=Capon.=--CAPON is the best of all poultry, having been specially treated and fattened for the table. They can be distinguished in the market by the head, tail and wing feathers being left intact. They are always high in price and considered great luxuries. They are cooked the same as chicken. If to be stuffed, choose a delicate dressing like oysters or chestnuts. Cut the neck off short and remove the oil bag from the root of the tail. Singe carefully, pluck out every lingering pin feather, wash quickly with a rough, clean cloth and warm--not hot--water; dash cold water over it, let drain, then wipe carefully with a soft, damp cloth inside and out. Salt lightly inside and dust with pepper, stuff with whatever dressing you elect to have, truss, fasten thin slices of bacon or salt pork over the breast and thighs, grease the entire body liberally with soft butter or vegetable oils, put into a loose fitting well-greased bag, breast down, seal, lay on a trivet, set on broiler in hot oven, let cook till bag corners turn very brown, then slack heat one-half, or even a little more if the heat is fierce, and cook from an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters. The capon should be a golden brown all over, except on the back where it touches the bag and underneath the bacon slices. But it will be as well done everywhere as in the brown part. Cook the liver, gizzard and neck in a small separate bag, wrapping each in a slice of bacon and seasoning them with salt and pepper. Add a very little water, seal and put on to cook less than an hour before dinner time. The slow heat will make them very tender. Cooked with capon, they would be overdone. Serve with sweet potatoes Southern style, or baked apples slightly sweetened.
=Chicken with Parsnips.=--Wash, parboil and scrape a quart of tender parsnips. Split a Spring chicken down the back and lay in a buttered bag, skin side up. Arrange the sliced parsnips around the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dot with bits of butter until a half cup has been used, and top with two or three thin slices of fat, salt pork. Put a half cup hot water in the bag and bake to a delicate brown. Put the chicken on a hot platter and arrange the parsnips around it. Make a cream gravy from the drippings in the bag and serve with mashed potatoes, currant jelly and beet greens.