Virginia Cookery-book

Wash in cold water; then soak twelve hours in tepid soft water ; then boil slowly from three to six hours in the same water, more being added from time to time, to prevent burning. Do not salt while cooking, as either that or hard water will harden the corn, as is true also of rice, peas, or beans in their green or dry state. When you have hominy left from dinner it may be saved and fried for breakfast next morning. 60 VIRGINIA COOKERY-BOOK. Macaboni. Italian macaroni is far superior in quality to what is manufactured either in France or this country, and costs little more, as it swells greatly in cooking. Half a pound will fill a half -gallon dish full. Baking is the best way of preparing it. Throw your macaroni, broken into tolerably short pieces, in boiling water, allowing it plenty of room to swell, and let it cook for twenty-five minutes; when perfectly tender take it from the water and let it drain through a colander; then put a layer of it in the bottom of a baking-dish ; dot it over with bits of butter, adding grated cheese, Cayenne pepper, and salt; put another layer of macaroni, etc., until the dish is filled ; pour in a teacupful of sweet milk; allow a quarter of a pound of butter to the dish ; finish by grating cheese over the top ; place the dish in the stove, and let it bake for about half an hour, or until nicely browned. Do not let it dry up too much by delay in serving. Although baked macaroni is the choice way of cooking, it may not always be convenient to have it done so, when stewing will answer very well. Follow the first part of the directions given above, in case you wish to stew it, only instead of draining pour off the water till nearly dry ; then add a gill of sweet milk or cream, flavor with grated cheese, salt, and Cayenne pepper, and serve simply in a covered vegetabledish. Okra. This vegetable grows well in Virginia, if not so luxuriantly as farther South, and yet is rarely used save in soup. It is regarded as indispensable in many families to their daily dish of tomato soup, and for this purpose alone is well worth cultivating. It should be gathered when the pods are so tender as to have no hardness about them, when they must be sliced thin, and at least a pint allowed to a tureen ; it should be put in an hour before dinner-time. We append a recipe for cooking okra as a vegetable, given by Miss M. E. W—, of Selma, Ala.: Put the young and tender pods of long, white okra in salted boiling water, in a porcelain or tin-lined saucepan (as iron discolors it) ; boil fifteen minutes ; take off stems, and serve with butter, pepper, salt, and vinegar, if preferred ; or, after boiling, slice in rings, season with butter, dip in batter, and fry ; season and serve. Or stew an equal quantity of tomatoes and tender-sliced okra with one or two sliced green peppers, in a porcelain kettle, fifteen or twenty minutes; season with butter, pepper, and salt, and serve. Onions. In the early spring large bulbs of the white, silverskinned onions not only make a very pretty dish, but are thought to possess valuable medicinal qualities. Cut off the stem-leaves, not too close, and after washing clean and peeling drop into cold water and boil ten minutes ; pour off this water ; add fresh cold water, and boil again the same length of time ; pour off again, and to the third water add a pint of milk, and boil for an hour. When ready to dish, thicken a little of the milk-and-water in which the onions have been boiled with a teaspoonful of fiour and a small piece of butter; add a little salt, and, if you like it, sprinkle a little black pepper on top. Onions à la Crème.