Cream Of Mushrooms

Wash one pound of mushrooms, skin and stem them. Put the skins and stems in a saucepan with a cup of boiling water and boil ten minutes, strain and add to this water the mushroom flaps chopped very fine, and cook until tender, then press through a fine sieve. Melt two large heaping tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan, and stir into it two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour, and when smooth add a quart of rich milk, a whole clove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste. When it boils and thickens add the mushroom stock, let it boil up once, remove the clove of garlic, turn the soup into the tureen and serve.

Cream Of Green Peas

Put a quart of green peas into a saucepan with a slice of white onion, cover with boiling water and cook until tender. Remove from the fire and press through a puree sieve with the water in which they were boiled. Return to the saucepan, set it back on the stove, let it come to a boil, add a pint of rich milk, salt and white pepper to taste, a dash of cayenne, and a large, generous tablespoonful of butter rubbed into an even tablespoonful of flour, adding a little of the liquid before stirring into the soup. Let it come to a boil, and add two tablespoonfuls of whipped cream just as it is poured into the tureen.

Cream Of Rice

Wash carefully a third of a cup of rice and put it on the fire in a pint of boiling water with a white onion and a stick of celery, let it cook slowly for an hour, then stir in a quart of milk and let it come to a boil, add a heaping tablespoonful of butter, and press through a puree sieve. Put the soup back on the fire while beating an egg yolk with two table-spoonfuls of cream and a teaspoonful of parsley minced very fine. Remove the soup from the fire, stir in the egg and cream, pour into the tureen and serve.

Cream Of Spinach

Take two large handfuls of spinach, after it is washed and picked over, a small head of lettuce, a few sprigs of parsle3r, and a small white onion peeled and sliced. Put in a saucepan over the fire with a tablespoonful of butter, a dozen peppercorns and two cloves, and a very little boiling water, cover and stand it where the vegetables will only simmer. When they are tender rub together a generous heaping tablespoonful of butter and a heaping tablespoonful of flour, and stir it into the vegetables. Add a little boiling water, mash the vegetables smooth and press them through a fine sieve. Have the puree as thick as possible, return to the saucepan. Have ready a pint of boiling milk, beat two egg yolks with four tablespoonfuls of cream, pour a little of the boiling milk into them, and the rest into the puree, remove from the fire at once, then add the eggs and cream, pour into the tureen and serve immediately.