2 teaspoonfuls of salt.
Cut up enough of the tender ends of asparagus to make one quart. Put these in the colander, and let cold water run on them until every particle of sand is removed. Put them in a saucepan with one quart of boiling water and one teaspoonful of salt, and cook gently for half an hour; then drain, and, after putting in a warm vegetable dish, pour the cream sauce over them.
To make the sauce, put the butter on the fire, in a pan, and when it is melted add the flour. Stir until smooth and frothy; then gradually add the milk, stirring all the while. Season with a scant teaspoonful of salt, and boil up once.
If you prefer, the asparagus may be seasoned with salt and butter, using a generous tablespoonful of butter and half a teaspoonful of salt; moistening with a gill of the water in which it is boiled.
Spinach.
1/2 peck of spinach.
1 generous tablespoonful of butter.
1 level tablespoonful of salt.
Pick over the spinach, removing all the roots and brown leaves. Have two pans filled with cold water. Put the spinach in one pan and wash it, a few leaves at a time, dropping it into the second pan of water. When all is done, turn the water from the first pan, which should at once be rinsed and filled again with clean water. Continue washing the spinach in this way until there is not a grain of sand left in it. This you learn by passing the hand over the bottom of the pan. Put the cleaned spinach in a stewpan with a pint of boiling water and the salt, and cook for half an hour. Turn into the colander and cut with a knife. Put into a hot vegetable dish and add the butter.