THE MENU COUNTRY COOKING IMPROV

Country cooking.

Nobody seems to remember this...talk about lost art.....

There are inklings.

Bill Briwa mentions using pasta water for sauces! I never thought of it. I have discussed using leftover pickle juice etc as marinades or for other purposes, but not pasta cooking water. 

Marcella would never dream of it I am sure, though I never read all her works, nor Julia Child, of course, nor Rombauer Becker, nor 20 others one might name...

But I do use peeled broccoli  stalks for a pickle...I never bothered to also use the stalk peel for vegetable stock! I did think about it, but never did it. Cauliflour, I see no reason not to use the stalks and peels. Zucchini, use the peel, and you can also use the stalk, what there is of it. I leave the peel on beets, a gross heresy for many cooks,  potatoes, etc, but you can also throw them into stock. I have used boiled potato water and beet water for various things... See also Briwa note above re pasta water....
Turnips, great peel. Cucumbers, why peel them in the first place, and then if peel, why not use the peel?
I hate to peel carrots for cooking, it seems counterproductive. Carrot peel is great.  I don't like eggplant peel...