roughly two or three times; then
put it on in boiling water with a little salt; let it boil nearly twenty
minutes. Put it into a cullender; hold it under the watercock, and let
the water run on it for a minute. Put it into a saucepan; beat it
perfectly smooth with a wooden spoon; add a bit of butter, and three
tablespoonfuls of cream. Mix it well together, and make it hot before
serving.

ASPARAGUS.

At early morn, I to the market haste,
(Studious in everything to please thy taste);
A curious fowl and _'sparagus_ I chose,
(For I remembered you were fond of those).
GAY.

Boil asparagus in salt and water till it is tender at the stalk, which
will be in twenty or thirty minutes. Great care must be taken to watch
the exact time of its becoming tender. Toast some bread; dip it lightly
in the liquor the asparagus was boiled in, and lay it in the middle of
the dish; melt some butter; lay the asparagus upon the toast, which must
project beyond the asparagus, that the company may see that there is
toast.

CARROTS.

And when his juicy salads fail'd,
Slic'd _carrots_ pleased him well.
COWPER.

Let them be well washed and brushed, not scraped. If young spring
carrots, an hour is enough. When done, rub off the peels with a clean
coarse cloth, and slice them in two or four, according to their size.
The best way to try if they are boiled enough, is to pierce them with a
fork.

LEEKS.

With carrots red, and turnips white,
And _leeks_, Cadwallader's delight,
And all the savory crop that vie
To please the palate and the eye.
GRAINGER.

Leeks are most generally used for soups, ragouts, and other made dishes.
They are very rarely brought to table; in which case dress them as
follows. Put them in the stock pot till about three parts done; then
take them out, drain and soak them in vinegar seasoned with pepper,
salt, and cloves; drain them again, stuff their hearts with a farce, dip
them in butter, and fry them.

TO DRY HERBS.

_Herbs_ too she knew, and well of each could speak
That in her garden sipp'd the silvery dew,
Where no vain flower disclosed a gaudy streak,
But herbs, for use and physic, not a few
Of gray renown, within those borders grew,--
The _tufted basil_, _pun-provoking thyme_,
Fresh _balm_, and _marigold_ of cheerful hue,
The _lowly gill_, that never dar