Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

that the fat may form in a cake on the surface of the stock and easily be taken off. Then, too, if the stock be liquid it may be poured off, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the bowl ; or if it be in the form of jelly it may be turned out, and the sediment can be scraped from the bottom. In either case a comparatively clear stock will be obtained. Seasoning may be added, the stew-pan set on the stove, and its contents heated to the boiling-point and kept at that temperature for half an hour; then the soup will be ready for straining and serving. For a change, there may be added, after the straining, Italian paste in any form, cooked vegetables, cooked rice or barley, or, indeed, almost any embellishment that one may fancy. For inexperienced cooks this is the safest kind of clear soup to make. How Soups are Cleared. By some accident or oversight the stock may not be properly skimmed, or may be allowed to boil too hard, so that it becomes cloudy j or possibly the cloudiness will be brought on by the use of cooked meats. . In any of these cases there will be necessity for clearing the soup, — an operation which but comparatively few persons understand. Soups are cleared by various articles, the most common being the white of an egg. Professional cooks use fine-chopped raw meat for clearing bouillon and consomme. The white of an egg is so cheap and convenient to use that its value should be better known. When it is used it makes no difference whether or not any sediment gets into the soup-pot. To season and clear four quarts of soup, use the whites of two eggs, four blades of celery, one large onion, one large slice of carrot, two bay leaves, one leaf of sage, two sprigs of parsley, two small sprigs each of thyme, summer savory, and .sweet-marjoram, — all the herbs being tied together, — six whole cloves, three dozen pepper-corns, a two-inch piece of cinnamon, half a tea- spoonful of sugar, and three teaspoonfuls of salt. Beat the egg whites until they are light but not dry, and put them into the stock with the other ingredients. Place over the fire and heat slowly to the boiling-point. This is the critical stage of the work. Just as soon as the soup bubbles, move the kettle back where its contents will keep at the boiling-point for half an hour without really boiling. The kettle should be closely covered all the time. At the end of the half-hour strain the soup through a napkin into a clean kettle. It will be clear and sparkling if the directions have been followed to the letter. The stock must be cooked for at least half an hour after the egg whites are added. It must, however, be heated only to the boiling-point and not allowed to boil rapidly ; otherwise the egg will be broken up by the rapid motion of the liquid, and will not harden in a sheet, and the stock will not be rid of the foreign substances which the egg is expected to collect. . Value of Remnants of Meat. The belief, unfortunately, appears to be quite common that if one would have stock on hand for made dishes and the various kinds of soup made partly of stock and partly of milk, there must always be kept on the stove a stock-pot, into which all the bones and odds and ends of meat are to be put from day to day, and from which the stock may be taken at any time it is needed.