Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

If the egg is omitted, the potatoes may be more highly seasoned ; or a very little milk may replace it, but not enough to make the potatoes too moist. Cold mashed potatoes may be re-warmed by stirring them over the fire with just enough milk to soften them, and a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper ; or, made into little cakes or balls, and fried brown in hot fat; or, mixed with finely minced meat, and warmed in a frying-pan, with a palatable seasoning of salt, pepper, and butter. POTATO STRAWS. Wash a pint of potatoes, peel them very thin, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick ; put them into plenty of salted boiling water, and boil them until they are tender, which will be in about ten minutes; when the potatoes are tender, pour them into a colander with large holes, and let the water drain off; when the potatoes are quite dry, sprinkle over them a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of a saltspoonful of white pepper ; hold the colander over one end of a large platter, and press upon the potatoes with a potato-masher, moving the colander toward the other end of the dish as the potatoes are pressed through it, so that they will fall upon the dish in long rows ; continue to move the colander from one end of the platter to the other, until all the potatoes are pressed through and laid in even rows upon the dish ; then wipe the edges of the dish with a clean towel, set it in the oven for two or three minutes to heat the potatoes, and then serve them. BROWN HASHED POTATOES. Chop a pint of cold boiled potatoes in quarter-inch dice, after peeling them ; put four tablespoonfuls of drippings into a frying-pan, and let them get smoking hot ; then put in the hashed potatoes, season them with a level teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, and stir them over a hot fire until they are nicely browned ; then serve them at once. FRIED POTATOES. Have ready over the fire a frying-kettle half full of fat ; peel half a dozen medium-sized smooth potatoes; when the fat is smoking hot, slice the potatoes into it, and fry them golden brown ; when they are brown, take them from the fat with a skimmer, put them into a colander, dust them with pepper and salt, shake them up, and serve them hot. SARATOGA POTATOES. Saratoga potatoes are peeled, and sliced very thin, and soaked over night, or for several hours, in plenty of cold water; sometimes a small bit of alum is dissolved in the water to harden the potatoes ; before they are fried, they are carefully drained or dried on a towel, and then fried in plenty of smoking-hot fat, a few slices at a time, as directed in the preceding recipe. They are served either hot or cold. JULIENNE POTATOES. Peel potatoes of medium size, cut them in slices, crosswise, with a fluted vegetable knife, like the one shown in the following illustration, and then proceed to cook them like Saratoga potatoes. Serve them hot with beefsteak. FLUTED VEGETABLE KNIFE.