ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS AND FARMING. 181 



necessary to add a little more to it before taking it away 

 from the fire, as this is an essential part of the affair. 



6. SALSIFY OR OYSTER-PLANT. This vegetable is raised 

 exactly as are carrots and parsnips. Like the latter they 

 require a little frosting before their flavor is fully devel- 

 oped. 



They should be scraped and washed (but not soaked in 

 vinegar, as English cooks direct, to extract a bitter taste, 

 which they do not contain), and sliced ; sprinkle enough 

 salt upon them to season them, pour on just enough boiling 

 water to cover them ; boil till perfectly tender, which will 

 be, say fifteen minutes. Put butter and pepper to them ; 

 stir up a little flour in cream to make a thin paste and pour 

 in enough to thicken a little the water in which they were 

 boiled. Dish with or without toasted bread, as may suit 

 the taste. 



7. TOMATOES. The recipe which we gave in the Farmer 

 and Gardener has been universally copied, and, we believe, 

 has beguiled thousands to the love of tomatoes. It has 

 been introduced to cook-books under the name of " Indiana 

 Recipe for Cooking Tomatoes." 



8. ONIONS should be boiled for half an hour in salted 

 water, then drained, put into sweet milk, boiled again for 

 five or ten minutes, seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, 

 and served up. 



9. PIE-PLANT. This important vegetable among the 

 earliest, the most wholesome, and of the easiest culture 

 should be found hi every garden, and served up on every 

 table during the spring and early summer. To prepare it 

 for use, strip off the skin, slice it thin, put into a dish with 

 a few spoonfuls of boiling water, just enough to keep from 

 sticking, for its own juice will afford liquid enough after it 

 is cooked. Boil until it is perfectly tender, stirring it con- 

 stantly. If the plant is good and the fire quick, it ought 

 to be boiled in five minutes. Stir in all the sugar needed 

 while it is hi a scalding state. A little nutmeg o^ lemoi 



