The Pattern cook-book

This is a good way to utilize the portions of celery that are not presentable for the table. Cut the celery into half-inch lengths, and boil it in the water until soft, mashing it as much as possible. Cook the onion ten minutes in the milk in a double boiler, and add both to the celery. Rub the whole through a fine sieve, and return to the fire ; then make a paste of the butter and flour, stir it into the boiling soup, season and serve. NOODLE SOUP. Three pints of milk. Three table-spoonfuls of flour. Noodles. One slice of onion. A bit of mace. Salt and pepper to taste. Put all but a cupful of the milk on the stove in a double boiler, placing the onion and mace in the milk. Mix the flour and cold milk together until smooth, and stir this paste into the boiling milk. Next add the seasoning and cook for fifteen minutes, then put in the noodles, and cook five minutes more. NOODLES FOR SOUP. Beat with one egg a half-cupful of flour and one-fourth of a tea-spoonful of salt. Work this dough with the hands until it becomes smooth and like putty ; then roll it as thin as a wafer on a well floured mouldmg-board. Let this sheet of dough lie for five minutes, after which roll it up loosely, and with a sharp knife cut it from the end into very thin slices, forming little wheels or curls. Spread these pieces on the board to dry for half an hour — even longer will do no harm. Next cook them twenty-five minutes in boiling salted water, and drain thoroughly in a colander, when they are ready for use in soup. OYSTER SOUP. One quart of oysters. Three pints of milk. Butter, salt and pepper to taste. Place the oysters on the fire in their own liquor, and let them gently simmer until their edges *' ruffle." At the same time put the milk on to heat in a double boiler, and when it is at the scalding point, turn it over the oysters. Let the soup stand one minute, skim well with a fine skimmer, season and serve at once. If a richer soup be desired, allow equal quantities of milk and oysters. Many cooks place a blade of mace in the milk before scalding, but this is a matter of taste. CL4M SOUP. One-half peck of clams, in the shells. Two eggs. One pint of milk. Butter, pepper and salt to suit the taste. Wash the shells thoroughly, using a fine brush to rid them of all the sand in the seams, and place them in a hot oven in a pan, when the shells will quickly open ; then extract the meat and chop it rather finely. Heat the clam liquor, adding whatever may be in the pan ; and when it is at the boiling point, add the chopped clams. Heat again, remove all the scum that will arise, and add the butter and pepper and a little salt. Heat the milk in a double boiler, reserving half a cupful of it. Now beat the eggs well, turn them into th6 cold milk, mix thoroughly, stir the whole into the boiling milk, and pour at once into the tureen. Next turn in the boiled clams, which should have been cooking slowly not more than five minutes. The milk and clams should never be put over the fire together, or the milk will curdle. " How many things by season, seasoned are To their right praise and true perfection." Shakspere.