Every-day dishes and every-day work

Lettuce. — Wash each leaf separately, put into cold water, and set on ice or on the cellar bottom for an hour or more before using. Dry the leaves with a soft towel, and use whole or tear into convenient pieces with a silver fork ; never cut with a knife. Serve with a dressing prepared of equal quantities of lemon juice and sugar, diluted with a little ice-water ; or with a dressing of cream and sugar, in the proportion of three or four tablespoonfuls of thin cream to a teaspoonful of sugar. The dressing may be prepared, and after the sugar is dissolved, a very little lemon juice (just enough to thicken the cream slightly, but not sufficient to curdle it) may be added, if desired. Lettuce Salad with Tomato Dressing. — Prepare the lettuce as previously directed, and serve with a dressing of strained, stewed tomato and lemon juice, in the proportion of one tablespoonful of lemon juice to one small cup of tomato, with salt to season. A garnish of the chopped or grated yolks of hard-boiled eggs makes a pleasing addition. Radishes. — Wash thoroughly young and tender radishes, and arrange in a glass dish with the taper ends meeting. Scatter bits of cracked ice among them. An inch of the stem, if left on, serves as a convenience in handling. SQUASH. Mashed Summer Squash.— Wash, peel, remove seeds, and steam until tender. Place the squash in a clean cloth, mash thoroughly, squeeze until the squash is quite dry, or rub through a fine colander, and afterward simmer until nearly dry ; season with cream, and a little salt if desired, and heat again before serving. A teaspoonful of sugar may be added with the cream, if desired. Summer Squash with Egg Sauce. — Prepare, steam till tender, cut into pieces, and serve with an egg sauce as directed for asparagus, page 88. Stewed Summer Squash.— Prepare, cut into pieces, and stew until tender in a small quantity of boiling water ; drain, pressing out all the water ; serve on toast with cream or white sauce. Or, divide in quarters, remove the seeds, cook in a double boiler, in its own juices, which when done may be thickened with a little flour. Season with salt if desired, and serve hot. Baked Squash. — The hard-shell varieties are best for baking. Wash, divide, and lay, shells downward, on the top grate of the oven, or place in a shallow baking-dish with a little boiling water. Bake until tender, serve in the shell, or scrape out the soft part, mash, and serve with two large tablespoonfuls of cream to a pint of squash. If preferred, the shells may be removed before baking, and the squash served the same as sweet potato, for which it makes a good substitute. Steamed Squash. — Prepare the squash, and steam until tender. Mash and season as for baked squash. TOMATOES. Scalloped Tomatoes. — Take a pint of stewed tomatoes, which have been rubbed through a colander, thicken with one and onefourth cups of lightly picked crumbs of graham or whole-wheat bread, or a sufficient quantity to make it quite thick; add salt if desired, and a half cup of sweet cream ; mix well, and bake for twenty minutes. Or, fill a pudding-dish with alternate layers of peeled and sliced tomatoes and bread crumbs, letting the topmost layer be of tomatoes. Cover, and bake in a moderate oven for an hour or longer, according to depth. Uncover, and brown for ten or fifteen minutes.