In cold weather, it is sometimes difficult to beat the whites as stiff as desirable.  Albumen is quite susceptible to temperature, and this difficulty may be overcome by setting the dish in which the eggs are beaten into warm water—­not hot by any means—­during the process of beating.  In very hot weather it is often advantageous to leave the eggs in cold or ice water for a short time before beating.  When a number of eggs are to be used, always break each by itself into a saucer, so that any chance stale egg may not spoil the whole.  If the white or yolk of an egg—­is left over, it may be kept for a day or two if put in a cool place, the yolk thoroughly beaten, the white unbeaten.

RECIPES.

EGGS IN SHELL.—­The usual method of preparing eggs for serving in this way is to put them into boiling water, and boil or simmer until they are considered sufficiently cooked.  Albumen, of which the white of the egg is composed, is easiest digested when simply coagulated.  The yolk, if cooked at all, is easiest digested when dry and mealy.  Albumen coagulates at 160 deg., and when the boiling point is reached, it becomes hardened, tough, and leathery, and very difficult of digestion.  If the egg were all albumen, it might be easily and properly cooked by dropping into boiling water, allowing it to remain for a few seconds, and removing it, since the shell of the egg would prevent its becoming sufficiently heated in so short a time as to become hardened; but the time necessary to cook properly the white of the egg would be insufficient for the heat to penetrate to and cook the yolk; and if it is desirable to cook the yolk hard, the cooking process should be carried on at a temperature below the boiling point, subjecting the egg to a less degree of heat, but for a longer time.  The most accurate method is to put the eggs into water of a temperature of 160 deg., allowing them to remain for twenty minutes and not permitting the temperature of the water to go above 165 deg.  Cooked in this way, the white will be of a soft, jelly-like consistency throughout, while the yolks will be hard.  If it is desired to have the yolks dry and mealy, the temperature of the water must be less, and the time of cooking lengthened.  We have secured the most perfect results with water at a temperature of 150 deg., and seven hours’ cooking.  The temperature of the water can be easily tested by keeping in it an ordinary thermometer, and if one possesses a kerosene or gas stove, the heat can be easily regulated to maintain the required temperature.

Another method, although less sure, is to pour boiling water into a saucepan, draw it to one side of the range where it will keep hot, but not boil, put in the eggs, cover, and let stand for twenty minutes.  If by either method it is desired to have the yolk soft-cooked, lessen the time to ten minutes or so, according to the hardness desired.  Eggs are best served as soon as done, as the white becomes more solid by being kept in a hot shell.