a slice similar to that for taking out fried eggs. The only difficulty I know of in making this delicious dish is to avoid breaking the tomatoes, which are more liable to give way when they are hot than when they were first taken out of the tin. Shake a few bread-raspings over the top of each tomato before serving—that is, cover the top of the mushroom mixture with the bread raspings to make it a nice brown, but do not shake the bread raspings over the tomato itself. If the tomatoes are placed in a silver dish and surrounded with a little bright-green fried parsley, it has a very pretty appearance. If you have some good brown gravy in the house, the tomatoes can be served in a little gravy; only do not pour the gravy over the tomatoes, as it would utterly spoil their appearance, but pour a little gravy into the dish first, and then place the stuffed tomatoes carefully in it. The gravy should be rich, thick, and of a good brown colour; otherwise the tomatoes _au gratin_ are best served as they are. Tomatoes preserved whole will be found useful to ornament a large variety of dishes, such as _tête de veau en tortue_, _poulet à la Marengo_, etc. For instance, a simple dish, but very bright-looking, can be made as follows:—From the remains of some cold boiled potatoes make some ordinary mashed potatoes; and if you live in the country, where cream is cheap, remember a very little boiling cream added is a very great improvement, both in appearance and flavour. Mashed potatoes, to be really good, should be rubbed through a wire sieve. Pile the mashed potatoes up in the middle of a vegetable dish, and place round the outside alternately a mutton cutlet and a whole tomato. The cutlets can be cooked perfectly plain—that is, simply grilled on the gridiron like a mutton chop—or they can be fried after being egged and bread-crumbed. The tomatoes simply want being made hot by being placed on a greasy tin and warmed up in the oven. Place the cutlets round the mashed potatoes, first leaving room for the tomatoes between each. Then take out the tomatoes with a slice, and make a bed in the mashed potatoes, in which they can quietly repose; otherwise they are apt to smash and run, and make the dish look untidy. We will next consider the best way of utilising the various vegetables that can be obtained in tins, such as asparagus, green peas, French beans, and last, but not least, _macédoines_.