Asparagus Soup

3 bunches of asparagus,

1 quart of cream or rich milk,

1 tablespoon of butter,

1/2 tablespoon flour.

Boil the asparagus in 1 quart salt water till tender. Drain water off, then add cream. Rub butter and flour together and add before taking from the stove. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with toasted bread or crackers.

Black Bean Soup

E. D. P

1 ten-cent beef bone, 1 gallon of water, Small bunch of parsley, 4 cloves,

Small bunch of celery tops, 1 carrot,

1 quart of black navy beans Small teacup of sherry,

Boil the bone, cloves, celery, and parsley 4 hours the day before using, and next day skim all grease and run through sieve.

Add to this the beans, and boil till the beans are soft, and then mash through colander. Thicken with a little brown flour. To 1/2 gallon put the small cup of sherry, and when serving put in each plate a thin slice of lemon and one slice of hard-boiled egg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Calf's Head Soup

Remove the brains from the calf's head. Put the head in 4 quarts of cold water and cook till meat drops from the bone - 3 or 4 hours. Remove the bone and add:

3 onions, chopped fine, 6 cloves,

Salt and pepper to taste, Boil an hour.

Season the brains with salt and pepper and butter and beat together with 1 raw egg. Make into balls, roll in egg and cracker dust, and fry a rich brown. Drop in tureen with 2 lemons sliced thin. Add 1 cup of catsup or wine to the soup and pour in tureen and serve at once.

Chestnut Soup

E. D. P

2 quarts of Spanish chestnuts,

2 quarts of chicken stock,

1 pint of rich cream,

Salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper to taste.

Shell the chestnuts, put them in a pan and cover with cold water. Let them scald until the inner skin can be taken off. Put them on a sieve to allow the hot water to drain off, and while draining, pour on some cold water, so as the skins can be removed with the hand. When they are well skinned put them into a saucepan with the chicken stock, and let them simmer until perfectly tender. Then mash through the sieve into the same stock. Season with nutmeg, salt, and cayenne pepper to the taste. Put it into a saucepan with hot water underneath, stirring all the time until it begins to simmer; then pour in the pint of cream, and after stirring 5 minutes longer, serve.

Clam Soup

24 clams,

1/2 gallon water,

2 tablespoons butter,

2 onions,

Salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the clams and use the meat and liquor and add the water. Do not boil, but cook gently till it begins to thicken. Season, and just before taking from the stove add 1 pint cream or rich milk. Pour in tureen, add a little parsley, and serve at once.

Clear Soup Or Bouillon

E. D. P

Cut up the lean of coarse beef into small pieces.

Salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper to taste, 4 whole cloves.

Fry with 1 tablespoon of butter in soup-kettle. When it begins to look whitish, pour over it the stock from 1 chicken. Boil the chicken in 1 gallon of water in early morning, and make stock in afternoon. Boil 1 hour, strain and put away till next day for aspic or bouillon.

For bouillon, beat an egg and let it come to a boil in the bouillon, and strain before serving.