ARTICHOKE SOUP.—­Take a dozen large Jerusalem artichokes about as big as the fist, or more to make up a similar quantity.  Peel them, and, like potatoes, throw them into cold water in order to prevent them turning colour.  Boil them in as little water as possible, as they contain a good deal of water themselves, till they are tender and become a pulp, taking care that they do not burn, and therefore it is best to rub the saucepan at the bottom with a piece of butter.  Now rub them through a wire sieve and add them to a pint of milk in which a couple of bay-leaves have been boiled.  Add also two lumps of sugar and a little white pepper and salt.  Serve the soup with fried or toasted bread.  This soup can be made much richer by the addition of either a quarter of a pint of cream or a couple of yolks of eggs.  If yolks of eggs are added, beat up the yolks separately and add the soup gradually, very hot, but not quite boiling, otherwise the yolks will curdle.

ASPARAGUS SOUP.—­Take a good-sized bundle (about fifty large heads) of asparagus, and after a thorough cleansing throw them into a saucepan of boiling water that has been salted.  When the tops become tender, drain off the asparagus and throw it into cold water, as by this means we retain the bright green colour; when cold cut off all the best part of the green into little pieces, about half an inch long, then put the remainder of the asparagus—­the stalk part—­into a saucepan, with a few green onions and a few sprigs of parsley, with about a quart of stock or water; add a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and a very little grated nutmeg.  Let this boil till the stalks become quite tender, then rub the whole through a wire sieve and thicken the soup with a little white roux, and colour it a bright green with some spinach extract.  Now add the little pieces cut up, and let the whole simmer gently, and serve fried or toasted bread with the soup.

N.B.—­SPINACH EXTRACT.—­It is very important in making all green vegetable soups that they should be of a green colour, such as the one above mentioned—­green-pea soup, &c., and that we get a good colour, and this is only to be obtained by means of spinach extract.  Spinach extract can be made at home, but it will be found to be far more economical to have a small bottle of green vegetable colouring always in the house.  These bottles can be obtained from all grocers at the cost of about tenpence or one shilling each.  Such a very small quantity goes such a long way that one bottle would probably last a family of six persons twelve months.  As we have said, it can be made at home, but the process, though not difficult, is troublesome.  It is made as follows:—­A quantity of spinach has, after being thoroughly washed, to be pounded in a mortar until it becomes a pulp.  This pulp is then placed in a very strong, coarse cloth, and the cloth is twisted till the juice of the spinach is squeezed out through the cloth.  The amount of force required is very considerable and is almost beyond the power of ordinary women cooks.  This juice must now be placed in a small enamelled saucepan, and must be heated till it becomes thick and pulpy, when it can be put by for use.  It will probably be found cheaper to buy spinach extract than to make it, as manual labour cannot compete with machinery.