LEEKS
Cut leeks into three-inch lengths, using the tender green part as well as the white; wash the pieces thoroughly in cold running water, then put them in a small saucepan and cover them with boiling salted water, and let them boil for twenty minutes.
Make a sauce by melting 1 tablespoon of butter and thickening it with 1 tablespoon of flour, and then adding, 1 tablespoon at a time, enough of the water the leeks were cooked in (about 1 cup) to make the sauce of the right consistency; season with pepper and salt, drain the leeks, and serve the sauce over them.
MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms should only be used when perfectly fresh and firm; in peeling them take a small knife, and, holding the delicate fringe at the edge of the mushroom between the edge of the knife and the thumb, peel the paper-like skin off, pulling it toward the centre of the mushroom. The stems should be cut or broken off without breaking the cup, and if sound should be scraped and used. When the mushrooms are white and small and freshly picked they can be quickly washed and used without peeling.
STEWED MUSHROOMS
Peel about 1 pound of mushrooms, put them in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 saltspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, and ¼ cup of milk, into which 1 tablespoon of flour has been mixed; cover and let cook for five or six minutes, then add 1 cup of cream, stir all well together, replace the cover, and let cook gently for ten minutes. These mushrooms can also be cooked and served in an Italian casserole.