How we cook in Tennessee ..

Asparagus Soup. — Parboil the asparagus with as much water as will cover it; then add a quart of milk, butter, salt and thicken with a little flour. It is best to cut the asparagus in small pieces. Asparagus Soup. — Boil chicken in one quart of water, cut into this tender stalks of asparagus, let boil until all substance is out of chicken, season with pepper and salt. Have your tureen ready with pint of rich, fresh cream and a small piece of butter. Strain the boiling liquid into this and season with celery salt. Cut fresh crisp celery in small pieces and serve very hot. Cream of Asparagus Soup. — Heat one can of asparagus, then mash it through a colander. Add to that one quart sweet milk, salt and pepper to taste. Butter size of egg. Cook in a double boiler and let come to a boil. — Mrs. J. A. Crook. Cream of Asparagus Soup. — Take two quarts of fresh sweet milk, two bunches of fresh asparagus ; cut the asparagus in one inch lengths and thoroughly cook in water, with a pinch of salt ; let the milk just come to a boil, and add asparagus and three tablespoonfuls of butter, with a teaspoonful of flour rubbed smoothly in ; salt to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Serve hot with toasted crackers. Potato Soup. — Seven potatoes cooked in boiling water. Mash the potatoes well and return them to the same water, add pepper and salt, one spoonful of butter and one quart of milk and let come to a boil. Potato Soup. — It is delightful, but must be very carefully prepared. One pound of potatoes, one onion, half a teaspoonful of celery seeds or half a stick of celery, one ounce of dripping, one pint of milk, half pint of water, salt and pepper, one ounce of macaroni. Wash, peel and slice the potatoes; lay them in cold water, to keep them a good color. Peel and slice the onion. If you are using celery seeds, tie them up in a piece of muslin. If celery, wash and clean it. Melt the dripping in a pan; when hot, put in the onion and potato. Stir over the fire for five minutes. Do not let the potatoes brown in the least. Next pour in the water and half the milk, add the celery or seeds, put on the lid and boil gently till the potatoes are quite soft. If you boil the soup very fast the milk and water will boil away, and more will have to be added. Stir the soup frequently. Then take off: the soup and rub all through a wire sieve. Rinse out the pan, put back the soup, and add to it half a pint of milk and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Boil well and serve in a hot tureen with the macaroni, which should have been cut into neat, short pieces and boiled in fast-boiling salted water till quite tender. — Mrs. Ida Hall. Cream Barley Soup. — Wash a cup of pearl barley, drain and simmer slowly in two quarts water for three or four hours, adding boiling water from time to time as needed. When barley is tender drain off liquor, of which there should be about three pints. Add to it a portion of the cooked barley grains, salt and a cup of whipped cream. — Battle Creek.