Potatoes to be pared should be first washed and dried.  It is a good plan to wash quite a quantity at one time, to be used as needed.  After paring, drop at once into cold water and rinse them thoroughly.  It is a careless habit to allow pared potatoes to fall among the skins, as in this way they become stained, and appear black and discolored after cooking.  Scrubbing with a vegetable brush is by far the best means for cleaning potatoes to be cooked with the skins on.

When boiled in their skins, the waste, according to Letheby, is about three per cent, while without them it is not less than fourteen per cent, or more than two ounces in every pound.  Potatoes boiled without skins should be cooked very gently.

Steaming, roasting, and baking are much better methods for cooking potatoes than boiling, for reasons already given.  Very old potatoes are best stewed or mashed.  When withered or wilted, they are freshened by standing in cold water for an hour or so before cooking.  If diseased or badly sprouted, potatoes are wholly unfit for food.

RECIPES.

BOILED POTATOES (IN JACKETS).—­Choose potatoes of uniform size, free from specks.  Wash and scrub them well with a coarse cloth or brush; dig out all eyes and rinse in cold water; cook in just enough water to prevent burning, till easily pierced with a fork, not till they have burst the skin and fallen in pieces.  Drain thoroughly, take out the potatoes, and place them in the oven for five minutes, or place the kettle back on the range; remove the skins, and cover with a cloth to absorb all moisture, and let them steam three or four minutes.  By either method they will be dry and mealy.  In removing the skins, draw them off without cutting the potatoes.

BOILED POTATOES (WITHOUT SKINS).—­Pare very thin, and wash clean.  If not of an equal size, cut the larger potatoes in two.  Cook in only sufficient water to prevent burning until a fork will easily pierce their center; drain thoroughly, place the kettle back on the range, cover with a cloth to absorb the moisture, and let them dry four or five minutes.  Shake the kettle several times while they are drying, to make them floury.

STEAMED POTATOES.—­Potatoes may be steamed either with or without the skin.  Only mature potatoes can be steamed.  Prepare as for boiling; place in a steamer, over boiling water, and steam until tender.  If water is needed to replenish, let it always be boiling hot, and not allow the potatoes to stop steaming, or they will be watery.  When done, uncover, remove the potatoes to the oven, and let them dry a few minutes.  If peeled before steaming, shake the steamer occasionally, to make them floury.

ROASTED POTATOES.—­Potatoes are much more rich and mealy roasted than cooked in any other way.  Wash them very carefully, dry with a cloth, and wrap in tissue paper; bury in ashes not too hot, then cover with coals and roast until tender.  The coals will need renewing occasionally, unless the roasting is done very close to the main fire.