Breakfast: Come to breakfast! Little ones and all,-- How their merry footsteps Patter at the call! Break the bread; pour freely Milk that cream-like flows; A blessing on their appetites And on their lips of rose. Dinner may be pleasant So may the social tea, But yet, methinks the breakfast Is best of all the three. With its greeting smile of welcome, Its holy voice of prayer, It forgeth heavenly armor To foil the hosts of care. --_Mrs. Sigourney._ Health is not quoted in the markets because it is without price.--_Sel._ It is a mistake to think that the more a man eats, the fatter and stronger he will become.--_Sel._ DESSERTS Custom has so long established the usage of finishing the dinner with a dessert of some kind, that a _menu_ is considered quite incomplete without it; and we shall devote the next few pages to articles which may be deemed appropriate and healthful desserts, not because we consider the dessert itself of paramount importance, for indeed we do not think it essential to life or even to good living, but because we hope the hints and suggestions which our space permits, may aid the housewife in preparing more wholesome, inexpensive dishes in lieu of the indigestible articles almost universally used for this purpose. We see no objection to the use of a dessert, if the articles offered are wholesome, and are presented before an abundance has already been taken. As usually served, the dessert is but a "snare and delusion" to the digestive organs. Compounded of substances "rich," not in food elements, but in fats, sweets, and spices, and served after enough has already been eaten, it offers a great temptation to overeat; while the elements of which it is largely composed, serve to hamper the digestive organs, to clog the liver, and to work mischief generally. At the same time it may be remarked that the preparation of even wholesome desserts requires an outlay of time and strength better by far expended in some other manner. Desserts are quite unnecessary to a good, healthful, nutritious dietary. The simplest of all desserts are the various nuts and delicious fruits with which nature has so abundantly supplied us, at no greater cost than their harmful substitutes, and which require no expenditure of time or strength in their preparation. If, however, other forms of dessert are desired, a large variety may be prepared in a simple manner, so as to be both pleasing and appetizing. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.