a pinch of mace,
four cloves, one allspice and six whole pepper corns. Boil fifteen
minutes and strain into a saucepan; add the chopped clams and a pint
of clam-juice or hot water; simmer slowly two hours; strain and rub
the pulp through a sieve into the liquid. Return it to the saucepan
and keep it lukewarm. Boil three half-pints of milk in a saucepan
(previously wet with cold water, which prevents burning) and whisk it
into the soup. Dissolve a teaspoonful of flour in cold milk, add it to
the soup, taste for seasoning; heat it gently to near the boiling
point; pour into a tureen previously heated with hot water, and serve
with or without pieces of fried bread--called _croutons_ in kitchen
French.

CLAM SOUP.

Twenty-five clams chopped fine. Put over the fire the liquor that was
drained from them, and a cup of water; add the chopped clams and boil
half an hour; then season to taste with pepper and salt and a piece of
butter as large as an egg; boil up again and add one quart of milk
boiling hot, stir in a tablespoon of flour made to a cream with a
little cold milk, or two crackers rolled fine. Some like a little mace
and lemon juice in the seasoning.

MODES OF FRYING

The usual custom among professional cooks is to entirely immerse the
article to be cooked in boiling fat, but from inconvenience most
households use the half-frying method of frying in a small amount of
fat in a frying pan. For the first method a shallow iron frying
kettle, large at the top and small at the bottom, is best to use. The
fat should half fill the kettle, or an amount sufficient to float
whatever is to be fried; the heat of the fat should get to such a
degree that, when a piece of bread or a teaspoonful of the batter is
dropped in it, it will become brown almost instantly, but should not
be so hot as to burn the fat. Some cooks say that the fat should be
smoking, but my experience is, that is a mistake, as that soon ruins
the fat. As soon as it begins to smoke it should be removed a little
to one side, and still be kept at the boiling point. If fritters,
crullers, croquettes, etc., are dropped into fat that is too hot, it
crusts over the outside before the inside has fully risen, making a
heavy, hard article, and also ruining the fat, giving it a burnt
flavor.

Many French cooks prefer beef fat or suet to lard for frying purposes,
considering it more wholesome and digestible, does not impart as much
flavor, or adhere or soak