Parboil 12 large onions (mild ones are best) for 8 minutes in salted water. Drain, scoop out the centres, leaving walls about J-inch thick, and fill with the following mixture: \ cup chopped centres of the onions, \ cup cooked and diced cold meat, 1 cup diced, cooked potatoes, chopped sage leaves, salt and pepper. Brush the onions with melted butter, arrange in a buttered baking-dish, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over, dot with butter, and bake in a moderate oven for about 35 minutes. If you want crisp outsides, brown the onions under the griller for the last 5 minutes. Brush them with more butter before you do.
If you are starting off a new garden and your soil is rocky and sandy, sage is one herb you can grow immediately, without preparation. It thrives on rather poor soil, and I suspect some of its bad reputation for suddenly giving up the ghost is caused by over- not under-feeding. It must have an alkaline soil, and perhaps this is also why it grows so well in a new garden where there is often a residue left in the topsoil of the builder’s mortar and lime. Sage will grow well on a balcony for flat dwellers if it is given a concrete container. This provides the alkaline soil so necessary to help it flourish.
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