The subject of desserts is an important one, and, like the salad, the dessert should be one of the daintiest parts of the meal. If a rich fruit pudding or a mince pie or a very heavy cream dessert is planned for a certain meal, the other courses preceding it should be very light in their composition-perhaps a very light broth with chops or steak and vegetables, that contain little starch.

The human stomach is capable of just so much. It is unwise to overtax it with a rich dessert on top of a heavy meal. One will never go far wrong if one uses fruits of different kinds, with perhaps a little cream and a light cake for the dessert, and, if so desired, afterwards crackers and cheese may be served.

Gelatine forms the basis of a number of attractive and wholesome desserts. Gelatine, as we have found in the chapter on meats, is the substance which is extracted from the bone, skin and connective tissues of the animal. These substances are changed into gelatine by cooking for several hours in boiling water. The connective tissues of the young animals are especially rich in gelatine-yielding material. Calves' feet yield a pure form of gelatine. But the purest form is isinglass, a kind of gelatine obtained from the bladder of the sturgeon. When first softened by soaking in cold water, gelatine will dissolve readily in boiling liquids, hardening or stiffening to a jelly when cold. Do not cook the gelatine. Boiling will change it so that it will not stiffen.