This section is from the book "Progressive Cookery", by E. M. Hinckley. Also available from Amazon: Progressive Cookery.
Peas are fresh when the pods are green and crisp. The fresh pods are sweet and nutritious. Wash the pods before shelling. Put the peas in a colander. Pour over them a little cold water. Put the pods in lulling water, cook them ten minutes, take them out with a skimmer, add the peas, cook twenty minutes, or until tender. When half done add the salt. Put into a hot vegetable dish, allowing one tablespoon of butter to each quart of peas, or make a thin white sauce and add to the peas. To keep peas green cook with the cover off, or add a speck of soda. The French way of cooking peas is to add while boiling a bouquet or two or three leaves of mint. If peas are not sweet add a little sugar while cooking. For a change cut carrots in dice, cook and add to the peas. Serve in white sauce.
Wash, break off the stem, and pull off the string at the side of each bean, break off the end, and string on the other side. Cut in inch pieces, or cut lengthwise in narrow strips. Boil the same as peas. Cook one hour.
Wash, tie in bundles, cut off jagged ends. Put in a stewpan, throw over salt, cover with boiling water ; boil from twenty minutes to half an hour. Serve with white sauce, or mayonnaise dressing, or on buttered toast, covering ends with one tablespoon of melted butter ; or thicken the liquid the asparagus has been boiled in with flour and butter blended together, allowing one tablespoon of butter and one of flour to each large bunch.
One pint of shelled beans, one pint of green corn, after it has been cut from the cob. Put the corn and cobs in boiling water, cook from ten to fifteen minutes. Cook lima beans one-half hour, add the corn, season with one teaspoon of salt and a saltspoon of pepper ; butter the size of an egg, one-half cup of cream. Green corn becomes tough if cooked too long. Cook corn on the cobs the same length of time. Serve in a napkin folded over the corn.
Wash beets, put them in boiling water, boil from one to one and one-half hours. Throw them into cold water, and the dark, thick skin will rub off. Cut in slices, place in hot serving dish, put on pieces of butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Or cut in slices, and when cold pour over vinegar. Add a little vinegar to cooked beets before putting over butter, if cared for.
Scrape carrots before boiling. Boil from one hour to two hours. Peel turnips, boil one hour, mash, add butter and salt and pepper.
Lettuce grown in hot-house should not he washed, hut that grown in the garden, on account of the grit, must he washed. Do not chop lettuce.
Remove outer skin, cut out hard part at one end, put into the hollow a piece of butter, some pepper and salt ; bake in a buttered pan from one to one and one-half hours.
Cook one hour in boiling salted water. Put into hot dish, remove the hard part at end, put a piece of butter in each one, pepper and salt ; put on the hot cover and serve, or serve with white or brown sauce.
 
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