Potato Soup is another of this good kind, for meat is scarcely required, so good is it without. Boil some potatoes, then rub them through a colandar into two quarts of hot milk (skimmed does quite well); have some fine-chopped parsley and onion, add both with salt and pepper, stew three quarters of an hour ; then stir in a large piece of butter, and beat two eggs with a little cold milk, stir in quickly, and serve with fried bread. There should be potatoes enough to make the soup as thick as cream. I04 Culture and Cooking. Do not be prejudiced against a dish because there is no meat in it, and you think it cannot be nourishing. This chapter is not written for those with whom meat, or money, is plentiful ; and if it be true that man is nourished " not by what he eats, but by what he assim- ilates," and, according to an American medical author- ity, ^^what is eaten with distaste is not assimilated" (Dr. Hall), it follows that an enjoyable dinner, even without meat, will be more nourishing than one forced down because it lacks savor ; that potato soup will be more nourishing than potatoes and butter, with a cup of milk to drink, because more enjoyable. Yet it costs no more, for the soup can be made without the eggs if they are scarce. Or say bread and butter and onions. They will not be very appetizing, especially if they had to be a fre- quent meal, yet onion soup✪ Onion Soup is made from the same ma- terials, and in France is a very favorite dish, even with those well able to put meat in it if they wished. CHAPTEE XV. A FEW THIi^GS IT IS WELL TO EEMEMBEE. Eyeey housekeeper has pet ^^ wrinkles " of her own which she thinks are especially valuable ; some are known to all the world, others are new to many. So it may be with mine ; but, on the chance that some few things are as new to my friends as they were to me, I jot them down without any pretense of order or regu- larity. Lemons will keep fresher and better in water than any other way. Put them in a crock, cover them with water. They will in winter keep two or three months, and the peel be as fresh as the day they were put in. Take care, of course, that they do not get frosted. In summer change the water twice a week ; they will keep a long time. In grating nutmegs begin at the flower end ; if you commence at the other, there will be a hole all the way through. Tea or coffee made hot (not at all scorched), before water is added, are more fragrant and stronger. Thus, by putting three spoonfuls of tea in the pot and setting in a warm place before infusing, it will be as strong as if you make tea with four spoonfuls without warming it, and much more fragrant. Vegetables that are strong can be made much milder 5^ 105 io6 Culture and Cooking. by tying a bit of bread in a clean rag and boiling it with them. Bread dough is just as good made the day before it is used ; thus, a small family can have fresh bread one day, rolls the next, by putting the dough in a cold place en- yeloped in a damp cloth. In winter, kept cold, yet not in danger of freezing, it will keep a week. Celery seed takes the place of celery for soup or stews when it is scarce ; parsley seed of parsley. Green beans, gherkins, etc., put down when plentiful in layers of rock salt, will keep crisp and green for months, and can be taken out and pickled when con- venient.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Potato Soup is another of this good kind, for meat is scarcely required, so good is it without. Boil some potatoes, then rub them through a colander into two quarts of hot milk (skimmed does quite well); have some fine-chopped parsley and onion, add both with salt and pepper, stew three quarters of an hour; then stir in a large piece of butter, and beat two eggs with a little cold milk, stir in quickly, and serve with fried bread. There should be potatoes enough to make the soup as thick as cream. I04 Culture and Cooking. Do not be prejudiced against a dish because there is no meat in it, and you think it cannot be nourishing. This chapter is not written for those with whom meat, or money, is plentiful; and if it be true that man is nourished "not by what he eats, but by what he assimilates," and, according to an American medical authority, "what is eaten with distaste is not assimilated" (Dr. Hall), it follows that an enjoyable dinner, even without meat, will be more nourishing than one forced down because it lacks savor ; that potato soup will be more nourishing than potatoes and butter, with a cup of milk to drink, because more enjoyable. Yet it costs no more, for the soup can be made without the eggs if they are scarce. Or say bread and butter and onions. They will not be very appetizing, especially if they had to be a frequent meal, yet onion soup is made from the same materials, and in France is a very favorite dish, even with those well able to put meat in it if they wished. CHAPTER XV. A FEW THINGS IT IS WELL TO REMEMBER. Every housekeeper has pet " wrinkles " of her own which she thinks are especially valuable ; some are known to all the world, others are new to many. So it may be with mine ; but, on the chance that some few things are as new to my friends as they were to me, I jot them down without any pretense of order or regularity. Lemons will keep fresher and better in water than any other way. Put them in a crock, cover them with water. They will in winter keep two or three months, and the peel be as fresh as the day they were put in. Take care, of course, that they do not get frosted. In summer change the water twice a week ; they will keep a long time. In grating nutmegs begin at the flower end ; if you commence at the other, there will be a hole all the way through. Tea or coffee made hot (not at all scorched), before water is added, are more fragrant and stronger. Thus, by putting three spoonfuls of tea in the pot and setting in a warm place before infusing, it will be as strong as if you make tea with four spoonfuls without warming it, and much more fragrant. Vegetables that are strong can be made much milder 5^ 105 io6 Culture and Cooking. by tying a bit of bread in a clean rag and boiling it with them. Bread dough is just as good made the day before it is used ; thus, a small family can have fresh bread one day, rolls the next, by putting the dough in a cold place enyeloped in a damp cloth. In winter, kept cold, yet not in danger of freezing, it will keep a week. Celery seed takes the place of celery for soup or stews when it is scarce ; parsley seed of parsley. Green beans, gherkins, etc., put down when plentiful in layers of rock salt, will keep crisp and green for months, and can be taken out and pickled when convenient.

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