Potatoes, boiled, 30 minutes; baked, 45 minutes; squash, 30 minutes; green peas, 20 to 40 minutes; shell beans, 1 hour; string beans, 2 hours; green corn, 20 minutes; asparagus, 20 to 30 minutes; spinach, 15 minutes; tomatoes, 1 hour; cabbage, 45 to 60 minutes; cauliflower, 45 to 60 minutes, onions, 1 hour; beets, 1 to 4 hours; turnips, 1 to 2 hours; parsnips, 1 to 2 hours; carrots, 1 to 2 hours. Nearly all vegetables should be put into boiling water to cook. Cabbage, onions and turnips should be cooked in an uncovered kettle, thus avoiding the disagreeable odor that usually arises from them.

Spinach is best cooked in its own juices without the addition of water.

Hold onions under water while peeling to prevent the eyes smarting, or put a piece of raw potato on the end of the knife.

In preparing beets to boil, great care must be taken not to cut the stalks too close or to break off the roots, which will cause them to lose their color and flavor.

Dried beans are sufficiently parboiled if the skins crack open when blown open.

Add a pinch of soda to the water in which beans are parboiled.