The Aunts' Cook Book

Use inside stalks raw, saving outside stalks for cooking. Cut up and put in boiling water. Cook 20 minutes, adding salt during latter part of cooking time. Serve with butter or White sauce. Sweet Corn Remove husks and threads. Cook in boiling water for 10 minutes. Add salt during latter part of cooking time. Serve at once in napkin on platter. 60 Various Vegetables Another Way to Cook Carrots Cut up carrots and stew in chicken broth or white stock. They have more flavor cooked this way. Creamed Lettuce Select leaf lettuce. Wash carefully and cut in strips. Add a little salt and steam about 15 minutes. Serve on toast with White sauce or thick cream. Aunt Gertrude's Baked Stuffed Onions Select large onions and hollow out the centers. Fill with sausage-meat. Lay slices of bacon in bottom of casserole. Place onions on top and put a slice of bacon over each onion. Pour over them 1 cup of stock. Cover and bake 1 hour. Aunt Elinor's Stuffed Tomatoes Scoop out solid tomatoes. Do not peel. Fill with green corn and chopped green peppers. Add a little sugar, salt and pepper. Top with soft crumbs and lots of butter. Bake ½ to ¾ of an hour. Aunt Robbie's Fried Tomatoes with Chicken Gravy Select solid tomatoes not too large. Cut in thick slices. Dip in cracker crumbs, then in beaten egg, then in crackercrumbs again and fry in butter. Serve on buttered toast and pour over them creamed chicken-gravy. Green tomatoes are good and easier to fry.. Various Vegetables 61 Aunt Gertrude's Baked Tomatoes — Southern Lump of butter the size of a hen's egg to 1 can of tomatoes. Crumble stale bread crumbs into tomatoes till very thick, stew on fire for an hour and a half, then add ^ teacup of sugar and plenty of pepper and salt. Cook 20 minutes. Pour into a baking dish, cover top thickly with bread crumbs, pour over it melted butter and set in oven to brown. These should be very thick. Aunt Emery's Broiled Tomato with Green Pepper Slice good sized tomatoes in pieces about ½ inch thick. Remove seeds from a green pepper and slice very thin. Place a ring of pepper on a slice of tomato with a good sized lump of butter in center. Dust with salt and black pepper and broil. Serve at once on small rounds of toast. Aunt Gertrude's Corn Fritters 12 ears of corn pinch of baking soda 2 eggs 3^ cupful milk ½ teaspoonful salt ½ cupful flour 1 tablespoonful butter Grate boiled corn from the cobs and add dry ingredients. Mix well. Add flour by sprinkling. Add baking-powder last, just before baking. Cook on hot griddle. 62 Various Vegetables Aunt Virginia's Egg Plant Fritters Boil egg plant until tender, mix it with 2 eggs pinch of salt 2 tablespoons of flour 2 tablespoons of cream. 1 tablespoon of butter Fry in deep fat. Aunt Virginia's Com Fritters 1 doz. ears of corn, scored and cut off as directed. 2 eggs, beaten lightly, a little flour to keep the corn together, if it is very milky. A pinch of salt. Fry in butter. Aunt Robbie's Mushrooms The best of the common mushrooms are the Agaricus or field mushrooms, the giant puff ball and the Morels. One of the best and easiest ways to cook them is to fry them in butter, afterwards making a gravy in the same pan with a little more butter, a tablespoonful of flour and a cup of chicken stock. Add a little cream before serving, also salt and pepper. Put mushrooms on buttered toast and pour gravy over them. Aunt Elinor's Cream Potatoes 2 tablespoonsful butter 1 cup milk 2 tablespoonsful flour 1 cup chopped cold potatoes 2 teaspoonsful Worcestershire sauce Just a dash of grated nutmeg (if liked), salt, paprika and black pepper. Various Vegetables 63