"No useless dish our table crowds ; Harmoniously ranged and consonantly just, As in a concert instruments resound, Our ordered dishes in their courses chime."

The basis of all good soups, is the broth of meat. This may be made by boiling the cracked joints of beef, veal or mutton, and is best when cooked the day before it is to be eaten. After putting the meat into the pot, cover it well with cold water and let it come to a boil, when it should be well skimmed. Set the pot where it will simmer slowly until it is thoroughly done, keeping the pot closely covered the while. The next day, when the soup is cold, remove the fat, which will harden on the top of the soup. After this, add the vegetables and the herbs you use for seasoning, cooking all well together. Before sending to the table, the soup should be strained. A good stock for soups may be made from shreds and bits of uncooked meat and bones, poultry and the remains of game. When these are all put together and stewed down in the pot, the French term it consomme, and use it chiefly in the preparation of brown soups.

Soups may be varied in many ways, chiefly in the kinds of vegetables and different seasonings used, — as in herbs, burned caramel, eggs or slices of bread fried to a crisp in butter, which impart a savory relish.

Beef Soup

Mrs. Wm. H. Low.

Cut all the lean off the shank, and with a little beef suet in the bottom of the kettle, fry it to a nice brown; put in the bones and cover with cold water; cover the kettle closely ; cook slowly until the meat drops from the bones ; strain through a colander and leave it in the dish during the night, which is the only way to get off all the fat. The day it is wanted for the table, fry as brown as possible a carrot, an onion and a very small turnip sliced thin. Just before taking up, put in half a teaspoonful of sugar, a blade of mace, six cloves, a dozen kernels of allspice, a small teaspoonful of celery seed. With the vegetables this must cook slowly in the soup an hour; then strain again for the table. If you use vermicelli or pearl bar-ley, cook in water till tender and add to the soup.

Julienne Soup

M. A. T.

Shred two onions and fry brown in a half spoon of butter ; add a little mace, salt and pepper; then a spoonful or so of stock; rub a tablespoonful of flour smooth with a little butter and let fry with the onions; strain through a colander, then add more stock as desired; cut turnip, carrot and celery in fillets; add a few green peas; boil tender in a little water and add both water and vegetables to the soup. If wished, the flour can be left out, and it will make a clear, light-colored soup. In that case, the onions should be cut in fillets and boiled with the vegetables.