VEGETABLE SOUP.—­Pare and slice five or six cucumbers; and add to these as many cos lettuces, a sprig or two of mint, two or three onions, some pepper and salt, a pint and a half of young peas and a little parsley.  Put these, with half a pound of fresh butter, into a saucepan, to stew in their own liquor, near a gentle fire, half an hour, then pour two quarts of boiling water to the vegetables, and stew them two hours; rub down a little flour into a teacupful of water, boil it with the rest twenty minutes, and serve it.

VERMICELLI SOUP.—­Boil tender 1/2 lb. of vermicelli in a quart of rich gravy; take half of it out, and add to it more gravy; boil till the vermicelli can be pulped through a sieve.  To both put a pint of boiling cream, a little salt, and 1/4 lb. of Parmesan cheese.  Serve with rasped bread.  Add two or three eggs, if you like.

BROWN VERMICELLI SOUP.—­Is made in the same manner, leaving out the eggs and cream, and adding one quart of strong beef gravy.

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HOW TO COOK VEGETABLES

HOW TO BOIL ARTICHOKES.—­If the artichokes are very young, about an inch of the stalk can be left; but should they be full grown, the stalk must be cut quite close.  Wash them well and put them into strong salt and water to soak for a couple of hours.  Pull away a few of the lower leaves, and snip off the points of all.  Fill a saucepan with water, throw some salt into it, let it boil up, and then remove the scum from the top; put the artichokes in, with the stalks upward, and let them boil until the leaves can be loosened easily; this will take from thirty to forty minutes, according to the age of the artichokes.  The saucepan should not be covered during the time they are boiling.  Rich, melted butter is always sent to the table with them.

NEW MODE TO DRESS ASPARAGUS.—­Scrape the grass, tie it up in bundles, and cut the ends off an even length.  Have ready a saucepan, with boiling water, and salt in proportion of a heaped saltspoonful to a quart of water.  Put in the grass, standing it on the bottom with the green heads out of the water, so that they are not liable to be boiled off.  If the water boils too fast, dash in a little cold water.  When the grass has boiled a quarter of an hour it will be sufficiently done; remove it from the saucepan, cut off the ends down to the edible part, arrange it on a dish in a round pyramid, with the heads toward the middle of the dish, and boil some eggs hard; cut them in two, and place them round the dish quite hot.  Serve melted butter in a sauce-tureen; and those who like it rub the yoke of a hard egg into the butter, which makes a delicious sauce to the asparagus.

HOW TO BOIL ASPARAGUS.—­Scrape the asparagus; tie them in small bunches; boil them in a large pan of water with salt in it; before you dish them up toast some slices of bread, and then dip them in the boiling water; lay the asparagus on the toasts; pour on them rich melted butter, and serve hot.