MAY 



107 



they retain the moisture, and many small, low-growing 

 things feather over the stones and look very well indeed. 



May %8th. After a great deal of practice I really 

 think I have evolved a way of packing cut flowers 

 which is both economical and satisfactory. I collect all 

 the linen-draper's and milliner's cardboard boxes that I 

 possibly can ; while these remain good, my friends send 

 them back to me by parcel post. The flowers are picked 

 over-night, and put into large pans of water, keeping each 

 kind in separate bunches. In the morning they are dried, 

 and the different bunches are rolled up, fairly tightly, in 

 newspaper the great point being to exclude the air 

 entirely both from the stalks and flowers. These 

 bundles are then laid flat in the boxes ; the tighter they 

 are packed, without actually crushing them, the better 

 they travel. The lid is then put on, the box tied up 

 with string, and sent to the station in time for an early 

 train. 



When friends themselves take away the flowers, a box 

 is unnecessary, as the separate bundles can be tied up 

 together in some large sheets of newspaper. 



May 29^. An excellent fish sauce is to beat some 

 cream, and drop into it a little anchovy sauce from a 

 quite recently opened bottle. It is served cold, in a little 

 deep dish, not in a sauce-boat. 



Here is an Italian receipt for Risotto : Take a sauce- 

 pan that holds about a quart, cut up a fair-sized onion 

 into very small pieces, let it brown to a good golden colour 

 in some fresh butter. Add the rice, raw and well washed, 

 and let it cook slowly, stirring well for about five minutes. 

 Add the saffron (half a thimbleful, well pounded), pour 

 in the stock by degrees as needed by the quantity of 

 rice. When the rice is done, draw it to one side, and add 

 some grated Parmesan cheese. Stir it gently and serve 

 sprinkling some Parmesan on the top. 



