COTTAGE SOUP.--Fry two onions, a carrot and a turnip, and a small head of
celery cut up into small pieces, in a frying-pan, with a little butter,
till they are lightly browned. Then put them in a saucepan, with about two
quarts of water and a tablespoonful of mixed savoury herbs. Let this boil
till the vegetables are quite tender, and then thicken the soup with two
ounces of oatmeal or prepared barley. This must be mixed with cold water
and made quite smooth before it is added to the soup. Wash a quarter of a
pound of rice, and boil this in the soup, and when the rice is quite tender
the soup can be served. Some persons add a little sugar, and dried
powdered mint can be handed round with the soup, like pea soup.


CLEAR SOUP.--Make a very strong stock by cutting up onion, celery, carrot,
and a little turnip, and boiling them in some water. They should boil for
two or three hours. Add also a teaspoonful of mixed savoury herbs to every
quart, and colour the stock with a few drops of Parisian essence. Strain
it off, and, if it is not bright, clear it with some white of egg in the
ordinary way. Take only sufficient corn-flour to make the soup less thin
or watery, but do not make it thick. A tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup
can be added to every quart.


COCOANUT SOUP.--Break open a good-sized cocoanut and grate sufficient of
the white part till it weighs half a pound. Boil this in some stock, and
after it has boiled for about an hour strain it off. Only a small quantity
of stock must be used, and the cocoanut should be pressed and squeezed, so
as to extract all the goodness. Add a little pepper and salt, and about
half a grated nutmeg. Next boil separately three pints of milk, and add
this to the strained soup. Thicken the soup with some ground rice, and
serve. Of course, a little cream would be a great improvement. Serve with