Anonymous

“ A garden of herbs with its varying flavors is a full storehouse for the housekeeper, it gives great variety to a few materials and without much expense of money, time or space as any little waste corner of the garden or even a window box, will afford a fine supply. Besides use as flowers the young sprouts of most of the herbs are available as greens or salads, and are excellent with any plain salad dressing; among them might be mentioned mustard, cress, chervil, parsley, mint, purslane, chives, sorrel, dandelions, nasturtiums, tarragon and fennel. ”

“ Peel and slice onions under water to keep the volatile oil from the eyes. A cup of vinegar boiling on the stove modifies the disagreeable odor of onions cooking. Boil a frying pan in water with wood ashes, potash, or soda in it to remove the odor and taste of onions. To rub silver with lemon removes the onion taste from it. Leaves of parsley eaten like cress with vinegar hide the odor of onions in the breath. Onions to be eaten raw or cooked will lose their rank flavor if they are pulled and thrown into salt water an hour before use. Two waters in boiling accomplish the same purpose. ”

“ Old potatoes are improved by paring before baking. Irish or sweet potatoes, if frozen, must be put into bake without thawing. Onions should be soaked in warm salt water an hour before cooking to modify their rank flavor. Lettuce, greens, and celery are sometimes best cleaned by using warm water, though they must be thrown at once, when cleaned, into cold water. To steam vegetables is better than to boil them, their flavors are held better, they are less liable to be water-soaked and their odors are confined instead of escaping through the house. ”

“ Scrape some oyster plant and drop quickly into cold water with a few drops of vinegar to prevent its turning dark. Boil until soft in salted water, mash fine, and for every half pint of the pulp add one well beaten egg, a teaspoonful of melted butter, a tablespoonful of cream, a heaping tablespoonful of flour, salt and pepper. Drop into boiling lard or drippings and fry brown. Or, instead of mashing the salsify after boiling, some prefer to drain it, and to dip each piece in batter and fry it in hot lard. Season with salt and pepper after frying, drain in a napkin and serve hot. ”

“ For a small salad the two of oil and one of vinegar will be sufficient; measure the saltspoon even full of oil, sprinkle this over the salad, then half the salt and pepper; toss all lightly with the spoon and fork, then add the other spoonful of oil, the vinegar and the remainder of the salt and pepper; toss well and serve. How simple, and yet there are women who never have done the graceful thing of dressing lettuce at the table. ”

“ Use one can of corn for one quart of soup. Crush it thoroughly with pestle or potato-masher to free the pulp from the tough outside coating; rub through a fine colander, then through a sieve. Add one teacupful of cream to the strained pulp and enough milk to make a quart altogether. Put in a dash of cayenne pepper, a piece of butter the size of a filbert, and salt to taste—it requires a surprising amount of salt to bring out the flavor. Use a double boiler as it burns easily. Serve very hot stirring well before taking up. ”

“ Put two or three thin slices of salt pork in the bottom of a kettle and let them brown, scrape and slice the parsnips and pare about the same amount of potatoes, leaving them whole if they are small. Place in alternate layers in the kettle, and add sufficient water to cook them, leaving them to brown slightly. They must be closely watched as they burn very easily. Requires about one and a half hours to cook and brown nicely. Remove the vegetables and thicken the gravy with a little flour; add pepper and salt, and a small lump of butter. ”

“ Slice the pumpkin a quarter of an inch thick, peel and put a layer in the bottom of a baking dish, then a layer of sugar with a sprinkle of cinnamon and dot with butter, repeat this until the pan is full. Let the top be well covered with sugar. Bake in a moderate oven until the sugar becomes like a thick syrup. Or cut the pumpkin in squares and do not peel, bake, and when soft enough, scrape it from the shells, season with butter and salt and serve like squash. ”

“ The following is a favorite dish in Holland:—Put together in a saucepan, either porcelain or a perfect granite one, a small head of red cabbage shredded, four tart apples peeled and sliced, one large tablespoonful of butter or of drippings, a teaspoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful of pepper, and a little sprinkling of cheese or nutmeg; stew over a slow fire at least three hours. Mix together one tablespoonful of vinegar, a little flour and one tablespoonful of currant jelly, just before taking from the fire add this mixture to the cabbage, boil up once or twice and serve. ”

“ A pinch of pearl ash put into boiling peas will render old yellow ones, quite tender and green. A little sugar improves beets, turnips, peas, corn, squash, tomatoes and pumpkins, especially if they are not in prime condition. A little lime boiled in water improves very watery potatoes. A piece of red pepper the size of a finger nail, a small piece of charcoal or even a small piece of bread crust, dropped in with boiling vegetables will modify unpleasant odors. ”

“ Take one part onion to two parts apple. Slice the apples without paring, and slice the onions very thin. Fry together in butter, keeping the frying pan covered, to hold the steam which prevents burning. A very slight sprinkling of sugar seems to give an added flavor. Add just as it is to be taken up or else it will burn.
ONION OMELET.
Put a lump of butter or dripping in a frying pan, then put in sliced onions, salt and pepper, cook slowly until done, but not brown. Beat the eggs, allowing two for each person, pour in the frying pan, add a little salt and stir until set. Serve hot. ”

“ But the crispness, sweetness and fresh flavors are fleeting, and few but owners of, and neighbors to gardens know the prime flavors of the fruits and vegetables upon their tables. Therefore in selecting vegetables for your table choose first the freshest possible, select medium sized and not overgrown ones, though small sized turnips and large rutabagas are best, egg-plants should be full grown, but not ripe. If vegetables are not fresh refresh them by plunging them into cold salt water an hour before cooking. ”

“ Cream together half a cup of butter and one cup of sugar; add the well beaten yolks of five eggs, the juice and grated peel of one lemon, and whip until very light, then add the whites beaten to a froth alternately with two full cups of flour, through which must be sifted two even teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Butter a mold lavishly, line it with strips of preserved citron, using a quarter of a pound for a pudding of this size, put in the batter, cover and set in a pan with boiling water in a good oven. Keep the pan nearly full of boiling water and bake steadily one and one half hours. ”

“ To prepare a French artichoke for boiling, pull off the outer leaves, cut the stalks close to the bottom, wash well and throw into cold salt water for two hours. To boil, plunge them into boiling salted water, stalk end up with an inverted plate over them to keep them down. Boil until very tender, season well, drain and arrange on a dish with tops up. Pour over any good vegetable sauce. (See Sauces.) To prepare Jerusalem artichokes for boiling pare and slice thin into cold water to prevent turning dark, boil in salted water, season and serve with drawn butter or a good sauce. ”

“ Cut off the tops and scoop out the seeds of six peppers, chop an extra pepper without seeds, mix with it a small onion chopped, a cupful of chopped tomato, two tablespoonfuls of butter or salad oil, a teaspoonful of salt, and an equal measure of bread crumbs. Stuff the peppers, replace the stem ends, and bake the peppers for half an hour, basting them with butter or salad oil two or three times. Serve them hot as a vegetable. ”

“ When perfectly soft, drain in colander, press out all of the water, rub the squash through a sieve and return it to the saucepan. Add to it a quarter of a pound of nice butter, one gill of sweet cream and salt and pepper to taste. Stew slowly, stirring frequently until it is as dry as possible. In cold weather serve all vegetables on warmed dishes. ”

“ Remove the seeds from large green peppers, slice them and lay them in a jar alternating each layer of peppers with a layer of cabbage, then cover them with salt and let stand over night. In the morning drain off the water. For the pickle use enough vinegar [46] to cover the peppers, an ounce each of black and white mustard seed, juniper berries, whole cloves and allspice, one half-ounce of celery seed and one large onion chopped fine or one head of garlic if that flavor is liked. ”

“ Make alternate layers of boiled asparagus, a sprinkling of chopped hard boiled eggs and a sprinkling of grated cheese until the baking pan is full, having asparagus the top layer. Make a well seasoned milk gravy and pour gradually into the pan that it may soak through to the bottom, cover the top with bread crumbs and a light sprinkle of cheese; bake until a light brown. ”

“ Take twelve large, full-grown cucumbers and four onions. Peel the cucumbers and take the skin off the onions; grate them, and let the pulp drain through a sieve for several hours, then season highly with salt and pepper, and add good cider vinegar until the pickle tastes strongly of it, and it rises a little to the top. Put it in jars or wide-mouthed bottles, and cork or seal them so as to be airtight. The pickle tastes more like the fresh cucumber than anything else, and will pay for the making. ”

“ To one quart of rich milk take three eggs, three big tablespoonfuls of sugar, a little salt, and a tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonful of cinnamon and a grated nutmeg if one likes it highly spiced, add enough finely stewed pumpkin to make a thin mixture. ”

“ Tomatoes may be simply baked without stuffing. Peel them first, lay stem end down in a dripping pan, cut a Greek cross on the top of each, season with salt, pepper and sugar, dot with bits of butter and sprinkle thickly with fine stale crumbs, adding a generous bit of butter on top of each. ”

“ When thoroughly mixed lay the mass upon a floured board and roll out about an inch thick, cut in circles with a small bowl, lay upon each circle minced meat, poultry or fish. Season the meat, wet the edges of the circle with beaten egg and close each one like a turnover, pinch them around the edges and fry to a light brown, or brush them with egg and brown them in the oven. ”

“ Most poisonous varieties change to yellow or dark brown and have a disagreeable odor, though there is a white variety which grows in woods or on the borders of woods, that is very poisonous. The cap of a true mushroom has a frill, the gills are free from the stem, they never grow down against it, but usually there is a small channel all around the top of the stem, the spores are brown-black, or deep purple black and the stem [37] is solid or slightly pithy. ”