The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-12-24
The MeddLer
III the coat T,fs yos, PIT IL on. :

We may live without poetry, music and
| art,
We may live without conscience and live
without heart.
We may live without friends, we may live
without books,
But civilized man cannot live without
| cooks.
II there is grain Of truth in the fore.
gong quotation the lives Of hundreds Of
male citizens in this section have been
saycd-The Meddlcr takes II for granted
that the men hepabouts are civilized. The
old adage 20 the effect that cooks are born
no, made was exploded long ago. The
highest culinary authorities are now agreed
that real cooks-not the common or gar
den variety OF comed beei.and concocters-
are the direct result OF cook books, a de
partment Of literature in which the Brat.
ileboro Woman's club has Just won an
acknowledged triumph. Ergo, gallant
act has been performed in behalf OF
'us men.
The Meddler took great interest in
perising Brattleboros best seller" And
as long as the newspapers have been sol
generous in giving il free Advertising he
assumes that a little more will do its
popularity no harm To be perfectly
frank, The Meddler doesn't like its title
MY Ladye's Coke Booke,' is likely TO
make one think Of charcoal and in this
connection charcoal conjures up visions OF
over-done biscuits. charred potatoes and
the like. But never mind the title; it's
the contents that count The contents OF
the Coke Booke are a liberal education in |
tabloid fornl--they furnish mental as well
as material nourishment. FOR example; |
Sun n II I'd
in geography. \ careful reading of the
book will make You acquainted with
Spanish chicken, English turkey, Ham
burg steak Dutch cheese, Venetian eggs
Welsh rarebit, Indian gems, klondike
brown bread Chill sauce. Japan jelly,
Turkish delight. Barbecue Neufchatel and
Deviled mot DcfiledD ham. The Meddler
thinks he is justified in including the last
named in the geographical category. For
the reader especially interested IN htera-
ture and the drama tnere are such dishes
as Washington pie, Prince OF Wales and
Dthello cake What dreams these would
,onjure up-particularly if the cake were
baked or the undercrust of
he pie were soggy!
The student who desires to increase his
will pounce with avidity upon
uci mover 'oeHoinelis az tIiVhtli NiSsie,
amb souffle and apricot trifiie. Say them
,ver quickly: Wiggle souffie, triffie;
ifle, triffie wooggle; troffle siggle.
couffle. One can almost imagine himself
making an epic poem out OF these honeyed
yllabes. For instance:
Wiggle, wiggle, little tritfle
In your nest of sugared souffle. 4,
Gee It's great. What? And Boudares |,
$50. All. there's another oully word that
ppears in the Coke Booke, although what
'oudares are is beyond The Meddler t
'ature study, that popular pursuit, finds e
self represented also. The spouse of a II
oors appropriately contributes recipes for t
uttercup soup and birdsnests, while other "
tell how to construct monkeys, Il
Iarguerites and brambles. The children o
bless em) will delight to read about the o
parts of Mary's cake, made by
lie little girl who owned the youthful q
leep of course, as well as about Johns Il
Ike, an improved edition of the timeworn i
no doubt. Sand cookies will Il
,rhaps bring to mind happy days spent o,
the seashore.
Of course a cook book-and even Coke b;
poke for that matter-is not supposed v
go very deeply into the subject of a
but this one goes in a little ra
ny, perhaps up to its ankles. Some
Oldest contributor who signs herself sc
erely H., tells how to mix an oyster ca
cktail. Do you blame her for not want U
: her full name connected with that sa
ainous word? Then, too, there are ia
,ipes for brandy sauce, although the
lount of liquid is not prescribed. There he
however, recipe for Bellevue stew, oh
lich ought to be mentioned in connection 70
tn liquor. Wine jelly somehow is miss 90
: although there are numerous recipes w,
: jellies not to mention one for real old, w,
collie ''jell." dear old word, in years s m.
one they usen't to be Altered of you'll ."
may not be inappropriate to remark
1t there is a recipe for raspberry wine
m cook book 100 years old Just i'm
ne some wine as old as the cook book %,
ali
he volume contains among other things l9'
ne clever inventions such as self-frost- ISIS