The home cook book

best for the purpose, furnishing, in addition to the acid necessary for the eniulsification and assimilation of the oil, an agreeable flavor to the dressing. A summer salad should never be dressed with any more elaborate preparation than a mixture of oil and vinegar or lemon- juice, seasoned with salt and pepper — a very simple compound ; yet, according to the Spanish proverb, requiring four persons to make it : a spendthrift to bring the oil, a miser the vinegar, a man of judgment the seasoning, and a madman to do the stirring when mixed with the salad. Very good proportions for this dressing — French dressing, it is called — are : Four tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of vinegar, half a teaspoon of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoon of white pepper. To blend these ingredients properly, that all may be incorporated, yet no peculiar flavor predominate, mix the salt and pepper ; add one tablespoon of oil ; mix well ; add half a tablespoon of vinegar; blend. Then add the remainder of the oil, a few drops at a time, alternately with the vinegar. Variety may be furnished by the addition of a little lemon-juice or a few drops of the essence of anchovy If onion flavor is liked, rub the salad bowl while empty with a garlic clove or a bit of onion. Use only a wooden spoon for salad dressings. To those who prefer tickling the palate to catering to the digestive apparatus of the inner man, this French dressing does not appeal, something more elaborate being demanded. In such homes the housewife will do well to become familiar with the following formula, for two reasons — it is a really good dressing; then, too, it will keep indefinitely in a cool place. AMERICAN BEAUTY SALAD Soak one ounce of gelatine half an hour in enough cold water to cover it. Bring to boil one slice of onion, a bay leaf, and half a teaspoon of celery seed in one pint of cold water. Add half a cup of rich stock, two tablespoons of lemon-juice, season with salt and pepper, add gelatine, and strain. Half fill individual molds with cold cooked beet. turnip, and potato cubes. Fill up with the jelly colored red with vegetable coloring. Garnish with green and serve with mayonnaise. ASPARAGUS SALAD Boil asparagus till tender, or use canned asparagus, some of which is excellent. Cut off all the hard and inedible portion, lay the asparagus in a salad bowl, having the tips all one way ; pour over a French dressing, and serve thoroughly cold, putting each individual portion on a lettuce leaf if you have the lettuce at hand. BANANA SALAD Red bananas are preferable to the yellow for all uses, and especially for this salad. Peel and cut the fruit in small pieces and, if you have it, add pineapple cut in small pieces, and also strawberries. Squeeze out and mix the juice of two oranges and one lemon, add sugar to t'aste — not enough to make it sweet — and pour over the cut bananas and other fruit., Chill and serve cold. The fruit juice is daintier if flavored with a tablespoon of wine and a teaspoon of brandy, but the everyday use of such flavorings we do not recommend. BAKED BEAN SALAD Take two cups of baked beans and put over them a mixture made of one tablespoon of vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, one tablespoon of oil, two tablespoons of minced onion and one tablespoon of chopped celery. STRING-BEAN SALAD