Lobster Salad

Be very sure that lobsters are alive when you purchase them; have ready a pot of boiling water, with a handful of salt in it; drop them in it, and if they are large boil them steadily for half an hour; if smaller, twenty minutes. When they are cold and you are ready to dress them, break them in half across the middle of the body, twist off the claws, crack them and take out the meat; then split the body and tail open, take out all the meat from them; put all the green fat on a plate by itself; cut the meat into small pieces, but do not chop it; put the yolks of three eggs into a large bowl, stir them round with a wooden or silver spoon, and with your left hand hold the bottle of oil, and drop in slowly and steadily, stirring all the time with your right hand until you have used a flask of oil (this is enough for two or three lobsters), when the dressing will be stiff enough to bear the spoon; then dust in a very little cayenne pepper, the same of black, two or three teaspoonsful of mixed mustard, according to your taste, and two tablespoonsful of sharp vinegar; last stir in the salt, a little at a time, still stirring hard; then add the green fat you have reserved; if there is a great deal of it, put in only part, about two tablespoonsful, stir it in well; take only the bleached leaves out of two or three heads of salad, which have been lying in cold water for several hours; wipe each leaf dry, lay them on a dish, put the lobster on them, and pour the dressing over and serve.

Do not mix it.

Dressed Celery

Take only the white parts of the celery, cut it in half-inch pieces, and let it lie in cold water until near dinner-time; have ready prepared a dressing as for lobster salad; this may be made early in the morning and kept in a cool, dry place; drain the celery, put it between two towels, rub it dry, put it in a salad-bowl and pour the dressing over it, but do not stir it - that is done at the table. Serve with roast poultry or beef. The yolk of one egg, and salad-oil in proportion, is sufficient for a large dish of celery.

Tomato Salad

Take fine ripe tomatoes, peel them without scalding, as that spoils them for salad; slice them evenly not quite half an inch in thickness, and as you cut them, replace the slices to look like whole tomatoes; lay them on a dish covered with broken ice, until you have all done and are ready to serve them • then arrange them neatly side by side on a shallow dish, and garnish them with red and yellow nasturtium blossoms; make a dressing as for lobster salad and serve it separately in a little ornamental dish with cover. This is a dish that tastes as good as it looks, and that is saying a great deal. Raw tomatoes may also be sliced and put on the table plainly, to be eaten with pepper and vinegar.

Lettuce Or Head Salad

Lay the salad in cold water for several hours, then wipe it quite dry on a clean towel; make a dressing as for lobster salad, put the salad in the dish or bowl, pour the dressing on it and serve without stirring it together - this is done at the table. The yolk of one egg and oil in proportion is sufficient for a large head of salad.

Cucumber Salad

Pare, slice very thin and lay them in ice-water for twenty minutes, take them from the water with a perforated skimmer, put them in a glass or China dish with a few thin slices of onion; season with pepper and salt, pour vinegar over them and serve quickly; they become tough and unwholesome by standing in the vinegar.

Potato Salad

Cut cold boiled potatoes into dice; to six potatoes add one root of celery cut into very small pieces; make a dressing as for lettuce, with the yolk of one egg, oil in proportion and pepper and salt to your taste; stir the celery and potato together, pour the dressing over and serve.