The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-25
Published by Loring, of Boston.
PREFACE.

Inc result OF some years experience in small
matters, which go TO make up great comforts
is offered in this little book Some NAV
sneer at these small economies, but il should
be remembered that there is nothing in this
earth small that it may not produce great
things" And amidst every household toll of
wife, and every energy OF a husband TO obtain
money Tor family neeus, what can be better
than to know how comfort can be had for the
money expended? Chief amongIthe chiefest of
evils are wasrefulness and unskilfulness in
cooking, which cannot be too greatly deplored
when there is no money but that arising from
limited income: and where there is ignorance
oil the art OF making the most of everything
there seems to be no remedy. What comfort
can there be i'll dining off stewed meat rendered
tough, tasteless and full of fibre; of eating
potatoes soddene6 with water or green's boiled
to a mash and of a rusty color; of having before
one stone-llke artiChOkes, tasteless and RUSTY
loo!klhg carrots, which, If one partakes OF, tit
OF indigestion, with its train of horrors Is sure
to follow. Boiled meats and fsh-which are
lnslplu-or 1rled hsh, greasy-looking and white,
cause far more trouble to produce than if they
were cooked by proper process. To help the
mistress In giving instructions in these inn
portant tri6es, and on which comfort SO much
depends, has been the authors aim.
In most homes there is a tendency to leave
small matters to take care of themselves. With
servants there is perpetual waste of candles,
soap, Goals, and Cinders. These articles are
not very often lnteriered with by mistresses
with incomes OF E2O0 year; but in all of these
an unobserved waste brings pinching in other
requisites which are really necessary for COM
fort Even the melting away of penny day
amounts to upwards of thirty shillings a year.
at Christmas, many of the comforts may be OBJ
tanned for this sum, or it would gladden. a
starving or sick feliow-creature. =
1t is against waste of every kind that one
should war. A hospitable heart and economy
are twins. We should be careful, that we might
be liberal Waste in small matters, and profu-
sion in arge, is burning the candle at both ends,
not to be compensated for by stinginess in any
household department.
There is also great waste in using uuneces.
sary ingredients in cooking, which may not be
unnecessary to persons with large incomes who
give entertainments, and who, If suffering from
Indigestion, can afford the time to be i'll, and
money to pay the doctor. To these may be
safely left the eggs, the cream and butter which
enter so largely into what is termed frst-cass
| cooking. custard is much more enjoyable
and the flavor is equally good-when made
| WIN mllk, and the exact number of eggs to
| thicken the milk, than it is when made with an
excess OF eggs added to cream. Those who de-
sire TO have bilious attack need swallow but
half custard made in this extravaant fashion.
AGAIN, rice puddings are richer tasted and en-
tlrely wholesome, when made without eggs and
WIN mix oniy-no water. But if the precau-
tlon be not observed of first washing the rice
three or four times in boiling water then not All
the richest ingredients can destroy the Offensive
musty taste which the grain has acouired
WeI-navored arrowroot puddings, made with
boiling milk only, are excellent, and these can
be made in moment. When water only is used
for them, an addition of glass of sherry makes
excellent jelly for the sick who cannot take
The French cooking of roast meat nonltrv
and game, which most Enelish people say they
SO much admire, owes much of its excellence to
the process OF larding, and to its being slowly
cooked by a proper degree of heat. The direc-
tions 1or larding, as given by French cook.
are to cut up shreds of bacon and tie it on TO
the articles to be cooked, or to introduce these
shreds with larding- underneath the
skin Now, the same SAVIOR and moistneas
can be given TO English cooking by econo-
mixing and using the bacon fat which drips
rom the bacon when cooking it for the morning
meal. 1t Is no extravaganza, but real COM
tort Tor persons of moderate means to eniov
small quantity Of bacon for breakfast If the
mistress is watchtul to take the bacon fat into
her own possession and to see that the bacon
De cooked In the same manner as described Ia
Chapter III: otherwise bacon butter. or lard
must supply the need when called for.
In the Appendix will be found many useful
hlnts, winch will assist an unskilled mistress
1t may be as well to remark that servants will
invariably set their faces against any appear
ance OF economy. If mistress will once try
the recipes and directions given for cooking,
superintendlng the whole process herself, even
10 the minutest particular, she will then find 1t
so easy to obtain well-cooked food without any
uncertainty in the matter, that, however un-
skilled her servant may be- she will herself hold
the power of mastership in her own hands, and
be able TO create comfort for her household.
and reward for herself in the well-being of
her family. Iu~I0
How such a mistake could have arisen that
II Is beneath woman's dignity TO superintend
the cookery of her kitchen-it is hard to tell
Surely she need be none the less ACCOMPLISHED
in all the refnements and requirements which
are vsibly attractive, because she is invisibly
invaluable in her domestic experience. Woman
should be an adept in all domestic work, not
always with her hands-"unless a scant fortuue
wills t,"-but with hand and heart, and iudg-
ment and skill to guide the rough worker placed
by the accident OF birth beneath her care Her
husband and children cannot be fed and cared
for by song and music, by drawing or dancing;
but, after wholesome, well-cooked meal ali
these certainly add TO their enjoyment, and fre.
quently to their happiness.
Those who suffer from indigestion are always
cross-they cannot help it-it is the natural
eject of causej and one ill-cooked meal will
give the malady for week, which nothing but
frequent exercise in the day in pure air can
cure. And when one badly9cook ed meal presses
upon another, man cannot be amiable; his
purse-strings are closed, and his heart has be-
come stone.
When woman knows the simple principles
OF cooking wel-jast as she could learn to
sketch and to play correctly-she is independent
OF the sudden desertion of hsr servants and can
manage TO place respectable dinner on the
table with but slight assistance, or she can
. ait apart. and in the cool direct
Observant of what passes others' toll"
Isaac Disraeli, in his chapter on Ancient
Cookery and Cooks, remarks:-
"No people are such fgorgers of animal food
as our own. The art OF preparing vegetables
nd VOnta Ia EnarcalU In