfuls of sugar, then add 4 cups of hot boiled milk.  A few drops of essence of vanilla improves the flavor.  Add a couple tablespoonfuls whipped cream on top of each cup when serving, or, instead of cream, place a marshmallow in each cup before pouring in cocoa.  This quantity is for six cups of cocoa.

CHOCOLATE

One square of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate shaved thinly or grated, mixed to a smooth paste with 1 cup of boiling water.  Boil from fifteen to twenty minutes.  Add 1 cup of boiling milk and 2 even tablespoonfuls of sugar.  Flavor with a few drops of vanilla, if liked, and add whipped cream to each cup when serving.  This is for 2 cups of chocolate.