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COMFORTABLE COOKING. |
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might see any day in the Tuilleries the gold stew-pans he used in the preparation. George IV., of England, invented the best punch know to maukind. The famous Prince Talleyrand left in print the finest mode of cooking a pheasant, and the "Omelette au Thea" owes its origin to no less a person than Cardinal Richelieu.
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach or palate. Give him nice things that agree with him and he will be as good as gold. Real Christianity and a good, healthy appetite are usually found together. If you want to cook well and make people comfortable by your cooking, you must remember that three things are absolutely necessary before you can turn out the simplest dish. Those three things are perfect cleanliness, a careful measurement of everything you use and a strict attention to time; therefore, buy a cheap clock tor the kitchen, a common pair ot scales and two or three simple measures—quart, pint and half-pint measure—and a graduated glass for tablespoon and teaspoonfuls. I will use no vague terms, and if you do exactly as I tell you the thing will turn out so well that all yuur friends will compete for invitations for dinner.
REMARKS ON DINNER PARTIES.
As this is to be a very economical chapter, devoted to cheap dishes and savings of all kinds, I hope that no person will read it who thinks wastefulness and generosity mean the same thing. You will be shown the great value in a housekeeping sense of the remains of your dinner, and be told what to do with everything that was left from the bills of fare for eight persons. By that time you will find that it is true economy to give a little dinner party now and then, because you will have as many nice things afterwards, which would not have occurred to you to make for yourself. In fact, a young couple could do no better so soon as they have fairly settled down to housekeeping than to invite a few friends to dinner as often as they conveniently can. The return invitations will enable them to show their accomplishments in society and to keep them au cou-rant with the world. The friendship that springs from the mutual interchange of courtesies and hospitalities rapidly developes into a warm feeling, and in a pecuniary sense it Willie found that -the liberal hand maketh rich.
There is no reason why a young wife who lives in three or four rooms and has only one servant and a limited income should hesitate to give a little dinner, such as has been described in the first chapter. One-half the things can be cooked the day before and will be the better for it. The soup, entrees, custards, pudding and tarts may be so served, leaving only the venison, the chickens, the |
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