Summer Squashes.

These should be young, fresh, and with tender skin. Wash, and trim off stem and skin if hard, and cut in quarters. Steam or cook in as little water as possible. Put into a strainer cloth, mash thoroughly, squeeze, or twist and press in the cloth until squash is not quite dry. Season the squash with butter, salt, and pepper* and heat again before serving.

Fried Summer Squash.

Cut in slices, season, sprinkle with flour, and cook till brown and tender in enough salt pork fat to keep from burning.

Potatoes.

New potatoes should be baked or steamed in their skins. Old ones are improved by paring and soaking in cold water before boiling. The most important point in cooking is to drive off surplus moisture as soon as the potato is soft by cracking the skin of the baked potato, or draining off the water from boiled ones.

Baked Potatoes

Choose smooth potatoes of medium size. If old, cut a slice from both ends. Wash and scrape. Large potatoes may be parboiled for ten minutes before baking. Put into a moderate oven to heat through gradually and let the heat increase. Thirty to forty-five minutes will be required. The skins should be puffy and not shriveled, when baked potatoes are served. Potatoes may be pared and baked in the pan with meat. This usually takes an hour.

Sweet Potatoes

These are best baked, since some sweetness is lost when they are steamed or boiled.

Browned Sweet Potatoes.

Slice partially boiled sweet potatoes slightly thicker than Saratoga chips. Fill a baking dish with a sprinkling of light brown sugar and bits of butter between the layers. Two tablespoons of sugar suffice for a pint of potatoes. Finish with a dusting of sugar, butter, and salt, and brown in the oven.

Mashed Potato

Put one pint of hot boiled potatoes through a ricer, or use a wire masher. Season with half a teaspoon of salt, half a saltspoon of pepper, and two tablespoons of butter; add sufficient milk to hold the potato together, about one-fourth cup, and put over the fire again, and mash and beat until perfectly fine and smooth.

Potato Roses

Put a star tin tube into the end of a three-cornered pastry bag, made of rubber sheeting or thick firm drilling.

Fill the bag with mashed potato, twist the top tightly, and press the potato through the tube, letting it form little mounds, which, with a slight stretch of the imagination, may be called potato roses. Hold the tube over the spot where the potato is to be, and arrange the roses so there will be a little space between each.