Every-day dishes and every-day work

Green Corn Soup. — Take six well-filled ears of tender green corn. Run a sharp knife down the rows and split each grain ; then with the back of a knife press out the pulp, leaving the hulls on the cob. Scrape from the large to the small end of the ear. Break the cobs, if long ; put them in cold water sufficient to cover, and boil half an hour. Strain off the water, of which there should be at least one pint. Put the corn water on again, and when boiling, add the corn pulp, and cook fifteen minutes, or until the raw taste is destroyed. Rub through a rather coarse colander, add salt and a pint of hot unskimmed milk ; if too thin, thicken with a little corn-starch or flour, boil up, and serve. A teaspoonful of sugar added to the soup improves the flavor for some tastes. Green Pea Soup.— Gently simmer two quarts of shelled peas in sufficient water to cook, but leaving almost no juice when tender. Rub through a colander, moistening, if necessary, with a little cold milk. Add to the sifted peas an equal quantity of rich milk and a small onion cut in halves. Boil all together five or ten minutes until the soup is delicately flavored, then skim out the onion; add salt if desired, and serve. If preferred, a half cup of thin cream may be added just before serving. Celery may be used in place of the onion, or both may be omitted. Green Bean Soup. — Prepare a quart of fresh French or string beans by pulling off the ends and strings and breaking into small pieces. Boil in a small quantity of water. If the beans are fresh and young, three pints will be sufficient; if wilted or rather old, more will be needed, as they will require longer cooking. There should be about a teacupful and a half of liquid left when the beans are perfectly tender and boiled to pieces. Rub through a colander, return to the kettle, and for each cup of the bean pulp add salt, a cup and a half of unskimmed milk; boil together for a few minutes, thicken with a little flour, and serve. The quart of beans should be sufficient to make three pints of soup. Lentil Soup. — Simmer a pint of lentils in water until tender. If desired to have the soup less dark in color and less strong in flavor, the lentils may be first parboiled for a half hour, and then drained and put into fresh boiling water. Much valuable nutriment is thus lost, however. When perfectly tender, mash through a colander to remove all skins; add salt and a cup of thin cream, and if too thick, sufficient boiling milk or water to thin to the proper consistency; heat again to boiling, and serve. If preferred, an additional quantity of liquid may be added and the soup slightly thickened with browned flour. Lentil and Parsnip Soup.— Cook together until tender one pint of lentils and one half a small parsnip, sliced, in a small quantity of boiling water. When done, rub through a colander, and add boiling water to make a soup of the proper consistency. Season with salt and a little cream.