The home cook book

Hull the raw shrimps. To one tablespoon of boiling beef dripping add two tablespoons of sifted flour. When browned, add one large minced onion and brown thoroughly. Add one pint of raw shrimps. Brown, stirring constantly, taking care not to mash the shrimps. When half cooked, add two tablespoons of canned tomatoes, one clove of minced garlic, one bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, and summer savory, salt to taste, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Add one quart of beef tea, or water in which a chicken has been boiled. Water will do if you have not these. Boil until the shrimps are tender. Add a teaspoon of file powder before removing from the fire. Serve with plain boiled rice. SOUP STOCK Put a fifteen-cent neck bone and a ten-cent rose bone in a granite soup kettle. Pour over them six quarts of cold water. Stand the kettle on the back of the stove one hour. Then place it over a good fire. In about thirty minutes the scum will begin to rise and the water to steam. Now place over a moderate fire. Add one teacup of cold water and skim off all the scum. Cover the kettle closely, and set a weight on the cover. Let it simmer (not boil) four hours. Cut an onion in halves and stick twelve cloves in it. Slice another onion. Fry both a light brown in a little butter and add to the soup. Add one stalk of celery cut in pieces, three sprigs of parsley, two carrots cut in pieces, and one bay leaf. After adding these vegetables, let simmer one hour longer. Now strain the stock through a fine wire sieve. Add two tablespoons of salt, and stand in a ;cold place to cool. If kept in a warm place it will not make a nice jelly. When cold take off all the grease from the top. It is ready for use. Put it in a covered stone jar, and keep it in a cold place till used. FAST DAY TOMATO SOUP Slice three onions and fry them brown in their own juice in the bottom of the saucepan in which you make your soup. When the onions have fried pour over them a quart can of tomatoes well mashed, and a quart of boiling water. Cook all well together till the tomatoes are tender, then rub through a colander and put back in the saucepan. Add a cup of boiled rice, salt, and make of the thickness you wish with flour and butter worked smooth together, and in the proportion of one tablespoon of butter to one of flour. Simmer while the flour cooks, add a dash of pepper and serve hot with sippets fried in butter. TURKEY SOUP. To use the remains of a turkey break up the carcass of the bird, keeping all the bones and skin, put in a pot and cover with cold water. Set on the back of the stove and let simmer for hours. Cover tight, but if the water boils low renew it. At night strain through a colander to get out the bones, and set to cool. Next day take ofif the hard fat on the top, put the jellied soup in a pot, stir in a cup of fresh milk when the soup is hot, and serve with a spoon of boiled rice. MEATLESS VEGETABLE SOUP Boil two tomatoes, two potatoes, one onion and one tablespoon of rice in one quart of water one hour. Season with salt, put through a sieve and serve hot with small rounds of toast. WHITE SOUP STOCK