Rub the lumps of sugar on the lemon until they are bright yellow in colour and quite wet. (It is the fragrant juice contained in the yellow surface of the lemon rind that gives the delicious lemon flavour without acidity.) Mix the barley to a thin paste with a little cold water.  This is poured into a pint of boiling water, well stirred until it comes to the boil again and then left to boil for five minutes, after which it is done.  Add the sugar and lemon juice.

2.  BOILED HOMINY.

Take one part of Hominy and 2-1/2 parts of water.  Have the water boiling; add the hominy and boil for fifteen minutes; keep stirring to keep from burning.

3.  BROWN GRAVY.

1 dessert-spoon butter, 1 dessert-spoon white flour, hot water.

Melt the butter in a small iron saucepan or frying pan and sprinkle into it the flour.  Keep stirring gently with a wooden spoon until the flour is a rich dark brown, but not burnt, or the flavour will be spoilt.  Then add very gently, stirring well all the time, rather less than half-a-pint of hot water.  Stir until the mixture boils, when it should be a smooth brown gravy to which any flavouring may be added.  Strained tomato pulp is a nice addition, but a teaspoonful of lemon juice will suffice.

4.  BUTTERED RICE AND PEAS.

1 cup unpolished rice, 3 cups water, 2 cups fresh-shelled peas, 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, butter size of walnut.

Put the rice on in the water and bring gradually to the boil.  Boil hard for five minutes, stirring once or twice.  Draw it to side of stove, where it is comparatively cool, or, if a gas stove is used, put the saucepan on an asbestos mat and turn the gas as low as possible.  The water should now gradually steam away, leaving the rice dry and well cooked.

Steam the peas in a separate pan.  If young, about 20 minutes should be sufficient; they are spoiled by over-cooking.

Add the cooked peas to the cooked rice, with the butter, parsley, and lemon juice.  Stir over the fire until the mixture is thoroughly hot.

Serve with or without tomato sauce and new potatoes.

5.  CONVALESCENTS’ SOUP.

1 small head celery, 1 large onion, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley, P.R.  Barley malt meal, Mapleton’s or P.R. almond or pine-kernel cream, 3 pints boiling water.

Well wash the vegetables and slice them, and add them with the parsley to the boiling water. (The water should be distilled, if possible, and the cooking done in a large earthenware jar or casserole.  See notes re casseroles in Chap.  IV.) Simmer gently for 2 hours, or until quite soft.  Then strain through a hair sieve.  Do not rub the vegetables through the sieve to make a puree, simply strain and press all the juices out.  The vegetable juices are all wanted, but not the fibre.  To each pint of this vegetable broth allow 1 heaped tablespoon