Put ½ cup of powdered sugar in a small saucepan over a very low fire, stir with a wooden spoon until melted, and continue to stir until it is a rich brown; add 2 cups of warm water, and let it simmer for fifteen or twenty minutes, then skim and strain, and bottle for use in giving a rich colour to soups and sauces.

Ready-made vegetable extracts of good dark colour can be bought, and are one of the few things which seem better than the home-made product.

This adds a delicious flavour to many sauces, vegetables, and soups, and is made by putting vinegar, with a little salt and pepper, in a saucepan and letting it boil rapidly until reduced, the proportions being 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 saltspoon of salt, and a pinch of pepper cooked until reduced to 1 teaspoon of liquid. Strain before using.

Into 1 tablespoon of reduced vinegar beat slowly the yolks of 4 eggs to which has been added 2 tablespoons of cold water, and when well mixed hold in a small saucepan above a slow fire; put in a small bit of butter, and when melted stir in another, and so continue until 1½ tablespoons have been used. When the sauce is smooth and creamy, season with salt and pepper or paprika, and add ½ teaspoon of tarragon vinegar, or 1 teaspoon of minced tarragon leaves. The sauce cannot be served very hot or it will curdle. It may be served cold also.

Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan with 1 saltspoon of salt and a little pepper, and let cook slowly until browned; then add 1 teaspoon of reduced vinegar or lemon juice, and serve hot.

Put 1 large slice of bread, cut an inch thick, into 2 cups of milk with 1 onion with 4 cloves stuck in it, add pepper, salt, and 1 teaspoon of butter. Let simmer until the bread is quite soft, lift out the onion and cloves, beat well with a fork, and serve. Serve fine golden brown bread crumbs with the sauce, as these belong with it.

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when well browned, remove from fire, add 1 tablespoon of flour, stirring until smooth; then add gradually 1 cup of vegetable stock or milk, and, when all is smooth and well thickened, ½ teaspoon of brown colouring, and salt and pepper. It improves the flavour to let the stock to be used simmer for ten minutes with 1 bay leaf and ½ an onion added to it.

Add chopped button mushrooms, chopped fried peppers, tiny pearl onions, boiled eggs, etc., to vary brown sauce.

To 1 cup of brown sauce add 1 teaspoon of grated onion, 3 minced fresh mushrooms (or 1 tablespoon of chopped canned ones), 2 teaspoons of chopped parsley, and salt and pepper. Stir over a slow fire for five minutes before serving.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter, and stir in until smooth 2 tablespoons of flour; then add slowly 2 cups of boiling vegetable stock, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a little cayenne or paprika.

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted stir into it 1 large onion chopped fine, and let simmer for six or seven minutes; then add 1 sour apple chopped fine (or, if it can be had, 1 tablespoon of tamarind chutney), stir for three or four minutes, then add ½ cup of strong vegetable stock or water, and let cook gently for five minutes; pour on another ½ cup of vegetable stock and 1 cup of milk, into which 1 dessert spoon of curry powder has been stirred until smooth; let all boil up once, then press through a sieve, pressing well to get the juices, return to the fire, and to thicken, use 1 tablespoon of flour blended with 1 tablespoon of butter to every cup of liquid. Stir until the consistency of thick cream, and add a little salt before serving. The quantity of curry powder here named will make a mild curry sauce.

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of flour and stir until smooth. Now add, a little at a time, 2 cups of vegetable broth, and stir until it boils and is smooth. Put in 2 heaping tablespoons of capers and 1 chopped hard-boiled egg, and season well with salt and pepper. One tablespoon of cream may be added at the last to enrich the sauce if desired.

Make 1 cup of highly seasoned white sauce, and add to it 1 scant cup of grated cheese; stir in a double boiler until the cheese is melted, then add a few drops of yellow colouring extract, and salt and paprika.

Grate 1 cucumber and drain it well, then add to it ½ teaspoon of salt, a dash of cayenne, and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.

To every tablespoon of melted butter add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice; season with salt.

Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 1 tablespoon of chopped onion, and let cook slowly for five minutes. Then add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of walnut or mushroom catsup, 1 tablespoon of English mustard, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 saltspoon of black pepper, and a little cayenne. Thicken with 1 tablespoon of flour, and when smooth add enough vegetable stock to make the consistency of cream. The sauce may be used as it is or pressed through a sieve to strain.

To 1 cup of well-made white sauce add 2 hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, and 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, and a little salt and paprika.

Rub together 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 of butter, and put in a saucepan; as it melts add slowly 1 cup of boiling water or vegetable stock, let boil, stirring constantly, then remove from the fire, and when somewhat cooled add the juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons of tarragon or chervil vinegar, 2 egg-yolks slightly beaten, and salt and pepper.

Make brown sauce, add ½ can halved button mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of reduced vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Mix 3 beaten egg-yolks with 1 teaspoon of flour, 1 scant cup of cream or milk, 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and beat vigorously, until thickened, over a hot fire, but do not let the sauce boil at all. Add 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped fine, and 1 tablespoon of minced parsley before serving.

Make a good white sauce and to each 2 cups of sauce add the herbs selected, prepared as follows: Take a handful of the leaves, and after washing them well put them in a pan with a little salted boiling water; let cook for five minutes, then drain, and dry with a cloth, and put in a mortar with 1 tablespoon of butter, and macerate until fine; add this to the white sauce. In this way parsley, mint, tarragon, chervil, and other herb sauces can be made.

To 1 tablespoon of reduced vinegar add the yolks of 4 eggs mixed with 2 tablespoons of cold water; stir well together, and cook by holding above a very slow fire, in order to prevent curdling; add 2 tablespoons of butter, stirring it in a little at a time until all is used. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm or cold.

Rub together 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 of flour and put in a saucepan. When melted and smooth from stirring, add slowly 1½ cups of heated milk; when properly thickened by slow cooking, put in 3 tablespoons of grated horse-radish, stir well, season with salt, add 1 teaspoon of butter, and serve on croquettes, etc.

This is made by using sauce Hollandaise and adding to it 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley.

Wash the mint and take ½ cup of the leaves; chop them fine, macerate in a mortar, then cover with 1 cup of hot vinegar, add 1 teaspoon of sugar, and let stand a few moments before using.

Make brown sauce and add to it ½ can of button mushrooms, halved. Let heat through before serving.

For these use pignola (pine) nuts, almonds, chestnuts, or any other sort. Remove the shells, blanch in boiling water to remove the inner skin, and chop them very fine. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan, and when melted add to it 1 tablespoon of chopped onion, and let cook for five minutes; then add ½ cup of chopped nuts and stir until brown, scrape the contents of the pan into a mortar, and pound them well. Blend 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of butter, put in a saucepan, and when melted and smooth add ½ cup of milk and ½ of the nuts; let cook slowly two or three minutes, add another ½ cup of milk and the remaining nuts. Salt well, and add a little pepper; let cook very slowly, and when the sauce is the proper thickness stir in 1 tablespoon of thick cream.

The sauce can be darkened with brown colouring, or by browning the thickening flour in butter.

Chop 4 onions very fine and brown them in 3 tablespoons of butter; add 1 tablespoon of flour, let this brown also, and thin with 1 cup of broth or water or milk. Add pepper and salt, and beat 1 egg-yolk into it before serving. Serve either strained or unstrained.

Put butter in a saucepan, and when melted add finely chopped parsley and some salt, using 1 teaspoon of parsley to every tablespoon of butter used. Serve on boiled potatoes, asparagus, etc.

Into 2 cups of white sauce stir 1 beaten egg and 2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley.

To 1 cup of Spanish sauce add 1 tablespoon of white wine, 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce, and 1 tablespoon of chopped chives, and cook together slowly ten minutes before serving. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Put 4 tablespoons of vinegar in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots or onions, and let cook slowly until only 1 tablespoon remains; add to this 1 cup of Spanish sauce, and when at boiling point put in the sauce 2 teaspoons of minced sour pickles, 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley, and some salt and pepper; serve with croquettes or vegetables.

Ravigote is merely the name applied to the mixture of herbs combined with flavouring for this sauce. These are chives, cress, burnet and chervil, in equal proportions. Use 2 tablespoons of the mixed herbs, scald them in tarragon vinegar, drain them, chop them fine, and add them to 1 cup of plain mayonnaise.

This is made by adding to 1 cup of Spanish sauce 2 tablespoons of white wine, 1 teaspoon of onion juice, and 1½ teaspoons of mustard mixed with 2 teaspoons tarragon vinegar. Season, and make hot in a double boiler, letting all cook slowly together ten minutes.

This is a rich sauce which is used as a basis for many sauces, and can be made at a leisure time and used any time within a few days. Any stock in which vegetables have been cooked may be used, but the best one is made as follows: Wash 4 or 5 cups of red beans or lentils, and after soaking them in 2 quarts of water for ten hours or more empty them with the same water into a saucepan, and put with them 3 onions halved, 3 sprigs of parsley, 1 cup of carrots quartered, ½ cup of diced turnips, 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 stalks of celery cut in short lengths, and a small bag containing 1 teaspoon of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 6 cloves, 6 whole peppers, and 1 teaspoon of allspice berries. Let boil hard for one minute, then set on the stove where it will simmer slowly for two hours. Strain the broth through a fine sieve, and use the vegetables in a stew, a deep pie, or a curry. To finish the Spanish sauce put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and when melted stir into it 2 tablespoons of flour and let brown, stirring constantly; then add a little stock at a time until about 2 cups have been used and the sauce is the consistency of thick cream. Darken with 1 teaspoon of brown colouring, add 1 tablespoon of sherry, and pepper and salt.

Put 1 cup of freshly cooked or canned spinach, from which the juice has been pressed, into a basin or mortar, and chop or mash to a pulp. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, add to it 1 small onion chopped fine, let cook slowly for five minutes, then add the spinach, and let cook for ten minutes more. Put 1 cup of milk into a double boiler with 1 bay leaf, 1 stalk of celery (or some celery seed), and when it boils add 1 tablespoon of flour blended with 1 tablespoon of butter; season with salt and pepper, and when thickened stir the spinach into this, sprinkle with grated nutmeg, and let cook together for ten minutes. Press through a sieve before serving.

Make a plain mayonnaise sauce (see Salads), and to each cup add 1 teaspoon of gherkins and 2 teaspoons of capers, both very finely minced; sprinkle a little cayenne on the sauce before serving.

Use 6 fresh tomatoes, and after washing them slice them, skins and all. Put 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion, let cook slowly for five minutes, then put with them the tomatoes, 2 bay leaves, 1 clove of garlic, 1 teaspoon of sugar, some pepper and salt, and let cook gently for fifteen minutes; then strain, pressing through a sieve, and return the liquid to the fire to simmer until reduced to the proper consistency.

Make tomato sauce, using with it chopped celery, chopped peppers, or chopped mushrooms, which have been fried for ten minutes in hot butter and added after the sauce is strained.

Chop 2 tablespoons of blanched nuts, fry them for ten minutes in 1 tablespoon of melted butter, and add these to strained tomato sauce.

To each cup of strained tomato sauce add 2 hard-boiled eggs chopped fine.

To each cup of French dressing add 1 tablespoon of minced onion and 1 tablespoon of macerated parsley.

Put 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan, and as soon as it is melted stir into it slowly 3 tablespoons of flour, using 1 tablespoon at a time, then add slowly 2 cups of warm vegetable stock or milk, stirring all the while; then add ? of a teaspoon of salt, 1 saltspoon of pepper, and cook slowly for five minutes, stirring constantly; add 1 tablespoon of butter, and stir for another minute. Some flour thickens more than others, and if the sauce seems too thick, thin with a little cream or milk.

White sauce may be varied in many ways by using onion juice, mushroom catsup, chopped chives, etc.

The white sauce may be made in a double boiler. Put the milk in the top receptacle, and when boiling add the flour dissolved in a little cold milk, then the butter, etc., and let cook ten minutes or until thickened.