Evening star., 1932-10-21
resi- root vegetables, such as
- new potatoes, young beets and
carrots, turnips and radishes,
are ALWAYS rather hard to

TRESH root vegetables. such as
~ new potatoes, young beets and
carrots, turnipS and radiShes,
i are always rather hard to
clean and prepare for the table.
A small burlap bag is a great con-
venience in doing the work. The
coarser and rougher the material, the
better it works. Rinse off the dirt with
a dash of water and wet the sack, then
place the vegetables in it and shake
vigorously. New potatoes and carrots
will come out clean and almost free
from their skins. Rinse in cold water
and they are ready for use. After us
ing, turn the bag inside out and rinse
it. Thus cleaned. it is ready for serv
ice again the next day.
When preparing spinach or other
greens for the table, after they have
been washed thoroughly in cold water
give them rapid rinse under hot
water faucet with warm water, not
scalding, and you will be surprised at
the quantity of dirt loosened. Do not
let them soak in water, but put them
on to cook Immediately.
When a quantity of celery has to be
minced, separate the stalks, then split
each stalk into narrow ribbons, leav-
ing the top connected. After getting
the whole quantity split down, take a
handful of these pieces, lay them on
a marble table. and with sharp knife
cut across the stalks. In this way. six
or eight pieces may be minced at one
time, thereby saving much time and
energy.
To peel tomatoes spear each tomato
on a fork and hold low down over the
gas flame for few seconds. This
causes the skin to come off readily
without heating the tomato.
Save a piece of old table linen to
make bag for drying lettuce leaves.
Make good-sized bag if you use much
lettuce. Sew it up on three sides.
Wash the leaves thoroughly and drop
them in the bag. Shake gently and
leave the bag for a short time. The
linen will absorb the moisture from the
leaves.
When frying eggs, the usual method
OF basting-pouring spoonfulS of hot
greese over each egg separately num-
Der of times-iS a long and tedious
task which may be entirely done away
with by adding a spoonful of cold water
to the pan in which the eggs are fry
ing when they have reached the stage
at which one. usually begins basting.
and clamping cover on the pan. The
Spattering grease will baste the eggs
perfectly in a few seconds.
Cold Plates.
Deviled eggs, sardines in lettuce cups,
and slices of tomato marinated and
covered with chopped WatercreSs.
Sliced cold ham, potato salad, olives.
Chilli sauce in lettuce cups.
Sliced cold tongue, small tomatoes
filled with celery mixed with mayon-
naise. mustard pickles.
Cold salmon garnished with egg slices
dipped in chopped parsley, sliced Gu
cumberS with savory French dressing
and celery stuffed with tasty cheese.
Canning Hints.
Grape juice and catsup can be sealed
to keep for a long time in quart bottles
with ordinary shoppers. After the bottle
is filled with the properly prepared mix
ture, the cork should be pushed in tight
ly, then the corked end Of the bottle
should be dipped in melted sealing wax.
When the contents of the bottle is to
be used. the sealing wax can be easily
removed by gently cracking it with
knife handle. Melted paraffin may be
used in the same way. but it does not
have the enduring quality of the seal
ing wax and will sometimes melt away,
but sealing wax will last longer.
Often Mason fruit jars having screw
cap are hard to open, especially if the
fruit has been canned hot enough to
vulcanize the rubber and make it stick
to the glass. When these cannot be
removed in the usual way, clasp the
cap with a medium to coarse sand
paper. This will help to get a grasp
on the cap that will usually turn it no
matter how stubborn it is.
When making jelly, the time of cook
ing may be shortened by using hot fruit
juices, and you will also have more