for about
twenty minutes; the seasoning of salt should be added after it is taken
from the fire, and placed on a hot dish; and but very little butter, if
any, should be used. Serve it with baked potatoes, finely broken with a
fork.

214. =Broiled Chicken.=--A tender, but not very fat chicken, makes an
excellent dinner for children. It should be plucked, singed, split down
the back, carefully drawn, and wiped with a damp cloth, but not washed;
the joints and breast-bone should be broken with the rolling pin, the
chicken being covered with a folded towel to protect the flesh; it
should then be broiled, inside first, over a clear, brisk fire, or
better still, laid in a pan on a couple of slices of bread, and quickly
roasted in a hot oven; by the latter process all the juices of the bird
are saved; some gravy will flow from a good chicken, and from this the
superfluous fat should be removed; if the chicken is very fat the bread
under it should not be given to the children.

215. =Boiled Eggs.=--Eggs are usually spoiled in cooking; if they are
plunged into boiling water, and maintained at the boiling point, the
effect is to harden the albumen while the yolk remains almost raw, and
make them totally unfit for digestion. A good way to cook them is to
place them over the fire in cold water, bring them slowly to a boil, and
then at once set the vessel containing them back from the fire, and let
the eggs stand in the water about one minute if they are to be soft, and
two minutes, or longer, if they are to be hard. Poor eggs cooked in this
way are superior in flavor and digestibility to new-laid eggs boiled
rapidly. One minute is quite long enough to boil them if they are wanted
in their best condition.

216. =Baked Potatoes.=--Potatoes for baking should be of equal and medium
size, with smooth skins; they should be well washed with a brush or
cloth, and put into a quick oven; they will bake in from twenty to
thirty-five minutes, according to variety and ripeness; as soon as you
find they yield readily when pressed between the fingers, they are done;
and should be served at once, _uncovered_. If they stand they grow
heavy, and if you put them in a covered dish you will make them watery.

217. =Boiled Potatoes.=--Potatoes for children's use should be very
carefully boiled; and if not used as soon as they are done, should be
kept hot and dry, by pouring off the water, covering them with a dry
cloth, and setting them on the back