Pare and slice thin lengthwise of potatoes, let stand
in cold or ice water several hours, drain in a colan-
der, drop into as much boiling lard or drippings as is
used for doughnuts, fry a light brown ; take out with
a skimmer and lay in a dry colander, which place in
a tin pan and set in op^n oven. Put in only as many
as fry brown and not stick together, and use a deep
basin Or the fat will boil over ; dredge with a little
salt as you take them up, and they will be light and
crisp. If not cooked enough at first, they are im-
proved by dropping into fat for one minute, after
standing in oven a while ; serve in a napkin or fringed
tissue paper laid within a hot dish and folded lightly
over them, as a dish cover would make them "soggy."



VEGETABLES. 295

MASHED POTATOES.
Pare and boil till done, drain, and mash in the ket-
tle until' perfectly smooth; add milk or cream and
butter and salt ; beat like cake with a large spoon and
the more they are beaten the nicer they become. Put
in a dish, smooth, place a lump of butter in the cen-
ter, sprinkle with pepper; or to brown them dip a
knife in sweet milk, smooth over, wetting every part
with milk and place in a hot oven twenty minutes.
Or beat smooth the yolk of an egg, spread over po-
tatoes and then brown.
NEW POTATOES.
