Chapter II: Part 2

Add to one gallon of rain water one pint of brown sugar or molasses and one pint of corn off the cob. Put into a jar, cover with a cloth, set in the sun, and in three weeks you will have good vinegar. Most people prefer it to cider vinegar.

CORN SALAD.

Corn salad makes a most refreshing salad in winter and spring as a substitute for lettuce. Serve with French dressing. It is also used as greens and is cooked like spinach.

CRESS.

Water cress has a pleasant and highly pungent flavor that makes it valuable as a salad or garniture. Tear water cress apart with the fingers and put them loosely in a bowl to clean; use cold water; break off the roots, do not use a knife; dress with salt, vinegar, and a little powdered sugar. Some send them to the table without any dressing and eat them with a little salt.

CUCUMBER AND CRESS SALAD.

Pare two cucumbers and cut them into quarters, lengthwise, then into half-inch pieces. Pick over, wash and drain a pint of fresh cress, and dry in a cloth. Add the cucumbers; mix and turn into the salad-bowl and pour over a French dressing, made by mixing together four tablespoonfuls of olive oil, one-quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, and the same of white pepper, then dropping in, while stirring quickly, one tablespoonful of tarragon or plain vinegar, or lemon juice.

CHICAGO RECORD.

WATER CRESS SOUP.

Look over carefully one large bunch of water cress and chop it fine. Melt one large tablespoonful of butter in a granite stew-pan, add the cress and one teaspoonful of lemon juice. Cook about ten minutes, until the cress is tender. Do not let it burn. Add one egg, well beaten, with one heaping teaspoonful of flour, also one saltspoonful of salt and two dashes of pepper. Then pour in three pints of well-flavored soup stock. Let boil five minutes longer and serve with croutons.

CHICAGO RECORD.

WATERCRESS AND WALNUT SALAD.

Crack fifty walnuts and remove the meats as nearly as possible in unbroken halves. Squeeze over them the juice of two large lemons, or three small ones, and leave them for several hours, or a day if convenient. Just before dinner pick over in a cool place one quart of watercress, wash it carefully and drain on a napkin. At the last moment drench the cress with French dressing, spread the nuts over it, give them a generous sprinkling of the dressing and serve.

CHICAGO RECORD.

BOILED CUCUMBERS.

Peel the cucumbers unless very young and tender, put into boiling salted water, and when boiled throw them into cold water to firm them. When ready for use, heat them in butter quickly without frying them, season with salt and pepper, pour over any good sauce and serve. Ripe cucumbers can be treated quite similarly unless the seeds are tough, if they are, mash the cucumbers through a sieve and serve with butter, pepper and salt.

CUCUMBER CATSUP.

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.

FRIED CUCUMBER.

Boil a good-sized cucumber till nearly soft in milk and water flavored slightly with onion. Remove and drain dry, cut it up into slices when cold and brush each slice, which should be about a third of an inch thick, with egg, and dip in bread crumbs or make a batter and dip each slice in this, after which fry in butter till amber brown. To be served in the center of a hot dish with mashed potatoes round.

CUCUMBER MANGOES. (See Mangoes.)

CUCUMBER A LA POULETTE.

Pare and cut in slices three good-sized cucumbers; cover with water and let soak for half an hour, then drain and dry on a cloth. Put in a saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of butter and fry over a moderate fire without browning for five minutes. Add one scant tablespoonful of flour, and, when well mixed, one and one-half cupfuls of chicken or veal broth. Simmer gently for twenty minutes, season with a small teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper and half a teaspoonful of sugar; draw the pan to one side, add the beaten yolks of two eggs and one tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley. Take from the fire as soon as thickened, being careful not to allow the sauce to boil again.

MARION C. WILSON.

CUCUMBER SALAD.

Peel the cucumbers, slice as thin as possible, cover with salt, let stand one hour covered, then put in colander and let cold water run over them until all the salt is off. Make a bed of cress or lettuce leaves and pour over French dressing; or prepare as above, pour over vinegar, give a little dash of cayenne pepper and add sour cream. Cucumbers sliced very thin with a mayonnaise dressing make a very excellent sandwich filling.

CUCUMBER SALAD CUPS.

Choose medium sized cucumbers, pare carefully and cut off the two ends, cut them in halves lengthwise, take out the seeds and put the cucumbers into ice water for two hours. When ready for use wipe the cucumbers dry, set them on a bed of lettuce leaves, asparagus leaves, cress, parsley or any other pretty garniture, and fill the shells with lobster, salmon or shrimp salad, asparagus, potato or vegetable salad, mix with mayonnaise before stuffing and put a little more on top afterwards.

STUFFED CUCUMBERS.

Choose medium sized cucumbers, pare, cut off one or both ends, extract the seeds, boil from three to five minutes, drain and throw into cold water to firm, drain again and fill the insides with chicken or veal forcemeat; line a pan with thin slices of pork, on which set the cucumbers, season with salt and pepper and a pinch of marjoram and summer savory, baste with melted butter, or gravy, chicken gravy is the best, cover with a buttered paper and let bake. Or stuff with a sausage forcemeat, make a bed for the cucumbers of chopped vegetables and moisten with stock or water; or fill with a tomato stuffing as for stuffed tomatoes, baste often with butter, or a nice gravy, put over a buttered paper and bake until done, in about fifteen or twenty minutes. The Chicago Record gave the following recipe for cucumbers stuffed with rice:--Pare thinly five five-inch cucumbers. Cut off one end and remove the pulp, leaving a thick solid case, with one thick end. Season one cup of hot boiled rice, salted in cooking, with a tablespoonful of butter, a "pinch" each of marjoram and summer savory, saltspoonful of grated nutmeg, four shakes of cayenne and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Fill the cucumbers with this mixture; replace the end, fastening it with small skewers; place in a pan of boiling water, salted, in which are two bay leaves and a clove of garlic, and boil for ten minutes or until tender. Drain and serve covered with a cream sauce.

DANDELIONS.

Use the dandelions in the early spring when they are young and tender. They take the place of spinach and are treated the same. (See Spinach.) Dandelions may be used as a salad with a French dressing.

EGG PLANT CROQUETTES.

Peel, slice and boil until tender, mash and season with pepper and salt; roll crackers or dry bread, and stir into it until very thick. Make into croquettes or patties; fry in hot lard or with a piece of salt pork.

ESCALLOPED EGG PLANT.

1 egg plant, 2 tablespoonfuls butter, one teaspoonful salt, 1/3 teaspoonful pepper, 1 egg, 4 tablespoonfuls grated cheese, 1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoonfuls bread crumbs.

One good sized perfect egg plant. Let stand in cold water one hour. Do not remove skin, but put the egg plant whole in a deep kettle of boiling water, cover, and cook thirty minutes, or until tender. Be careful not to break the skin while cooking. Drain on large platter and cool. Cut in half and turn cut surfaces to platter while removing skin with knife and fork. Egg plant discolors readily, also stains easily; so, keep covered from the air when not preparing it. Use silver knife and fork for chopping; porcelain frying pan for seasoning process and an earthen dish for baking if you desire best results. Chop the plant moderately fine, season with salt and pepper and simmer in two tablespoonfuls of butter over a slow fire for ten minutes, keeping it closely covered. Add one tablespoonful of Worcestershire Sauce after taking from the fire, and divide the mixture into two equal portions. Put the first half into a hot buttered baking dish; sprinkle over it one half of the grated cheese and one tablespoonful of bread crumbs. Stir one well beaten egg into the second portion; add to the first, cover with remainder of cheese and finish with two tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs. Bake in moderately hot oven for twenty minutes. Cover the dish for first five minutes, or until the bread crumbs shall have lightly browned. Serve hot as an entree, with or without tomato sauce, according to taste.

ALICE CAREY WATERMAN.

FRIED EGG PLANT.

Select a plant not too large or old. Cut in slices one fourth of an inch thick, and lay in weak salt water over night. In the morning remove the purple rind and wipe dry, dip in beaten egg, then in fine bread crumbs or cracker dust; fry on the griddle or in a spider in hot butter and drippings until a nice brown. It must cook rather slowly until thoroughly soft, otherwise it is unpalatable.

MRS. MALLORY.

They can be more daintily fried if they are steamed first, in which case the slices should be cut one inch thick and should lie in salt and water two hours before frying. Crumbs sifted through a coarse sieve are an improvement.

STUFFED EGG PLANT

Choose four rather small egg plants and cut in halves; with a spoon scoop out a part of the flesh from each half, leaving a thin layer adhering to the skin. Salt the shells and drain; chop the flesh. Mince two or three onions, brown with a little butter, mix with the flesh of the egg plant, and cook away the moisture; add some chopped mushrooms, parsley and lastly an equal quantity of bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper, remove from the fire and thicken with yolks of eggs. Now fill the shells, dust with bread crumbs, put in a baking-pan and sprinkle with olive oil, or bits of butter and bake.

FRENCH RECIPE.

ENDIVE SALAD.

Endive is wholesome and delicate. If the curled endive be prepared, use only the yellow leaves, removing the thick stalks and cutting the small ones into thin pieces; the smooth endive stalk as well must be cut fine. It may be mixed with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, and a potato mashed fine, or with sour cream mixed with oil, vinegar and salt. When mixed with the last dressing it is usually served with hot potatoes. Endive may also be used as spinach. (See Spinach Recipes.)

A FLOWER SALAD.

The most beautiful salad ever imagined is rarely seen upon our tables, although the principal material for its concoction may be grown in the tiniest yard. Any one who has tried growing nasturtiums must admit that they almost take care of themselves, and if the ground is enriched but a little their growth and yield of blossom is astonishingly abundant. It is these same beautiful blossoms that are used in salad, and, as if nature had surmised that their beauty should serve the very practical end of supplying the salad bowl, the more one plucks these growing flowers, the greater number will a small plant yield. The pleasant, pungent flavor of these blossoms would recommend them, aside from their beauty, and when they are shaken out of ice-cold water with some bits of heart lettuce, they, too, become crisp in their way. One of the prettiest ways of arranging a nasturtium salad is to partly fill the bowl with the center of a head of lettuce pulled apart and the blossoms plentifully scattered throughout. Prof. Blot, that prince of saladmakers, recommends the use of the blossoms and petals (not the leaves) of roses, pinks, sage, lady's slipper, marshmallow and periwinkle, as well as the nasturtium, for decorating the ordinary lettuce salad, and reminds his readers that roses and pinks may be had at all seasons of the year. In summer the lovely pink marshmallow is to be found wild in the country places near salt water; so abundant are these flowers in the marshes (hence the name) and so large are the petals that there need be no fear of robbing the flower vases to fill the salad bowl. These salads should be dressed at the table by the mistress, as, of course, a little wilting is sure to follow if the seasoning has been applied for any length of time. A French dressing is the best, although a mayonnaise may be used if preferred. Opinions differ greatly as regards the proportions of the former, but to quote Blot again, the proper ones are two of oil to one of vinegar, pepper and salt to taste. If the eye is not trained to measure pepper and salt and the hostess is timid about dressing a salad, let her have measured in a pretty cut-glass sprinkler a teaspoon of salt and half of pepper mixed, for every two of oil. 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.

REBECCA UNDERWOOD.

Potatoes and tomatoes in alternate layers may take the place of lettuce. Just before serving toss all together.

FLOWER SANDWICHES.

Make a filling of two-thirds nasturtium blossoms, one third leaves, lay on buttered bread, with buttered bread on top, sandwich style.

CHICAGO RECORD.

PRESERVED ROSE LEAVES.

Put a layer of rose leaves in a jar and sprinkle sugar over them, add layers sprinkled with sugar as the leaves are gathered until the jar is full. They will turn dark brown and will keep for two or three years. Used in small quantities they add a delightful flavor to fruit cake and mince pies.

MRS. ROLLINS.

SACHET POWDERS.

In making sachet powders one general direction must be borne in mind--each ingredient must be powdered before mixing. Potpourri should be made before the season of outdoor flowers passes. Pluck the most fragrant flowers in your garden, passing by all withered blossoms. Pick the flowers apart, placing the petals on plates and setting them where the sun can shine upon them. Let the petals thus continue to dry in the sun for several days. Each flower may be made into potpourri by itself, or the different flowers may be mixed in any variety and proportion that pleases the maker. Flowers which have little or no scent should be left out. When the leaves are well dried sprinkle them with table salt. Do not omit this, as it is important. The right proportion is about two ounces of the salt to each pound of leaves. If also two ounces of powdered orris root is added and well mixed in with the dried petals the fragrance and permanence are improved. Now the potpourri is ready to put in the jars that are sold for that purpose.

H. J. HANCOCK.

VIOLET MARMALADE.

Crush three pounds of violets to a pulp; in the meantime boil four pounds of sugar, take out some, blow through it, and if little flakes of sugar fly from it, it is done. Add the flowers, stir them together; add two pounds of apple marmalade, and when it has boiled up a few times, put the marmalade into jars.

THE COOK'S OWN BOOK.

GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE.

Bruise half a dozen cloves of garlic, rub them through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon; mix this pulp with butter and beat thoroughly, put in a wide mouthed bottle and keep for further use.

GROUND CHERRY PUDDING.

Half fill a pudding dish with ripe ground cherries or husk tomatoes, dot with bits of butter and cover with a soft batter made of one cup milk, one egg, one tablespoonful butter, two teaspoonfuls baking powder and a half-saltspoonful of salt. Bake quickly and serve with lemon sauce. This fruit is so easily raised, so prolific and so delicious, used in various ways, that I wonder it is not more widely known and used. For pies, preserves, puddings and dried, to put in cake, it is inferior to none. It will keep a long time in the husks in a dry place. It will flourish in the fence corners or any out-of-the-way place, and seems to prefer a poor soil and neglect.

HARRIET I. MANN.

HERBS.

Whether food is palatable or not largely depends upon its seasoning. Good, rich material may be stale and unprofitable because of its lack, while with it simple, inexpensive foods become delicious and take on the appearance of luxuries. 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. Many of these herbs are ornamental and make beautiful garnishes, or are medicinal and add to the home pharmacy. Though not equally good as the fresh herbs, yet dried ones hold their flavors and do excellent service. Just before flowering they should be gathered on a sunshiny day and dried by artificial heat, as less flavor escapes in quick drying. When dry, powder them and put up in tin cans, or glass bottles, tightly sealed and properly labeled. Parsley, mint and tarragon should be dried in June or July, thyme, marjoram and savory in July and August, basil and sage in August and September.

=Anise.=--Anise leaves are used for garnishing, and the seeds for seasoning, also are used medicinally.

=Balm.=--Balm leaves and stems are used medicinally and make a beverage called Balm Wine. A variety of cat-mint called Moldavian balm is used in Germany for flavoring food.

=Basil.=--Sweet basil an aromatic herb is classed among the sweet herbs. It is used as seasoning in soups, sauces, salads and in fish dressings. Basil vinegar takes the place in winter of the fresh herb.

=Basil Vinegar.=--In August or September gather the fresh basil leaves. Clean them thoroughly, put them in a wide mouthed bottle and cover with cider vinegar, or wine for fourteen days. If extra strength is wanted draw off the vinegar after a week or ten days and pour over fresh leaves; strain after fourteen days and bottle tightly.

=Borage.=--Its pretty blue flowers are used for garnishing salads. The young leaves and tender tops are pickled in vinegar and are occasionally boiled for the table. Its leaves are mucilaginous and are said to impart a coolness to beverages in which they are steeped. Borage, wine, water, lemon and sugar make an English drink called Cool Tankard.

=Caraway.=--Caraway seeds are used in cakes, breads, meats, pastry and candies and are very nice on mutton or lamb when roasting. Caraway and dill are a great addition to bean soup. The root though strong flavored is sometimes used like parsnips and carrots.

=Catnip or Catmint.=--Its leaves are used medicinally and its young leaves and shoots are used for seasoning.

=Chives.=--The young leaves of chives are used for seasoning, they are like the onion but more delicate, and are used to flavor sauces, salads, dressings and soups. They are chopped very fine when added to salads--sometimes the salad bowl is only rubbed with them. Chopped very fine and sprinkled over Dutch cheese they make a very acceptable side dish or sandwich filling.

=Coriander.=--Coriander seed is used in breads, cakes and candies.

=Dill.=--The leaves are used in pickles, sauces and gravies, and the seeds, in soups, curries and medicines.

=Fennel.=--The leaves of the common fennel have somewhat the taste of cucumber, though they are sweet and have a more delicate odor. They are boiled and served chiefly with mackerel and salmon though sometimes with other fish, or enter into the compound of their sauces. The young sprouts from the roots of sweet fennel when blanched are a very agreeable salad and condiment. The seed is medicinal.

=Henbane.=--Henbane is poisonous and is only used medicinally.

=Hops.=--The young shoots of hops are used as vegetables in the early spring, prepared in the same way as asparagus and salsify. The leaves are narcotic and are therefore often made up into pillows.

=Horehound.=--The leaves are used for seasoning and are a popular remedy for a cough. It is much used in flavoring candies.

=Hyssop.=--The young leaves and shoots are used for flavoring food, but their principal use is medicinal. A syrup made from it is a popular remedy for a cold.

=Lavender.=--The leaves are used for seasoning, but the chief use of the plant is the distillation of perfumery from its flowers which are full of a sweet odor.

=Marjoram Sweet.=--Sweet marjoram belongs to the sweet herbs, the leaves and ends of the shoots are used for seasoning, and are also used medicinally.

=Pennyroyal.=--The leaves are used for seasoning puddings and other dishes, and also have a medicinal use.

=Pot Marigold.=--Marigold has a bitter taste, but was formerly much used in seasoning soups and is still in some parts of England. The flowers are dried and are used medicinally and for coloring butter and cheese.

=Pimpinella, or Salad-Burnet.=--The young tender leaves are used as a salad; they have a flavor resembling that of cucumbers.

=Rosemary.=--A distillation of the leaves makes a pleasant perfume and is also used medicinally. It is one of the sweet herbs for seasoning.

=Rue.=--This is one of the bitter herbs yet is sometimes used for seasoning.

=Saffron.=--The dried pistils are used for flavoring and dyeing. Some people use it with rice. It is often used in fancy cooking as a coloring material.

=Sage.=--The leaves both fresh and dried are used for seasoning, meats and dressings especially.

=Summer Savory.=--Summer savory is used for flavoring, and especially for flavoring beans.

=Tarragon or Esdragon.=--Esdragon with its fine aromatic flavor is a valuable adjunct to salads and sauces.

=Tarragon or Esdragon Vinegar.=--Strip the leaves from the fresh cut stalks of tarragon. Put a cupful of them in a wide mouthed bottle and cover with a quart of cider or wine vinegar, after fourteen days, strain, bottle and cork tightly.

=Tagetis Lucida.=--Its leaves have almost the exact flavor of tarragon and can be used as its substitute.

=Thyme.=--Thyme is one of the sweet herbs and its leaves are favorites for seasoning in cooking.

=Winter Savory.=--The leaves and young shoots, like summer savory are used for flavoring foods.

=Wormwood.=--Wormwood is used medicinally as its name implies.

HORSERADISH CREAM APPLE SAUCE.

Stew six sour apples and sift; let cool, and add two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated horseradish; when cold and ready to serve add double the amount of whipped cream, slightly sweetened.

CHICAGO RECORD.

KALE. (See Borecole.)

KOHL RABI.

Strip the leaves from the stem, put on in salted water and boil. Peel the tubers, slice thin and boil until tender; drain and chop very fine both leaves and tubers separately, then mix thoroughly; brown a tablespoonful of butter and a little flour in a saucepan, add the kohl rabi and cook for a moment, then add a cup of meat broth and boil thoroughly; serve very hot.

LEAVES FOR CULINARY PURPOSES.

In addition to sweet and bitter herbs, we have many leaves available for seasoning. The best known and most used are bay leaves, a leaf or two in custards, rice, puddings and soups adds a delicate flavor and aroma. A laurel leaf answers the same purpose. Bitter almond flavoring has a substitute in fresh peach leaves which have a smell and taste of bitter almond. Brew the leaves, fresh or dry, and use a teaspoonful or two of the liquid. Use all these leaves stintedly as they are strongly aromatic, and it is easy to get too much. The flowering currant gives a flavor that is a compound of the red and black currant; gooseberry leaves in the bottled fruit emphasize the flavor, and it is said keep the fruit greener. A fresh geranium or lemon verbena leaf gives a delightful odor and taste to jelly. A geranium leaf or two in the bottom of a cake dish while the cake is baking will flavor the cake. Nasturtium leaves and flowers find a place in sandwiches and salads. The common syringa has an exact cucumber flavor and can be a substitute for cucumber in salads or wherever that flavor is desired. Lemon and orange leaves answer for the juice of their fruits. Horseradish and grape leaves have use in pickles. Carrot, cucumber and celery leaves give the respective flavors of their vegetables. Tender celery leaves can be thoroughly dried and bottled for winter use. The use of leaves is an economy for a household, and a source of great variety.

LEEKS.

Leeks are generally used to flavor soups, sauces and salads and are seldom brought to the table as a separate dish. However, they are semi-occasionally served as follows:--Boiled and dressed with a cream sauce; or when two-thirds done are put to soak in vinegar seasoned with salt, pepper and cloves, then are drained, stuffed, dipped in batter and fried.

BOILED LETTUCE.

Take the coarser part of lettuce not delicate enough for a salad, boil in salted water until soft, then drain thoroughly. Slightly brown a tablespoonful of butter and a dessertspoonful of flour in a saucepan, put in the lettuce, let it cook up once or twice, then add a half-cup of stock and boil thoroughly, just before serving add a gill of cream and give a sprinkle of nutmeg if the flavor is liked.

LETTUCE SALAD.

Lettuce leaves whole or shredded are served with vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard and a little sugar, or with a French or mayonnaise dressing; or it is shredded and mixed with veal and egg, sweetbreads, shrimps, cress, cucumber, tomatoes or other salad material and is treated with the various salad dressings, mentioned above.

STEWED GREEN PEAS WITH LETTUCE.

Shell a half peck of peas, and shred two heads of lettuce; boil together with as little water as possible to keep it from burning, and stir often for the same purpose. Stew one hour, set back on the stove, and add one tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar, salt, and a dash of cayenne pepper and just as it is taken up, one well beaten egg, which must not be allowed to boil. Serve at once.

STUFFED LETTUCE.

Use five clean heads of lettuce, wash thoroughly, open up the leaves and fill between with any highly seasoned meat--sweetbreads, chicken or veal preferred--or make a forcemeat stuffing. Tie up the heads, put into a saucepan with any good gravy, stock or sauce and cook until thoroughly heated through; serve in the gravy.

LETTUCE SOUP.

Use three small lettuce heads, clean, drain, chop and put into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, cover and let steam for a few minutes, then add two quarts of good soup stock or one quart each of stock and milk, add a half-cup of rice and boil until the rice is soft. Strain through a sieve, or not, as one fancies, season with salt, pepper, return to the fire, add a pint of cream, let it come just to the boiling point and serve.

MANGOES.

Mangoes are made from cucumbers, melons, peppers, tomatoes and peaches. The following recipe applies to all but the peaches. Select green or half grown melons and large green cucumbers, tomatoes, or peppers. Remove a narrow piece the length of the fruit, and attach it at one end by a needle and white thread, after the seeds of the mango have been carefully taken out. Throw the mangoes into a brine of salt and cold water strong enough to bear up an egg, and let them remain in it three days and nights, then throw them into fresh cold water for twenty-four hours. If grape leaves are at hand, alternate grape leaves and mangoes in a porcelain kettle (never a copper one) until all are in, with grape leaves at the bottom and top. Add a piece of alum the size of a walnut, cover with cider vinegar and boil fifteen minutes. Remove the grape leaves and stuff the mangoes. Prepare a cabbage, six tomatoes, a few small cucumbers and white onions, by chopping the cabbage and tomatoes and putting all separately into brine for twenty-four hours and draining thoroughly. After draining chop the cucumbers and onions. Drain the mangoes, put into each a teaspoonful of sugar, and two whole cloves. Add to the vegetable filling, one-fourth ounce each of ground ginger, black pepper, mace, allspice, nasturtium seed, ground cinnamon, black and white mustard, one-fourth cup of horseradish and one-fourth cup sweet oil. Bruise all the spices and mix with the oil, then mix all the ingredients thoroughly and stuff the mangoes, fit the piece taken out and sew in with white thread or tie it in with a string around the mango. Put them into a stone jar and pour over them hot cider vinegar sweetened with a pound or more of sugar to the gallon to suit the taste. If they are not keeping properly pour over again fresh hot vinegar.

MARTYNIAS.

Gather the pods when young and tender enough to thrust a needle through them easily, later they become hard and useless for pickles. Leave half an inch of stem on each, and lay them in salt water a couple of days, then cook in weak vinegar until tender, but not so long as to break them. Drain well from this, place them in jars and prepare vinegar for them in the proportion of an ounce each of cloves, allspice and black pepper to a gallon of vinegar; scald all these together with half a teaspoonful of prepared mustard. Pour hot over the martynias, cover closely and keep in a cool place. They will soon be ready for use.

MRS. HOOD.

MELON, MUSK.

It is said a muskmelon can be chosen by its odor. If it has none, it is not good, if sweet and musky it is quite sure to be ripe. Another indication of ripeness is when the smooth skin between the rough sections is yellowish green. To serve, cut the melons crosswise and fill with chopped ice an hour before using. Try pouring a little strained honey into the melon when eating.

CANTALOUPE FRAPPE.

Select two large cantaloupes that are ripe and of fine flavor; cut into halves and scrape the pulp from same after removing the seeds (not using any of the rind); put the pulp through a potato ricer, which will keep out all the stringy parts; add to the pulp a pinch of salt, four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a gill of cherry juice (sweetened with a spoonful of sugar), or use some other nice tart juice. Soak a tablespoonful of gelatine in a quarter-cupful of water; then set cup in pan of boiling water until it is dissolved; add this to the prepared cantaloupe and when cold turn into a freezer and freeze slowly. Serve in sherbet glasses.

MRS. SADETTE HARRINGTON.

COOKED MUSKMELON.

Miss Corson, in one of her lectures, gives the following directions for making a very nice dessert from muskmelons:--Make a rich syrup from a pound of white sugar to half a pint of water. Pare and slice the melon and boil it gently in the syrup five to ten minutes flavoring with vanilla or lemon. Then take it up in the dish in which it is to be served, cool the syrup and pour it on the melon. To be eaten cold.

MELON MANGOES. (See Mangoes.)

MUSKMELON PICKLE.

Use ripe muskmelons, pare, remove seeds, and cut in pieces and put into a stone jar. Cover with scalded vinegar and let them stand until the next day, when the vinegar must be reheated and poured over them again; repeat this until the fourth day, then weigh the melons and to every five pounds of the fruit allow three pounds of sugar and one quart of vinegar with spices to suit. Let all simmer together until the fruit is tender. The second day pour off this syrup, and boil down until it shall only just cover the melons. The result justifies the pains taken.

MELON, WATER.

The following is said to be an infallible sign of a ripe watermelon, it takes close inspection to find sometimes, but the sign is there if the condition for it exists. When the flesh of the melon changes color and its seeds begin to turn black a small scale or blister appears on the rind. They increase in number and size as the melon ripens, until a ripe one shows them thickly strewn over the surface. A small crop of blisters indicates unripe fruit. A melon must be served ice cold. Cut it through the middle, scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon in a circle as much as possible that the pieces may be conical or egg shaped. Cover the platter with grape leaves and pile the fruit upon them, allowing the tendrils of the grapes to wander in and out among the melon cones.

WATERMELON ICE.

Cut a watermelon in halves, scoop out the entire center, taking out the seeds; chop in tray; add a cup of sugar. Pack the freezer, turn a few minutes. It will be like soft snow and delicious.

WATERMELON PICKLES.

Eat the flesh and save the rind. Cut the rind into finger lengths and about an inch in width, pare and cut out all the red flesh, throw into a strong salt brine and let stand over night. In the morning drain, boil in water until the pickles are clear, drain again and put into a stone jar. To one gallon of fruit, allow one quart of sugar and one pint of vinegar. Do up cinnamon and cloves in little bags, in ratio of two of cinnamon to one of cloves and boil them in the syrup. Pour the boiling syrup over the pickles, tie up close and in a few days they are ready for use.

MINT SAUCE.

Four dessert spoons of chopped mint, two of sugar, one quarter pint of vinegar. Stir all together; make two or three hours before needed.

MINT VINEGAR.

Fill a bottle loosely with fresh, clean mint, pour over good vinegar, cork tightly and let stand two or three weeks. Then pour off and keep well corked. Use this vinegar as a condiment, or put a small quantity into drawn butter sauce for mutton.

MUSHROOMS.

The highest authorities say an edible mushroom can easily be distinguished from a poisonous one by certain characteristics;--a true mushroom grows only in pastures, never in wet, boggy places, never in woods, never about stumps of trees, they are of small size, dry, and if the flesh is broken it remains white or nearly so and has a pleasant odor. 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 is solid or slightly pithy. It is said if salt is sprinkled on the gills and they become yellow the mushroom is poisonous, if black, they are wholesome. Sweet oil is its antidote.

BAKED MUSHROOMS.

Hold the mushrooms by the stems, dip them in boiling hot water a moment to help loosen the skin, cut off their stems. Boil the parings and stems and strain. Pour this water over the mushrooms chopped fine, add parsley and stew about forty minutes. Then add six eggs well beaten. Pour this mixture into buttered cups and bake quickly. Serve with cream sauce.

MUSHROOM CATSUP.

Boil one peck of mushrooms fifteen minutes in half a pint of water, strain, or not, through a sieve to get all the pulp; add a pint of vinegar to the juice, two tablespoonfuls of salt, one half a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, two tablespoonfuls of mustard, one of cinnamon and one of cloves. Let the mixture boil twenty minutes; bottle and seal tightly.

FRIED MUSHROOMS.

Pare the mushrooms, cut off their stems, lay them on their heads in a frying pan in which a tablespoonful of butter has been melted, put a bit of butter into each cap, let them cook in their own liquor and the butter until thoroughly done. Season with salt and butter and serve hot.

MUSHROOMS WITH MACARONI.

Boil half a pound of macaroni. Put a pint of water, one small onion, a sprig of parsley, the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoonful of salt and a quarter as much pepper into a saucepan. When boiling add a quart of mushrooms and cook five minutes. Beat three eggs, stir in and take from the fire. Drain the macaroni, put a layer in the bottom of a baking dish, then a layer of the mushroom mixture, and thus alternately until the dish is full. Have mushrooms on top, and set in a hot oven for five minutes.

MRS. ELIZA PARKER.

MARROW WITH MUSHROOMS.

Procure a shinbone and have the butcher split it; remove the marrow and cut it into inch-thick slices; then boil it one and one-half minutes in a quart of salted water, using a teaspoonful of salt. Into a frying-pan put a tablespoonful of butter; when hot add five tablespoonfuls of chopped mushrooms and toss for five minutes, sprinkling them with three shakes of salt and a speck of cayenne. Drain the marrow; squeeze over it ten drops of lemon juice; then mix with it the mushrooms; spread on slices of hot, crisp toast and serve immediately.

CHICAGO RECORD.

MUSHROOM OMELET.

Cook a dozen small, even sized mushrooms in a saucepan with half an ounce of butter and half a saltspoonful of salt sprinkled over them. Make ready a plain omelet, as it cooks at the edges place the mushrooms over one half of it, fold over the other half, slip from the pan on to a hot dish and serve immediately.

MUSHROOMS ON TOAST.

Prepare enough mushrooms to measure one half-pint when chopped, and enough of raw ham to fill a tablespoon heaping full. Mix these and add a teaspoonful of parsley, a trifle of chopped onion if liked, a teaspoonful of lemon juice, pepper and salt. Fry in two tablespoonfuls of butter, add a half-cupful of milk or cream, boil up again, and add an egg thoroughly beaten. Serve on small squares of toast. This with the addition of bread crumbs before the milk is added and with the use of some of the relishing herbs makes an excellent stuffing.

MUSHROOM SOUP.

Get your butcher to crack for you a shank of beef. Put over it four quarts of water. Let it boil hard for a few moments until all the scum has risen and has been removed. Set it back on the stove now to simmer five hours. At the end of the fourth hour add one carrot, one turnip, one small onion, one bunch of parsley, two stalks of celery, twelve cloves and two bay leaves. Let all these boil together one hour, then strain and set away until the next day, when all the grease must be skimmed off. To every quart of the stock add a quart of milk thickened with two tablespoonfuls of flour and two tablespoonfuls of butter, one saltspoonful of salt and a dust of pepper, add to this a half-pint of canned mushrooms or small mushrooms stewed thoroughly in the liquor obtained from boiling and straining the stems and parings.

MUSTARD.

In early spring the young leaves are used as a garnish, or, finely cut, as a seasoning to salads. The Cabbage Leaved Mustard makes an excellent green, and is treated like spinach.

AROMATIC MUSTARD.

Upon one tablespoonful of grated horseradish, an ounce of bruised ginger root, and five long red peppers pour half a pint of boiling vinegar. Allow to stand, closely covered, for two days; then take five teaspoonfuls of ground mustard, one teaspoonful of curry powder, and a dessertspoonful of salt, and mix well together. Strain the vinegar upon this, adding a dash of cayenne if wanted very pungent. Mix very smoothly and keep in a corked bottle or jar.

NASTURTIUM.

The flowers are used to garnish salads, the young leaves and flowers make a lovely salad (See Flower Salad). The young buds and leaves when tender are made into pickles and are used like capers in sauces, salads and pickles.

NASTURTIUM PICKLES.

Gather the seeds as soon as the blossoms fall, throw them into cold salt water for two days, at the end of that time cover them with cold vinegar, and when all the seed is gathered and so prepared, turn over them fresh boiling hot vinegar plain or spiced with cloves, cinnamon, mace, pepper, broken nutmeg, bay leaves and horseradish. Cork tightly.

BOILED OKRA OR GUMBO.

The long seed pod is the edible part of this plant, it can be canned or dried for winter use. If dried let it soak an hour or so before using. To cook, cut the pods in rings, boil them in salted water until tender which will be in about twenty minutes. Add butter, salt, pepper and cream. Thin muslin bags are sometimes made to hold the whole pods without breaking. After boiling tender, pour them out, season with butter, salt and pepper and bake for five minutes.

FRIED OKRA.

Cut it lengthwise, salt and pepper it, roll it in flour and fry in butter, lard or drippings.

OKRA FRITTERS.

Boil the okra, cut in slices, make a batter as for batter cakes, dip the okra in and fry in plenty of hot lard.

MRS. E. C. DUBB.

OKRA GUMBO SOUP.

Use two quarts of tomatoes to one quart of okra cut in rings; put them over the fire with about three quarts of water and let the mixture come to a boil; take one chicken; cut it up and fry brown with plenty of gravy; put it in with the okra and tomatoes; add several small onions chopped fine, a little corn and lima beans, if they are at hand, and salt and pepper. Let all simmer gently for several hours. To be served with a tablespoonful of rice and a green garden pepper cut fine to each soup plate.

ONIONS.

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.

ONION FLAVORING.

To prepare onion flavoring for a vegetable soup, peel a large onion, stick several cloves into it and bake until it is brown. This gives a peculiar and excellent flavor.

FRIED APPLES AND ONIONS.

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.

ONION PICKLES.

Choose small uniform onions; make a brine that will hold up an egg, and pour over the onions boiling hot. Let them lie in this twenty-four hours, then drain and wipe dry and put into bottles. Pour over them cold cider vinegar, seasoned with sliced horseradish, whole pepper and mace. Put in bottles and seal.

BAKED ONIONS.

Boil in milk and water until just done, then drain and put them in a buttered frying pan. Put a bit of butter, salt, and pepper on each one, and add a little of the water in which the onions have boiled. Brown them quickly and serve at once.

CREAM ONIONS.

Boil onions in two waters and drain; pour over them a little boiling milk and set over the fire, add butter, cream, salt and pepper and serve hot.

ESCALLOPED ONIONS.

Boil onions in salted water with a little milk until they are tender. Put a layer of onions in a baking dish, scatter bread crumbs over them, dot with butter, season with pepper and salt and a dash of powdered sage, repeat this until the dish is full, pour over a half-cup of cream or milk. Cover the top with bread crumbs dotted with butter. Bake a light brown and serve.

STUFFED ONIONS.

Boil onions one hour in slightly salted water, and remove the centers. Make a stuffing of minced liver or chicken in these proportions; to one pound of meat one third of a cupful of gravy milk or cream, one half-cupful of fine bread crumbs, one egg, pepper and salt and some of the onion taken from the centers, mix well and fill the onion shells, dust over a few bread crumbs, dot with butter and bake until brown. Put the remaining onion into a stew pan, with a tablespoonful of butter, a half-tablespoonful of flour, and after it boils up once, add a half-cup of milk, a teaspoonful of parsley, salt and pepper, boil up again, pour over onions and serve. This is a good second course after soup served with apple sauce.

PARSLEY.

Parsley is the prime favorite of the garnishes. Its pretty curled leaves are used to decorate fish flesh and fowl and many a vegetable. Either natural, minced or fried, it is an appetizing addition to many sauces, soups, dressings and salads.

FRIED PARSLEY.

Wash the parsley very clean, chop fine and fry in butter in the proportion of one tablespoonful of butter to one pint of minced parsley. When soft, sprinkle with bread crumbs, moisten with a little water, and cook ten or fifteen minutes longer. Garnish it with sliced boiled egg. To be eaten with pigeon.

PARSLEY VINEGAR.

Fill a preserving bottle with parsley leaves, freshly gathered and washed, and cover with vinegar. Screw down the top and set aside for two or three weeks. Then strain off the vinegar, add salt and cayenne pepper to taste, bottle and cork. Use on cold meats, cabbage, etc.

PARSLEY SAUCE. (See Sauces.)

BOILED PARSNIPS.

Wash, scrape and cut them into slices about an inch thick, put them in a saucepan with salted water and cook until tender, drain, cover with good rich milk, season with butter, pepper and salt to taste, bring to a boil and serve.

BROILED PARSNIPS.

After parsnips are boiled, slice and broil brown. Make a gravy as for beefsteak.

BROWNED PARSNIPS.

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. Serve pork and vegetables on a large, deep platter and pour over the gravy.

FRIED PARSNIPS.

Scrape and wash parsnips, cut off the small end and cut the thick part into half-inch-thick slices. Put them in boiling water with a tablespoonful each of salt and sugar. Boil an hour or until nearly done and drain; beat two eggs, four tablespoonfuls of flour and half a pint of milk together, season with salt and pepper. Dip the slices of parsnip into the batter, then in bread crumbs and fry in boiling lard or drippings until a golden brown. Pile them in a heap on a napkin and serve very hot.

PARSNIP FRITTERS.

Scrape and halve the parsnips, boil tender in salted water, mash smooth, picking out the woody bits; then add a beaten egg to every four parsnips, a tablespoonful of flour, pepper and salt to taste, and enough milk to make into a thin batter; drop by the tablespoonful into hot lard, and fry brown. Drain into a hot colander and dish.

MASHED PARSNIPS.

Boil parsnips tender in salted water, drain and mash them through a colander. Put the pulp into a saucepan with two or three tablespoonfuls of cream and a small lump of butter rubbed in flour, stir them over the fire until the butter is melted and serve.

MOCK OYSTERS.

Use three grated parsnips, three eggs, one teaspoonful of salt, one teacupful of sweet cream, butter half the size of an egg, three tablespoonfuls of flour. Fry as pancakes.

PARSNIP PUFFS.

Take one egg, well beaten, and add (without stirring until the ingredients are in) one teacupful each of cold water and flour, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, one teacupful of well-mashed, boiled parsnips; stir very lightly and only enough to mix. Do not let it stand long. Drop by the tablespoonful into hot, melted fat in a frying pan, and cook until a delicate brown.

CHICAGO RECORD.

AMBUSHED PEAS.

Cut the tops off of biscuits or buns twenty-four hours old. Scoop out the inside and put both shells and tops into the oven to crust. Pour into them peas after they have been boiled and mixed with a cream sauce to which an egg has been added, also minced parsley or mint if liked. Cover carefully with the tops and serve hot.

BOILED PEAS.

Do not shell peas until ready to cook. Salt, and slightly sweeten if needed boiling water, drop the peas so slowly into the water it will not stop boiling. Boil the peas until tender without covering and they will keep their color. They will generally cook in about twenty minutes, take them up with a little of the liquor in which they were boiled, butter and pepper them, and they are much better to add a little sweet cream, but will do without. If they are cooked immediately upon gathering, they will need no sugar; if allowed to remain twelve hours or more, a tablespoonful of sugar will be found an addition. A sprig of mint or a little parsley may be added. Pea-pods are sometimes boiled in a small quantity of water, then are skimmed out and the peas are boiled in this liquor.

PEAS AND BUTTERED EGGS.

Stew a pint of young peas with a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt, pepper and chopped parsley, until they are tender; beat up two eggs and pour over them the boiling peas. Serve at once on toast before the eggs harden.

CANAPES OF PEAS.