VEGETABLES.

Endeavor to have your vegetables as fresh as possible. Wash them thoroughly. Cut out all the decayed parts, and lay them in cold water until you are ready to use them.

Vegetables should be put on to cook in boiling water and salt. Never let them stand after coming off the fire; put them instantly into a cullender, over a pot of boiling water, if you have to keep them back for dinner.

Peas, beans and asparagus, if young, will cook in twenty-five or thirty minutes. They should be boiled in a good deal of salt water.

Cauliflower should be wrapped in a cloth, when boiled, and served with rich drawn butter.

Potato water is thought to be unhealthy; therefore do not boil potatoes in soup, but in another vessel, and add them to it when nearly cooked.

Fill a deep pan (as many as will set on the bottom) with ripe tomatoes; round out a hole in the center of each and fill up with bread crumbs, butter, salt, pepper and a little sugar. Put a teacupful of water in the pan to prevent them from burning. Bake brown, and send to the table hot.

Take smooth, flat tomatoes; wipe and set them on a gridiron; with the stem side down; over live coals. When this is brown, turn them and let cook until quite hot through; place them on a hot dish. To be dressed, when eaten, with butter, pepper and salt.

Put alternate layers of sliced tomatoes and bread crumbs into a bread pan. Season with sliced onion, butter, pepper and salt; and bake for one hour.

Slice tomatoes quite thick; pepper and salt them; roll in flour; and fry in equal parts of butter and lard. Put them in a dish to be served; keeping very hot. A little flour and butter mixed; stir into the skillet with a cup of milk; boil until well thickened; pour over the tomatoes.

Scald ripe tomatoes; let them stand in cold water fifteen minutes; then take off the skin and slice in a dish garnished with sweet peppers.

Slice tomatoes and serve with mayonnaise salad dressing.

Kate P. Brown.Cut the corn from the cobs; boil the cobs ten or fifteen minutes; then take them out and put the corn into the same water. When it is tender, put in some milk; season with butter, pepper and salt. Just before serving stir in beaten eggs; allowing three eggs to a dozen ears of corn; one pint of milk to a quart of corn.

Kate P. Brown.Put Lima beans on to boil, soon after breakfast; let them get well done. Have the corn boiling in a separate pot. When done, cut the corn off the cobs and have twice as much corn as beans; put the corn with the beans and let them boil. Just before serving, put in a little butter, pepper and salt.

Mrs. James Stockstill.Four ears of green corn cut down fine; two eggs; one pint of milk; butter size of an egg; three tablespoonsful of flour; salt and pepper; beat well together; bake one hour; to be served as a vegetable.

To one quart of grated corn add three eggs, and three or four grated crackers; beat well, and season with salt and pepper; fry in butter or lard. If the corn is young and juicy, more crackers may be needed; drop in the pan with a spoon.

Mrs. P. P. Lowe.One dozen ears of corn when it first comes, or a half dozen ears after it is grown. Cut the grains down the middle of each row, and cut carefully off the cob. If the grains are large, chop them a little with the chopping knife after they are cut off. Add to the corn and mix well the yolks of two eggs; one half cup of sweet milk; a lump of butter the size of a walnut; a pinch of salt, pepper, and a small cup of flour; lastly, beat to a stiff froth the whites of the eggs. Fry a nice brown on both sides, in a skillet with fresh lard, and serve hot.

Boil in four waters and drain off; pick to pieces with a fork as they cook. Mix a little flour and butter together, and put in two tablespoonsful of warm milk; boil and pour over the onions; season well.

Mrs. McM.Boil turnips in a good deal of salt water; when soft, drain off the water and put them in a skillet with cream and butter, and let them simmer.

Kate P. Brown.Put the hulls in a pot; cover them with water and boil thoroughly; then strain and put the peas in the same water and let boil until tender. When ready to serve put in some butter and pepper, a pinch of salt, and the least bit of sugar.

Mrs. Eliza Pierce.Put the peas in a pot; boil till soft; season with salt, pepper and a cup of milk; a small cup of butter; a tablespoonful of flour in the milk. When ready to serve, add the yolks of two eggs in a cup of milk or cream.

Get them young and crispy; break off both ends and string them; break in halves, and boil in water with a little salt until tender; drain free from water and season with pepper; add butter and a spoonful of cream or milk, and boil a few minutes.

From Moore's Rural New Yorker.

If, my dear Rural, you ever should wish

For breakfast or dinner a tempting dish

Of the beans so famous in Boston town,

You must read the rules I here lay down;

When the sun has set in golden light,

And around you fall the shades of night,

A large, deep dish you first prepare;

A quart of beans select with care;

And pick them over, until you find

Not a speck or a moat is left behind.

A lot of cold water on them pour

'Till every bean is covered o'er,

And they seem to your poetic eye

Like pearls in the depth of the sea to lie;

Here, if you please you may let them stay

'Till just after breakfast the very next day,

When a parboiling process must be gone through

(I mean for the beans, and not for you;)

Then, if in the pantry, there still should be

That bean pot, so famous in history,

With all due deference, bring it out,

And, if there's a skimmer lying about,

Skim half of the beans from the boiling pan

Into the bean pot as fast as you can;

Then turn to Biddy and calmly tell her

To take a huge knife and go to the cellar;

For you must have, like Shylock of old,

"A pound of flesh," ere your beans grow cold;

But very unlike that ancient Jew,

Nothing but pork will do for you.

Then tell once more your maiden fair,

In the choice of the piece to take great care,

For a streak of fat and a streak of lean

Will give the right flavor to every bean!

This you must wash, and rinse, and score,

Put into the pot and round it pour

The rest, till the view presented seems

Like an island of pork in an ocean of beans;

Pour on boiling hot water enough to cover

The tops of the beans completely over,

Shove into the oven and bake till done,

And the triumph of Yankee cookery's won!

Mrs. A. C. Coburn.Three pints of beans and half a pound of salt pork; put beans to soak over night; next morning put them in a vessel with a gallon of soft water and half a teaspoonful of soda; let simmer slowly until thoroughly swelled, but not bursted; then lift them out with a perforated skimmer, into a pan with clear hot water. Set them on the stove where they will keep hot but not boil; then pour boiling water over the pork; scrape the rind and score it; lay it in a flat stone crock kept for that purpose; put the beans in all around it; add one tablespoonful of butter, and two of molasses; fill up with boiling water; bake four or five hours.

Mrs. James Stockstill.Cut off all the tough parts and lay the bunches in a pan; cover with boiling water and let them cook slowly half an hour. Ten minutes before they are done, add a little salt. Have ready two or three slices of toasted bread. Butter well, and put a tablespoonful or two of liquor over it; take the asparagus up carefully and lay it on the toast; mix a piece of butter thoroughly with a little flour; add pepper and salt, and stir into the liquor and pour over the asparagus.

Scrape and wash new potatoes; put in a sauce pan with hot water; when done pour off the water; set them on top of the stove a few minutes to steam; put in a lump of butter size of an egg; two tablespoonsful of cream; season with salt and pepper; boil a few minutes. Shake the pan to keep them from burning.

Boil the potatoes and cut into thin slices; make a dressing by mixing one tablespoonful of melted butter with a little flour and a cupful of cream; add the yolk of an egg and a little chopped parsley. Stir up with potatoes and serve immediately.

Mrs. R. P. Brown.Mix mashed potatoes with the yolk of an egg; roll into balls, and flour them; or cover with egg and bread crumbs. Fry them in clean drippings or brown in a dutch oven.

Mrs. W. A. Phelps.Take two cupsful of mashed potatoes, and stir in two tablespoonsful of melted butter; beating to a white cream before adding any thing else. Then put with this two eggs whipped very light, and a teacupful of cream or milk; salting to taste. Beat all well; pour into a deep dish; and bake in a quick oven until brown.

One cupful of mashed potatoes; two eggs; one half pint of milk; one tablespoonful of flour, and lump of butter. Drop in boiling lard.

Miss Hotchkiss.Take six potatoes; peel, and cut in small pieces; cover with boiling water; when soft, strain off the water, and pass through a cullender; mix three eggs (one at a time) with the potatoes; add two tablespoonsful of bread crumbs and a little salt; place all over the fire, and stir constantly. When thoroughly mixed, take off the fire, and set to cool. Roll into balls, and fry in hot lard.

Mrs. D. W. S.Take four large potatoes (new ones are best); pare, and cut into thin slices on a slaw cutter; put them into salt water, and let stand while breakfast is preparing. Then have ready a skillet of boiling lard. Take a handful of the potatoes, squeeze the water from them, and dry in a napkin; separate the slices and drop into the lard, being careful that the pieces do not adhere to each other. Stir with a fork till they are a light brown color. Take them out with a wire spoon, and drain well before putting into the dish. Do not put more than a handful into the lard at a time. Do not cover the dish when served.

Mrs. R. P. Brown.Cut the cabbage fine, as for slaw; put it into a stew pan; cover with water, and keep closely covered; when tender, drain off the water; put in a small piece of butter with a little salt; one half a cup of cream, or one cup of milk. Leave on the stove a few minutes, before serving.

Mrs. Charles Spinning.Beat together the yolks of two eggs; one half cup of sugar; one half cup of vinegar; a piece of butter the size of an egg; salt, and a little cayenne pepper. Put the mixture in a sauce pan, and stir until it boils; then stir in one cup of cream. Let it boil. Pour it over the cabbage while hot.

One large cup of rice; pick it over and wash thoroughly and drain; put it in a bucket and cover closely; set in boiling water; don't stir while cooking. Steam till soft. Season and eat while warm with cream.

Mrs. W. R. S. Ayres.Take one cup of rice; half a pint of water, and put on to boil; when the rice has absorbed the water, put in one pint of sweet milk, and let boil three-quarters of an hour; don't stir while cooking.

Take cold boiled rice; add three eggs, with sugar and lemon peel to your taste. Make into oval balls; rub with bread crumbs, and dip them in beaten egg. Fry in butter; when done, sprinkle sugar over them.

Cut in slices and lay in salt and water for one or two hours; wipe dry and season with pepper and salt; dip the slices into yolk of an egg and grated bread crumbs. Fry in butter till brown.

Hattie B. Brown.Slice, pare and parboil; mash, and season with butter, salt and pepper; one egg to a plant; about two tablespoonsful of flour; milk enough to make a batter. Drop a spoonful at a time into hot lard, and fry like fritters.

Mrs. S. Craighead.Take a full grown egg plant; cut it in two, lengthwise; take all the inside out (leaving the skin about half an inch thick); chop it quite fine; mix with it about as much bread crumbs as you have of egg plant; salt and pepper to taste; one teaspoonful of sugar. Have ready a tablespoonful of butter in a skillet, and, when hot, put in the mixture, and let it cook about ten minutes, stirring it occasionally. Then return it to the shells; put in the oven and bake about one half hour. Serve in the shells.

Mrs. Geo. L. Phillips.Wash and scrape; cover with water and a little salt. When tender, pour off the water; chop then up immediately, or they will turn black; put into a kettle; add half a pint of cream; one teaspoonful of flour; a lump of butter. Pour over and let come to a boil.

Parboil oyster plant; scrape off the outside; cut it in slices; dip it into beaten egg and fine bread crumbs; fry in hot lard.

Scrape the roots, and boil in water, with a little salt, until tender; drain and mash them; put in a small lump of butter and one egg; season with pepper and salt; add flour enough to make them stick together. Make into cakes, and fry, in butter.

Mrs. Evans.Skin, and cut up in long slices; put in a pot, with points down; boil till tender; pour off water, and drain; mash, with butter and salt.

Cut in squares, leaving on the rind, and bake in the oven like sweet potatoes.

E. C. B.After being carefully washed, stuff it into a sauce pan, without any water; sprinkle over a little salt, and cover closely; shake occasionally while cooking. When tender, drain it, and serve with drawn butter.

Boil beet tops, turnip tops, spinach, cabbage sprouts, poke sprouts, dandelion, and lamb's quarters, in salted water, until they are tender; drain in a cullender, pressing hard. Serve them, garnished with hard boiled eggs, cut in slices.

Cut off the stems and peel off the skins of the mushrooms; put them on the gridiron, hollow side up; put a little butter, pepper and salt, on each; cook over hot coals, a few minutes; do not turn. Serve hot, with a little more butter.

Prepare as above; put them in a stew pan, with a little water and salt; simmer slowly half an hour; add butter, a little flour, pepper, and two tablespoonsful of cream. Boil up once, and serve on toast.

Mrs. R. P. Brown.Simmer one half pound of macaroni, in plenty of water, till tender, but not broken; strain off the water. Take the yolks of five, and the whites of two eggs; one half pint of cream; white meat and ham, chopped very fine; three spoonsful of grated cheese; season with salt and pepper; heat all together, stirring constantly. Mix with the macaroni; put in a buttered mould, and steam one hour. It is quite as good baked.

Boil half a pound of macaroni, until quite soft; put it into a vegetable dish, with a little mustard, pepper and salt, a small piece of butter, and some grated cheese. Bake ten or fifteen minutes.

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