Cooking and castle-building

"I was reading the other day," said Alice, "about the etiquette of high-toned society in New York. Among other things, I learned that it is there considered vulgar to eat the toast upon which the asparagus is served." " I know of no better method of cooking pease or asparagus than those described by Fanny, and shall certainly preserve her letter among my cookbook scraps. String beans and green lima beans should be cooked in the same manner as green pease. Dried beans, a palatable, nutritious vegetable, are seldom seen upon our tables, save as the old, time-honored, traditional baked pork and beans, a dish which the average modern stomach rejects as too strong. But why discard the bean because pork and beans make too hearty a dish, or because the discovery of trichina has spoiled our relish for pork ? To cook dried beans, place them on the back of the stove in a plentiful supply of cold water. When swelled, drain the water off and give them a fresh supply. Let them simmer until parboiled. Drain again, adding enough hot water to finish cooking. Boil gently till soft, and, when done, season with salt, pepper, and butter. Serve them at this stage as stewed beans ; or, place them in a deep dish, and bake in a hot oven, and you have baked beans, without the addition of pork. Care should be taken to always have beans thoroughly cooked, as otherwise they are indigestible and unwholesome." "Kate," said Emeline, "I can give you a better method for baking beans. Pick and soak the beans over night in cold water. In the morning put them into fresh cold water to boil, and simmer gently till the skins break, and they seem about to fall to pieces. Then season to taste with salt, pepper, and butter; or, use pork, if preferred, adding a tablespoonful of molasses to every two quarts of beans. Put the beans in a deep crock, place them m a moderate oven, and let them bake indefinitely, only it must be a long indefinitely. Add water from time to time, if necessary, to keep them from becoming too dry. When they assume a reddish-brown tinge, something akin in color to Boston brown bread, their perfect state is approaching ; and they can be put into a baking-dish, suitable to send to the table, and nicely browned in the oven ; or they can be set aside until next day and re-baked in time for dinner. Now, Kate, if you can place beside this recipe one for Boston brown bread, your cook-book will be appreciated. By the way, I wonder if this admixture of molasses in baked beans gave rise to the assertion that Yankees eat pork and molasses." "Are we," asked Alice, "to understand that green vegetables are to be put to cook in hot water, and dried ones in cold water? " " All dried vegetables should certainly be put into cold, or lukewarm, water; but there is a difference of opinion in regard to fresh vegetables. Some cooks contend that it preserves their green color to put them into boiling water, but as I fail to see why vegetables are more desirable on account of shades of colors, that suggestion has no weight with, me. From experiments that I have made, I fail to discover any material difference between putting green vegetables to cook in cold, warm, or boiling water; consequently, I use whichever is most convenient."