Twenty-Five Cent Dinners for Families of Six. Juliet Corson

more nourishing than fresh water varieties.

      Sea fish, and those which live in both salt and fresh water, such as salmon, shad, and smelts, are the finest flavored; the muddy taste of some fresh water species can be overcome by soaking them in cold water and salt for two hours or more before cooking; all kinds are best just before spawning, the flesh becoming poor and watery after that period. Fresh fish have firm flesh, rigid fins, bright, clear eyes, and ruddy gills. Oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels, should be eaten very fresh, as they soon lose their flavor after being removed from the shell.

      Lobsters and crabs should be chosen by their brightness of color, lively movement, and great weight in proportion to their size; you ought always to buy them alive, and put them head first into a large pot of boiling water, containing a handful of salt; they will cook in about twenty minutes.

      Vegetables.—In order to be healthy we must eat some fresh vegetables; they are cheap and nourishing, especially onions and cabbages. Peas, beans, and lentils, all of which are among the lowest priced of foods, are invaluable in the diet of a laboring man: he can get so much nourishment out of them that he hardly needs meat; and if they are cooked in the water that has been used for boiling meat, they make the healthiest kind of a meal.

      All juicy vegetables should be very fresh and crisp; and if a little wilted, can be restored by being sprinkled with water and laid in a cool, dark place; all roots and tubers should be pared and laid in cold water an hour or more before using. Green vegetables are best just before they flower; and roots and tubers are prime from their ripening until they begin to sprout.

      When it is possible buy your vegetables by the quantity, from the farmers, or market-gardeners, or at the market; you will save more than half. Potatoes now cost at Washington market from one to one dollar and a half a barrel; there are three bushels in a barrel, and thirty-two quarts in a bushel; now at the groceries you pay fifteen cents a half a peck, or four cents a quart; that makes your barrel of potatoes cost you three dollars and sixty-three cents, if you buy half a peck at a time; or three dollars and eighty-four cents if you buy by the quart. So you see if you could buy a barrel at once you could save more than one half of your money. It is worth while to try and save enough to do it.

      Fruit.—Fresh fruit is a very important food, especially for children, as it keeps the blood pure, and the bowels regular. Next to grains and seeds, it contains the greatest amount of nutriment to a given quantity. Apples are more wholesome than any other fruit, and plentiful and cheap two-thirds of the time; they nourish, cool, and strengthen the body. In Europe laborers depend largely upon them for nourishment, and if they have plenty, they can do well without meat. They miss apples much more than potatoes, for they are much more substantial food.

      All fruit should be bought ripe and sound; it is poor economy to buy imperfect or decayed kinds, as they are neither satisfactory nor healthy eating; while the mature, full flavored sorts are invaluable as food.

      Preserved and dried fruits are luxuries to be indulged in only at festivals or holidays. Nuts are full of nutritious oil, but are generally hard to digest; they do not come under the head of the necessaries of life.