Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

When the soup has cooked for the required time, strain it, and put it in a cool place. The next morning skim off all the fat, and pour the soup into the kettle, being careful that no sediment follows the liquid. Set the kettle on the stove, and then mix two table-spoonfuls of arrowroot with half a cupful of cold water. As soon as the soup begins to boil, stir the arrowroot into it, and set it back where it will only simmer for the next twenty minutes. Taste, to be sure that there is enough seasoning; for more salt and pepper may be required to produce the best flavor. To the minds of some people it will be considered as an improvement to put two table-spoonfuls of brandy into the soup at the last moment. A quick way of making a brown soup is to thicken three quarts of clear consomme or bouillon with arrowroot, and flavor it with brandy. Beef Soup, with Barley. Use two pounds of beef, from the round. After removing all the fat, cut the meat into small pieces and then chop it very fine. Put it into a soup-pot with two quarts of cold water ; and after slowly heating the liquid to the boiling-point, and skimming carefully, cover it closely, and set it back where it will simply bubble for three hours. At the end of that time add an onion, a small slice of carrot, a stalk of celery, two cloves and a bay leaf; then simmer for another hour. At the same time the chopped meat is put on to boil, put one-third of a cupful of well- washed barley into a stew-pan with a pint of cold water. Simmer for four hours. Strain the soup, and add to it the cooked barley. Return the pot to the fire, and let the soup boil up. Put a table-spoonful of butter into a small stew-pan, and when it becomes hot add a table-spoonful of flour. Stir until smooth and brown; then add to the soup. Season to your taste with salt and pepper. * Barley Soup. Put into the soup-pot the bones and trimmings left from a dish of beefsteak, roast chicken, or other meat. Add six quarts of cold water, and when it has become heated to the boiling-point, skim it carefully, and set back where it will boil gently for four hours. Wash two-thirds of a cupful of barley, and let it simmer for three hour's in two-thirds of a quart of water, — cold when put on. Cut an onion, half a small carrot, and half a small turnip into small cubes, and put them into a frying-pan containing three table-spoonfuls of butter. Cook slowly for twenty minutes. Strain the liquor from the bones in the soup-pot, and add the cooked barley to it. Now add two table-spoonfuls of flour to the butter and vegetables in the frying-pan, and stir until the mixture begins to bubble; then add the contents of the frying-pan to the soup. Season with salt and pepper, and cook half an hour longer. Serve with toasted bread. * Shin-of-Beef Soup. The ingredients are six pounds of the shin of beef, three onions, one turnip, one carrot, half a cupful of rice, six potatoes, a few leaves of celery, one quart of finely shred cabbage, salt, pepper, seven quarts of cold water.