Potatoes boiled and mashed while hot, are good to use in making short cakes and puddings; they save flour, and less shortening is necessary.

It is said that a bit of unslacked lime, about as big as a robin’s egg, thrown among old, watery potatoes, while they are boiling, will tend to make them mealy.  I never saw the experiment tried.

Asparagus should be boiled fifteen or twenty minutes; half an hour, if old.

Green peas should be boiled from twenty minutes to sixty, according to their age; string beans the same.  Corn should be boiled from twenty minutes to forty, according to age; dandelions half an hour, or three quarters, according to age.  Dandelions are very much improved by cultivation.  If cut off, without injuring the root, they will spring up again, fresh and tender, till late in the season.

Beet-tops should be boiled twenty minutes; and spinage three or four minutes.  Put in no green vegetables till the water boils, if you would keep all their sweetness.

When green peas have become old and yellow, they may be made tender and green by sprinkling in a pinch or two of pearlash, while they are boiling.  Pearlash has the same effect upon all summer vegetables, rendered tough by being too old.  If your well-water is very hard, it is always an advantage to use a little pearlash in cooking.

Tomatoes should be skinned by pouring boiling water over them.  After they are skinned, they should be stewed half an hour, in tin, with a little salt, a small bit of butter, and a spoonful of water, to keep them from burning.  This is a delicious vegetable.  It is easily cultivated, and yields a most abundant crop.  Some people pluck them green, and pickle them.

The best sort of catsup is made from tomatoes.  The vegetables should be squeezed up in the hand, salt put to them, and set by for twenty-four hours.  After being passed through a sieve, cloves, allspice, pepper, mace, garlic, and whole mustard-seed should be added.  It should be boiled down one third, and bottled after it is cool.  No liquid is necessary, as the tomatoes are very juicy.  A good deal of salt and spice is necessary to keep the catsup well.  It is delicious with roast meat; and a cupful adds much to the richness of soup and chowder.  The garlic should be taken out before it is bottled.

Celery should be kept in the cellar, the roots covered with tan, to keep them moist.

Green squashes that are turning yellow, and striped squashes, are more uniformly sweet and mealy than any other kind.

If the tops of lettuce be cut off when it is becoming too old for use, it will grow up again fresh and tender, and may thus be kept good through the summer.

It is a good plan to boil onions in milk and water; it diminishes the strong taste of that vegetable.  It is an excellent way of serving up onions, to chop them after they are boiled, and put them in a stewpan, with a little milk, butter, salt, and pepper, and let them stew about fifteen minutes.  This gives them a fine flavor, and they can be served up very hot.