Every-day dishes and every-day work

Asparagus with Cream Sauce.— Thoroughly wash, tie in small bunches, and put into boiling water; boil till perfectly tender. Drain thoroughly, untie the bunches, place the stalks, all the same way upon a hot plate, with a dressing prepared as follows : Let a pint of sweet cream (about six hours old is best) come to the boiling point, and stir into it salt to taste and a level tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth with a little cold cream. Boil till the flour is perfectly cooked, and then pass through a fine wire strainer. Asparagus on Toast.— Cook the asparagus in bunches, and when tender, drain and place on slices of nicely browned toast moistened in the asparagus liquor. Pour over all a cream sauce prepared as directed in the foregoing recipe. Asparagus with Egg Sauce.— Prepare and cook asparagus as directed above. When tender, drain thoroughly, and serve on a hot dish or on slices of nicely browned toast, with an egg sauce prepared in the following manner : Heat a half cup of rich milk to boiling, add salt, and turn into it very slowly the well-beaten yolk of an egg, stirring constantly at the same time. Let the whole just thicken, and remove from the fire at once. Stewed Asparagus. — Wash, break into inch pieces, simmer till tender in water enough to cover ; add sufficient rich milk, part cream if convenient, to make a gravy, if preferred, thicken slightly with flour, a teaspoonful to a pint of milk ; add salt if desired, boil up together once, and serve. SPINACH. Spinach. — Use only tender plants or the tender leaves of the older stalks, and be sure to have enough, as spinach shrinks greatly. A peck is not too much for a family of four or five. Pick it over very carefully, trim off the roots and decayed leaves, and all tough, stringy stalks, and the coarse fibers of the leaves, as those will not cook tender until the leaves are overdone. Wash in several waters, lifting it from one pan to another, that it may be freed from sand and grit. Shake each bunch well Spinach is best cooked in its own juices ; this may be accomplished by cooking it in a double boiler ; or if placed in a pot and slowly heated, it will in a short time yield sufficient juice to cook itself. It must, however, be stirred frequently at first, to prevent burning ; cover closely, and cook till tender. The time required will vary from twenty minutes to an hour or more. If water is used in the cooking, have a half kettleful boiling when the spinach is put in, and continue to boil rapidly until the leaves are perfectly tender , then drain in a colander, press with the back of a plate to extract all water, chop very fine, and either serve with lemon juice as a dressing, or add a half cup of sweet cream with or without a teaspoonful of sugar. Boil up once, stirring constantly, and serve very hot. A garnish of sliced boiled eggs is often employed with this vegetable. LETTUCE AND RADISHES.