Rule of Three Soup.
3 lbs. of lean beef; 3 lbs. of marrow bones; 3 lbs. coarse mutton; 3 onions; 3 carrots; 3 turnips; 3 sprigs of parsley, and same of thyme and marjoram; 6 quarts of water; 3 blades of mace; 3 tomatoes; 3 ears of corn; 3 tablespoonfuls of rice; pepper and salt.
Chop the vegetables; cut up the meat and crack the bones. Put onions, carrots, turnips, herbs and mace into the soup-pot; cover with three quarts of water; stew gently three hours; strain off the broth into a bowl; pour the remaining three quarts of water, boiling hot, upon the meat, bones, and vegetables in the pot, and put back over the fire. Cool that which you have strained; take off the fat, and put on in another kettle, with the tomatoes, the corn cut from the cob, and the rice. Season, and cook gently for another hour, then pour out.
Boil the soup left in the pot, three hours longer at the back of the range; add boiling water as the liquid shrinks. At the end of that time, season well; pour, without straining, into the stock-pot, and keep in a cold place. You have now stock for three days—a good investment of time, materials, and labor.