Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

for even ten minutes, and it would be spoiled. The potato is composed largely of starch. The uncooked starch does not unite with moisture, but as soon as it is cooked it absorbs moisture like a sponge. A good potato will be light and mealy as soon as it is baked or boiled, but if the cooking be continued it will become dark, heavy, and strong-flavored. In warming over potatoes, or in using them in a salad, there is an objection to a very mealy potato. When potatoes are new they are rarely mealy, and are therefore particularly nice for salads and for warming over. German potatoes are sold in large cities for these purposes. They are small, and, like a new potato, will not crumble if cut into cubes or in slices. If one have neither new nor German potatoes, mealy potatoes may be used for the purposes mentioned, if they be under-boiled. * Boiling Potatoes. There are many ways of boiling the vegetable. It really makes no difference in the quality of the potato whether it be put into cold or boiling water, when it is put on to cook, but it does make a little difference in the care to the cook. If they be covered with boiling water they can be timed to a minute, and there will be no care except to put in the salt and to take them off as soon as the time is up. If, however, they be put on in cold water, it will not be possible to time them accurately. Again, a potato may be so mealy that the outside will be broken to pieces before the centre is cooked. This happens only when the boiling is violent. Here is a rule that has never failed to give a perfectly cooked potato in all seasons and in all parts of the country : Put the potatoes in the boiler and on the fire. Cover them with boiling water. Cover the boiler, and let them cook half an hour. Eemember it is half an hour from the time the water is poured over them, not from the time they begin to boil. When they have been cooking fifteen minutes, add a table-spoonful of salt for every twelve potatoes. The boiling should be only moderately brisk. At the end of half an hour pour off every drop of water. If the potatoes must be kept hot for any length of time, lay a folded towel over them, and place the boiler on the back part of the stove. They will keep hot and mealy for hours, if cared for in this way. * Princess Potatoes. Cooked by the following simple mode, potatoes are rendered delicate and delicious. A quantity of cold mashed ones should be used. Cut into strips about two inches long, one inch wide, and half an inch thick. Have in one saucer a table-spoonful of melted butter, and in another a beaten egg, and dip the strips of potato first into the butter and then into the egg. With a knife, lay them in a light!}7 buttered tin pan, and cook in a hot oven for twelve minutes. Serve at once. An egg and a tablespoonful 'of butter will suffice for about a pint of potatoes. Duchess Potatoes.