A pint of milk, a tablespoonful of flour, one of b.u.t.ter, a head of celery, a large slice of onion and a small piece of mace, a little salt.

Boil celery in one pint of water from thirty to forty-five minutes; boil mace, onion and milk together; mix flour with two tablespoonfuls of cold milk. Cook ten minutes. Mash celery in water it has been cooked in and stir in boiling milk. Strain and serve.

CREAM OF CORN SOUP.

Put one pint of milk in a double boiler, add one pint of grated corn, two teaspoonfuls of salt; rub together one tablespoonful of flour and one of b.u.t.ter. Add them to the soup when boiling. Just before serving add one-half pint of whipped cream.

FRENCH PEA SOUP.

Cover a quart of peas with water and boil with an onion till they mash easily. Mash and add a pint of water. Cook together two tablespoonfuls each of flour and b.u.t.ter until smooth but not brown. Add to the peas with one pint of cream and a cup of milk. Season with salt and pepper, strain and serve.

MIXED VEGETABLE SOUP.

Fifteen-cent soup bone, three quarts water, half a small cabbage cut very fine, three large potatoes, two good-sized carrots, two turnips, one medium-sized onion, three teaspoonfuls salt, one-half teaspoonful pepper, a little celery and green pepper. Put on in cold water with all vegetables except potatoes. Cook very slowly one hour. Do not cover closely. At the end of one hour add potatoes and cook an hour longer.

Put in two or three tomatoes when potatoes are added, if liked.

MOCK BISQUE.

One-half can tomatoes strained, one quart milk, one-third cup b.u.t.ter, one tablespoonful cornstarch, one teaspoonful salt, one salt-spoon pepper, heat milk in double boiler. Mix smoothly one tablespoonful b.u.t.ter, cornstarch and seasoning, add hot milk slowly. Boil ten minutes and add remainder of b.u.t.ter and strained tomatoes. Serve immediately.

MUTTON BROTH.

Remove pink skin from mutton, also fat; have the meat from the neck.

Cover well with water, let boil slowly, cook until meat becomes ragged.

One tablespoonful rice.

OYSTER SOUP.

Put about fifty oysters in a colander and drain. Pour over them a pitcher of cold water, and then put them into a hot kettle. Let stand covered for a few minutes. Add one pint of water. Rub together a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and one of flour; add a little of the soup to make a smooth paste. Put this with a quart of milk into the soup kettle with oysters, and stir till it begins to thicken. Add a teaspoonful of salt, and pepper to taste.

POTATO SOUP.

To one gallon of water add six large potatoes chopped fine, one teacupful rice, b.u.t.ter the size of an egg, one tablespoonful flour. Work b.u.t.ter and flour together and add one teacupful sweet cream just before taking from the fire. Boil one hour.

TOMATO BOUILLON.

One quart tomatoes, one tablespoonful onion minced, one tablespoonful parsley minced, one tablespoonful lean ham minced, one tablespoonful b.u.t.ter, one pint water, six whole peppercorns, four whole cloves, one bay leaf, salt-spoon paprika, one egg, one tablespoonful sugar. When the whole mixture has thoroughly boiled, add sugar and salt to taste; brown the onion and parsley in the b.u.t.ter, add to the other ingredients; boil all ten minutes, then strain and cool; when perfectly cold stir in the white of one egg, then beat thoroughly with Dover beater, place on stove and stir constantly (to prevent egg from cooking) until the mixture comes to a boil. Stand a few minutes on the back of the stove, strain very carefully through a sieve covered with a cheese-cloth wrung out in hot water. Serve hot. This will serve five persons.

TOMATO SOUP.

To one quart of tomatoes add one pint of water, one tablespoonful sugar, one teaspoonful salt, six cloves and a little pepper; let boil ten minutes. In another saucepan put one tablespoonful b.u.t.ter. When it boils, add a chopped onion and some parsley, and let fry about five minutes, then add one tablespoonful flour previously mixed with water; boil all for ten minutes, strain and serve.

VEAL BOUILLON.

Two knuckles of veal, four quarts of cold water, one onion, one stock celery, one bay leaf, twelve cloves, one teaspoonful salt, one blade mace, one pinch pepper. Put veal in soup kettle with cold water and salt. Simmer gently four hours. Cut up the vegetables and add with spices and simmer one hour longer. Strain, cool, remove fat, reheat and serve with teaspoonful whipped cream on each cup.

FISH

"Fools lade water, and wise men catch the fish."

BAKED WHITE FISH.

Clean and prepare the fish. Make a stuffing of one cupful of cracker crumbs, one teaspoonful chopped parsley, one teaspoonful chopped onion, two tablespoonfuls chopped suet or bacon or one large tablespoonful b.u.t.ter, one-third teaspoonful salt, two teaspoonfuls chopped pickles, one-quarter teaspoonful pepper. If a moist stuffing is desired, add one-quarter cup milk. Bake fifteen minutes to a pound, allowing ten or fifteen minutes if the fish is unusually large.

CODFISH b.a.l.l.s.

Boil and mash as many potatoes as desired, using about one-half pound of soaked and drained codfish to a pound of potatoes. Have fish picked apart, and after soaking and drying mix thoroughly with potatoes, adding, for one-half pound of codfish, one tablespoonful b.u.t.ter, yolks of two eggs, one-half teaspoonful salt and a dash of pepper. Make into b.a.l.l.s, dip in beaten egg and bread crumbs and fry in hot fat.

FINNAN HADDIE.

Boil a three-pound haddock until the skin comes off easily, remove every particle of bone, cut into small pieces, shred; put one-half pint cream into a chafing dish, add three finely-chopped hard-boiled eggs, rub together two rounded tablespoonfuls flour and two of b.u.t.ter, add to the other ingredients. Now light the lamp under the chafing dish. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken, then blend a raw yolk and add it to the haddie. Sprinkle with finely-chopped parsley and serve on toast. Should there not be quite enough sauce, sweet cream may be added.

FRIED FISH.

Brook trout, perch, catfish and other well-known fish are good fried.

Cook in lard, suet or oil. Wash and clean, wipe dry, dip in beaten egg and roll in bread crumbs. Fry in oil, if possible.

FRIED OYSTERS.

One pint large oysters, one-half cup flour, one-half cup milk, one-half teaspoonful salt, one-half cup fresh tomato catsup. Mix thoroughly the flour, milk, catsup and salt; dip oysters into mixture, then roll in cracker crumbs. Fry in sweet, fresh lard until a dark brown. Serve very hot.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE.

Rub one-half cup b.u.t.ter to a cream, add the yolks of two eggs, one at a time, then salt and cayenne pepper. About five minutes before serving add one-half cup boiling water. Thicken in double boiler. Add lemon juice.

LOBSTER A LA BUSHMAN.

Cut the meat of four-pound lobster into large pieces; melt one tablespoonful b.u.t.ter and one teaspoonful minced onion, let cook until yellow. Add the lobster, salt, cayenne pepper, two tablespoonfuls white wine; simmer for five minutes, then sprinkle one tablespoonful flour over this. When well mixed, add six or eight mushrooms cut fine, one tablespoonful chili sauce, add one cup water or stock. Cook five minutes longer in sh.e.l.ls, put a mushroom on each, sprinkle with b.u.t.tered cracker crumbs. Bake till brown.