e mushrooms are old and intended for soup the gills should be
scraped out with the view of getting rid of their darkening influence in
the soup. In the case of small button mushrooms, which can not be
readily skinned, they should be rubbed over with a soft cloth dipped in
vinegar, so as to remove the outer part of the skin. While the stems may
be retained with the buttons, they should always be removed from the
full-grown mushrooms.

Mushrooms should always be served hot, and they should be eaten as soon
as cooked. In the case of baked mushrooms and others prepared in a
somewhat similar way they should be covered in the oven by an inverted
dish, soup plate, basin, or the like, and if possible brought to the
table in this way and without the cover removed. Set the tin upon a mat
or cold plate upon the table, then uncover and serve on hot plates. By
this means the delicious aroma is preserved.

=Baked Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms, rub and sprinkle a
little salt on the gills, and lay the mushrooms, gills up, on a shallow
baking tin and put a small piece of butter on each mushroom. Place an
inverted saucer or deep plate over them in the tin, and put them into a
brisk oven for about twenty minutes. Then take them out and serve upon a
hot plate, without spilling any of the juice that has collected in the
middle of each mushroom. Send to table and eat at once. This is the
common way of cooking mushrooms, and by it is secured the true mushroom
aroma and taste in their perfection.

=Stewed Mushrooms.=--Peel and stem the mushrooms. Take an enameled
saucepan, put a lump of butter in it and melt it, then put in the
mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper and a small piece of pounded
mace (if you like it), then cover the saucepan tightly and stew the
mushrooms gently until they are tender, which will be in about half an
hour. Have ready some toast, either dry or fried in butter, as
preferred; spread out upon a hot dish, place the mushrooms upon the
toast, with the gills uppermost, pour the juice over them, and serve
hot. Button mushrooms are the ones usually selected for stewing, but
while nicer and whiter they are not so finely flavored as the full sized
ones.

Another way of preparing stewed mushrooms is to stem and peel them; dip
in water containing lemon juice (this is to prevent their becoming
dark-colored in cooking, or giving a dark color to the stew), and drain
them dry. Put them into a stewpan, with a goo