ey contain a good
deal of water themselves, till they are tender and become a pulp, taking
care that they do not burn, and therefore it is best to rub the saucepan at
the bottom with a piece of butter. Now rub them through a wire sieve and
add them to a pint of milk in which a couple of bay-leaves have been
boiled. Add also two lumps of sugar and a little white pepper and salt.
Serve the soup with fried or toasted bread. This soup can be made much
richer by the addition of either a quarter of a pint of cream or a couple
of yolks of eggs. If yolks of eggs are added, beat up the yolks separately
and add the soup gradually, very hot, but not quite boiling, otherwise the
yolks will curdle.


ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Take a good-sized bundle (about fifty large heads) of
asparagus, and after a thorough cleansing throw them into a saucepan of
boiling water that has been salted. When the tops become tender, drain off
the asparagus and throw it into cold water, as by this means we retain the
bright green colour; when cold cut off all the best part of the green into
little pieces, about half an inch long, then put the remainder of the
asparagus--the stalk part--into a saucepan, with a few green onions and a
few sprigs of parsley, with about a quart of stock or water; add a
teaspoonful of pounded sugar and a very little grated nutmeg. Let this
boil till the stalks become quite tender, then rub the whole through a wire
sieve and thicken the soup with a little white roux, and colour it a bright
green with some spinach extract. Now add the little pieces cut up, and let
the whole simmer gently, and serve fried or toasted bread with the soup.


N.B.--SPINACH EXTRACT.--It is very important in making all green vegetable
soups that they should be of a green colour, such as the one above
mentioned--green-pea soup, &c., and that we get a _good_ colour, and this
is only to be obtained by means of spinach extract. Spinach extract can be
made at home, but it will be found to be far more economical to have a
smal