ANOTHER WAY

When stock is drawn ofi*, season with celery salt. A little vermicelli boiled in it for fifteen minutes will give it more body — or some of the fancy letters, stars, triangles, etc., that are made particularly for soups can be used, or egg-balls can be made by mixing raw egg with just enough wheat flour or corn starch to make it into round

SOUPS, 309

balls, then drop them into the soup and boil for ten minutes. A little milk, a tea-spoon to one egg, is an improvement ; also a sprinkle of salt. These balls are sometimes called '* noodles/' If a richer soup is needed, take slices of mw veal and a little salt pork, and chop very fine with a slice of wheat bread. Season highly with pepper, salt, tomato catsup, and chopped lemon peel, moisten with two well-beateu eggs, and roll into balls as large as a walnut, with floured hands. Fry the balls in butter to a dark brown, and h ". them cool; turn into the soup and boil about ten minutes. Cut a lemon into very thin bits, slice two hard-boiled eggs, put them into the tuieen ; add a glass of claret or port wine to them and turn in aoup; it is a very ** dainty dish."

Clam Soup.*

First catch yotir clams — along the ebhing edges

Of saline coves you* 11 find the precious wedges,

With backs up, lurking In th.. sandy bottom ;

Pull in your iron rake, and lo ! you 've got 'em 1

Take thirty large ones, put a basin under,

And cleave, with knife, their stony jaws asunder;

Add water (three quarts) to the native liquor.

Bring to a boil, (and, by the way, the quicker

It boils the better, if you'd do it cutely.)

Kow add the clams, chopped up and minced minutely.

Allow a longer boil of just three minutes,

And while it bubbles, quickly stir within its

Tumultuous depths where still the mollusks mutter,

Four tablespoons of flour and four of butter,

A pint of milk, some {>epper to your notion,

And clams need salting, although born of ocean.

Remove from fire ; (if much boiled they will sufifer—

You'll find that India-rubber is n't tougher.)

After 'tis off, add three fresh eggs, well-beaten,

Stir once more, and it's ready to be eaten.

Fruit of the wave ! O, dainty and delicious !

Food for the gods ! Ambrosia for Apicius !

Worthy to thrill the soul of sea-born Venus,

Or titillate the palate of Silenus !

An Economical Soup. Take a soup bone (any piece of beef not too fat wiU do), wash well, plaoe in kettle with sufficient cold water for soup ; let it boil,

'Written egpedally ft>r this book, by W. A. CBOFFirr, editor of ** Amerioan Qaeen,* Ktv York.

skim thoroughly and continue to boil slowly from three to six hours, accofding to size and quality of meat ; one hour before dinner, put in cabbage cut in quarters, sprinkling it with salt; quarter of an hour after add turnips halved or quartered according to size; quarter of an hour after turnips, add potatoes whole, or cut in two if lai^ge (turnips and potatoes should be pared aud laid in cold water half an hour before using). When done take out vegetables and meat, place in heater, or if you have no heater, place plates over a pot or skillet of boiling water. If there is not enough soup, add boilings water, stir in a little thickening of flour and water, let it boil thor- oughly ; season to the taste with salt anjl pepper and serve at once. The soup will be excellent and the vegetables very fine.

Asparagus Soup. Cut the tops from about thirty heads of asparagus, about half an inch long, and boil the rest ; cut off all the tender portions and rub through a sieve, adding a little salt; warm three pints soup stock, add a small lump of butter and a tea-spoon of flour previously cooked by heating the butter and slowly stirring in the flour ; then add the asparagus pulp. Boil slowly a quarter of an hour, stirring in two or three table-spoons cream ; color the soup with a tea-spoon of prepared spinach, made by pounding the spinach well, adding a few drops of water, squeezing the juice through a cloth and putting it over a good fire. As soon as it looks curdy, take it off*, and strain the liquor through a sieve. What remains on the sieve is to be used for coloring the soup. Just before serving soup, add the asparagus tops which have been separately boiled.

Beef Soup. Take the cracked joints of beef, and after putting the meat in the pot and covering it well with water, let it come to a boil, when it should be well skimmed. Set the pot where the meat will simmer slowly until it is thoroughly done, keeping it closely covered all the time. The next day, or when cold, remove the fat which hardens on the top of the doup. Peel, wash and slice three good-sized pytatoes and put them into the soup ; cut up half a head of white cabbage in shreds, and add to this a pint of Shaker com that has been soaked over night, two onions, one head of celery, and tomatoes

SOUPS. 311

if desired. When these are done, and they should simmer slowly, care being taken that they do not bum, strain (or not as preferred) the soup and serve. The different varieties of beef soup are formed by this method of seasoning and the different vegetables used in preparing it, after the joints have been well boiled. Besides onions, celery, cabbages, tomatoes and potatoes, many use a few carrots, turnips, beets, and force-meat balls seasoned with spice; rice or bar- ley will give the soup consistency, and are to be preferred to flour for the purpose. Parsley, thyme and sage are the favorite herbs for seasoning, but should be used sparingly. To make force-meat balls, add to one pound chopped beef one egg, a small lump butter, a cup or less of bread-crumbs ; season with salt and pepper, and moisten with the water from stewed meat ; make in balls and fry brown, or make egg- balls by boiling eggs, mashing the yolks with a silver spoon, and mixing with one raw yolk and one tea-spoon flour ; season with salt and pepper, make into balls, drop in soup just before serving. — Mrs. H. B. Sherman,

Beef Soup with Okra. Fry one pound ** round" steak cut in bits, two table-spoons butter, and one sliced onion, till very brown ; add to three or four quarts cold water in soup-kettle, and boil slowly one hour ; then add pint sliced okra, and simmer three hours or more ; season with salt and pepper, strain and serve. — Mrs. T. B. J., Tuscumbia, Ala.

Beef Soup. Take bones and trimmings from a sirloin steak, put over fire after breakfast in three quarts water, boil steadily until about an hour before dinner, when add two onions, one carrot, three common-sized potatoes, all sliced, some parsley cut fine, a red pepper, and salt to taste. This makes a delicious soup, sufficient for three persons. All soups are more palatable seasoned with onions and red pepper, using the seeds of the latter with care, as they are very strong.

Bean Soup.

Boil a small soup-bone in about two quarts water until the meat

can be separated from the bone, remove bone, add a coffee-cup white

beans soaked for two hours, boil for an hour and a half, add three

potatoes, half a turnip and a parsnip, all sliced fine, boil half an

hour longer, and jus^ before serving sprinkle in a few diy bread* crumbs; season with salt and pepper, and serve with raw onions sliced very fine for those who like them. — Mrs. A. B, Morey.

Turtle Bean Soup. Soak one pint black beans over night, then put them into three quarts water with beef bones or a smalFpiece of lean saltpork, boil three or four hours, strain, season with salt, pepper, cloves and lemon juice. Put in a few slices of lemon, and if wLshed add slices of hard-boiled eggs. Serve with toasted bread cut into dice and placed in the tureen. — Mrs. H. C. Qark,

Saturday Bean Soup. Baked beans and brown bread form a Sunday break&st for so many that the following will be a useful and economical soup for Saturday dinner. Put on the pot with more beans t!i.;n enough for Sunday's breakfast, with water, and slice of salt pork ; parboil till beans are ready to be put in oven. Take out' pork and part of beans, leaving enough for a bean soup ; place the pot on back of stove and keep hot. Three-quarters of an hour before dinner heat soup, add more water and vegetables as in " Bean Soup."

Meatless Bean Soup. Parboil one pint beans, drain off the water, add firesh, let boil until perfectly tender, season with pepper and salt, add a piece of butter the size of a walnut, or more if preferred ; when done skim out half the boans, leaving the broth with the remaining h^lf in the kettle, now add a tea-cup sweet cream or good milk, a dozen or more crackers broken up; let it boil up, and serve.

Carrot Soup.

Put in soup-kettle a knuckle of veal, three or four quarts cold water, a quart finely-sliced carrots, one head celery ; boil two and a half hours, add a handful rice, and boil an hour longer; season with pepper (or a bit of red pepper pod) and salt, and serve.

Celery Cream Soup.

Boil a small cup rice in three pints milk, until it will pass through a sieve. Grate the white |jart of two heads of celery (three if small) on n brend-gi-ater ; add this to the rice milk after it has been

S0UF8. I 313

.; put to it a quart of strong white stock; let boil until cel- ery is perfectly tender; season with salt and cayenne, and serve. If cream is obtainable, substitute one pint for the same quantity of milk.

Chicken Soup.

In boiling chickens for salads, etc., the broth (water in which they are boiled) may be used for soup. When the chickens are to be served whole, stuff and tie in a cloth. To the broth add a dozen tomatoes (or a quart can), and one thinly-sliced onion ; boil twenty minutes, season with salt and pepper, add two well-beaten eggs, and serve. -<

Clam Soup. Wash clams, and place in just sufficient water for the soup, let boil, and as soon as they clear from shells, take out and place clams in a jar for pickling ; throw into the broth a pint each of sweet milk and rolled crackers, add a little salt, boil five Minutes, and just before taking from the fire, add one ounce butter beaten with two eggs. Serve, and let each person season to taste.

Green Corn Soup.

One large fowl, or four pounds veal (the knuckle or neck will do), put over fire in one gallon cold water without salt, cover tightly and simmer slowly till meat slips from the bones, not allowing it to boil to rags, as the meat will make a nice dish for breakfast or Innch, or even for dinner. Set aside with the meat a cup of the liquor ; strain the soup to remove all bones and rags of meat ; grate one dozen ears of green corn, scraping cobs to remove the heart of the kernel, add com to soup, with salt, pepper, and a little parsley, and simmer slowly half an hour. Just before serving add a table- spoon flour beaten very thoroughly with a table-spoon butter. Serve hot. To serve chicken or veal, put broth (which was reserved) in a clean sauce-pan, beat one egg, a table-spoon butter and a tea- spoon flour together very thoroughly, and add to the broth with salt, pepper, and a little chopped parsley. Arrange meat on dish, pour over dressing, boiling hot, and serve at once.

Slice a large onion and put it with a slice of bacon or &t ham

into a skillet and brown it ; skiu and cut up two quarts tomatoes, cut thin one quart okra, put all together with a little parsley into a stew-kettle, adding about three quarts water, and cook slowly two or three hours, adding salt and pepper to taste. — Mrs. E. A, Wi

Mock Turtle or Calf's-head Soup. Lay one large calfs head well cleaned and washed, and four pig^s feet, in bottom of a large pot, and cover with a gallon of water ; boil three hours, or until flesh will slip from bones ; take out head, leaving the feet to be boiled steadily while the meat is cut from the head ; select with care enough of the £eitty portions in the top of the head and the cheeks to fill a tea-cup, and set aside to cool ; remove brains to a saucer, and also set aside ; chop the rest of the meat with the tongue very fine, season with salt, pepper, powdered mar- joram and thyme, a teaspoon of cloves, one of mace, half as much allspice and a grated nutmeg. When the flesh falls from the bones of the feet, take out bones, leaving the gelatinous meat ; boil all together slowly, without removing the cover, for two hours more ; take the soup from the fire and set it away until the next day. An hour before dinner set the stock over the fire, and when it boils strain carefully and drop in the meat reserved, which should have been cut, when cold, into small squares. Have these all ready as well as the force-meat balls, to prepare which rub the yolks of five hard-boiled eggs to a paste in a wedgewood mortar, or in a bowl with the back of a silver spoon, adding gradually the brains to moisten them, also a little butter and salt. Mix with these, two eggs beaten very light, flour the hands and make this paste into balls about the size of a pigeon's egg : throw them into the soup five minutes before taking it from the fire ; stir in a large table- s|X)on browned flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water, and finish • he seasoning by the addition of a glass and a

Mutton Soup. Boil a nice leg of mutton, and take the water for the soup, add

two onions chopped fine, potato, half a cup of barley, and two large

tomatoes ; season with pepper and salt, boil one hour, stir often (as

Nurlev is apt to burn), and, before taking from the fire, add one

SOUPS. 3W

taUe-Bpoon flour wet with cold water. — Mrs. E. R. Fay, New York

Noodle Soup. Add noodles to beef or any other soup after straining ; they will cock in fifteen or twenty minutes, and are prepared in the follow- ing manner : To one egg add as much sifted flour as it will absorb, with a little salt ; roll out as thin as a wafer^ dredge very lightly with flour, mil over and over into a large roll, slice from the ends, •hake out the strips loosely and drop into the soup.

Okra Soup. Take a nice joint of beef flUed with marrow, one gallon water, one onion cut fine, two sprigs parsley, half a peck of okra, one quart tomatoes; boil the meat six hours, add vegetables and boil two hours more. — Mrs. E. L. F.

Oyster Soup with Milk. Pour one quart cold water over one quart oysters if solid ; if not solid, use one pint of water, drain through a colander into the soup- kettle, and when it boils skim ; add pepper, then the oysters ; season with butter and salt, then add one quart rich new milk brought to boiling point in a tin pail set in a pot of boiling water, let boil up and serve at once. Or, instead of adding the milk, place it, boiling hot, in tureen, pour the soup over it and then serve.

Plain Oyster Soup.

Pour a quart oysters in colander, rinse by pouring over them

pint cold water, put this in porcelain kettle, add a pint boiling

vrater, let boil, skim thoroughly, season with pepper and piece of

butter size of large egg; then add oysters, having removed all shells

let boil up once, season with salt and serve. — Mrs. Lizzie C. Rob-

Pot au Feu.

Take a good-sized beef-bone with plenty of meat on it, extract the marrow and place in a pot on the back of the range, covering the beef with three or more quarts of cold water; cover tightly, and allow to simmer slowly all day long. The next day, before heat- ing, remove the cake of grease from the top, and add a large onion (previously stuck full of whole cloves, and then roasted in the

oven till of a rich-brown color), adding tomatoes or anj other vegetables which one may fancy. A leek or a section of garlic adds much to the flavor. Rice mav be added, or vermicelli for a change. Just before serving, burn a little brown sugar and stir through it. This gives a peculiar flavor and rich color to the soup. — Mrs. Col. (Jifford ThompBon, New York OUy.

Green Pea Soup.

Boil three pints shelled pease in three quarts of water ; when quite soft, mash through a colander, adding a little water to free the pulp from the skins ; return pulp to the water in which it was boiled, add a head of lettuce chopped, and half a pint young pease ; boil half an hour, season with salt and pepper, and thicken with two table- spoons butter rubbed into a little flour. Serve with bits of toasted bread. The soup, when done, should be as thick as cream. Some omit the lettuce.

Potato Soup.

To one gallon of water add six large potatoes chopped fine, one tea-cup rice, a lump of butter size of an egg, one table-spoon flour. Work butter and flour together, and add one tea-cup sweet cream just before taking from the fire. Boil one hour. — ARss Lida Omby.

Swiss Soup.

Five gallons water, six potatoes and three turnips sliced ; boil five hours until perfectly dissolved and the consistency of pea soup, fill* ing up as it boils away ; add butter size of an egg, season with salt and pepper, and serve. A small piece salt pork, a bone or bit of veal or lamb, and an onion, may be added to vary this soup.

Tomato Soup.

Skim and strain one gallon of stock made from nice fresh beef; take three quarts tomatoes, remove skin and cut out hard center, put through a fine sieve, and add to the stock ; make a paste of butter and flour, and, when the stock begins to boil, stir in half a tearcup, taking care not to have it lumpy; boU twenty minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Two quarts canned tomatoes will answer. — Mrs. CoL Reid, Delaware. *

SOUPS. 317

Meatless Tomato Soup.

One quart tomatoes, one of water; stew till soft; add tea-spoon soda, allow to effervesce, and add quart of boiling milk, salt, butter, and pepper to taste, with a little rolled cracker ; boil a few minutes and serve. — Mrs, D. C, Corikeyj

Turkey-Bone Soup.

After a roasted turkey has been served a portion of the meat still adheres to the bones, especiallj about the neck; * drumsticks" are left, or parts of the wings, and pieces rarely called for at table. If there is three-fourths of a cupful or more left cut off carefully and reserve for force-meat balls. Break the bones apart and with stuffing still adhering to them, put into a soup-kettle with two quarts water, a table-spoon salt, a pod of red pepper broken into pieces, three or fi)ur blades of celery cut into half inch pieces, three medium-sized potatoes, and two onions all sliced. If the dinner hour is one o'clock the kettle should be over fire before eight o'clock in the morning; or If the dinner is at six in the evening, it should be on by twelve o'clock. Let it boil slowly but constantly until about half an hour before dinner ; lift out bones, skim 6ff fat, strain through colander, return to soup-kettle. There will now be but little more than a quart of the soup. If more than this is desired, add a pint of hot milk or milk and cream together; but it will be very nice without this ad- dition even though a little more water be added. Prepare the force- meat balls by chopping tlie scraps of turkey very fine ; take half a teaspoon cracker-crumbs, smoothly rolled, a small salt-spoon of cay- enne pepper, about double the quantity of salt, a little grated lemon peel and half a teaspoon powdered summer-savory or thyme ; mix these together and add a raw beaten egg to bind them. Roll mix- ture into balls about the size of a hickory-nut, and drop into the soup ten minutes before serving. Have ready in tureen a large table- spoon of parsley, cut very fine. Pour in soup, a

Vegetable Soup. After boiling a soup bone or piece of beef until done, add to the broth boiling water to make the amount of soup wanted, and 'when boiling again add a large handful of cabbage cut fine as for slaw, a half pint of tomatoes, canned or fresh ; peel and slice and add three large or four small onions, and two or three potatoes (some use a half tea-cup of dried or half pint of green com ; if dried com is used, it should be soaked). Let boil from half to three-quarters of an hour ; if you like a little thickening, stir an egg or yolk with a large spoonful of milk and a tea-spoon of flour, put in five or ten minutes before taking off; this makes it very rich. Serve with crackers. — Mrs. H. C Voslniry.

Vegetable Soup.

Three onions, three carrots, three turnips, one small cabbage, one pint tomatoes; chop all the vegetables except the tomatoes verj fine, have ready in a porcelain kettle three quarts boiling water, put in all except cabbage and tomatoes and simmer for half an hour, then add the chopped cabbage and tomatoes (the tomatoes pre- viously stewed), also a bunch of sweet herbs. Let soup boil for twenty minutes, strain through sieve, rubbing all the vegetables through. Take two table-spoons of best butter and one of flour and beat to a cream. Now pepper and salt soup to taste, and add a tea-spoon of white sugar, a half cup of sweet cream if you have it, and last stir in the butter and flour ; let it boil up and it is ready for the table. Serve with fried bread-chips, or poached eggs one in each dish. — Mrs. U. H. Herbert, Benson,

Veal Soup.

To about three pounds of a well-broken joint of veal, add foxn quarts water, and set it over to boil; prepare one-fourth pound macaroni by boiling it in a dish by itself with enough water to cover it ; add a little butter when the macaroni is tender, strain the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper, then add the macaroni with the water in which it was boiled; onions or celery may be added for flavoring. — Mrs. R. M. Nixon, New CasUe,

SOUPS. 319

Bread-dice for Soups.

Take slices of stale bread, cut in small squares, throw in hot lard and fry till brown, skim out, drain, and put in the soup-tureen before serving the soup. Crackers crisped in the oven are nice to serve with oyster soup. — Mrs, V. G. H.

Caramel for Soups.

For caramel, put one tea-cup sugar and two teanspoons water in a sauce-pan over the fire, stir constantly till it is a dark color, then add a half tea-cup water and a pinch of salt, let boil for a few moments, take off, and when cold bottle.

To brown flour, put one pint in a sauce-pan on the stove, and when it begins to color, stir constantly till it is a dark brown, being careful that it does not burn. When cold put away in a tin can or jar covered closely, and keep in a dry place where it is always ready for soups or gravies. As it requires more of this for thick- ening than of unbrowned flour, it may be well sometimes to take half of each.

A few cloves may be stuck in the meat for soup ; or it may first be fried in a sauce-pan with a little butter, turning tOl brown on %11 sides ; or sliced onions may be iried brown and added to soup.

TuBTiiE Soup.

Boil a turtle very tender in five quarts of water, remove bones, <mt meat into small pieces ; season with a table-spoon each of mar- joram, sweet basil, thyme and parsley, salt and pepper to taste, one nutmeg beaten fine, a dozen cloves, same of allspice. Tie these in muslin^ remove before sending soup to table. Stir a large table- spoon of browned flour into a quarter pound of fresh butter, add to soup. Should be three quarts of soup. Fifteen minutes before serving add the green fiit, then add half a pint of wine, a sliced lemon, seeds removed, also force-meat balls ; simmer five minutes, take out lemon-peel, and serve* This is for a small turtle. Add a dioe of good ham if turtle is not fiit.

VEGETABLES.

All vegetables are better cooked in soft water, provided it is dean and pure; if hard water is used, put in a small pinch of soda. The water should be freshly drawn, and should only be put over fire in time to reach the boiling point before the hour for putting in vegetables, as standing and long boiling frees the gases and ren- ders the water insipid. The fresher all vegetables are, the mpre wholesome. After being washed thoroughly, they should be dropped in cold water half an hour before using. Peel old potatoes and let them stand in cold water over night, or for several iiours, putting them in immediately after being peeled, as exposure to the air darkens them. Before putting on to boil, take out and wipe each dry with a towel. New potatoes are best baked. Full-grown, fair, ripe potatoes may be either boiled or baked. Medium-sized and smooth potatoes are best ; the kind varies with the season. Green corn and pease should be prepared and cooked at once. Put all vegetables into plenty of salted water, boiling hot (excepting egg plant and old potatoes, which some put on in salted cold water), and boil rapidly, without cover, skimming carefully until ^oroughly done, draining well those that require it. Onions should be soaked in warm salt water, to remove the rank flavor for one hour before cooking. Never split onions, tuniips and carrots, but slice them in rings cut across the fiber, as they thus cook tender much quicker. If the home garden fiimishes the supply of pease, spinach, green beans, asparagus, etc., pick them in the morning early, when th« dew is on, and let stand in cold water till ready for use. Some put salt in the water, but in that case only let them remain ten or fif«

VEGETABLES, 321

teen minutes, unless doubts are entertained as to their freshness (if from the market), in which case they can remain longer, afterward draining them in a colander. Do not allow vegetables to remain in the water after they are done, but drain them in a colander and dress as directed in the various recipes. In preparing greens, let- tuce, etc., first wash them leaf by leaf in warm >vater, rather more than tepid, having a dish of cold water to place them in imme- diately. The warm water more certainly cleans the leaf and does not destroy the crispness if they are placed at once in cold water. But whether washed in warm or cold water, take them leaf by leaf, breaking the heads off, not cutting them. Horse-radish tops are considered choice for greens. Pease should not be shelled until just befoi-e the time of cooking.

The proportion of salt in cooking vegetables is a heaping table- spoon of salt to every gallon of water. When water boils, put in your vegetables, and press them down with a wooden spoon. Take out when tender, as vegetables are spoilt by being either under or overdone.

Always add both salt and a little soda to the water in which greens are cooked, as soda preserves color ; for the same purpose French cookery books recommend a small pinch of carbonate of ammonia. A little sugar added to turnips, beets, pease, corn, squash and pumpkin is an improvement, especially when the vege- tables are poor in quality. Sweet potatoes require a longer time to cook than the common variety. In gathering asparagus, never cut it off, but snap or break it ; in this way you do not s:et the white» woody part, which no boiling can make tender. Do the same with rhubarb, except being careful that it does not split, and take it very close to the ground. Put rice on to cook in boiling salted water, having first soaked for about an hour and dried off the surplus moisture on a large towel; or steam, or cook in custard-kettle.

A piece of red pepper the size of finger-nail, dropped into meat of vegetables when first beginning to cook, will aid greatly in killing the unpleasant odor. Remember this for boiled cabbage, green beans, onions, mutton and chicken. All vegetables should be thor- oughly cooked, and require a longer time late in their season.

Potatoes, when old, are improved by removing the skin before 21

VEGETABLES,

baking, and either Irish or sweet potatoes, if frozen, must be puf in to bake without thawing. Cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnips, parsnips, onions and beets are injured by being boiled with fresh meat, and they also injure the flavor of the meat. When vege- tables are to be served with salt meat, the meat should be cooked first and then removed, and tlie vegetables cooked in the liquor.

Small-sized white turnips contain more nutrition than large ones, hut in ruta-bagas the largest are best. Potatoes vary greatly in quality ; varieties which are excellent early in the season lose their good qualities, and others, which are worthless in the fall, are excellent late in the spring. Those raised on gravelly or sandy soil, not over rich, are best.

Old potatoes, may be greatly improved by being soaked in cold water several hours after peeling, or all night, being particular to change the water once or twice. Peel very thinly, as the best part of the potato is nearest the skin. Cut large potatoes, if to be steamed, or boiled, in four, and small ones in two pieces, and remove the core if defective. If to be boiled (steaming is much preferable) put them on in clear fresh boiling water. Keep closely covered and at a steady boil for at least twenty minutes, five or ten minutes more may be requisite, according to the quality of the potato. Watch carefully, and the very instant they present a mealy and broken surface remove them from the stove, raise the cover just enough to admit the draining off" of the water. This may be accomplished successfully and quickly, after a little practice, and is fiur better than turning them into a colander, thus suddenly chilling them and arresting the further development of the starch, which, after all, is the main point to be accomplished. Drain the water off thoroughly and quickly, sprinkle in sufficient salt for seasoning, cover the vesel closely, give it a shake and set back on the stove, being careful not to have it too hot. In a minute or so give it another shake to stir up the potatoes, throw in a little hot cream or rich milk with a lump of butter and a sprinkle of pepper, cover immediately and leave on the stove for another minute. This last process adds greatly to the good cooking of potatoes. They are ready now to be dished whole or mashed. Some skill is required to mash them properly, simple as the operation may appear. The old fashioned

VEGETABLES.

wood^i masher possesses advantages over the new perforated iron plate with handle so nearly representing the old time churn dasher. Mashed ^potatoes should be dipped out lightly into a hot covered dish and literally coaxed into a delicate mealy heap, instead of being stirred and patted and packed and cheesed into a shapely mass.

If potatoes are very watery and they must be used for food, a small lump of lime added to the water while boiling will improv^ them. More so than any other vegetable does this one diifer in quality, according to variety and manner of culture. However the main crop may be raised, every farmer^s wife should secure for late ipring use a supply of a choice variety cultivated entirely in rotten wood soil, or in soil where wood ashes and gypsum are used as fer- tilizers.

The great point in cooking potatoes is, to take them up as soon as they are done. Of course it is important to begin to cook them at the proper time. When boiled, baked, fried or steamed, they are rendered watery by continuing to cook them after they reach the proper point. For this reason, potatoes, to bake or boil, should he selected so as to have them nearly the same size. Begin with the largest first, and continue to select ^he largest till all are gone. Be careful that the water does not stop boiling, as thus the pota- toes will be watery. Never boil them very hard, as it breaks them. Medium-sized potatoes, when young, will cook in from twenty to thirty minutes; when old, it requires double the time. When peeled, they boil fifteen minutes quicker. In baking old potatoes with meat, now, it is better also to halve them. L^»ve them in the water until the meat is within half an hour of being done. See that the pan contains plenty of drippings, and with proper heat the potatoes will be brown and crisp without and white and mealy within. They may be fried in the meat gravy, or warmed up in butter for breakfast. The secret of having potatoes mealy and palatable is to cook them rapidly. Steam until the skin cracks, and a fork easily penetrates the center. If not to be served at once, continue steaming, as they become solid sooner than when boiled.

New potatoes should always be boiled in two waters, and old ones are better for it. Put on two kettles of water, set potatoes

VEGETABLES.

in one, when hot, in a wire basket, and when abont half done transfer to the other.

Asparagus.

Wash clean ; cat off the white part except a mere end, pat into slightly salted boiling water, boil five minntes, ponr off water, add more boiling hot; boil ten to fifteen minates, then pnt in a hmp of bntter, salt and pepper (some stir in a thickening made of one tea-spoon flour mixed np with cold water); cat and toast two or three thin slices of bread, spread with batter and pat in a dish, and over them tarn asparagus and gravy. The water must be boiled down until just enough for the gravy, which is made as above. Or, cut the asparagus, when boiled, into little bits, leaving out white end, make gravy as above, put the cut aspar- agus into a hot dish and turn the gravy over it and serve.

A simple manner of boiling asparagus is to tie in a bundle, or Brst wrap in cotton cloth and then tie, and set upright in a sauce- pan containing boiling water enough to reach nearly to the tender tips ; boil rapidly till tender ; lay a napkin on a hot platter, take out asparagus, drain for a moment, place on napkin, unwrap, and ftld over the asparagus the corners of the napkin, and serve in this Ihcm, with white sauce in a gravy-boat.

Or, boiled asparagus may be made cold in ice-box, and served with a sauce made of vinegar, pepper, and salt.

Ambushed Asparagus. Cut off the tender tops of fifty heads of asparagus ; boil and drain them. Have ready as many stale biscuits or rolls as there are persons to be served, from which you have cut a neat top slice and scooped out the inside. Set them in the oven to crisp, laying the tops beside them, that all may dry together. Meanwhile put into a sauce-pan a sugarless custard made as follows: A pint or less of milk, and four well-whipped eggs ; boil the milk first, then beat in the eggs; set over the fire and stir till it thickens, when add a table-spoon of butter, and season with salt and pepper. Into this custard put the asparagus, minced fine. Do not let it boil, but remove from the fire as soon as the asparagus is fairly in. Fill the

VEGETABLES. 325

rolls with the mixture, put on the tops, fitting them carefully ; set

in the oven three miiiytes, &^r which arrange on a dish. To be

eaten hot.

Eggs and Asparagus.

Cut tender asparagus into pieces half an inch long, and boil twenty minutes, then drain till dry, and put into a sauce-pan con- taining a cup of rich drawn butter ; heat together to a boil, season livdth pepper and salt, and pour into a buttered dish. Break half a dozen ?^gs over the surface, put a bit of butter upon each, sprinkle with salt :;nd pepper, and put in the oven until the eggs are set.

Fried Asparagus. Blanch the asparagus a couple of minutes, and then drain it; dip each piece in batter and fry it in hot fat. When done, sprinkle, with salt and serve hot. This is nice and easy to prepare.

Boiled Dinner. Put meat on, after washing well, in enough boiling water to just cover the meat; as soo.'x as it boils, set kettle on the stove where it will simmer or boil very slowly ; boil until almost tender, put in v^etables in the following order : Cabbage cut in quarters, turnips of medium size cut in halves, and jx)tatoes whole, or if large cut m two ; peel potatoes and turnips, and allow to lie in cold water for half an hour before using. The meat should be well skimmed before adding vegetables; l)oil together until thoroughly done (adding a little salt before taking out of kettle), when there should be left only just enough water to prevent burning ; take up vege- tables in separate dishes, and lastly the meat ; if there is any juice in kettle, pour it over cabbage. Boil cabbage an hour, white tur- nips and potatoes half an hour, ruta-baga.s an hour and a half to two ^ours. A soup plate or saucer turned upside down, or a few iron table-spoons are u.««eful to place in bottom of kettle to keep meat fi'om burning. Parsnips may be substituted in place of cab- bage and tuniips, cooking them three-quarters of an hour.

Remove leaves, wash clean, being careftil not to break off the little fibers and rootlets, a*? the juices would thereby escape and they would lose their color ; boil in plenty of water, if young, two hours,

326 VEGETABLES.

if old, four or five hours, trying with a fork to see when tender ; take out, drop in a pan of cold water, and slip off the skin with the hands; slice those needed for immediate use, place in a dish, add salt, pepper, hutter, and if not very sweet a tea-spoon sugar, set over boiling water to heat thoroughly, and serve hot with or with- out vinegar; put those which remain into a stone jar whole, cover with vinegar, keep in a cool place, take out as wanted, slice and serve. A few pieces of horse-radish put into the jar will prevent a white scum on the vinegar. .Or, roast in hot ashes, or bake in oven, (turning often in the pan with a knife, as a fork causes the juice to flow), and when tender, peel, slice, and dress with salt, pepper, butter and vinegar. Or, after beets are boiled and skinned, mash together with boiled potatoes, and season to the taste with salt ; add a large lump of butter (do not use any milk) ; place in a dish, make a hole in center in which put ni a generous lump of butter; sprinkle with pepper and serve at once. This is a New England dish, and very delicious for harvest time, when beets are young and sweet.

Beet Greens.

* Wash young beets very clean, cut off tips of leaves, looking over carefully to see that no bugs or worms remain, but do not separate roots from leaves ; fill dinner-pot half full of salted boiling water, add beets, boil from half to three-quarters of an hour ; take out and drain in colander, pressing down with a large spoon, so as to get out all the water. Dish and dress with butter, pepper, and salt if needed. Serve hot with vinegar.

Butter Beans.

With a knife cut off the ends of pods and strings from both sides, being very careful to remove every shred ; out every bean length- wise, in two or thi-ee strips, and leave them for half an hour in cold water. Much more than cover them with boiling water; boil till perfectly tender. It is well to allow three hours for boiling. Drain well, return to kettle, and add a dressing of half a gill cream, one and a half ounces butter, one even tea-spoon salt, and half a tea-spoon pepper. This is sufficient for a quart of cooked beans.

VEGETABLES. 327

Dry Lima Beans. Wash one quart of dry lima beans in two warm waters, soak three hours, drain, and put on to cook in enough boiling water to cover them; cover pot with tin lid, addiug more hot water as it boils away, boiling nipicJly for one and a half hours, when there should be only water enough to come up to top of the beans— just sufficient to make a nice dressing. Five minutes before taking up, season with salt and pepper, and stir in a dressing made of one table- spoon each of flour and butter, rubbed together until smooth. This is a delicious dish.

String Beans.

String, snap and wash two quarts beans, boil in plenty of water about fifteen minutes, drain off and put on again in about two quarts boiling water; boil an hour and a half, and add salt and pepper just before taking up, stirring in one and a half table-spoons butter rubbed into two table-spoons flour and half pint sweet cream. Or, boil a piece of salted pork one hour, then add beans and boil an hour and a half. For shelled beans boil half an hour in water enough to cover, and dress as above.

Stp:wed Carrots.

Take any quantity desired, divide the carrots lengthwise, and boil until perfectly tender, which will require from one to two hours. When done, have ready a sauco-j)an with one or two table-spoons butter, and small cup cream ; slice the carrot,s very thin, and put in the sauce-pan ;• add salt and peppei-, and let stew ten or fifteer minutes, stirring gently once or twice, and serve in a vegetable dish. Some add more milk or cream ; when done, skim out car- rots, and to the cream add a little flour thickening, or the beaten yolks of one or two eggs. When it boils, pour over the carrots and serve. Carrots may also be boiled with meat like turnips or pars* nips, but they take longer to cook than either.— ifr«. C T, C.

Boiled Corn.

Put the well-cleaned ears in salted boiling water, boil an hour, or boil in the husk for the same time, remove husks and serve imme- diately. Com thoroughly cooked is a wholesome dish.

828 VEGETABLES,

Stowed Corn. Cut with a sharp knife through the center of every row of grains, and cut off the outer edge ; then with the back of the blade push out the yellow eye, with the rich, creamy center of the grain, leaving the hull on the cob. To one quart of this add half a pint rich milk, and stew until cooked in a covered tin pail, in a kettle one-third full of boiling water ; then add salt, white pepper, and two or three ounces butter ; allow two hours for cooking; it seems a long time, but there is no danger of burning, and it requires no more at- tention than to stir it occasionally and to keep good the supply of water. If drier than Jiked, add more milk or cream. Or, after cutting com from the cob, boil the cobs ten or fifteen minutes and take out and put corn in same water ; when tender, add a dressing of milk, butter, pepper and salt, and just before serving, stir in beaten eggs, allowing three eggs to a dozen ears of corn.

Bina's Stewed Corn. Shave corn off the ear, being careful not to cut into the cob; to three pints corn add three table-spoons butter, pepper and salt, and just enough water to cover j place in a skillet, cover and cook Father slowly with not too hot a fire, from half to three-quarters of an hour, stir with a spoon often, and if necessary add more water, for the corn must not brown; if desired, a few moments before it is done, add half cup sweet cream thickened with tea- spoon flour; boil well and serve with roast beef, escaloped toma- toes and mashed potatoes. Some stew tomatoes, and just before serving mix tiiem with the corn.

Dried Corn. For a family of eii^ht, wash a pint of corn through one water, •\'aA put to soak over night in clenn cold water (if impossible to soak so long, place over a kettle of hot water for two or three hours) ; when softened, cook fiwo^ to ten minutes in water in which it was soaked, adding as soon as boiling, two tablo-s|X)ons butter, one of flour, and a little salt and pepper. Another good way to finish is the following: Take the yolk of one egg, one table-spoon milk, pinch of salt, thicken with flour quite stiff so as to take out with a tea-spoon, and drop in little dumplings not hirgor than au

VEGETABLES. .329

acorn; cover tightly and cook five or ten minutes; have enough water in kettle before adding dumplings, as cover should not be re- moved until dumplings are done.

Soak one quart of ground hominy over night, put over the fire

in a tin pail, set in boiling water with water enough to cover, boil

gently for five hours, as it can not be hurried. After the grains

begin to soften on no account stir it. The water put in at fir.-t

ought to be enough to finish it, but if it proves too little, add more

careftilly, as too much makes it sloppy. Salt just before taking

from the stove, as too early salting makes it dark. If properly

done, the grains will stand out snowy and well done, but round and

Preserved Corn.

Scald corn just enough to set the milk, cut from cob, to every four pints of corn add one pint salt, mix thoroughly, pack in jars, with a cloth and weight over corn ; when wanted for use put in a stew-pan or kettle, cover with cold water; as soon as it comes to a boil pour ofi* and put on cold again, and repeat until it is fresh enough for taste, then add a very little sugar, sweet cream, or but- ter, etc., to suit taste. — Mrs, S, M. Guy.

Green Corn Pudding. Draw a sharp knife through each row of corn lengthwise, thea scrape out the pulp; to one pint of the corn add one quart of milk, three eggs, a little suet, sugar to taste, and a few lumps of butter ; stir it occasionally until thick, and bake about two hours.

Boiled Cauliflower. To each half gallon water allow heaped table-spoon salt ; choose dose and white cauliflower, trim oflT decayed outside leaves, and cut stock off flat at bottom ; open flower a little in places to remove insects which generally are found about the stalk, and let cauli- flowers lie with heads downward in salt and water for two hours previous to dressing them, which will effectually draw out all ver- min. Then put into boiling water, adding salt in above propor- tion, and boil briskly for fifteen or twenty minutes over a good fire, keeping the sauce-pan uncovered. The water should be well

330 VEGETABLES.

skimmod. When cauliflowers are tender, take up, drain, and if large enough, place upright in dish ; serve with plain melted bijtter, a little of which may be poured over the flowers, or a white sauce may be used made as follows :

Put butter size of an e^g into the sauce-pan, and when it bubbles stir in a scant half tea-cup of flour ; stir well with an egg-whisk until cooked ; then add two tea-cups of thin cream, some pepper and salt. Stir it over the fire until perfectly smooth. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower and serve. Many let the cauliflower simmer in the sauce a few moments before serving. Cauliflower is delicious served as a garnish around spring chicken^ or with fried sweet-breads, when the white sauce should be poured over both. In this case it should be made by adding the cream, flour, and sea- soning to the little grease (half a tea-spoon) tliat is left after fiy- ing the chickens or sweet-breads. — Mn, W. P. Andemm.

ESCALOPED ("AULIFLOWER.

Boil till very tender, drain well and cut in small pieces; put it in layers with fine chopped egg and this dressing: half pint of milk thickened over boiling water, with two table-spoons of flour and seasoned with two tea-spoons of salt; one of white pepper and two ounces of butter; put grated bread over the top, dot it with small bits of butter, and place it in the oven to beat thoroughly and brown. Serve in same dish in which it was baked. This is a good way to use common heads. A nicer way is to boil them, then place them whole in a buttered dish with stems down. Make a sauce with a cup of bread-crumbs beaten to froth with two table-spoons of melted butter and three of cream or milk, one well-beaten egg and salt and pepper to taste. Pour this over the cauliflower, cover the dish tightly and bake six minutes in a quick oven, browning them nicely. Serve as above.

HEmELBERG CaBBAGE.

Select two small, solid heads of hard red cabbage ; divide them in halves from crown to stem ; lay the split side down, and cut downwards in thin slices. The cabbage will then be in narrow strips or shreds. Put into a sauoe-pan a table-spoon of clean drippings, batter or any nice &t ; when fat is hot, put in cabbage a tea-spoon of adti three tablespoons vin^^ar (if the latter is very strong, use

VEGETABLES. 331

but two), and one onion , in which three or four cloves have been stuck, buried in the middle ; boil two hours and a haff ; if it becomes too dry and is in danger of scorching, add a very little water. This is very nice, — Mrs. L, S. WUlisixyn, Heidelberg^ Germany.

Cr£am£d Cabbage. Slice as for cold slaw and stew in a covered sauce-pan till ten- der ; drain it, return to sauce-pan, add a gill or more of rich cream, one ounce of butter, pepper and salt to taste ; let simmer two or three minutes, then serve. Milk may be used by adding a little more butter ; or have^a deep spider hot, put in sliced cabbage, pour quickly over it a pint of boiling water, cover close and cook for ten minutes, then pour off water and add half pint of rich milk. When the milk boils, stir in a tea-spoon of flour moistened with a little milk, season, cook a moment, serve.

Delicate Cabbage. Remove all defective leaves, quarter and cut as for coarse

slaw, cover well with cold water, and let remain several hours

before cooking, then drain and put into pot with enough boiling

water to cover ; boil until thoroughly cooked (which will generally

require about forty-five minutes), add salt ten or fifteen minutes

before removing from fire, and when done, take up into a colander,

press out the water well, and season with butter and j>epper. This

is a good dish to serve with corned meats, but should not be cooked

with 'them; if preferred, however, it may be seasoned by adding

some of the liquor and fat from the boiling meat to the cabbage

while cooking. Or, cut the cabbage in two, remove the hard stock,

let stand in cold water two hours, tie in thin netting or piece of

muslin, and boil in salted water for a longer time than when it is

cut finely. Drain, remove, and serve in a dish with drawn butter

or a cream dres«siug poured over it. — Mrs. E, T. Carson.

Fried Cabbage. Cut the cabbage very fine, on a slaw cutter, if possible ; salt and pepper, stir well, and let stand fiwe minutes. Have an iron kettle smoking hot, drop one table-spoon lard into it, then the cabbage, stirring briskly until quite tender; send to table immediately. One half cup sweet cream, and three table-spoons vinegar— the vinegar added after the cream has been well stirred, and after taken

332 VEGETABLES,

from the stove, is an agreeable change. When properly done an invalid can eat it without injury, and there is no offensive odor from cooking. — Mrs. J, T, Liggett, Detroit, Mkh.

Southern Cabbage. Chop or slice one medium-sized cabbage fine, put it in a stew' pan with boiling water to well cover it, and boil fifleen minutes ; drain off all water, and add a dressing made as follows: Half tea- cup wine-vinegar, two-thirds as much sugar, salt, pepper, half tea- spoon mustard, and two tea-spoons salad oil; when this is boiling hot, add one tea-cup cream, and one egg stirred together ; mix thoroughly and immediately with the cabbage, and cook a moment. Serve hot. — Mrs. P. T. Morey, Charleston, S. G.

Stuffed Cabbage. Take a large, fresh cabbage anl cut out heart ; fill vacancy with stuffing made of cooked chicken or veal, chopped very fine and highly seasoned and rolled into balls with yolk of egg. Then tie cabbage firmly together (some tie a cloth around it), and boil in a covered kettle two hours. This is a delicious dish and is useM in using up cold meats. — Mrs. W. A. Croffut, New York Oity,

Dandelions. They are fit for use until they blossom. Cut off the leaves, pick over carefully, wash in several waters, put into boiling water, boil one hour, drain well, add salted boiling water, and boil two hours ; when done, turn into a colander and drain, season with butter, and more sajt if needed, and cut with a knife ; or boil with a piece of salt pork, omitting the butter in the dressing.

Egg Plant. Peel and cut in- slices the purple kind, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and let drain on a tipped plate for three-quarters of an hour ; make a light batter with one egg, fiour and a little water, dip the slices into it and fry in butter or lard. Eggs and cracker may be used instead of the batter. Or, peel the egg-plant, boil till done, then pour off the water, mash fine, and pepper, butter and salt to taste, put in a shallow pudding-pan, and over the top place a thick layer of crushed cracker. Bake half an hour in a moder- ate oven.

VEGETABLES. 333

Egg Plant. Peel and slice one or two medium-sized egg-p]ants, put on in cold water, boil till tender, drain, mash fine, season with salt and pepper, and add a beaten egg and a table-spoon of flour ; fry in little cakes in. butter or butter and lard in equal parts; or cut in slices, lay in cold well-salted water for an hour or two, roll in egg and cracker crumbs, and fry with a little butter. Parsnips and salsify or oyster- plant may be cooked in the same way, but the oyster-plant is made in smaller cakes to imitate oysters.

Wilted Lettuce. Place in a vegetable dish lettuce that has been very carefully picked and washed each leaf by itself, to remove all insects. Cut across the dish four or five times, nnd sprinkle with salt. Fry a small piece of fat ham until brown, cut it in small pieces; when very hot add cup of good vinegar, and pour it boiling hot over the lettuce; mix it well with a fork, and garnish with slices of hard* boiled eggs. Be certain to have the fat so hot that when vinegars is poured in, it will boil immediately. Add half a cup or a cup of vinegar according to strength of vinegar and quantity of lettuce.

Baked Macaroni.

Take about three ounces macaroni and boil till tender in a stew*

pan with a little water ; take a pudding dish or pan, warm a little

butter in it, and put in a layer of macaroni, then a layer of cheese

grated or cut in small bits, and sprinkle over with salt, pepper

and small pieces of butter, then add another layer of macaroni,

and so on, finishing off with cheese; pour on rich milk or cream

enough to just come to the top of the ingredients, and bake from

one-half to three quarters of an hour. Rice may be used instead

of macaroni by first cooking as follows : Pick and wash a cup of rice,

put in a stew-kettle with three cups boiling water, and set over the

fire^the boiling water makes the kernels retain their shape better

than when cold water is used. When done put a layer of rice,

cheese, etc., alternately as you would macaroni, and bake in the

same way.

Boiled Macaroni.

Pour one pint boiling water over five ounces macaroni, let stand

half an hour, drain and put in a custard-ketde with boiling milk or

334 VEGETABLES.

milk and water to cover, cook till tender, drain, add a table-spoon butter, and a tea-cup cream, and season with salt and pepper ; grate cheese over the top and serve. — Mrs. S. B. T.

Macaroni with Tomatoes. Take three pints of beef soup, clear, and put one pound of maca- roni in it, boil fifteen minutes, with a little salt ; then take up the macaroni — which should have absorbed nearly all the liquid — and put it on a flat plate, and sprinkle grated cheese over it thickly, and pour over all pleiuifully a sauce made of tomatoes, well boiled, strained, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Itauan Macaroni. Place two pounds of beef, well larded with strips of salt pork, and one or two chopped onions, in a covered kettle on the back of the stove, until it throws out its juice and is a rich brown ; add a quart of tomatoes seasoned with pepper and salt, and allow the mixture to simmer for two or three hours. Take the quantity of macaroni desired and boil in water for twenty minutes, after which put one layer of the boiled macaroni in the bottom of a pudding dish, cover with some of the above mixture, then a layer of grated cheese, and so on in layers till the dish is filled, having a layer of cheese on the top ; place in the oven an hour, or until it is a rich browiL Commence early in the morning to prepare this dish.

Boiled Okra. Put the young and tender pods of long, white okra in salted boil ing water in a porcelain or tin-lined sauce-pan (as iron discolors it), boil fifteen minutes, take off stems, and serve with butter, pepper, mlt, and vinegar if preferred ; or, after boiling, slice in rings, sea- son with butter, dip in batter and fry ; season and serve, or stew an equal quantity of tomatoes, and tender sliced okra, and one or two sliced groen peppers; stew in porcelain kettle fifteen or twenty minutes, season with butter, pepper and salt, and serve. — Miss M, E. W., Selvfuiy Ala.

Baked Onions.

The large Spanish or Bermuda onions are best for this purpose. Wash the outside clean, put into a sauce-pan with slightly salted

VEGETABLES, 335

water, and boil an hour, replenishing the water with more (boiling fact J as it boils away. Then turn off watc^r ; take out onions and lay upon a cloth that all moisture may be absorl^ed ; roll each in a piece of buttered tissue-paper, twisting it at the top to keep it closed, and bake in a slow oven nearly an hour, or until tender all through. Peel, put in a deep dish, and brown slightly, basting freely with butter ; this will take fifteen minutes more. Season with pepper and salt, and pour melted butter over the top.

BoiLKD OR Fried Onions. Wash and peel, boil ten minutes, pour off this water, again add boiling water, boil a few minutes and drain a second time; pour on boiling water, add salt and boil for one hour; place in a colander, turn a saucer over them, and press firmly to drive off all the water; place in a dish and add butter and pepper. Or, about half an hour before they are done, turn a pint of milk into the water in which they are boiling, and, when tender, season as above. Old onions require two hours to boil. To fry onions, slice and boil ten minutes each time in three waters, drain, fry in butter or beef drippings, stir often, season, and serve hot.

Potatoes Boiled or Baked in Jackets. Wash clean (a brush is the best implement for cleaning potatoes), cut off the ends, let stand in cold water a few hours, put into boil- ing water, the larger ones first, and then in a short time adding the rest, cover, and keep boiling constantly ; after fifteen minutes throw in another handful of salt and boil another fifteen minutes; try with a fork, and if it does not quite run through the potato, they are done (this is called ** leaving a bone in them"). Drain, take to door or window and shake in open air to make them mealy; re- turn to stove and allow to stand uncovered for a moment. Or, when washed, bake in a moderate oven fifty minutes; or, place in a steamer half an hour over water kept constantly boiling, serve inmediately ; or, wash and peel medium -sized ones, and bake in pan with roast meat, basting oftien with the drippings.

Breakfast Potatoes. Peel, cut in very thin slices into a very little boiling water»

836 VEGETABLES,

BO little that it will be evaporated when they are cooked, add salt to taste, some cream, or a very lUUe milk and a bit of butter. A little practice will make this a favorite dish in any family. The art is, to cook the potatoes with a very little water, so that it will be evaporated at the time the potatoes are done. They must be stirred occasionally while cooking.

POTATOICS AND OnIONS.

Boil potatoes in skins, peel while hot and slice ; about an hour before wanted, slice onions, and let stand in salt and water; while peeling potatoes, put. onions in skillet with a little ham gravy or butter and a little water, and cook slightly ; take out, put in vege- table dish a layer of onions, then potatoes, then onions, etc., with potatoes last ; add a cup of vinegar to skillet (with ham gravy or butter), warm and .pour over.

Fried Raw Potatoes. Wash, peel, and slice in cold water, drain in a colander, and drop in a skillet prepared with two table-spoons melted butter or beef- drippings, or one-half of each ; keep closely covered for ten minutes, only removing to stir with a knife from the bottom to prevent burning ; cook another ten minutes, stirring frequently until done and lightly browned. Sweet potatoes are nice prepared in the same manner. — Mrs. M. E. Soidhard,

Fried Whole Potatoes.

Peel and boil in salted water, remove from the fire as soon as

done so that they may remain whole ; have ready one beaten egg,

and some rolled crackers or bread-crumbs ; first roll the potatoes in

the eggf and then in the crackers, and fry in butter till a light

brown, or drop in boiling lard. This is a nice way to cook old

Mashed Potatoes.

Pare and boil till done, drain, and mash in the kettle until per- fectly smooth; add milk or cream, and butter and salt; beat like cake with a large spoon, and the more they are beaten the nicer they become. Put in a dish, smooth, place a lump of butter in the center, sprinkle with pepper ; or add one or two eggs well-beaten, pepper, mix thoroughly, put in baking dish, dip a knife in sweet

VEGETABLES. 337

milk, smooth over, wetting every part with milk, and place in a hot oveu twenty minutes. To warm over mashed potatoes, season with salt and butter, and a little cream or milk, place in a buttered pie- pan, smoothing and shaping the top handsomely, and making checks with a knife ; brown in a stove or range oven ; place tin on a second dish and serve on it. Or, add a little cream or milk to cold mashed potatoes, press evenly in a basin, set away, and in the morning slice and fiy.

New Potatoes.

Wash, scrape, boil ten muiutes, turn off water, and add enough m6Te, boiling hot, to cover, also add a little salt; cook a few moments, drain, and set again on stove, add butter, salt, and pepper and a little thickening made of two table-spoons flour in about a pint of milk (a few small ones may be left in the kettle, and broken, not mashed with the potato-masher), put on the cover, and, when the milk has boiled, pour over potatoes and serve. Or, when cooked and drained, put in a skillet with hot drippings, cover, and shake till a nice brown.

Potatoes in Jackets.

Bake as many potatoes as are needed ; when done, take off a little piece from one end to permit them to stand, from the other end cut a large piece, remove careinlly the inside, and rub through a fine sieve, or mash thoroughly ; put on the fire with half an ounce of butter and one ounce of grated cheese to every four fair-sized potatoes; and add boiling milk and pepper and salt as for mashed potatoes; fill the potato shells, and sprinkle over mixed bread-crumbs and grated cheese; and put in hot oven and brown. Many prefer to omit cheese and bread-crumbs, filling the shells heaping full and then browning.

Potatoes in Kentucky Style.

Slice thin as for fiying, let remain in cold water half an hour ;

put into pudding-dish or dripping-pan, with salt, pepper, and some

milk — about half a pint to an ordinary dish ; put into oven and

hake for an hour ; take out and add a lump of butter half the size

of an eggf cut into small bits and scattered over the top. Blicing

iUowB the interior of each potato to be examined, hence its value 22

338 VEGETABLES.

where potatoes are (doubtful, though poor ones are not of necesflily required. Soaking in cold water hardens the slices, so that they will hold their shape. The milk serves to cook them through, and to make a nice brown on the top; the quantity can only b& learned by experience ; if just a little is left as a rich gravy, moistening all the slices, then it is right. In a year of small and poor potatoes, this method of serving them will be very welcome to many a house- keeper.— Mrs, G, M. NicIwlSj Springfidil.

Potatoes a la Parisienne. Wash and rub new potatoes with a coarse cloth (avoid scraping if possible), drop into boiling water, boil briskly until done, taking care not to over do (if doubtful on this point. press one of the potatoes with a fork against the side of the sauce-pan, if done it will yield to a gentle pressure). Have ready, in a sauce-pan, some cream and butter hot, but not boiling, a little green parsley, pepper and salt ; pour off the water from the potatoes and add the cream and butter, let stand a minute or two over hot water, and serve.

Potato Souffle

Boil four good-sized mealy potatoes, pass them through a sieve ; scald in a clean sauce-pan half tea-cup of sweet milk and table- spoon of good butter, add to the potato with' a little salt and pepper, and beat to a cream ; add one at a time, the yolks of four eggs, beating thoroughly, drop a small pinch of salt into the whites and beat them to a stiff froth, add them to the mixture, beating as little as possible; have ready a well-buttered baking-dish, large enough to permit the souffle to rise without running over; bake twenty minutes in a brisk oven, serve at once, and in the same dish in which it was baked. It should be eaten with meats that have gravies.

Potatoes in Seven Ways.

Sunday, peel, steam, mash, add milk, butter and salt, and then beat like cake-batter, ihe longer the better, till they are luce and light This steaming and beating will be found a great improvement.

Monday, baked potatoes in their jackets ; if any are left they may be warmed over, peeling when cold, and then slicing. , Tuesday, peel and bake with roast of beef.

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Wednesday, prepare in Kentucky style.

Thursday, peel, steam, and serve whole.

Friday, ''potatoes a la pancake;*^ peel, cut in thin slices length- wise, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and fry in butter or beef drip- Ipiugs, turning like griddle-cakes.

Saturday, potatoes boiled in their jackets.

Ringed Potatoes. Peel large potatoes, cut them round and round in shavings, as you pare an apple. Fry with clean, sweet lard in a frying-pan till brown, stirring so as to brown all alike, drain on a sieve, sprinkle fine Bait over them, and serve.

Potato Rissoles. Mash potatoes, salt and pepper to taste, if desired add a little parsley. Roll the potatoes into small balls, cover them with 'an egg and bread-crumbs, and fry in hqt lard . for about two minutes. Finely minced tongue or ham may be added with good effect, or even chopped onions when liked.

Texas Baked Irish Potatoes.

Boil some good Irish potatoes ; when done, mash, season with salt,

pepper and butter; mince a large onion fine, mix well through the

potatoes, put in oven and brown nicely. — Mrs. C. E, &, Galve^

ton, Texas,

Saratoga Potatoes.

Pare and cut into thin slices on a slaw-cutter four large potatoes

(new are best), let stand in ice-cold salt water ^vhile breakfast is

cooking; take a handful of the potatoes, squeeze the water from

them and dry in a napkin; separate the slices and drop a handful

at a time into a skillet of Ixnlinjj^ lard, takin<r care that they do not

strike together, stir with a fork till th(\v are a light brown color,

take out with a wire spoon, (Iraiu well and serve in an open dish.

They are very nice served cold. — Mrs. Jcu^per Soger,

Sweet Potatoes. Wash clean and bake in a hot oven one hour ; or place in steamer over a kettle of boiling water from half to three-quarters of an hour , or when almost done, take off, scrape or peel them, place in a drip- ping-pan, and bake half an hour; or cut in slices and fry in butter

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or lard ; or peel and slice when raw, and fry, a layer at a time, on griddle, or in a frying-pan, with a little melted lard, being careful not to cook too long, or they will become too hard ; or drop in boil- ing lard in frying-pan, turning till a nice brown on both %ides; or halve or quarter, and bake in pan with roast beef, basting them often with the drippings.

Baked Parsnips. Put four thin slices salt pork in a kettle with two quarts cold water, wash and scrape parsnips, and if large halve or quarter, and as soon as water boils place in kettle, boil about half an hour, re- move meat, parsnips, and gravy to a dripping-pan, sprinkle with a little white sugar, and bake in oven a quarter of an hour, or until they are a light brown, and the water is all fried out Add a few potatoes if liked. Those left over, fried in a hot skillet, with but- ter, ham &t or beef drippings, make a nice breakfast dish. It is better to dip each slice in a beaten egg before frying. Parsnips are good in March or April, and make an excellent seasoning for soups.

Stewed Parsnips. Wash, scrape, and slice about half, an inch thick; have a skiUet prepared with a half pint hot water and a table-spoon butter, add the parsnips, season with salt and pepper, cover closely, and stew until the water is cooked away, stirring occasionally to prevent burn- ing. When done, the parsnips will be of a creamy, light brown

color. — Mre, D. B.

Green Pease.

Wash lightly two quarts shelled pease, put into boiling water

enough to cover, boil twenty minutes, add pepper, salt, and more

hot water if needed to prevent burning, and two table-spoons butter

rubbed into two of 'flour; stir well, and boil five minutes. If podjE

are clean and fresh, boil first in water to give flavor, skim out and

put in pease. Canned pease should be rinsed before cooking.

Pease Stewed in Cream.

Put two or three pints of young green pease into a sauce-pan oi

boiling water; when nearly done and tender, drain in a colander,

quite dry; melt two ounces of butter in a clean stew-pan, thicken

evenly with a little flour, shake it over the fire, but do not let it

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brown, mxsc smoothly with a gill of cream, add half a tea-spoon of white sugar, bring to a boil, pour in the pease, keep moving for two minutes until well heated, and serve hot. The sweet pods of young pease are made by the Germans into a palatable dbh by simply Btewiug with a little butter and savory herbs. — Mn. W, A. Oroffut.

How TO Boil Rice. Bice should be carefully picked over, washed in warm water,

rubbed between the hands, and then rinsed several times in cold

water till white. Put one tea-cupful in a tin pan or porcelain kettle,

add one quart boiling water; boil fifteen minutes, not stirring, but

taking care that it does not burn ; add one tea-spoon salt, pour into

a dish and send to table, placing a lump of butter in the center.

Cooked thus the kernels remain whole.

To boil rice in milk, put a pint rice into nearly two quarts of cold milk an hour before dinner, add two tea-spoons salt, boil very slowly and stir often ; cook on back part of stove or range so as to avoid burning, and take it up into a mold or bowl wet in cold water a short time before serving.

Or, after cooking, drain carefully, stir in two well-beaten eggs, one

table-spoon grated cheese; half a table-spoon butter, half a tea-spoon

salt ; bake a few minutes in shallow pans. Some soak rice an hour

or two before cooking.

Southern Rice.

After thoroughly washing and rubbing the rice, put it in salted water enough to cover it twice over, in a custard-kettle, or tin pail set in a kettle of boiling water ; cover the whole closely for fifteen or twenty minutes, until the grains of rice are full and plump but not ** mushy;" drain off all the water possible, and replace rice in the kettle, allowing it to cook for half an hour longer, when it is ready to serve. The grains should be full and soft, and each one retain its form perfectly. During the last half hour it should be occasionally stirred lightly with a fork, and it is improved by stand- ing on the back of the stove a few minutes before serving. — Mrs, P. T. Horey, Charleston, S. C,

Salsify or Vegetable Oysters, Wash thoroughly, scrape off skin with a knife, cut across in rather thin slices, stew until tender in water enough to cover them«

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with a piece of salt codfish for seasoning. Before sending to table, remove codfish, thicken with flour and butter rubbed together, toast slices of bread, put in dish, and then add the vegetable oyster. This method gives the flavor of oysters to the vegetable, and adds much to its delicacy. Or, after stewing until tender in clear water, mash, season with pepper and saH, and serve. — Mrs, Gov. J, J. Bagleyj Michigan,

^ Salsify or Vegetable Oysters.

Parboil after scraping ofl* the outside, cut in slices, dip it into a beaten egg and fine bread-crumbs, and fry in lard. Or, slice cross- wise five or six good-sized plants, cook till tender in water enough to cover, then add a pint or more of rich milk mixed with one table-spoon flour, season with butter, pepper and salt, let boil up and pour over slices of toasted brea<l ; or aild three pints milk, or half milk and water, season and serve with crackers like oyster soup.

Cym LINGS OR Summer Squash.

These are better when young and tender, which may be known by pressing the nail through the skin ; do not peel or take out seeds, but boil whole, or cut across in thick slices ; boil in as little water as possible for one-half or three-quarters of an hour, drain well, mash and set on back part of stove or range to dry out for ten or fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally ; then season with butter pepper, salt and a little cream. If old, peel, cut up, take out seeds, boil and season as above.

Winter Squash.

Cut up, fake out inside, pare the pieces and stew in as little water as ]x)s>ible, cook an hour, mash in kettle, and if watery, let stand on the fire a few moments, stirring until dry; season with butter, cream, salt and pepper; he careful that it does not burn. Winter squashes are also cooked by cutting in pieces witiiout paring, baking, and serving like potatoes; or they may be cooked in a steamer, and served either in the shell, or scraped out, put in pan, mashed, and seasoned with butter, cream, salt and pepper, and then made hot and served.

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Succotash.

Take pint of shelled lima beans (green), wash, cover with hot water, let stand five minutes, pour ofF, place over fire in hot water, and boil fifteen minutes; have ready ecru from six good-sized ears, and add to beans ; boil half an hour, add salt, pepper and two table-spoops butter. Be careful in cutting down corn not to cut too deep; better not cut deep enough and then scrape ; after corn is added, watch carefully to keep from scorching. Or, to cook with meat, boil one pound salt pork two hours, add beans, cook fifteen minutes, then add corn, omitting butter. Or, string beans may be used, cooking one hour before adding corn.

Winter Succotash. Wash one pint lima beans (dried when green) and one and a half pints dried corn ; put beans in kettle and cover with cold water ; cover com with cold water in a tin pan, set on top of kettle of beans 80 that while the latter are boiling the com may be heating and swelling; boil beans fifteen minutes, drain off*, cover with boiling water, and when tender (half an hour) add com, cooking both together for fifteen minutes ; five minutes before serving, add salt, pepper and a dressing of butter and flour rubbed together, or one- half tea-cup cream or milk thickened with one table-spoon flour.

Spinach. Look over the spinach, wash in four waters and take off' stalks, boil in a sauce-pan without water for thirty minutes, covering closely, drain in a colander and cut with a knife while draining ; season with pepper, salt and a little butter, boil two eggs hard and slice over the top; serve hot. Or it may, when boiled soft, be rubbed through the colander, then put in frying-pan, with a lump of butter, seasoned with pepper and salt. When hot, l)eat in two or three table-spoons rich cream. Put thin slices* of buttered toast (one for each person) on dish and on each piece put a cupfiil of spinach neatly smoothed in shape, with the half of a hard-boiled egg on the top, cut part uppermost.

Baked Tomatoes. Cut a thin slice from blossom side of twelve solid, smooth, ripe tomatoes, with a tea-spoon remove pulp without breaking shell;

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take a small, solid head of cabbage and one onion, chop fine, add bread crumbs rubbed fine, and pulp of tomatoes, season with pep- per, salt and sugar, add a tea-cup good sweet cream, mix well together, fill tomatoes, put the slice back in its place, lay them stem end down in a buttered baking-dish with just eyiaugh water (some cook without water), with a small lump of butter on each, to keep from burning, and bake half an hour, or until tJiarou^Idy done; place a bit of butter on each and serve in baking-dish. They make a handsome dish for a dinner-table. — Mrs. S, Waiion, Upper San-

EscALOPED Tomatoes.

Put in a buttered baking-dish a layer of bread or cracker-crumbs seasoned with bits of butter, then a layer of sliced tomatoes sea- soned with pepper, salt, and sugar if desired, then a layer of crumbs, and so on till dish is full, finishing with tlie crumbs. Bake from three-quarters of an hour to an hour. Onions, prepared by soaking over night in hot water, dried well, sliced in nearly hiUf-inch slices, and browned on both sides in a frying-pan with butter, may be added, a layer on each layer of tomatoes.

Fried Tomatoes.

Peel tomatoes and cut crosswise in large slices, salt and pepper,

dip each slice into wheat flour, tlien into beaten eg^^ and fry at

once in hot lard; serve hot. A cup of milk is sometimes thickened

with a little flour and butter, boiled and poured over them. — Eetdls

Woods Wilcox,

Mother's Sliced Tomatoes.

Prepare half an hour l)efore dinner, scald a few at a time in

boiling water, peel, slice, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, set

away in a cool place, or lay a piece of ice on them. Serve as a

relish for dinner in their own liquor. Those who desire may add

vinegar and sugar.

Stewed Tomatoes.

Scald by pouring water over them, peel, slice and cut out all

defective parts;, place a lump of butter in a hot skillet, put in

tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, keep up a brisk fire, and

cook as rapidly a.s possible, stirring with a spoon or chopping up

with a knife (in the latter case wipe the knife as oflen as used ox

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It will blackect the tomatoes). Cook half an hour. Serve at once in a deep dish lined with toast. When iron is used, tomatoes must cook rapidly and have constant attention. If prepared in tin or porcelain, they do not require the same care. — Mrs. Judge Cole.

Tomato Toast.

Run a quart of stewed ripe tomatoes through a colander, place in a porcelain stew-pan, season with butter, pepper and salt aud sugar to taste; cut slices of bread thin, brown on both sides, butter and lay on a platter, and just as the bell rings for tea add a pint of good sweet cream to the stewed tomatoes, and pour them over toast. — Mn. S. Watson.

Wash, peel, cut in thin slices across th§ grain, and place in kettle in as little water as possible; boil from half to three-quarters of an hour or until you can easily pierce them with a fork ; drain well, season with salt, pepper and butter, mash fine and place on stove, stirring frequently until water is all dried out. Do not boil too long, as they are much sweeter when cooked quickly. Turnips may' be steamed and finished as above, and are better than when boiled. They may also be sliced and baked.

Diced Turnips.

Pare, slice, cut in dice an inch square, boil till nearly done, in as little water as possible ; to one quart of turnips, add one table-spoon sugar, salt to make it palatable ; when they are boiled as dry as possible, add two or three spoons of creiim and a beaten egg, and serve. Excellent.

Tip-top Pudding, or Vegetable Pudding.

Boil a firm, white cabbage fifteen minutes, changing water then for more from the boiling tea-kettle; when tender, drain and set aside till perfectly cold ; chop fine, add two beaten eggs, a table- spoon of butter, three of very rich milk or cream, pepper and salt. Stir all well together, and bake in a buttered pudding-dish until brown ; serve hot. This dish is digestible and palatable, much re- *«mbling cauliflowers,— "JLtin* Dinah."