Remove the strings and cut the beans into slices.
Put them into plenty of boiling water, with salt in the proportion of one tablespoonful to every two quarts of water, a little sugar, or, if the water is hard, a small piece of soda about the size of a pea.
Boil quickly for fifteen minutes or longer, according to their age.
Drain in a colander.
Then put them into a saucepan with a small piece of butter, pepper and salt, and shake them over the fire for a minute or two.
Spinach.
Pull off the stalks and wash the spinach well in several waters to remove all grit.
Put it into a saucepan without any water but that which adheres to the leaves, and sprinkle a little salt over it.
Cook with the lid off the saucepan until quite tender, stirring it occasionally.
Drain it in a colander, and wring it dry in a cloth.