186 
Keep summer radishes cold in ice box in water until 
you are ready to use them 
of frost. They can be left in the ground 
all winter. 
PREPARATION FOR THE TABLE 
All vegetables should be put into boiling 
water to cook, whether they grow under 
or above the ground. If you want to boil 
a piece of meat, you do not put it into 
cold water, you put it into boiling water 
to seal up the outside and retain the 
juices in the meat. On the other hand if 
you wish to draw out the juices for soups, 
etc., you put the meat into cold water. The 
same principle holds good for vegetables. 
If you wish to use them for soups draw out 
the goodness by putting into cold water, 
but if you want to serve the vegetables as 
a dish, put them into boiling water. 
~New potatoes if unpeeled, however, are 
first put into cold water to draw the solanine 
out of the skin. Boil for ten minutes, 
quickly peel off the skin, and put into 
boiling water to finishing cooking. Some 
people actually advise using the water 
vegetables are boiled in as a foundation 
for soups, even if they are put into boiling 
water to cook, because ‘‘there is so much 
of the goodness of the vegetable in the 
water.” If that is so, why not draw out 
more of it by putting into cold water! Try 
with beets, put them into cold water, boil 
them, now see the color of the water, a 
beautiful deep red. Now examine the 
beets, a whitish, stringy, and_ tasteless 
vegetable. The beet is a good illustration 
as it shows the result so well, but all other 
vegetables are effected the same way. 
Beets, carrots, and parsnips all contain 
sugar, which substance is extracted from 
them by putting into cold water and bringing 
to the boil. The result is an insipid, flavor- 
less vegetable entirely different from the 
properly cooked article. For this reason, 
also, these vegetables should not be peeled 
Cut inside the ring where- the 
woody fibre ends 
Peel a turnip thickly. 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
before cooking, except carrots when used 
for flavoring. The skin then must be 
scraped, not peeled off, as it is very thin, 
and in a new carrot merely needs rubbing, 
to peel it. 
STEAMING THE BEST WAY 
All vegetables that can be boiled can be 
steamed, and, in my opinion, that is the 
best method of cooking. The things are 
not plunged into the water at all. The 
steamer is placed on top of a saucepan of 
boiling water. All the juices and flavor are 
retained in the vegetable, and there is not 
the possibility of overcooking which so fre- 
quently spoils an otherwise perfect vegetable. 
Put beets, parsnips, carrots, celeriac, kohl- 
rabi in the steamer unpeeled and the flavor 
and tenderness of these vegetables will be 
found unsurpassed by any other method 
of cooking. 
Turnips have a thick, woody skin which 
must be removed. ‘There is a line running 
all around the turnip showing clearly where 
to peel. This skin is indigestible, and 
The Jerusalem artichoKe, often said to be fit food 
only for cattle, costs twenty-five cents a quart in wins 
ter at fancy grocery stores in New York 
when turnips are mashed it will remain in 
lumps. 
QUANTITIES TO STORE 
In making your plans for the storage of 
your roots for the winter try to so manage 
that you have a sufficient supply for six 
months. Do not have to go -on ‘‘short 
commons” or without any for two or three 
weeks in the spring while waiting for the 
fresh crop to mature. Better have too 
many than too few. The quantities given 
below are intended for a family of four, 
allowing storage for six months. 
In making these calculations medium- 
sized specimens only are taken as the basis. 
Large ones are not recommended. They 
are clumsy to handle and not economical] 
in cooking. 
Potatoes are a staple article of food and 
are used every day, of course, sometimes 
twice a day, and are often needed in cookery 
otherwise than as a plain dish. Two and 
a half barrels of them would probably be 
sufficient. 
Turnips and carrots will be required, say, 
twice a week on the average as a separate 
dish. But they are essentially flavoring 
NOVEMBER, 1906 
Keep potatoes dark or they will sprout 
vegetables, and, therefore, are in continual 
demand, in small quantities, for soups, 
stews, and the flavoring of gravies and 
sauces. On this account I have calculated 
as though there are three full dishes a week, 
the small amounts used as flavoring being 
counted as equivalent to one full dish. I 
should store one and a half barrels of each 
of these roots. 
Beets and radishes are not used so fre- 
quently as the former vegetables. They 
have distinct flavors of their own that do 
not blend with others. They are served 
principally alone, and also in salads. One 
barrel of each would, I think, be sufficient. 
Last on the list come the rarer vegetables, 
parsnips, kohlrabi, salsify, and celeriac. One 
dish of these a week is about all any one 
would care to have. The parsnip can 
hardly be called a rare vegetable, but is 
such’a peculiarly flavored one that it is only 
liked now and then as a change. About 
two bushels of each of these roots will supply 
the table for the whole six months. In 
winter roots supply the place in a great 
measure of the more delicate summer vege- 
tables. Their flavor is more pronounced 
than such vegetables as peas, beans, or 
cauliflower, and they are more suited for 
use in winter cookery, such as thick soups 
and made dishes. 
Salsify is sometimes called oyster plant, 
as the flavor of the plant when fried close- 
ly resembles that of the oyster. When 
properly prepared for the table, it is a 
most dainty and palatable dish. It can 
be simply boiled after being scraped, washed 
and blanched, and when tender, served on 
buttered toast, with a good drawn butter 
sauce poured over, or, after boiling, mash, 
and make into small cakes and fry. 
Scorzonera much resembles salsify, both 
in flavor and appearance, and the roots are 
prepared and eaten exactly the same way. 
Buy horse radish roots, have them ground, and do 
your own bottling. Keep tightly corked 
