depending on size; potatoes 10 minutes later; turnips 10 minutes after that; parsnips and carrots 25 minutes before serving for the biggest pieces, 15 minutes for smaller ones; and cabbage 7-10 minutes. If your pot isn't big enough, plan either a second pot with salted water, or start the beets and potatoes earlier and plan to remove them to make room.

4. Trim off tops and roots of beets. When it is time to add them to the pot, increase heat so that it does not stop simmering, then reduce heat to keep them at just a simmer.

5. Wash potatoes and peel off any green areas on potatoes. Add to pot.

6. If using rutabaga, scrub; peel off wax, if any; trim; and cut in half at the equator. Quarter each half. If using turnips, scrub and trim off any roots or sprouts. Add to pot on schedule.

7. Peel parsnips and carrots and cut into 1-inch lengths. Separate all the pieces an inch or more in diameter into one pile, to add about 25 minutes before serving.

8. Check corn beef for doneness (It will have lost some of its stiffness). If done, you can remove from the pot and weight between 2 plates for cleaner slices. This makes more room for vegetables. Check the beets for doneness by poking with a fork (it should go all the way in). Check the potatoes and rutabaga or turnip by halving the largest one or piece. Potatoes should be cooked all the way through; turnip or rutabaga could have a small granular area at the center. Remove vegetables that are done.

9. Add the large chunks of carrot and parsnip 25 minutes before serving.

10. Add the smaller chunks of carrot and parsnip 15 minutes before serving.

11. Cut the cabbage the long way into 6-8 wedges, each with some of the stem to hold it together. Add to the pot about 7-10 minutes before serving and cover tightly so the cabbage steams.

12. Slice corned beef (and/or salt pork, if using) in thin slices. Arrange on a platter with vegetables surrounding the meat.

Serve with melted butter.

CORN DUMPLINGS (1845)

Boiled dinners were in favor because the physics of boiling water guarantee a constant temperature with relatively little tending of the open fireplace. The large pot of boiling water invited the addition of storage vegetables and also bagged puddings or simple dumplings like these from Domestic Cookery, by Marylander Elizabeth Lea, first published in 1845. Notice the similarity of these dumplings to the Indian Bread in Chapter 1. Mrs. Lea's cornmeal would have been stone ground with the germ and some of the bran still in it. It was moister and stickier than ours, and may have cooked faster.

"When you boil corned beef, new bacon, or pork, you can make dumplings by taking some grease out of the pot with some of the water, and pouring it hot on a quart of Indian meal, mix and work it well, (it will not require salt), make it into little round cakes (they should be stiff, or they will boil to pieces); take out the meat when it is done, and boil the dumplings in the same water for half an hour. They may be eaten with molasses and make a good common dessert."

Yield: About 48 dumplings

4 cups yellow cornmeal (stone ground preferred)

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