But, if you prefer an apricot charlotte, it shall be my pleasure to
tell you how to make one. Line the same charlotte mould you always use
with sponge drops, or fingers, carefully trimmed to fit. In fact, you
want to give them a regular tailor-made fit. Then fill with a pint of
preserved apricots, which have been stewed till tender enough to rub
through a sieve. Stir into it an ounce of gelatine, dissolved in a
little water. Let it get perfectly cool, and then whip into it a pint
of already whipped cream. Turn into the mould and set away to harden.
And you have the most ungrateful family in the neighborhood if they
don't count this dinner as a red-letter event in their lives.
* * * * *
Think you that upon one of these mornings, when the mercury shows a
sullen determination to do nothing but climb, climb, climb, you can
prepare a more tempting dish for breakfast than one of shrimps, which
have been boiled in fresh water, then salted and cooled, and finally
sent to table upon chopped ice? You will find them at the market for
the rest of this month, at least, in excellent condition, and at a
reasonable price. And should you elect to serve them according to the
foregoing suggestion, place near them on the table a dish of crisp,
fresh watercress, lightly piled, ministering thereby to the eye's
pleasure as well as to the appetite's desire.