The economical cook book

Four or six full-grown large cucumbers, wash them clean, cut a round piece out of the side, scoop out all the seeds from the centre, making a hole through the cucumber about an inch in diameter; make a filling of nearly a pint of fine bread crumbs, a teaspoonftd of sweet marjoram, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, an onion chopped very fine, pepper and salt, butter the size of an egg melted and poured over, and the yolk of an egg ; mix all well together, fill the cucumbers, place the piece you cul out back again in its place ; tie them round with soft cord, lay them side by side in a small baking-pan, each on a slice of bacon, dust them with pepper, salt and flour ; put round them half a cup of cold water, and bake them about half an hour in a quick oven, basting them occasionally ; when done, serve them on a small meat-dish side by side, each on its piece of bacon ; dust some flour in the pan, add a tablespoonful of tomato catsup and one of water boil up and pour over the cucumbers. * Egg-plant Fried. Slice the egg-plant a quarter of ao inch in thickness, lay it im a pan of cold water, with a teacup of salt in it, for one hour ; take it out and wipe each piece quite dry, dip it in beaten yolk of egg and cover with cracker dust, seasoned with pepper only, and fry in hot lard a nice brown. * Baked Egg-plaat Pare the egg-plant, cut it in four quarters, and boil until tender in water without salt; when soft enough to mash, drain off the water, mash it perfectly smooth with a potato-masher, add to it a piece of butter the size of a walnut, salt and pepper ; butter a small baking-dish, put the egg-plant in it, cover the top with fine crumbs of bread, put little pieces of butter over the crumbs and dust some pepper and salt ; bake about half an hour in a hot oven. This is a delicious dish. * Squashes. Young squashes do not require peeling; cut them in about four pieces, and boil in water with a little salt until tender (from half to three-quarters of an hour) ; drain them, press them between two wooden trenchers or plates until you can squeeze out no more water; throw them back into the vessel they were boiled in, mash them with a potato-masher, add a good piece of butter, pepper and salt, keeping them hot on the range, and serve in a covered dish. * Parsnips. Scrape and wash them, split them down through the middle— if large, in quarters ; boil them in water with a little salt ; when tender, drain than, put them in a v^etable dish and pour over them drawn butter made with milk. * Parsnips Fried. Scrape and wash them, and boil them whole until tender } when cold, cut them in slices lengthwise half an inch in thickness ; put in a pan a mixture of two-thirds molasses and one third water (a cup of molasses and half a cup of water), make it hot, lay the parsnips in and brown them, turning them over VE0ETABLE8. 137 when one ride is done; they will absorb all the molasses and water by the time they are all browned; serve them dry. ^ *Beets. Beets in summer-time will take very much less time than they will in the winter, when they become dry and tough. For summer beets : wash them elean, and boil them until tender (from half an hour to three-quarters), skin them — if large, sliee them; if quite small, split them in half, and put them in a covered vegetable dish, with plenty of butter, salt and pepper, or you may make a drawn butter with milk and pour over them. Winter beets require a long time to cook — two or three hours, aeeording to their size. Serve them with butter, pepper and salt * Mushrooms. It is to be supposed you have the right kind before you go so far as to cook them. Peel the skin from the tops, out off the tough end of the stem, wash them clean, take them from the water, drain them a minute, and put them in a stew-pan, with