The white ribbon cook book

them whole; cut them in slices the thickness of a cent. Butter a dish previously rubbed with a shallot; arrange the slices on it, strew over them some baked bread-crumbs, seasoned with pepper, salt and a little powdered thyme, add a squeeze of lemon, put a few pieces of butter on the top, and bake for ten or fifteen minutes. Pumpkin (Stewed) — Halve, remove the seed, pare and slice neatly. Soak for an hour in cold ■v^ater; then place in a saucepan of boiling water on the fire. Allow it to stew gently until it falls to pieces. Stir often. Then take it out, drain, squeeze, and rub through a colander, then put it back in the saucepan, adding two dessertspoonfuls of butter, pepper and salt to taste. Stir quickly, and when nearly boiling dish, adding more pepper if required. Pumpkin (Baked) — Cut the pumpkin into quarters; remove seeds, cut into slices lengthwise about half an inch thick. Place in a baking- 118 WJiite Ribbon Cook Book. dish suitable for the purpose and arrange in layers about three slices deep. Put a very little water in the bottom of the dish and bake very slowly until done (the water must have evaporated). It takes a long time to bake. Butter the slices on both sides and dish. SALADS. ANY cold vegetable can be made into salad. I wonder that any one eats asparagus hot, it is so good cold. Scrape it thoroughly, boil till soft (about thirty -five minutes), lay away carefully till cold, then make French or mayonnaise dressing and pour over. In making tomato salad scald the tomatoes first, then plunge in cold water, and the skins will come off easily. Set on the ice till cold, slice with a sharp knife, set the slices back upon each other so that each tomato shall retain its shape. Avoid breaking the lettuce leaves, and see that they are perfectly drained. Arrange the lettuce prettily in a glass dish, and set the vegetable that accompanies it in the center. Never add the dressing till it comes to the table. Sliced bananas or oranges with lettuce and mayonnaise dressing are delicious. The former are, however, a trifle rich for any one whose digestion is only moderately reliable. In making cucumber salad, if the cucumbers are quite young, cut up one with the rind on. The peculiar slight bitter taste is very welcome to the palate of an epicure. Cucumbers should always lie in very salt ice water for a while to make them crisp and should not be seasoned until the last minute. Flabby cucumbers are as mean as cold batter-cakes. Lettuce Salad (1) — Take 4 or 5 heads of cabbage lettuce, remove all outside leaves and cut off the stalks close; then cut each head apart into 4 or 5 "quarters," that is, cut through the stalk and then tear the rest. Put 4 tablespoonfuls 120 White Ribbon Cook Book. olive oil into the salad bowl, with 2}^ tablespoonfuls tarragon vinegar, pepper and salt according to taste, and beat the mixture with a fork some minutes; then put in the lettuce and keep it turning over swiftly for 5 minutes, adding a small pinch of mint, chopped as finely as possible.