BOILED CELERY—Trim off the tops of the celery about one-third of their length, and also trim the roots into rounding shape. Save the tops for making cream of celery and for garnishes, cook the celery in salted water until tender, drain, lay on toast, and pour a cream sauce over.
BOSTON BAKED BEANS—Pick over a quart of small pea beans, wash thoroughly and soak over night in warm water. In the morning parboil them until the skins crack open. Pour off the water. Put into the bottom of a glazed earthenware pot, made expressly for the purpose, a pint of hot water in which have been dissolved a half tablespoonful salt, two tablespoonfuls molasses, a half teaspoonful mustard, and a pinch of soda. Pack in the beans until about a third full, then place in it a pound (or less, if preferred) of streaked pig pork, the skin of which has been scored. Cover with a layer of beans, letting the rind of the pork just show through. Now add enough more seasoned hot water to cover the beans, and bake covered in a slow oven all day or night. When done the beans should be soft, tender and moist but brown and whole, and the pork cooked to a jelly.
BREADED POTATO BALLS—Pare, boil and mash potatoes and whip into three cups of potato three level tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of hot milk, salt and pepper to taste; also two teaspoons of onion juice and two level tablespoons of chopped parsley, one-quarter cup of grated mild cheese and two well-beaten eggs. Beat well and set aside to cool. Mold into small balls, roll each in beaten egg, in fine stale breadcrumbs, and then fry in deep hot fat.
CABBAGE AND CHEESE—Boil the cabbage in two waters, then drain, cool and chop. Season well with salt and pepper and spread a layer in a buttered baking dish. Pour over this a white sauce made from a tablespoonful each of flour and butter and a cup of milk. Add two or three tablespoonfuls of finely broken cheese. Now add another layer of cabbage, then more of the white sauce and cheese, and so on until all the material is used. Sprinkle with fine crumbs, bake covered about half an hour, then uncover and brown.
CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN—Select a firm, well-shaped cauliflower, and after the preliminary soaking in cold salt water throw into a kettle of boiling water and cook half an hour, until tender. Drain, pick off the flowers and lay to one side, while you pick the stalks into small pieces. Lay on the bottom of a rather shallow buttered baking dish, sprinkle with pepper, grated cheese and cracker crumbs. Dot with pieces of butter. Add a little milk, then a layer of the flowerets and another sprinkling of milk, cheese and pepper.
CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS—Soak and boil the cauliflower in the usual way, then separate into flowers. Dip each piece into a thin batter, plunge into boiling fat and fry a delicate brown. Serve very hot on napkins. If preferred, the pieces may be dipped into a mixture of salt, pepper, vinegar and oil, then fried.
CREAMED SPAGHETTI—Have two quarts of water boiling in a kettle and one-third of a pound of spaghetti. Hold a few pieces of the spaghetti at a time in the water and as the ends soften turn them round and round and down into the kettle. When all are in the water put on a cover and cook the spaghetti twenty minutes, then drain.
Make a cream sauce with a rounding tablespoon each of flour and butter and one cup of cream. Season with one-half teaspoon of salt and a few grains of pepper. Stir in the spaghetti cut in inch pieces, turn on to a dish, and sprinkle with finely grated cheese.
FRIED CORN—Cut the corn off the cob, leaving the grains as separate as possible. Fry in just enough butter to keep it from sticking to the pan, stirring very often. When nicely browned add salt and pepper and a little rich cream. Do not set near the fire after adding the cream.
FRIED TOMATOES—Wipe some smooth solid tomatoes and slice and fry in a spider with butter or pork fat. Season well with salt and pepper.