Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks: Containing the Whole Science and Art of Preparing Human Food

drops of vinegar, and serve them. _Stuffed._--Soak a piece of bread in cold water and then squeeze the water out of it, the size to be according to how many cucumbers are to be stuffed, or how large they are. Split large cucumbers in two, lengthwise, remove the seeds and some of the fleshy parts inside, by means of a small iron spoon. Put a little butter in a saucepan on the fire, and when melted fry in it a piece of chopped onion. When the onion is fried, put in the pan what you have removed from the inside of the cucumbers, and which you have chopped a little, stir for about five minutes, and then add the soaked bread, stir and mix well with the rest; add also salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg and a little gravy; stir again for about one minute, take from the fire; fill the cucumbers, that is, each half with the mixture; place them in a pan, the mixture upward; dust with bread-crumbs, put a little butter on the top of each, and bake. Before serving, a little gravy may be sprinkled all over; serve warm. _In hors-d'oeuvre._--Peel the cucumbers, cut them in slices slantwise, and salt them for two or three hours. Drain them, and then season with oil, vinegar, pepper, and parsley chopped fine. Pickled cucumbers are served whole with small onions, also pickled, as a _hors-d'oeuvre_. _Dandelion._--Dandelion is a very healthy greens in the spring, either cooked or raw. Clean and wash them well several times, as it nearly always contains fine sand between the leaves; leave them in cold water about two hours, and drain them; throw them into boiling water and salt; boil twenty minutes if young, and thirty minutes if full grown; then put them in a colander, press on them so as to extract all the water, after which chop them fine; put about two ounces of butter in a stewpan, for two quarts, and set it on a quick fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of flour, salt and pepper, then put