The housekeeper's companion

Potato Puff. — Stir two cupfuls of mashed potatoes, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter and some salt to a light, fine and creamy condition; then add two eggs, well beaten (separately) and six tablespoonfuls of cream; beat it all well and lightly together; pile it in a rocky form on a dish; bake it in a quick oven until nicely colored; it will puff up quite light Creaming Potatoes. — Slice cold boiled potatoes very thin, have ready a saucepan of boiling milk, in which place the potatoes, with salt, a good sized piece of butter, and while boiling, thicken w;ith flour, mixed with water, stirring until delicate and creamy; when ready dish for the table. The goodness of this dish depends much upon catering, just when ready; ten minutes being sufficient to prepare it. Oyster Plant. — Scrape the root, dropping each into cold water as soon as cleaned. Exposure to the air blackens them. Cut in pieces an inch long, put into a saucepan with hot water to cover them, and stew until tender. Turn off the water and add soup stock enough to cover them. Stew ten minutes after this begins to boil; put in a great lump of butter cut into bits and rolled in flour. Boil up once, and serve. Fried Salsify or Mock Oysters. — Scrape the roots thoroughly and lay in cold water ten or fifteen minutes. Boil whole until tender, and, when cold, mash with a wooden spoon to a smooth paste, picking out all the fibers. Moisten with a little milk, add a tablespoonful of butter, and an egg and a half for every cupful of salsify. Beat the egg light. Make into round cakes, dredge with flour and fry brown. Cooking Carrots. — Cut the carrots in small pieces and stew in a little water until tender; pour off what water is left; put in milk enough to make a sauce, and a good lump of butter rolled in flour; boil up again altogether, having added salt and pepper to taste. Celery is excellent prepared in the same way. Potato Fritters. — Mash and rub through a colander six good boiled potatoes; add a little salt, two tablespoonfuls of flour, one egg and the yolks of two others; beat the reserved whites to a stiff froth and stir it into the other ingredients, after they are well mixed; have ready a spider of hot lard, and drop by the spoonful, and boil as other fritters. This is a delicious breakfast dish. Mashed Potatoes. — Potatoes are not good for mashing until they are full grown; peel them and lay them in water for an hour or more before boiling, for mashing. Old potatoes, when unfit for plain boiling, may be served mashed; cut out all imperfections, take off all the skin and lay them in cold water for one hour or more; then put them into a dinner pot or stewpan, with a teaspoonful of salt, cover the stewpan and let them boil for half an hour unless they are large, when three-quarters of an hour will be required; when they are done, take them up with a skimmer into a wooden bowl or tray, and mash them fine with a potato-beetle; melt a piece of butter the size of a large egg into half a pint of hot milk, mix it with the mashed potatoes until it is thoroughly incorporated, and a smooth mass; then put it in a deep dish, smooth the top over, and mark it neatly with a knife; put pepper over and serve. The quantity of milk used must be in proportion to the quantity of potatoes.