Cooking Books

CHAPTER I. MARY'S LETTERS RECEIVED AT CLEAR SPRING FARM. One morning in early spring, John Landis, a Pennsylvania German farmer living in Schuggenhaus Township, Bucks County, on opening his mail box, fastened to a tree at the crossroads (for the convenience of rural mail carriers) found one letter for his wife Sarah, the envelope addressed in the well-known handwriting of her favorite niece, Mary... more...

PENNSYLVANIA Dutch COOKERY In 1683 the Plain Sects began to arrive in William Penn’s Colony seeking a land of peace and plenty. They were a mixed people; Moravians from Bohemia and Moravia, Mennonites from Switzerland and Holland, the Amish, the Dunkards, the Schwenkfelds, and the French Huguenots. After the lean years of clearing the land and developing their farms they established the peace and... more...

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials. Nothing should be thrown away so long as it is possible to make any use of it, however trifling that use may be; and whatever be the size of a family, every member should be employed either in earning or saving money.... more...

SOUPS. Bouillon Soup. 4 pounds of round of beef cut into dice pieces. Trim off all fatty skin. 4 quarts water; 1 teaspoonful celery seed; 4 large onions; 6 large carrots; bunch of parsley; 6 blades of mace; 16 whole cloves, salt and pepper to taste. Pour on the water, and let it simmer six hours, skimming carefully, for if any grease is allowed to go back into the soup it is impossible to make it... more...

a few preliminary remarks Alexandre Dumas, père, after writing five hundred novels, says, "I wish to close my literary career with a book on cooking." And in the hundred pages or so of preface—or perhaps overture would be the better word, since in it a group of literary men, while contributing recondite recipes, flourish trumpets in every key—to his huge volume he says, "I wish to be... more...

PREFACE. There are already a good many vegetarian cookery books, ranging in price from one penny to half-a-crown, but yet, when I am asked, as not unfrequently happens, to recommend such a book, I know of only one which at all fulfils the requirements, and even that one is, I find, rather severely criticised by ladies who know anything about the matter. To have to live by some of them would almost make... more...

MEATS AND POULTRY. To Boil Fresh Meat. In boiling fresh meat, care is necessary to have the water boiling all the time it is in the pot; if the pot is not well scummed, the appearance of the meat will be spoiled. Mutton and beef are preferred, by some, a little rare; but pork and veal should always be well done. A round of beef that is stuffed, will take more than three hours to boil, and if not... more...

CHAPTER I GENERAL COMPOSITION OF FOODS 1. Water.—All foods contain water. Vegetables in their natural condition contain large amounts, often 95 per cent, while in meats there is from 40 to 60 per cent or more. Prepared cereal products, as flour, corn meal, and oatmeal, which are apparently dry, have from 7 to 14 per cent. In general the amount of water in a food varies with the mechanical structure... more...

Preface Montaigne in one of his essays* mentions the high excellence Italian cookery had attained in his day. "I have entered into this Discourse upon the Occasion of an Italian I lately receiv'd into my Service, and who was Clerk of the Kitchen to the late Cardinal Caraffa till his Death. I put this Fellow upon an Account of his office: Where he fell to Discourse of this Palate-Science, with... more...

SOUPS. GENERAL REMARKS. Always use soft water for making soup, and be careful to proportion the quantity of water to that of the meat. Somewhat less than a quart of water to a pound of meat, is a good rule for common soups. Rich soups, intended for company, may have a still smaller allowance of water. Soup should always be made entirely of fresh meat that has not been previously cooked. An exception to... more...