Beat together the same proportions of butter and sugar as in the preceding receipt; add a tablespoonful of wine if desired; pile lightly on a pretty dish; grate nutmeg over the top, and set in a cold place till used.

FRUIT SAUCES.

The sirup of any nice canned fruit may be used cold as sauce for cold puddings and blancmanges, or heated and thickened for hot, allowing to a pint of juice a heaping teaspoonful of corn-starch dissolved in a little cold water, and boiling it five minutes.  Strawberry or raspberry sirup is especially nice.

PLAIN SALAD DRESSING.

Three tablespoonfuls of best olive-oil; one tablespoonful of vinegar; one saltspoonful each of salt and pepper mixed together; and then, with three tablespoonfuls of best olive-oil, adding last the tablespoonful of vinegar.  This is the simplest form of dressing.  The lettuce, or other salad material, must be fresh and crisp, and should not be mixed till the moment of eating.

SPANISH TOMATO SAUCE.

One can of tomatoes or six large fresh ones; two minced onions fried brown in a large tablespoonful of butter.  Add to the tomatoes with three sprigs of parsley and thyme, one teaspoonful of salt, and half a one of pepper; three cloves and two allspice, with a small blade of mace and a bit of lemon peel, and two lumps of sugar.  Stew very slowly for two hours, then rub through a sieve, and return to the fire.  Add two tablespoonfuls of flour, browned with a tablespoonful of butter, and boil up once.  It should be smooth and thick.  Keep on ice, and it will keep a week.  Excellent.

MAYONNAISE SAUCE.

For this sauce use the yolks of three raw eggs; one even tablespoonful of mustard; one of sugar; one teaspoonful of salt; and a saltspoonful of cayenne.

Break the egg yolks into a bowl; beat a few strokes, and gradually add the mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Now take a pint bottle of best olive-oil, and stir in a few drops at a time.  The sauce will thicken like a firm jelly.  When the oil is half in, add the juice of one lemon by degrees with the remainder of the oil; and last, add quarter of a cup of good vinegar.  This will keep for weeks, and can be used with either chicken, salmon, or vegetable salad.

A simpler form can be made with the yolk of one egg, half a pint of oil, and half the ingredients given above.  It can be colored red with the juice of a boiled beet, or with the coral of a lobster, and is very nice as a dressing for raw tomatoes, cutting them in thick slices, and putting a little of it on each slice.

Mayonnaise may be varied in many ways, sauce tartare being a favorite one.  This is simply two even tablespoonfuls of capers, half a small onion, and a tablespoonful of parsley, and two gherkins or a small cucumber, all minced fine and added to half a pint of mayonnaise.  This keeps a long time, and is very nice for fried fish or plain boiled tongue.