Have ready a pot of boiling water. Throw a little salt into it, and then by slow degrees put in a pound of the maccaroni, a little at a time. Keep stirring it gently, and continue to do so very often while boiling. Take care to keep it well covered with water. Have ready a kettle of boiling water to replenish the maccaroni pot if it should be in danger of getting too dry. In about twenty minutes it will be done. It must be quite soft, but it must not boil long enough to break. When the maccaroni has boiled sufficiently, pour in immediately a little cold water, and let it stand a few minutes, keeping it covered. Grate half a pound of Parmesan cheese into a deep dish, and scatter over it a few small bits of butter. Then with a skimmer that is perforated with holes, commence taking up the maccaroni, (draining it well,) and spread a layer of it over the cheese and butter. Spread over it another layer of grated cheese and butter, and then a layer of maccaroni and so on till your dish is full; having a layer of maccaroni on the top, over which spread some butter without cheese. Cover the dish, and set it in an oven for half an hour. It will then be ready to send to table. You may grate some nutmeg over each, layer of maccaroni. Allow half a pound of butter to a pound of maccaroni and half a pound of cheese. PICKLING GENERAL REMARKS. Never on any consideration use brass, copper, or bell-metal settles for pickling; the verdigris produced in them by the vinegar being of a most poisonous nature. Kettles lined with porcelain are the best, but if you cannot procure them, block tin may be substituted. Iron is apt to discolour any acid that is boiled in it. Vinegar for pickles should always be of the very best kind. In putting away pickles, use stone, or glass jars. The lead which is an ingredient in the glazing of common earthenware, is rendered very pernicious by the action of the vinegar. Have a large wooden spoon and a fork, for the express purpose of taking pickles out of the jar when you want them for the table. See that, while in the jar, they are always completely covered with vinegar. If you discern in them any symptoms of not keeping well, do them over again in fresh vinegar and spice. Vinegar for pickles should only boil five or six minutes. The jars should be stopped with large flat corks, fitting closely, and having a leather or a round piece of oil-cloth tied over the cork. It is a good rule to have two-thirds of the jar filled with pickles, and one-third with vinegar. Alum is very useful in extracting the salt taste from pickles, and in making them firm and crisp. A very small quantity is sufficient. Too much will spoil them. In greening pickles keep them very closely covered, so that none of the steam may escape; as its retention promotes their greenness and prevents the flavour from evaporating. Vinegar and spice for pickles should be boiled but a few minutes. Too much boiling takes away the strength.