The housekeeper's companion

Mashed potatoes may be heaped on a flat dish; make it in a crown or pineapple; stick a sprig of green celery or parsley in the top; or, first brown it before the fire or in an oven. Mashed potatoes may be made a highly ornamental dish; after shaping it as taste may direct, trim the edge of the plate with a wreath of green celery leaves or parsley; or first brown the outside before the fire or in an oven. Hashed Potatoes. — Peel and chop some cold boiled potatoes, put them into a stewpan with a very little milk or water to moisten them, put to them a small bit of butter and pepper and salt to taste, cover the stewpan close, and set it over a gentle fire for ten or fifteen minutes; stir them once or twice whilst cooking. Serve hot for breakfast. Sweet, or Carolina Potatoes. — The best sweet potatoes are from the Southern States; those raised in New Jersey are not nearly as sweet as those from the South. The best manner of serving sweet potatoes is roasted or baked. To Bake Sweet Potatoes. — Wash them perfectly clean, wipe them dry, and bake in a quick oven, according to their size — half an hour for quite small-sized, three-quarters for larger, and a full hour for the largest. Let the oven have a good heat, and do not open it unless it is necessary to turn them, until they are done. Roasted Sweet Potatoes. — Having washed them clean and wiped them dry, roast them on a hot hearth as directed for common potatoes, or put them in a Dutch oven, or tin reflector. Roasted or baked potatoes should not be cut, but broken open and eaten from the skin, as from a shell. To Boil Sweet Potatoes. — Wash them perfectly clean, put them into a pot or stewpan, and pour boiling water over to cover them; cover the pot close, and boil for half an hour, or more if the potatoes are large; try them with a fork; when done, strain off the water, take otf the skins, and serve. Cold sweet potatoes may be cut in slices across or lengthwise, and fried or broiled as common potatoes; or they may be cut in half and served cold. Sweet potatoes are made pie of, the same as pumpkin pie. Young Turnips. — Cut off the green leaves of new turnips, leaving an inch or more of the stalk; pare them, and trim them neatly, put them into a pot of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt; cover the pot, and let them boil fast for half an hour or until perfectly tender; put butter and pepper over, and serve hot. Or serve with drawn butter over. RuTA Baga — Or large winter turnip, may be cut in quarters or slices, and boiled with meat, and served with a little butter and pepper over; or boil in water with a little salt; take off the thick outside rind, and cut them in quarters and slices, and boil them for half an hour or more, until they are soft; then drain off the water and mash them fine, add a bit of butter and pepper to taste, work them smooth, then put them into a covered dish, smooth the upper surface over, and mark it with a knife-blade in flutes, meeting in the centre, or make it in a pyramid or pineapple, and serve.