Chapter I: Preface

With the steadily increasing cost of all staple foods the need of intelligent buying, cooking, and serving is greater than ever before: more money must be spent for food, or more consideration must be given to selecting and using it. For those who would continue to serve their households well, and whose allowance for food has not kept pace with prices, there is only one alternative, and that is, to use more of the cheaper foods, and to prepare and combine them so skilfully that economy shall not be a hardship. Good meals depend not so much upon expensive material as upon care and good judgment in the use of ordinary material. The time-worn boarding-house jokes about prunes and hash mean simply that these foods, in themselves excellent, are poorly prepared and too frequently served.

It is the plan of this book to include a variety of (1) recipes which require only a small amount of meat; (2) recipes for vegetable dishes which can take the place of meat; (3) recipes for the economical use of cereals, dairy products, and other common inexpensive foods; (4) recipes for breads, cakes, and desserts requiring only a small amount of butter and eggs; and (5) recipes for a few relishes, condiments, and other accessories which lend variety and interest. The General Suggestions for Economy (Chapter I) are not all new, but are liable, through disuse, to be forgotten by the present generation. Spasmodic economy counts for little in the long run; only systematic and continued watchfulness is really worth while.

Economy, however, ought not to necessitate the total elimination of one's favorite cuts of steak, nor all of the little luxuries, because by the skilful planning of the majority of the meals the occasional use of these luxuries can be made possible.

This book is not intended as a complete guide to cookery; it presupposes an elementary knowledge of the care and preparation of food.

The study of Tables D and E in the Appendix is especially recommended as an aid to the better understanding of food values.

M. G.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR ECONOMY 1
II. COMMON WAYS OF COOKING FOOD 15
III. APPETIZERS AND RELISHES 17
IV. BEVERAGES 23
V. SOUPS WITHOUT MEAT 27
VI. SOUPS AND STEWS WITH MEAT OR FISH 35
VII. CHOWDERS 43
VIII. FISH 47
IX. MEATS 57
X. SAUCES AND STUFFINGS FOR FISH AND MEATS 80
XI. EGGS 88
XII. CHEESE AND NUTS 95
XIII. VEGETABLES 100
XIV. CEREALS, MACARONI, AND RICE 113
XV. CROQUETTES AND FRITTERS 120
XVI. SALADS AND SALAD DRESSINGS 126
XVII. YEAST BREADS, MUFFINS, AND ROLLS 138
XVIII. BAKING POWDER BREADS, MUFFINS, AND BISCUIT 146
XIX. SHORTCAKES AND ROULETTES 160
XX. SANDWICHES AND TOASTS 163
XXI. GRIDDLE CAKES, WAFFLES, AND SIRUPS 170
XXII. CAKES AND COOKIES 174
XXIII. ICINGS AND FILLINGS 184
XXIV. HOT DESSERTS 189
XXV. COLD DESSERTS 196
XXVI. FROZEN DESSERTS 203
XXVII. SAUCES FOR DESSERTS 209
XXVIII. PASTRIES 213
XXIX. FRUITS, COOKED AND UNCOOKED 224
XXX. CANDIES 232

APPENDIX

A. Table of Weights and Measures 239
B. Time Table for Cooking 240
C. Temperature Table 243
D. Table of Caloric Values of Average Portions of Food 245
E. Table of Caloric Values of Raw Food Materials 250
F. Table of Normal Weights for Men and Women 253
G. List of Government Publications on Foods and Cooking 254

Index 257

Before using recipes see _Special Notice_ on Page 14.