The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

Perhaps most housekeepers, but I fear not all, are aware that very good greenpea soup can be made in early spring from a very few peas by using the husks of the peas to make the soup. The husks of young peas contain almost as much flavour of peas as the peas themselves, and when young and tender they make most excellent soup. Act as follows : — Take some very good stock, free from any brown colour. Next shell a small quantity of freshly-gathered peas. Throw the peas themselves, which, of course, will be young and very small, into cold water, and place the whole of the husks in the stock to boil until they are tender. When they are very tender, which will be after an hour or a little over, rub the whole of the husks through a wire sieve. This requires both patience and perseverance. But when these two qualities are brought into play very excellent green-pea soup is the result, the only drawback being its colour, which is of a pale greenish order, rather than what we might expect in green-pea Soup when green peas themselves had imparted their colour to the soup. But with the help of one of these little bottles of colouring matter this difficulty can be immediately overcome, and the soup now becomes a bright green— indeed, if plenty of colouring matter be put in it surpasses the genuine article. 1 would therefore warn cooks against putting in too much, otherwise the soup will look too good to be true — indeed, there must be a little ingenuity exercised to give the imitation article the appearance of the genuine one. For instance, when clear stock is made from extract of meat, of course there is a possibility of there being no fat whatever in I it. Now it is a very rare thing indeed to find soup made from meat sent to table without one or two tiny little oil specks on the surface. By taking a little piece of butter not bigger than the top of the little finger, and throwing it into the soup just before it is served, there is an air of genuineness imparted to the soup, and the little specks of butter, just one or two here and there, certainly convey the impression that meat, has been used in making it. So, too, in making green-pea soup from husks of youngpeas, it is a great mistake to overdo the colour, as it gives rise to suspicion. Therefore, colour the soup just sufficiently green to make it fairly passable. About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before sending it to table, while it is boiling, throw in the peas themselves whole. It is wonderful how very cheaply a tureen of green-pea soup can be made if this common-sense and economical process be carefully carried out. The yellow vegetable colouring matter is very useful for an infinite number of purposes. When used in making cakes it suggests the idea of great liberality in the use of eggs. So, too, in making custards. With the assistance of a little arrowroot to make it thick, one egg, say, for conscience’ sake, can be put in, and some of this yellow colouring matter, and a most delicious custard can be made — at any rate, so far as appearances go— and when flavoured with vanilla really it is most excellent. It is a great satisfaction when using colouring matter to know that it is perfectly harmless, for that too often used by bakers under the general heading of ; “ chrome” is very injurious. The sub-