Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

For six persons use half a dozen large potatoes, one table-spoonful of chopped onion, half a pint of chopped celery, one table-spoonful of flour, a heaping teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of white pepper, a pint and a half of milk, one pint of cream, four tablespoonfuls of sherry. Pare the potatoes, and put them in a stew-pan with enough boiling water to cover them. Boil for half an hour. When the potatoes are put on to boil, put the celery, onion, and a pint of milk on to boil in the doubleboiler. Mix the half-pint of cold milk with the flour, and stir the mixture into the boiling milk. Five minutes before the potatoes are done, put the cream in a small saucepan, and place this on the fire in a larger saucepan containing a little boiling water. Drain all the water from the potatoes, and mash them until they are smooth and light. Gradually add the boiling milk and vegetables, beating constantly. Now add the salt and pepper, and strain the mixture into the double-boiler, rubbing as much as possible through the strainer. Place over the fire, and after adding the butter, cook for five minutes. Now add the hot cream, and turn the soup into the tureen at once. Stir in the sherry, and serve immediately. The wine may be omitted. * Corn Soup. Use one can of corn, one quart and two gills of milk, three table-spoonfuls of butter, two of flour, one gen- erous teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of minced onion, and the yolks of two eggs. Put the corn into a wooden bowl or chopping-tray, and mash it as fine as possible. Now put it in the doubleboiler, with one quart of milk, and cook for fifteen minutes. Put the butter and onion in a small frying-pan, and cook slowly for ten minutes. Now add the flour, and cook until the mixture is frothy, being careful not to brown. Stir this into the corn and milk. Now add the salt and pepper, and cook for ten minutes longer. At the end of this time rub the soup through a strainer, and return to the fire. Beat the yolks of the eggs well, and add to them the half -pint of cold milk. Stir this mixture into the soup, and cook for one minute, stirring all the while. Chestnut Soup. Use fifty French chestnuts, two quarts of stock, one pint of stale bread, free of crust, one pint of milk or cream, a slight grating of nutmeg, one table-spoonful of butter, one of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper. Blanch the chestnuts, and then boil them for half an hour in plenty of water. Drain off the water, and pound the chestnuts in a mortar until a fine meal is produced. To this gradually add one quart of the stock, pounding all the while. Bub this mixture through a fine sieve. Now put the strained mixture and all the other ingredients, except the butter and milk, in a stew-pan, and place on the fire. Cook gently for two hours. At the end of that time take from the fire, and rub through a fine sieve. Add the butter and milk, and return to the fire. Heat to the boiling-point, stirring constantly. Taste, to see if seasoned enough. Possibly it may be well to add some salt and pepper. Serve at once. * Fish Chowder.