Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-02-20

way
Cookery as II Home Art.
Martha Howe Davidson. IN The Current
\ writer in il recent English paper com
plains that, with the general advance in
the useful arts that cookery has remained
in ne hands of careless and unskilled work
crs, almost entirely undoVclOped. eff it
We're not So, he says. they would have
left an art 50 important entirely to
teaching, would have devci-
opcd it in a way they have not done: and
would have combined to secure pleasant
meals III Il way they carefully avoid.
of this matter recalls some
recent discussions of the questions of com
hinution and corporation. which have thus
far failed to give any practical solution of
this complex problem. nth some more
rncctual means of general advancement
in the knowledge ana practice of cookery
can be devised, the matter seems to rest
as ii has for ages pass. solely in the hands
of the housewife, ANA upon her COMES the
WuiGhty responsibility of preparing the
daily food, ON which tine health, happiness
and usefulness of her family 50 largely de
pend. In the knowledge which Is ucCcs-
sury to an intelligent and easy handling Of
the matter. either in the way of direction
sadly deficient, often leaving the prcplra-
ton of food entirely toan unframed and uiI-
reasoning servant, and more often doing il
herself with an Ignorance and lack Of in
tcrcst which make ii the most irNsOmc
drudgcrN. There is more than Il grain of
truth in the remark Oi a German physician
that American women never think of din
n"r until half an hour before ii Is timet To eat
It. and then they have something fried.
There are thousands of Intelligent women
who are willing to devote IL large part of
their time to some branch of art-study i'll
which they can never hope 10 become any
thing more than imitaturs or commonplace
amateurs, vino regard the practice of cook
cry as n mental employment, instead OF Il
fine art which Is 50 worthy of careful and
telllgent study.
Il am born for something BETTER DIS
dainfully asserts the ambitious or the in
competent woman when the subject is
presented t. her. Doubtless for some
thing better than the drudgcry of dish
washing and similar merely mechanical
work which can be done, under direction,
by an uuskiilrd domestic. For something
better. also, than the routine methods and
traditions without reason which make up
the sum of many a housewife, culinary
education. Bat the wise and enlightened
development of an art which, in all the
centuries past, has scarcely advanced he
yunp the bare GaStrOnomlc necessities OF Il
race that must eat To live, which has not
yet uutErOwn many of the mistakes of its
earliest experiments, and which holds pos
sibtlltlc- for ply ~iCui growth and well be
inG, without which Il higher and murc har-
monjouS moral and mental growth are
WcIl-ll.,h lmposSlhlc opens u Held where
any woman may become Il royal bcueiuC-
trcss, not only tuthe few who make up the
little kin slum of her home, but 10 many
yet To live in this growing and wisdom
gaining world
And this knowledge is not difficult tout
tain. Thought, intelligence and interest
Will solve many problems and achieve many
results which viii bring their Gown exceed
Ing great rewards. rewards without Il
suspicion of drudGcry or degrcdatlon.
With the ncWly-fouud knowledge of cause
and effect, of reason and fitness, which Il
general interest IN this ar Will dlItusc,
will come a recognition of the necessity
of sunlight ami pure air, of cleanliness
ANA method, and of improved and ConNcn-
lent appliances for kitchen work. Per
hapS, even the modern parlOr. with its
confused and i'll assorted decorations. and
Its usclpSsncss for honest family comfort
Will become Oi less impOrtauC' than Il
bright, cltanly, Wcll-appontcd kitchen.
where the housewife, he She rich or poor.
will not lind il il punishment to spend the
time necessary for the wise direction, or
even manual work required. The woman
who, because She does not like huusework
remains IN Williul igOrinCc Of the truth
that upon the diet of people its health, its
character and its power for usefulness and
attainment almost wholly depend, is not
fit to assume the possibilities of Il house
wife. In replying to some poetic maSCu-
line warnings suggested by Il remark ui
DR. .JOhnSOns 5, made in the days when the
classic tongue was in higher favor than il
is mt present. to he effect hat man would
rather see good dinner ON his table than
have his wife speak Greek, a witty woman
POLITICALLY expresses the belief that if such
wild fanClcS were to become facts. the
world would he full of starved brutes
making love To tired cooks,
But to know the properties and uses OF
different kinds of food, and the best meth
DDS of cooking to obtain nutImcnt fOl
brain, bone and muscles, will add pleasure
and interest to the manual labor and, al
the same time, make it much less com
plCatcd and tircSOmr.
1t is the hap-haZard fashion of taking III
the duties of daily life, the dol ing what sht
can, that makes the life of many Il house
mother one long, dreary task, barren of ac
QUESTION for herself, or of beneficial result,
for others.
Wholesome food, well prepared an,
dantily served, whether ii he coarse or tie
licatc. will materially lessen the number u
starved brutes tired cooks and eNaCtiul
commands.
Until the time when the science rs wei
rs the art ofCuokery becomes generally uu
dcrstoud, and the work can he honestly
and economically done for the people h,
trained professional workers, the scpaI'
ateness in cooking which the Engli II
writer deplorcs as being pushed every
where To prepOsterous limits, Is the hes
means which the world has at command
and should he made rs influential fo
heslth and consistent development Il,
knowledge, interest and careful though
on the part of the individual housewife
can make it,
Cold contracts 'fnat is why Februar
has but twenty-eight days DOStOH Tr0n
, SprjIlf