Hints On Cooking And Serving

Vegetables should be boiled in soft water, if obtainable. The water should only be allowed to come to a boil before putting in the vegetables. It is best to boil vegetables by themselves and to boil quickly. When done, take them up immediately and drain.

In cooking all vegetables, a teaspoon of salt for each 2 quarts of water is allowed. Most vegetables are eaten dressed with salt, pepper and butter, but sometimes a piece of lean pork is broiled with them, which seasons them sufficiently.

In stewing or boiling, always add vegetables to boiling water.

Salt (1 teaspoon to each quart of water) may be added to the water in which all green vegetables, potatoes or onions are cooked. Do not add salt to parsnips, salsify, carrots or turnips or other underground vegetables until after cooking. Do not allow vegetables to boil too rapidly - it dissipates the flavor and spoils the color. Cook in a vessel without a cover.

Sweet Potatoes - Southern Style

Four boiled sweet potatoes, 1/4 pound butter, 1 tablespoon water, lemon juice, 1/4 cup brown sugar. Skin boiled potatoes and quarter; place in baking dish, with butter on top; sprinkle with the brown sugar; add the water and a little lemon juice; brown in oven and serve hot.

Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Six medium-sized potatoes, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4, cup water, 3 tablespoons butter. Wash and pare potatoes; cook 10 minutes in boiling water; drain, cut in halves lengthwise and put in a buttered pan; make a syrup by boiling 3 minutes the sugar and water; add butter; brush potatoes with syrup and bake 15 minutes, beating twice with remaining syrup.

Spinach Without Water

The following method is very little known and has the advantage of preserving all the nutriment in the spinach and avoiding the use of boiling water: Having washed and drained the spinach very thoroughly, cut it up in coarse pieces and put it in a saucepan in which you have heated 3 1/2 ounces of butter to every pound of spinach; add salt, grated nutmeg and cook sharply.

Spinach "Au Natural"

Having cooked the spinach in salt water as before, wash and drain the leaves carefully, then remove all water and give them a few strokes with the knife without chopping them up; put them into a frying pan in which you have heated some butter; salt to taste and serve very hot. This method of preparing spinach is very much appreciated in Italy, where they add filets of anchovies to it.

Duchesse Potatoes

Take freshly boiled and mashed potatoes or some that are left over; add to them the beaten yolk of egg; place in a greased tin and form in balls, hearts or flat cakes; brush with the beaten white and brown in oven.

Potatoes With Cheese

Hash 8 cold boiled potatoes, mix them with 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 ounce of good butter, a pinch of salt and pepper and a very small dash of grated nutmeg; place them in a dish, sprinkle over them 2 tablespoons of grated American cheese, 2 tablespoons of grated bread crumbs, a large teaspoon of melted butter and brown in the oven for 10 minutes.