KEEPING VEGETABLES.—­If necessary to keep green vegetables for any length of time, do not put them in water, as that will dissolve and destroy some of their juices; but lay them in a cool, dark place,—­on a stone floor is best,—­and do not remove their outer leaves until needed.  They should be cooked the day they are gathered, if possible.  The best way to freshen those with the stems when withered is to cut off a bit of the stem or stem-end, and set only the cut part in water.  The vegetables will then absorb enough water to replace what has been lost by evaporation.

Peas and beans should not be shelled until wanted.  If, however, they are not used as soon as shelled, cover them with pods and put in a cool place.

Winter vegetables can be best kept wholesome by storing in a cool, dry place of even temperature, and where neither warmth, moisture, nor light is present to induce decay or germination.  They should be well sorted, the bruised or decayed, rejected, and the rest put into clean bins or boxes; and should be dry and clean when stored.  Vegetables soon absorb bad flavors if left near anything odorous or decomposing, and are thus rendered unwholesome.  They should be looked over often, and decayed ones removed.  Vegetables, to be kept fit for food, should on no account be stored in a cellar with barrels of fermenting pickle brine, soft soap, heaps of decomposing rubbish, and other similar things frequently found in the dark, damp vegetable cellars of modern houses.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.—­Most vegetables need thorough washing before cooking.  Roots and tubers should be well cleaned before paring.  A vegetable brush or a small whisk broom is especially serviceable for this purpose.  If necessary to wash shelled beans and peas, it can best be accomplished by putting them in a colander and dipping in and out of large pans of water until clean.  Spinach, lettuce, and other leaves may be cleaned the same way.

Vegetables admit of much variety in preparation for the table, and are commonly held to require the least culinary skill of any article of diet.  This is a mistake.  Though the usual processes employed to make vegetables palatable are simple, yet many cooks, from carelessness or lack of knowledge of their nature and composition, convert some of the most nutritious vegetables into dishes almost worthless as food or almost impossible of digestion.  It requires no little care and skill to cook vegetables so that they will neither be underdone nor overdone, and so that they will retain their natural flavors.

A general rule, applicable to all vegetables to be boiled or stewed, is to cook them in as little water as may be without burning.  The salts and nutrient juices are largely lost in the water; and if this needs to be drained off, much of the nutriment is apt to be wasted.  Many cooks throw away the true richness, while they serve the “husks” only.  Condiments and seasonings may cover insipid taste, but they cannot restore lost elements.  Vegetables contain so much water in their composition that it is not necessary to add large quantities for cooking, as in the case of the grains and legumes, which have lost nearly all their moisture in the ripening process.  Some vegetables are much better cooked without the addition of water.