ASPARA- Shall it be canned asparagus tips or aspara- GUS gus on toast ? Either is an excellent chafing- dish dainty that is improved vastly by a cup of thin cream in the cooking. Have the asparagus heated, with possibly a little melted butter poured over the stalks or tips if you like it — and who doesn't? Then in your blazer put the aforesaid cup of cream and season it with salt and pepper and a slight soupgon of chili pepper. Have ready some triangular slices of toast✪ Asparagus on Toast, and when this sauce is hot, dip each slice of toast in it quickly with a fork, and put on a hot plate. Lay on the toast some of the asparagus, and when all the plates are filled pour over each some of the hot cream sauce. 130 A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD Variations with Vegetables ASPARA- In Pliny's time, when asparagus grew GUS FROID wild, it may not have been considered as great a delicacy as now; and one does not learn of the variations of serving that it was treated to then ; but now, in the high places where one is miles from a little neck or an oyster, this is a substitute that may well begin a dinner — it's especially inviting after a lone-tree cocktail. Have some boiled asparagus tips nicely cooled and served on shaved ice with a dressing of lemon juice, horseradish, salt, and pepper; and don't forget to pass the Tabasco. You'll be surprised at the appeal this tidbit makes to you. CUCUM- Don't tell me that you never fried cucum- BERS ^ bers; if you haven't, it's quite time you SAUTE learned. Put in the blazer a tablespoonful of butter, and slice your cucumbers, nicely peeled, into quarter-inch slices; dip in beaten egg, then in cracker crumbs✪ Fried Cucumbers, and fry in that same butter a delicate brown. Serve with broiled chicken, or any game — even with that mock-venison w^hich I've already told how to do in the chafing-dish. It's a welcome change from cucum- bers with French dressing, and not at all indigestible, though some may say so. CHAPTER " They that love mirth. Let them heartily drink ; 'Tis the only receipt To make sorrow sink.' — Ben Jonson. Why do men drink? To quench thirst? To drown sor- row? Both are good reasons; but there are many other reasons why, for cen- turies, drink has been a synonym for good cheer. While some may be drowning their woes in the wine cup, others are right jubilantly celebrat- ing their good fortune. The drink- ing horn has been emptied and the wassail bowl has flowed right merrily down the ages since St. Paul advised " a little wine for the stomach's sake." The man who drinks too much is not more intemperate than he who 133 A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD A Dissertation on Drinks drinks too little ; the truly temperate mariner who steers the middle course Is the only one worthy of the name; his conduct fits the word. What mental lubricator can equal a choice drink? It calls forth jest and song, It stimulates eloquence and awakens wholesome mirth. Then '' let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die."

AI-modernized reading of the original text

ASPARA- Shall it be canned asparagus tips or aspara- GUS gus on toast ? Either is an excellent chafingdish dainty that is improved vastly by a cup of thin cream in the cooking. Have the asparagus heated, with possibly a little melted butter poured over the stalks or tips if you like it — and who doesn't? Then in your blazer put the aforesaid cup of cream and season it with salt and pepper and a slight soupgon of chili pepper. Have ready some triangular slices of toast, and when this sauce is hot, dip each slice of toast in it quickly with a fork, and put on a hot plate. Lay on the toast some of the asparagus, and when all the plates are filled pour over each some of the hot cream sauce. Variations with Vegetables ASPARA- In Pliny's time, when asparagus grew GUS FROID wild, it may not have been considered as great a delicacy as now; and one does not learn of the variations of serving that it was treated to then ; but now, in the high places where one is miles from a little neck or an oyster, this is a substitute that may well begin a dinner — it's especially inviting after a lone-tree cocktail. Have some boiled asparagus tips nicely cooled and served on shaved ice with a dressing of lemon juice, horseradish, salt, and pepper; and don't forget to pass the Tabasco. You'll be surprised at the appeal this tidbit makes to you. CUCUM- Don't tell me that you never fried cucum- BERS ^ bers; if you haven't, it's quite time you SAUTE learned. Put in the blazer a tablespoonful of butter, and slice your cucumbers, nicely peeled, into quarter-inch slices; dip in beaten egg, then in cracker crumbs, and fry in that same butter a delicate brown. Serve with broiled chicken, or any game — even with that mock-venison w^hich I've already told how to do in the chafing-dish. It's a welcome change from cucumbers with French dressing, and not at all indigestible, though some may say so. " They that love mirth. Let them heartily drink ; 'Tis the only receipt To make sorrow sink.' — Ben Jonson. Why do men drink? To quench thirst? To drown sorrow? Both are good reasons; but there are many other reasons why, for centuries, drink has been a synonym for good cheer. While some may be drowning their woes in the wine cup, others are right jubilantly celebrating their good fortune. The drinking horn has been emptied and the wassail bowl has flowed right merrily down the ages since St. Paul advised " a little wine for the stomach's sake." The man who drinks too much is not more intemperate than he who A Dissertation on Drinks drinks too little ; the truly temperate mariner who steers the middle course Is the only one worthy of the name; his conduct fits the word. What mental lubricator can equal a choice drink? It calls forth jest and song, It stimulates eloquence and awakens wholesome mirth. Then '' let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die."

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Asparagus on ToastSpaghetti with Cream or Tomato SauceFried Cucumbers

A bachelors cupboard