Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Beat three table-spoonfuls of butter to a cream, and then add one table-spoonful of lemon juice, one of chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Beat these ingredients into the butter, and it will be ready for use. It is nice to spread upon fried or broiled fish, and also over potato balls. When intended for the latter, however, half a table-spoonful of lemon juice will be enough. * Mint Sauce. After rinsing some mint in cold water, place it on a board, and chop it fine with a sharp knife. Put with a quarter of a cupful of mint, half a cupful of vinegar and one teaspoonful of sugar. The sauce should stand at least ten minutes before it is used. * Cranberry Sauce. Pick over and wash a quart of cranberries, and after putting them into a stew-pan with a scant pint of water, and pouring a pint of sugar over them, cook for twenty minutes, stirring often. Rinse a mould with cold water, and pour the stewed cranberries into it. Set away to cool and harden. * Cranberry Jelly. Pick over and wash a quart of cranberries. Put the fruit into a stew-pan, — either porcelain-lined or graniteware, — and add half a pint of water and a pint of sugar. Heat quickly to the boiling-point ; then stir well, pressing the berries to the sides of the stew-pan to crush them. Cook for twelve minutes from the time they begin to boil. Rinse a mould in cold water, and at the end of the twelve minutes press the mixture through a strainer. Put it into the mould immediately, and set away to harden. As soon as it becomes cold it will be firm. In the past, housekeepers have been rather neglectful of opportunities offered by vegetables to vary the family fare, but now-a-days, happily, they give considerable attention to the subject. The cooking of vegetables calls for the same skill and taste that are employed in making a delicate dessert. Perfect cleanliness, cooking the vegetable only until it is tender, and serving it with salt and sweet butter or a delicate sauce, are the things necessary to secure perfection. During the fall and summer all kinds of vegetables should be abundant in every part of the country ; but for many reasons vegetables often are scarce and poor where they should be plentiful and good. Every farmer should set apart a plat of his warmest and richest land for a kitchen garden, and every farmer's wife and daughter should know when vegetables are at their best, and also how to cook them in the best manner. Neglect to Gather Vegetables soon Enough. One of the great mistakes which American gardeners make consists of allowing green vegetables to grow too large and rank before gathering them. Turnips, carrots, beets, radishes, etc., should be gathered while they are small and delicate in flavor. String beans should not be picked after the seed begins to form in the pod, or they will be found tough and not very digestible when cooked. Pick green peas before they are fully grown. When allowed to grow to a large size, they acquire a strong flavor and become less digestible. Of course, such varieties as the marrowfats and champions will be both large and tender. Sweet corn should have the ears just filled, but the kernels should be tender and juicy.