Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-03-16

THE EASIEST WAY IN HoUsEKEEPrNG
AND COOKING. Adapted to Domestic Use
or Study in Glasses By Helen Campbell.
late Superintendent of the Raleigh IN. C.,)
Cooking School; Author of Z" Chips from a
Northwestern Log" etc. l6no Cloth,
81 90.
Whoever will read Mrs. Campbell's
spicy Introductory Chapter will gain at
once an idea of what this little book ia
meant to do, and belief that the author
has the ability to accomplish her nten-
ton. And a careful examination of the
book itself will confirm this belief.
Mrs. Campbell says:
THAT room or federation for another
cook book can exist in the public mind
will be denied at once, with all the viyor
to be expected from pepole overrun with
books, and only anxious to relegate
the majority of them to their proper place
AS trunk.linings and kindling material.
THE minority, admirable in plan and
execution. and elaborate enough to servo
all republican purposes, are surely suffl.
cient for all needs that have been or NAV
be.
"Such was my own attitude and such
my language hardly a year ago; yet that
short space of time has shown me that
whether the public admit the claim or no,
one more cook-book must be. And this is
why:
"A year of somewhat exceptional exper.
ience-that involved in building up sever
al cooking schools in new locality, de.
mandingthe most thorough and minute sys-
tenn to assure their success and permanence
showed the inadequacies of any existing
hand-books. and the necessities to be met
in making new one. Thus the present
book has a twofold character, and not
only represents the ordinary receipt or
cook book, usable in any part of the coun-
try and covering all ordinary household
needs, but covers the question naturally
arising, in every lesson given, and ending
IN the most necessary points in the house,
hold sciences"
Mrs. Campbell then proceeds to show
why certain admirable books are not
suitable for her purposes, in starting at the
foundation and building up in the minds
of readers or students an intelligent know
ledge of the principles Of bodily life and
its sustenance by home comforts and
wholesome, relishful food.
Part |, of her book treats of the Situa-
tion and Arrangement of the House; Ven
tilation, Drainage, and Water Supply;
Daily Routine of Work; Fires, Lights, and
Utensils; Washing; Food and Health;
Condiments and Beverages, etc. Part II.
treats of Marketing and Cooking, with
several hundred excellent Practical Rec
ipes and hints from the cookery of other
nations; yet neither on the basis of high
spce1 luxury, nor that of meals costing
"25 cents for 25 people," but such as are
needed by the vast majority of American
families, namely, people in moderate
circumstances. The peculiar value of the
book lies in this fact, and in the additional
one that the author leaves nothing to be
done according to taste or " according
to Judgment" but specifies in each case
the tablespoonful of butter" or the
&" half teaspoonful of salt" and the
exact amount of pepper or what not. with
directions to :" bake an hour" or " boil an
hour and a half, or allow 50 and. so many
minutes to the pound" ETC., knowing that
where cooks become experienced and
skillful enough to have any taste or
Judgment they will vary instructions
in their own way. Mrs. Campbell add:
"For the young housekeeper, beginning
WIN iittlc vi nO huOWleuOe. Out eager TO
do and know the right thing, not alone for
Kitchen but for the home rs Il whole, the
list of topics touched upon in Part |. be.
came essential. That much of the know
ledge compressed there should have been
gained at home is at once admitted; but.
unfortunately, few homes give it; and the
aim has been to cover ground concisely.
yet clearly and attractively. AS to Part H.,
it does not profess to be the whole art of
cooking, but merely the line of receipts
most needed in the Average family. north
or south Each receipt has been tested
personally by the writer, often many times;
and each one is given so infinitely that
failure is well-nigh impossible, if the d.
rectons are intelligently followed. few
distinctively southern dishes are included,
but the ground covered has been drawn
from all sources; the series of excellent
and elaborate manuals by wel-known
authors having contributed here and there,
but the majority of rules being, as before
said, the result of years of personal expert
ment or drawn from old family receipt
books"