Spices, Etc

Sweet marjoram and cloves are suited to any darkcolored soup; summer savory and sage to that which is light-colored. Mace particularly suits chicken and oyster soups. Never put nutmeg or cinnamon in soup.

Miscellaneous Seasoning

"Burnt sugar" gives a good color to soup. So also does "Claret Syrup," and it tastes well. Wine is good in soup,

especially brown sherry; it should not be put in till the soup is in the tureen, or it may cause it to curdle. The spiced vinegar from Sweet Pickle or Chow-chow is good; or a spoonful of piccalily may be put in. Capers and nasturtiums are favorites with some.

Claret Syrup

1 quart claret.

2pounds white sugar.

1 teaspoonful whole cloves.

1 teaspoonful whole mace. 1 teaspoonful allspice.

Put all together in a sauce-pan, and boil half an hour. Let it become cold. Bottle it and cork. Use a few spoonfuls at a time, to mix with soup, hash, stews, etc.

Burnt Sugar

1 pound brown sugar.

1 pint cold water.

Put the dry sugar into a sauce-pan. Let it melt and become brown. Then add the water. Let it boil, stirring it, for ten minutes. Pour it off into a bottle, and keep it corked tight. Use a few spoonfuls at a time.

Thickenings For Soup

Soup may be thickened very delicately by using the water from boiled hominy (large). One may judge how rich this is by the fact that it will jelly when cold. Mashed potato, either hot or cold, wet to a paste with a little of the hot soup before adding it, is also delicate. The pulp of boiled peas and beans makes a variety in thickening, and so does stewed tomato.

But the commonest way is, to rub smooth a little flour in a little cold water, and stir it in while the soup is boiling fast. Be careful not to use too much. It will be found useful chiefly when the soup is not very rich. In rich soups no such thickening is required.

Cracker and bread-crumbs, rice, vermicelli, macaroni and tapioca, barley and sago are all used in soup.

Force-Meat Balls

Chop fine the meat used to make the soup or any cold meat. Season it with pepper, salt, minced onion (fried), and sweet marjoram, a little lemon juice, and grated peel. Mix in the beaten yolk of one egg, and a sprinkling of flour. Form the mixture into balls the size of a large marble. Fry them in a little butter and drop into the soup after it is in the tureen.

Omit the onion and lemon if you like.

Croutons

Cut stale bread into pieces the size of small dice. Put in a frying-pan, containing a tablespoonful of very hot butter. Turn them on all sides, to fry crisp.

Another way is, to put the bread, after cutting it into dice, in a pan, in a slow oven. Let it become crisp and brown.

Squares of Toast are nice in any kind of broth, especially chicken. Or, instead of serving the dice in the broth, have them in a vegetable dish, and let each one help himself, with a spoon.

Batter Balls

2 tablespoonfuls flour. 2 tablespoonfuls milk. 1 egg, beaten light.

Rub the flour and milk to a paste. Beat in the egg. When the soup is boiling hard, drop in the batter, a teaspoonful at a time. Boil three minutes.

Sliced Hard-Boiled Egg

Thick slices of egg may be dropped in when the soup is served. These may be accompanied by slices of lemon, or the lemon may be used without the egg.