FEBRUARY 



25 



reminding, no English gardener thinks of it at all, though 

 it is in aU the seed catalogues. As it is an annual, with- 

 out sowing you naturally don't get it ; and if sown too late, 

 it is bound to fail. In very dry weather we have to water 

 it at first. 



If Beetroot is carelessly dug up and the roots broken, 

 they bleed, which causes them to come to the table pale 

 and tasteless. This is the fault of the gardener, not of the 

 cook. Some English cooks boil them in vinegar ; this 

 hardens them, and makes them unwholesome. They are 

 much better slowly baked in an oven, and not boiled at aU. 

 The poor Beetroot is often considered unwholesome, but 

 if it is served with a little of the water it is boiled in, or if 

 baked with a little warm water poured over it, a squeeze 

 of lemon instead of vinegar, and a little oil added, I think 

 the accusation is unjust. Beetroot served hot and cut in 

 slices, with a white Bechamel sauce {see ' Dainty Dishes '), 

 makes a very good winter vegetable. The Old English 

 dish of Beetroot sUced and laid round a soup-plate with 

 pulled Celery, mixed with a Mayonnaise sauce, built up in 

 the middle, is excellent with all roast meats. At all the 

 best Italian grocers' in London they sell a dried Green 

 Pea from Italy, which makes a pretty pur6e both as a 

 vegetable and as a soup in winter, especially if coloured 

 with a very little fresh Spiuach, not the colouring sold by 

 grocers. The Peas must be soaked aU night, then well 

 boiled, rubbed smooth through a sieve, and a Uttle cream 

 and butter added. A nicer winter vegetable cannot be. 

 It is reaUy made exactly like the old pease-pudding served 

 with pork, only not nearly so dry. 



Imantophilums are one of the most effective and 

 beautiful of our greenhouse plants at this time of the year, 

 and last very well in water. We kept ours out of doors 

 in an open pit aU through last summer. As they threw 

 up several flower-spikes, which we picked off, we feared 



