Buckeye cookery

cleaned clean and scalded, for if it is not attended to, the soups will soon lose their piquant flavor and become stale. In using fresh meat throw the pieces as cut into the required quantity of cold water and let stand until the juices of the meat begin to color it, then put on to boil; in this way the juices of the meat are more readily drawn out. The soup is done when the meat is juiceless. ri s The best herbs are sage, thyme, sweet marjoram, tarragon, mint, sweet basil, parsley, bay-leaves, cloves, mace, celery-seed and onions, _ Plant the seed of any of the seven first-mentioned in little boxes on the window sill, or in a sunny spot in the yard. Gather and dry them as follows: parsley and tarragon should be dried in June and July, just before flowering; mint in June and July; thyme, marjoram and savory in July and August; basil and sage in August and September; all herbs should be gathered in the sunshine, and — dried by artificial heat; their flavor is best preserved by keeping them in air-tight tin cans, or in tightly-corked glass bottles. | Seasonings for soups may be varied to suit tastes. The simplest may have only pepper and salt, while the richest may have a little of every savor, so delicately blended that no one is conspicuous. The best seasoning is that which is made up of the smallest quantity from each of many spices. No measure can be given, because the good soup-maker must be a skillful taster. There must be a flavor of salt; that is, the water must not be insipid (less is needed if bits of salt meat are used), there must be a warm tone from the pepper, but not the taste of pepper; in short, the spicing should be delicate rather than profuse. ‘Those who like rank flavors may add them to suit their coarse and uneducated palates. For brown soups the dark spices may be used ; for white, mace, aromatic seeds, cream and curry. Many herbs, either fresh or dried, are used as seasoning, and all the choice catsups and sauces. Rice, sago, pearled barley, vermicelli, macaroni, etc., are desirable additions to meat soups. The first three are used in the proportion of half a tea-cup to three quarts of soup; wash and soak. Rice requires half to three-quarters of an hour, boiling in the soup; sago cooks in fifteen minutes; barley should be soaked over night, or for several hours; boil by itself in a little water till tender; add S20) 306 ROSS eoues, to the soup just before serving. Vermicelli and macaroni should ‘be broken up small, and washed thoroughly ; boil in the soup half an hour. If a soup is wanted without any addition of vegetables, but thickened, arrow-root or corn starch is used in the proportion of two round tea-spoons of the latter and two scant tea-spoons of the former to a quart of soup. Mix with a little water until smooth, and add when the soup is nearly done. Wheat flour is also used for thick- ening, but it requires three round table-spoons to the quart. If not thick enough to suit the taste more may be added. Browned flour ~ does not thicken, the starchy property having been removed in the browning process. Thickened soups require more seasoning than thin soups ; if wanted very clear and delicate, strain through a hair sieve. Always use cold water in making all soups; skim well, especially during the first hour. There is great necessity for thorough skimming, and to help the scum rise, pour in a little cold water now and then, and as the soup reaches the boiling point, skim it off. Use slit at first sparingly, and season with salt and pepper; allow one quart soup to three or four persons.