id="BANANAS"/>Bananas.—Select short, thick, red or yellow bananas; peel and cut them in quarters lengthwise; serve on a napkin.

Blackberries, Raspberries, Whortleberries, etc., are too well known to require instructions as to how they should be served; but a word of caution is necessary. They should be very thoroughly examined before they are served; all stems, bruised berries, and unripe fruit should be removed, and a thorough search made for minute particles of grit and for insects.

Cantaloupes, or small melons, should be placed on ice the night preceding their use. Cut or slice off the top of each melon; remove the seeds, and replace them with fine ice; replace the covers, and send to table looking as though uncut.

Should they taste insipid, trim off the rind, cut the remainder into neat pieces, pour over them a plain salad-dressing, and they will be found quite palatable.

Cherries.—If large, fine-looking fruit, serve them plain; but they must be cold to be palatable. Keep them on ice over night, or serve glasses of fine ice to each guest, with the fruit arranged on top of it.

Currants.—Large, fine clusters should be served on the stem, arranged on a fruit-stand alone, or in layers alternated with mulberries, raspberries, or other seasonable fruits. Serve with powdered sugar.

Figs and Dates may be served at breakfast.

Grapes.—Malaga, Tokay, Hamburg, and similar varieties of grapes should be well rinsed in ice-water, and cut into small bunches with fruit scissors. Place on a glass dish, or dishes surrounded by fine ice, and, if plentiful, do not divide the clusters, but drain them out of ice-water. Serve on a neatly-folded napkin, a bunch for each guest.

Melons.—The best way to eat melons is unquestionably with a little salt; they should be kept over night in an ice-box and served at the following breakfast; but melons are very deceptive; they may look delicious, but, from growing in or near the same garden where squashes and pumpkins are raised, they often taste as insipid as these vegetables would if eaten raw. In this case they are made very palatable by cutting the edible part into slices, and serving them with plain dressing of oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt.

Oranges.—Of the many ways of serving oranges, I prefer them sliced. If in summer, keep them cold until wanted. Remove all seeds, and cut large slices in two. Mandarins are served whole, with the peel scored but not removed.

Peaches.—If the peaches are large and perfect do not slice them, but serve them whole; wipe or brush off the feathery coating, arrange them neatly on the fruit-dish, and decorate them with fresh green leaves and flowers.

Sliced peaches turn a rusty brown color if allowed to stand after cutting them. Should this occur, cover them with whipped cream properly sweetened.

Pears.—Fine-flavored pears should be served whole; inferior pears, sliced and dredged with sugar; they are acceptable when mixed with other fruits.

Pineapples are best served as a salad. Pare and dig out the eyes; take hold of the crown of the pine with the left hand; take a fork in the right hand, and with it tear the pine into shreds, until the core is reached, which throw away. Arrange the shredded fruit lightly in a compote, add a liberal quantity of powdered sugar, a wine-glassful of Curaçoa, and half a wine-glassful of brandy.

Alternate layers of shredded pineapple and fresh cocoanut served with a sauce of orange juice, seasoned with sugar and liquors, is excellent.

Plums are too often picked before they are quite ripe, which prevents them from becoming popular as a breakfast fruit; this is true of Apricots also.

Strawberries are often objectionable, owing to grit; wash, or rather rinse them in water, drain on a napkin, and serve with vanilla-flavored whipped cream for a change.

Nearly all tropical fruits that are imported are excellent breakfast fruits, such as the alligator pear, Lechosa prickly pear, pomegranate, tropical mango, and many others.

BEVERAGES.

Coffee.—The coffee-tree is a much-branched tree of the cinchona family, not exceeding twenty feet in height, and much resembling a cherry-tree. Its pale green leaves are about six inches in length. The flowers are in clusters in the axils of the leaves, are white in color, resembling orange-tree flowers, and perfume the air. The fruit on ripening turns from green to red, and is about the size of a cherry or cranberry, each containing two seeds closely united by their flat sides. These being removed and separated, become the coffee of commerce.

"How to make good coffee" is the great problem of domestic life. Tastes naturally differ, and some prefer a quantity of chicory, while to others the very name of this most wholesome plant (but keep it out of coffee) will produce nausea.

Purchase coffee from large dealers who roast it daily. Have it ground moderately fine, and do not purchase large quantities at a time. At home keep the coffee in air-tight jars or cans when not in use.

The old-fashioned coffee-pot has much to recommend it, and the only possible objection to it is that it makes a cloudy beverage. Those who find this objectionable should use one of the many patented modern filters. When the coffee is finely ground these filter-pots are the best to use. Put three ounces of finely-ground coffee in the top compartment of the coffee-pot; pour a quart of boiling water over it; let it filter through; add half a pint more of boiling water; let it filter through, and pour it out into a hot measure, and pour it through the filter again. Let it stand a moment on the range, and you have coffee as clear as wine; but unless your pot, measure, and the water are very hot, the coffee will taste as though it had become cold and then "warmed over." No eggs or other foreign substances are used to clear or settle the coffee.

As I do not object to a sediment in my cup, I use the old-fashioned coffee-pot. I first heat the pot, and put the coffee into a loose muslin bag, and pour a quart of boiling water over every three ounces of coffee. I let it boil, or rather come to a boiling point a moment; then let it stand to settle. Should it not do so rapidly enough, I pour a few tablespoonfuls of cold water round the inside edge of the coffee-pot. It is advisable to tie a thread to the bag, with which it may be drawn out of the coffee, if desired.

Now, heat the coffee cup; fill it one third full of hot, but not boiled, cream; then add the coffee, and serve.

One word as to eggs used in making coffee. I admit that a different flavor is produced when they are used; but the albumen of the eggs covers the coffee grains, and coagulates, preventing the escape of the properties of the coffee, and compelling one to use nearly double the quantity of coffee to produce the same result as when eggs are not used.

Pure Java, if of a high order, does not need other brands of coffee to make it palatable; but, as a rule, most of the coffees sold at the grocers' are improved by blending or mixing one third each of pure Mocha, Java, and Maracaibo to make a rich cup of coffee, while a mixture of two thirds Mandehling Java and one third "male berry" (so called) Java produces excellent