Vegetables Best if Cooked soon after Picking. It is surprising what a difference there is in the time required for cooking many vegetables which have stood a day or two after the picking, as compared with those which have come fresh from the garden. For example, peas that are picked in the early morning for use the same day can be cooked in about half the time that would be needed if the same peas were kept a day or longer. Besides, the flavor of vegetables that are cooked while fresh is much superior to that of those which have stood for some time. Ears of green corn that are just filled will, if plunged into boiling water as soon as gathered, cook in t#n minutes, or perhaps in less time ; while the same corn, if kept for one or two days, will require twice as much time for cooking, and will not be so tender and fine- flavored as if cooked at once. This is where one having a garden of her own has a great advantage of the house- keeper who is obliged to get her supplies from the market. Eating green peas and corn in the country spoils one for anything that can be bought in a city market. A piece of cooking-soda about the size of a pea will, if added to a quart of peas or beans, make them tenderer and preserve the green color. It should not be added until the vegetables are half cooked. Points to be Remembered. Some of the summer vegetables last a long time, and others only a few weeks. Gardeners obtain fresh peas and beans throughout the season by planting more than VEGETABLES. 491 one crop ; therefore housekeepers will do wisely to avoid having either so frequently at the outset as to be- come tired of them before half the summer has gone. Remember, always, that a great variety of vegetables at any meal is secondary to both freshness and perfect cooking. There is no sauce for vegetables which can rival sweet butter and a little salt. When fresh vege- tables are to be cooked the water should be boiling when they are put into it, and salt should not be added until the cooking is nearly finished. The articles should be served promptly after they have been over the fire the prescribed time, for the most delicate will become dark and strong-flavored if cooked too long. It may be well to state that freshness and flavor may be, in a measure, restored to wilted vegetables by the use of ice-water. Time was when all the Northern markets depended upon the South for most of the fresh vegetables that were sold after the frost came ; now, however, there are dealers who raise the greater part of such vegetables in hot-houses and cold frames, so that one may get tomatoes, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, spinach, lettuce, radishes, mushrooms, etc., picked fresh each day for the market. This is true, also, of the many salads, whicli are not so well known as they should be. But, after all, it is only the rich who can afford to buy the forced vegetables. The housekeeper of moderate means may, nevertheless, enjoy the pleasure of a variety, for there are vegetables in abundance and at very reasonable prices ; the only difficulty lies in their proper prepara- tion for the table.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Vegetables Best if Cooked soon after Picking. It is surprising what a difference there is in the time required for cooking many vegetables which have stood a day or two after the picking, as compared with those which have come fresh from the garden. For example, peas that are picked in the early morning for use the same day can be cooked in about half the time that would be needed if the same peas were kept a day or longer. Besides, the flavor of vegetables that are cooked while fresh is much superior to that of those which have stood for some time. Ears of green corn that are just filled will, if plunged into boiling water as soon as gathered, cook in ten minutes, or perhaps in less time ; while the same corn, if kept for one or two days, will require twice as much time for cooking, and will not be so tender and fineflavored as if cooked at once. This is where one having a garden of her own has a great advantage of the housekeeper who is obliged to get her supplies from the market. Eating green peas and corn in the country spoils one for anything that can be bought in a city market. A piece of cooking-soda about the size of a pea will, if added to a quart of peas or beans, make them tenderer and preserve the green color. It should not be added until the vegetables are half cooked. Points to be Remembered. Some of the summer vegetables last a long time, and others only a few weeks. Gardeners obtain fresh peas and beans throughout the season by planting more than one crop ; therefore housekeepers will do wisely to avoid having either so frequently at the outset as to become tired of them before half the summer has gone. Remember, always, that a great variety of vegetables at any meal is secondary to both freshness and perfect cooking. There is no sauce for vegetables which can rival sweet butter and a little salt. When fresh vegetables are to be cooked the water should be boiling when they are put into it, and salt should not be added until the cooking is nearly finished. The articles should be served promptly after they have been over the fire the prescribed time, for the most delicate will become dark and strong-flavored if cooked too long. It may be well to state that freshness and flavor may be, in a measure, restored to wilted vegetables by the use of ice-water. Time was when all the Northern markets depended upon the South for most of the fresh vegetables that were sold after the frost came ; now, however, there are dealers who raise the greater part of such vegetables in hot-houses and cold frames, so that one may get tomatoes, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, spinach, lettuce, radishes, mushrooms, etc., picked fresh each day for the market. This is true, also, of the many salads, which are not so well known as they should be. But, after all, it is only the rich who can afford to buy the forced vegetables. The housekeeper of moderate means may, nevertheless, enjoy the pleasure of a variety, for there are vegetables in abundance and at very reasonable prices ; the only difficulty lies in their proper preparation for the table.

Miss Parloa's kitchen companion