In summer, when garden products are fresh, sorrel, borage, and burnet should be prepared for the table just the same as lettuce. Two, three, or more of the salads may be combined, and seasoned with French dressing. For example, to each head of lettuce put a few leaves of sorrel, two sprigs of chervil, a few sprigs of tarragon, and a teaspoonful of chopped chives mixed with one table-spoonful of vinegar, three of oil, half a teaspoonful of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Or borage may be substituted for the head of lettuce ; or any one of the three, sorrel, borage, or lettuce, may be used with a single herb and the dressing. There are numerous salads besides these, but enough have been mentioned to enable a housekeeper of ordinary ability to give a pleasing variety to her bills of fare. All the vegetables, herbs, and salads named can be found in large markets during May and June, and they will be delicate, having come chiefly from hot-beds. A city housekeeper who knows what she wants, and has the ABOUT FOOD. 103 money to get supplies, will meet with no difficulty in an attempt to make frequent changes of dishes; but she who lives out of the city, and cannot readily obtain the variety desired, should have a little garden of her own. The seeds, roots, or bulbs for this garden can be bought of any reliable seedsman. Alfred Bridgeman, No. 37 East Nineteenth Street, New York City, keeps all these seeds. Tarragon is a perennial, and is rarely raised from the seed. Get two or three roots. Pli\nt them in April or May, in a rather dry, sheltered place. In the fall, cover them with straw to protect the roots. Chives are grown from small bulbs. Plant the bulbs a few inches apart. Let this bed be long and narrow. Begin cutting at one end of the bed, and continue to the other. end. By the time it is reached the plants that were cut first will be ready to yield another crop. Take up some of the bulbs, in the fall, for winter use. Plant them in small boxes at various times through the winter, and you will have the green relish during the cold sea- son. Cover the out-door bed with straw, and the chives will come up early in the spring. A bed of chives prop- erly worked and fertilized will last for several years. Borage is grown from seed, and must be planted twice during the season, in April or May, and again in July or August. Burnet is raised from seed. It has a flavor a little like cucumbers. Sorrel is grown from seed. It is perennial, and a bed will last for years if properly cared for. When the flower buds appear they should be cut off, that the leaves of the sorrel shall grow large and tender. In the fall take up a dozen roots of parsley and plant them in a box, keeping it in a sunny window. It will pay. 104 MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. SOUPS. To be a maker of good soups one must not only have skill and patience, but also must use good materials. There seems to be a rather general impression that soups should be made from almost nothing. This is a great error. To be sure, one often is served with a plate of liquid called soup, which, so far as nutrition and flavor are concerned, might as well have been made of nothing but water, a little coloring, and some salt and pepper. But such soups ought never to be put upon the table.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

In summer, when garden products are fresh, sorrel, borage, and burnet should be prepared for the table just the same as lettuce. Two, three, or more of the salads may be combined, and seasoned with French dressing. For example, to each head of lettuce put a few leaves of sorrel, two sprigs of chervil, a few sprigs of tarragon, and a teaspoonful of chopped chives mixed with one table-spoonful of vinegar, three of oil, half a teaspoonful of salt, and one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper. Or borage may be substituted for the head of lettuce ; or any one of the three, sorrel, borage, or lettuce, may be used with a single herb and the dressing. There are numerous salads besides these, but enough have been mentioned to enable a housekeeper of ordinary ability to give a pleasing variety to her bills of fare. All the vegetables, herbs, and salads named can be found in large markets during May and June, and they will be delicate, having come chiefly from hot-beds. A city housekeeper who knows what she wants, and has the money to get supplies, will meet with no difficulty in an attempt to make frequent changes of dishes; but she who lives out of the city, and cannot readily obtain the variety desired, should have a little garden of her own. The seeds, roots, or bulbs for this garden can be bought of any reliable seedsman. Alfred Bridgeman, No. 37 East Nineteenth Street, New York City, keeps all these seeds. TTarragon is a perennial, and is rarely raised from the seed. Get two or three roots. Plant them in April or May, in a rather dry, sheltered place. In the fall, cover them with straw to protect the roots. Chives are grown from small bulbs. Plant the bulbs a few inches apart. Let this bed be long and narrow. Begin cutting at one end of the bed, and continue to the other end. By the time it is reached the plants that were cut first will be ready to yield another crop. Take up some of the bulbs, in the fall, for winter use. Plant them in small boxes at various times through the winter, and you will have the green relish during the cold season. Cover the out-door bed with straw, and the chives will come up early in the spring. A bed of chives properly worked and fertilized will last for several years. Borage is grown from seed, and must be planted twice during the season, in April or May, and again in July or August. Burnet is raised from seed. It has a flavor a little like cucumbers. Sorrel is grown from seed. It is perennial, and a bed will last for years if properly cared for. When the flower buds appear they should be cut off, that the leaves of the sorrel shall grow large and tender. In the fall take up a dozen roots of parsley and plant them in a box, keeping it in a sunny window. It will pay. To be a maker of good soups one must not only have skill and patience, but also must use good materials. There seems to be a rather general impression that soups should be made from almost nothing. This is a great error. To be sure, one often is served with a plate of liquid called soup, which, so far as nutrition and flavor are concerned, might as well have been made of nothing but water, a little coloring, and some salt and pepper. But such soups ought never to be put upon the table.

Miss Parloa's kitchen companion