Plain Lettuce Peas

Cover the bottom and sides of a stew-pan with large fresh leaves taken from lettuces. Have ready the peas, which should be young and green. To each quart of shelled peas allow two table-spoonfuls of fresh butter, and a lump of loaf sugar. Add a very little pepper and salt, and a sprig of green mint. Cover the pan closely, and let it stew for half an hour, or till the peas are thoroughly done. Then take them out from the lettuce leaves, and send only the peas to table.

To Stew Carrots

Half-boil the carrots; then scrape them nicely, and cut them into thick slices. Put them into a stew-pan with as much milk as will barely cover them; a very little salt and pepper; and a sprig or two of chopped parsley. Simmer them till they are perfectly tender. When nearly done, add a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour. Send them to table hot. Carrots require long cooking; longer than any other vegetable.

Parsnips and salsify may be stewed in the above manner, substituting a little chopped celery for the parsley.

Spinach

Having peeled and washed the Spinach very nicely, put it into a bain marie, or inside kettle, without any water, and cover it closely. Pour the water into the outside kettle, and you may hurry the boiling by throwing a handful of salt in the outside tin, taking care that none of the salt gets into the inside. When the spinach is well stewed, take it up and drain it without squeezing or pressing, as that will make it tough and dry. Then chop it small, and add some hard-boiled eggs, also chopped. Season it with pepper and fresh butter, stir it well together, return it to the kettle, and let it stew a quarter of an hour or more. Serve it up with buttered toast and poached eggs laid upon it.

Spinach being very watery, should always be stewed rather than boiled. If you have no bain marie, the water that remains about the spinach, after it has been washed, will suffice to stew it slowly.

Spinach juice, for coloring green, must be strained, and boiled slightly. You can obtain plenty of juice by pounding the leaves.

To Prepare Cucumbers

Let the cucumbers be full-grown, but not in the least yellow or hard. They are then only fit to be saved for seed. Lay the cucumbers in a pan of cold water for an hour or more, or till it is nearly time to send them to table, being careful not to set them in the sun. Have ready another pan of fresh 23 water, (very cold) and having pared the cucumbers, slice them into it. Transfer them to a deep china or white-ware dish. Season them with vinegar, pepper, salt, and a little salad oil, taking care not to use too much salt. When there is no dislike to onions, peel and slice a few that are mild, and mix them with the cucumbers. It is usual now, at the best tables, to have the onions in a small separate dish, (sliced with vinegar and pepper) to be eaten by those that like them, and omitted by those who do not. Onions, (and also salad oil) are said to render cucumbers more wholesome.

Tomatos (raw) are frequently sliced, seasoned, and sent to table in the manner of cucumbers. Tomatos are always wholesome.