1883 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
41T 
potatoes may have the outer skin scraped off, or 
larger ones be peeled, and a delicious dish prepared 
thus : Boil until tender, pour off the water clean, 
and while they are steaming dry, prepare a milk 
gravy. Into each pint of boiled milk required, 
stir a little salt, and a tablespoonful each of butter 
and flour, well rubbed together. If at hand, add 
a little parsley, chopped fine. When thoroughly 
scalded, pour it over the potatoes, the larger ones 
being first cut small. Mashed potatoes, rightly 
made, are a very good dish, but in our observation, 
not over one family in live prepares them well. 
First in importance is to take out every bit of skin, 
eyes, or other discolored portions; next, to mash 
them so thoroughly that there shall be no lumps 
left. You then have a uniform substance, with no 
suggestion of dirt or of diseased spots in the 
original potato. The additions of butter, milk, or 
cream, all good, must depend upon what one has 
on hand, and the economy necessary or desirable. 
Salt, but not too much. 
Cabbages, Turnips, and Kohl-rabi, of any age, 
but especially when young, boiled tender, well 
drained,, and cut fine, are greatly improved by 
pouring over them the sauce above described. 
Green Peas and String Beans, if boiled ten¬ 
der, and drained well on a colander or sieve, are 
much improved by being scalded in milk seasoned 
with butter and the needed salt. Smooth-skinned 
peas (the unwrinkled varieties, like Marrowfats, 
Daniel O’Rourkes, etc.) are, to our taste, much 
better with the addition of a very little sugar. 
Cream, if to he had, is superior to milk, or milk 
and butter, for nearly all kinds of vegetables. J. 
Don't Spoil Eood with Salt. 
Tastes differ widely in reference to salt. One 
likes food almost as salt as brine. Another dis¬ 
likes the taste of salt greatly. To some it is almost 
poisonous in ordinary quantities, greatly disturb¬ 
ing digestion. A small quantity is usually bene¬ 
ficial as well as agreeable ; more than this is use¬ 
less, and is more or less harmful, disturbing and 
vitiating the digestive fluids, a tribute to a vitiated 
taste and habit. A little on the outside of the food 
is more readily tasted than a much larger quantity 
mixed in before or during cooking or preparation 
of the food. As more can be added if wanted by 
any individual of a company, and as when once in it 
can not be got out, our house-keeping friends 
should always use moderation in salting food. 
A Convenient Baking Table. 
The table from which the engraving is made 
stands under a north window, in a large kitchen, is 
convenient to the stove, and arranged to hold all 
or nearly all the articles needed in baking. The 
table is two and a half feet wide, six feet long, and 
high enough to take in an ordinary flour barrel, 
from which three inches of its top has been cut. 
It is made perfectly tight, and is raised three inches 
from the floor on six feet. It has four compart¬ 
ments. The first is to hold the flour barrel, and be¬ 
side the lid in the top, has a door in the front. The 
second compartment has a sliding partition in the 
center, and is for Indian meal and Graham flour. 
The third compartment has a similar partition, and 
holds sugar. The last compartment is fitted up 
with drawers for holding baking powder, soda, 
cream of tartar, spices, extracts, etc. The top of 
the tabic is finished for use in making bread. A 
board for moulding bread is made to fit on the top, 
two and a half feet square, and when not in use, 
hangs at the side of the table by a ring and hook. 
Where baking is to be done for a large family, a 
table should be devoted exclusively to that pur¬ 
pose, and one like the illustration will be found 
much more convenient than an ordinary kitchen 
table. F. T. G. 
“ German Toast.”—Excellent. 
A capital dish for breakfast or tea, or for dessert, 
is the following, the directions for which we so¬ 
licited for the American Agriculturist from a lady 
friend, at whose table we have partaken of it with 
decided satisfaction : Into a piut of milk stir three 
well beaten eggs, with two tablesoonfuls of flour 
and one of sugar, being careful to keep out all 
lumps. Soak in this, until saturated, medium 
thick slices of light bread ; baker’s bread is usu¬ 
ally preferable, unless the home-made is light and 
porous. Have ready, hot, a spider or frying-pan, 
with just enough butter to prevent sticking. Fry 
to a golden brown ; remove the slices, butter them, 
and sift on powdered sugar. Pile together, cover, 
and keep warm until served. Properly made, this 
is delicious, nutritious, and easily digested, if too 
much butter be not used. 
Tde same, with Sauce.— The above is preferred 
by some with sauce, instead of butter and sugar, 
thus : For two or three persons, rub well together 
two tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of 
flour, and half teacupful of sugar, more if pre¬ 
ferred. Stir this first with a little cold water, and 
then with a full cup of hot water, and boil. 
Then flavor to taste with lemon, vanilla, or rose¬ 
water. This sauce is, to our taste, improved by 
stirring into it, just before taking from the fire, the 
whole of an egg beaten to a froth. Serve this with 
the toast, or the pieces may be dipped into it, laid 
together, covered, and kept warm until wanted. 
Grasses for Winter. 
Most beautiful are the grasses, whether made 
into bouquets by themselves, or used with the dried 
or “ Everlasting ” flowers. The grain fields, the 
meadows and road-sides, as well as the swamps 
and marshy places, afford a great variety. These 
should be cut when they seem to be in perfection, 
and dried rapidly in the shade. Those of a stiff 
appearance, such as have their flowers in an erect 
spike, may be tied in small clusters, and hung to 
dry with their heads downwards. Other grasses, 
with their flowers in graceful panicles, would be 
spoiled by this treatment. For these, provide a 
box of convenient size, filled with dry sand; the 
stems of the grasses can be stuck in the sand, and 
the flower clusters will dry in a natural position. 
A garret or any unused room will answer for dry¬ 
ing the grasses, and they may be left in the boxes 
of sand until wanted for making up into bouquets. 
A well arranged bouquet of dried grasses will 
make a welcome Christmas present. Select a damp 
time for making up the dried grasses into bunches 
or bouquets, as otherwise they may be so brittle 
that many of the smaller stems will be broken off. 
There are directions given for coloring, bronzing, 
and otherwise giving grasses an unnatural appear¬ 
ance. We consider all these in bad taste. Colored 
grasses are disgusting to us ; those that are dried in 
the shade will keep their beautiful natural colors. 
Canning Fruit. 
The season for canning fruit and vegetables is 
now at hand, and those house-keepers who have 
not been successful in their attempts at this work, 
will find the following a most excellent recipe : 
Place the fruit in either a granite iron, or porce¬ 
lain kettle ; never use common iron, brass, or tin 
for this purpose. Allow it to boil for about five 
minutes., Have the jars in readiness, and standing 
in a vessel of warm water, so that they may be 
heated gradually. Just before filling the jar with 
fruit, dip a towel in boiling water and wrap it 
around the jar, and tuck the corners under the 
bottom for the jar to rest upon. Fill the jar 
quickly, and when full, thrust a knife to the bot¬ 
tom and stir it around several times, and the air 
bubbles will rise to the top. Seal as tight as possi¬ 
ble, and stand the jar on the top in a moderately 
cool place. In a few hours turn the jar up, and try 
to seal tighter, standing it again on the top. Con¬ 
tinue this several times, or until the cover is tightly 
screwed on. Stand the jars in a cool, dark place 
in tbc cellar, looking at them occasionally for a 
few days. For several years the above has been 
my method of canning, and I know from experi¬ 
ence that all varieties of fruits and vegetables can 
be canned with perfect success in this way. N. B. 
Arranging Flowers for the House. 
As usually arranged, flowers are to a great extent 
wasted. If one cuts a bouquet, allowing each 
flower a stem long enough to reach the water, and 
makes it up as the materials arc gathered, a large 
share of the flowers will be hidden, and many buds 
be sacrificed that should have been allowed to 
Fig. 1.— a dish for fi.owers. 
open. From the same materials, a florist, or one 
with a little of his superior skill, would make two 
handsome bouquets, and both of them better in 
appearance than one thus put together. Where 
there is a great profusion of flowers, the waste in 
this careless arrangement is not of so much conse¬ 
quence ; but where flowers are few, it is well to 
make them go as far as possible. To practice all 
the flower-saving methods of the bouquet-maker, 
would require more time than most persons would 
care to give, but one of their styles takes but little 
time, and is very effective : the arrangement of 
flowers in plates and other dishes. The material 
for keeping the flowers moist may be sand or moss. 
If sand, it should be free from pebbles, and if sea 
sand is used, it must be washed, to remove the 
salt. When used, it must be damp enough to hold 
the shape into which it is formed; if too wet, it 
will run. For moss, sphagnum, or peat moss is 
Fig. 2.— A DISH OF FI.OWERS. 
best; allow it to dry, rub it up between the hands 
to break it up well, then wet it, and squeeze it in 
the hands as nearly dry as may be. In the absence 
of sphagnum, some of the mosses that grow in 
sheets upon rocks and around the bases of tree 
trunks will answer. Pick out leaves, stems, etc., 
and break up the moss, so it will hold the shape into 
which it is fashioned. In gathering flowers to ar¬ 
range in this manner, long stems are not needed. 
A good supply of green should not be forgotten. 
In making up, begin below and build upwards, 
using green to hide the sand or moss wherever 
needed. Arranging in this manner admits of great 
variety, not only in the disposition of the flowers, 
but in the shape of the vessel used and the form 
given to the groundwork. Some flowers, like Bal¬ 
sams, Clematis, etc., show to the best advantage 
when looked directly down upon, and such should 
have a flat or but slightly convex foundation. The 
engraving, fig. 1, shows a groundwork that is 
I ready, and fig. 2, the arrangement completed. 
