N.B.—­Aromatic flavouring herbs are exceedingly useful in cooking.  It is cheaper to buy them ready made, under the name of Herbaceous Mixture.  They can, however, be made at home as follows:—­Take two ounces of white peppercorns, two ounces of cloves, one ounce of marjoram, one ounce of sweet basil and one ounce of lemon-thyme, one ounce of powdered nutmeg, one ounce of powdered mace, and half an ounce of dried bay-leaves.  The herbs must be wrapped up in paper (one or two little paper bags, one inside the other, is best), and dried very slowly in the oven till they are brittle.  They must then be pounded in a mortar, and mixed with the spices, and the whole sifted through a fine hair-sieve and put by in a stoppered bottle for use.

HOTCH-POTCH.—­Cut up some celery, onion, carrot, turnip, and leeks into small pieces and fry them for a few minutes in about two ounces of butter in a frying-pan, very gently, taking care that they do not in the least degree turn colour.  Previous to this, wash and boil about a quarter of a pound of pearl barley for four or five hours.  When the barley is tender, or nearly tender, add the contents of the frying-pan.  Let it all boil till the vegetables are tender, and about half an hour before the soup is sent to table throw in, while the soup is boiling, half a pint of fresh green peas—­those known as marrowfats are best,—­and about five minutes before sending the soup to table throw in a spoonful (in the proportion of a dessertspoonful to every quart) of chopped, blanched parsley—­i.e., parsley that has been thrown into boiling water before it is chopped.  Colour the soup green with a little spinach extract (vegetable colouring sold in bottles by all grocers).  The thinness of the soup can be removed by the addition of a small quantity of white roux.

JARDINIERE SOUP.—­Cut up into thin strips some carrot, turnip and celery, add a dozen or more small button onions, similar to those used for pickling, and also a few hearts of lettuces cut up fine, as well as a few fresh tarragon leaves cut into strips as thin as small string.  Simmer these gently in some clear soup (see CLEAR SOUP) till tender; add a lump of sugar, and serve.

N.B.—­The tarragon should not be thrown in till the last minute.

JULIENNE SOUP.—­This soup is exactly similar to the previous one, the only exception being that all the vegetables are first stewed very gently, till they are tender, in a little butter.  Care should be taken that the vegetables do not turn colour.

LEEK SOUP.—­Take half a dozen or more fine large leeks, and after trimming off the green part, throw them into boiling water for five minutes, then drain them off and dry them.  Cut them into pieces about half an inch long, and stew them gently in a little butter till they are tender.  Add three pints of milk, and let two bay-leaves boil in the milk, flavour with pepper and salt, and add a suspicion of grated nutmeg.  Thicken the soup with a little white roux and take the crust of a French roll.  Cut this up into small pieces or rings.  The rings can be made by simply scooping out the crumb, and cutting the roll across.  When the leeks have boiled in the milk till they are quite tender, pour the soup over the crusts placed at the bottom of the soup-tureen.  Some cooks add blanched parsley.  Of course, cream would be a great improvement.