Barley Cream Soup

Barley cream soup warms and satisfies with a few croutons and some small slices of roast.

Mix in a saucepan in the following proportions: Some barley (one teacupful) an onion, a small piece of cinnamon, half a blade of mace, and three pints of chicken broth. When it comes to a boiling point, remove to one side of the fire, and let it simmer slowly for five hours. Then pass it through a fine hair sieve, returning it to the saucepan. Mix with it two tablespoonfuls of butter and half a pint of boiling milk, or if cream is used in place of milk, the butter may be omitted; season to taste with pepper and salt. Beat the yolks of four eggs in a teacupful of milk; mix this in the soup, and stir by the side of a fire for a few minutes, but do not allow it to boil after the eggs are added. Turn the soup into a tureen and serve with a plate of sippets of roast or croutons of fried bread.