GLAZED CARROTS WITH PEAS—Wash, scrape and cut three medium-sized carrots in one-fourth inch slices, then, in cubes or fancy shapes, drain and put in saucepan with one-half cup butter, one-third cup sugar, and one tablespoon fine chopped fresh mint leaves. Cook slowly until glazed and tender. Drain and rinse one can French peas and heat in freshly boiling water five minutes. Again drain and season with butter, salt and pepper. Mound peas on hot dish and surround with carrots.
GLAZED SWEET POTATOES—Put two rounding tablespoons of butter and one of sugar into a casserole and set on the back of the range to heat slowly. When hot lay in raw, pared sweet potatoes cut in halves, lengthwise. Dust with salt and pepper and put in another layer of seasoned potatoes and enough boiling water to stand one-half inch deep in the dish. Put on the close-fitting cover and set in the oven to cook slowly. When the potatoes are tender serve in the same dish with the sweet sauce that will not be entirely absorbed in the cooking. This way of preparing sweet potatoes pleases the Southern taste, which demands sugar added to the naturally sweet vegetable.
GLAZED SWEET POTATOES—Sweet potatoes, like squash and peas, lose a little of their sweetness in cooking, and when recooked it is well to add a little sugar. Slice two large cooked sweet potatoes and lay in a small baking dish, sprinkle with a level tablespoon of sugar and a few dashes of salt and pepper, add also some bits of butter. Pour in one-half cup of boiling water, bake half an hour, basting twice with the butter and water.
GREEN MELON SAUTE—There are frequently a few melons left on the vines which will not ripen sufficiently to be palatable uncooked. Cut them in halves, remove the seeds and then cut in slices three-fourths of an inch thick. Cut each slice in quarters and again, if the melon is large, pare off the rind, sprinkle them slightly with salt and powdered sugar, cover with fine crumbs; then dip in beaten egg, then in crumbs again, and cook slowly in hot butter, the same as eggplant. Drain, and serve hot. When the melons are nearly ripe they may be sauted in butter without crumbs.
JAPANESE OR CHINESE RICE—Wash one cup of rice, rubbing it through several waters until the water runs clear. Put in porcelain-lined stewpan with a quart of soup stock and bay leaves and boil twenty minutes. The stock must be hot when added to the rice. Shake the kettle in which it is cooking several times during the cooking and lift occasionally with a fork. Do not stir. Pour off any superfluous stock remaining at the end of twenty minutes, and set on the back of the stove or in the oven, uncovered, to finish swelling and steaming. Just before serving add one cup of hot tomato juice, a quarter cup of butter, a tablespoon chopped parsley, a dash of paprika, and one tablespoon of grated cheese. Serve with grated cheese.
LIMA BEANS WITH NUTS—Soak one cup of dry lima beans over night. In the morning rip off the skins, rinse and put into the bean pot with plenty of water and salt to season, rather more than without the nuts. Let cook slowly in the oven and until perfectly tender; add one-half cup of walnut meal, stirring it in well; let cook a few minutes, and serve.
MACARONI WITH APRICOTS—Stew twenty halves of fresh apricots in half a cup of sugar and enough water to make a nice sirup when they are done. Before removing from the fire add a heaping tablespoonful of brown flour and cook until the sirup is heavy and smooth. Parboil ten sticks of macaroni broken in two-inch pieces, drain, add to one pint of scalding hot milk two ounces of sugar. Throw in the parboiled macaroni and allow it to simmer until the milk is absorbed; stir it often. Pour all the juice or sauce from the apricots into the macaroni, cover the macaroni well, set on back of the stove for fifteen minutes, then take off and allow to cool. When cold form a pile of macaroni in the center of the dish and cover with apricots, placing them in circles around and over it.
MACARONI AND CHEESE—Cook macaroni broken up into short length in boiling salted water. Boil uncovered for twenty or thirty minutes, then drain. Fill a buttered pudding dish with alternate layers of macaroni and grated cheese, sprinkling pepper, salt and melted butter over each layer. Have top layer of cheese, moisten with rich milk, bake in moderate oven until a rich brown.
SCRAMBLED CAULIFLOWER—Trim off the coarse outer leaves of a cauliflower. After soaking and cooking, drain well and divide into branches. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper and toss into a frying pan with hot butter or olive oil.
MACARONI OR SPAGHETTI SERVED IN ITALIAN STYLE—Break a pound of macaroni or spaghetti into small pieces. Put into boiling salted water and boil about twenty minutes. Then drain and arrange on platter. Sprinkle on each layer grated cheese and mushroom sauce. Serve hot.