SOUPS. The following directions will be found generally applicable, so that there will be no need to repeat the several details each time. Seasonings are not specified, as these are a matter of individual taste and circumstance. Some from considerations of health or otherwise are forbidden the use of salt. In such cases a little sugar will help to bring out the flavour of the vegetables, but unless all the members of the household are alike, it... more...

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHER. Owing to the limitations of a text-book, it will be necessary for the teacher to enter very carefully into all the details of the various questions; to explain the underlying principles so thoroughly that "the why and the wherefore" of every action in the preparation of food will be clearly understood. She should endeavor to impress upon the pupils the value of thoroughly understanding the relation of food to the body. In... 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 plenty they sought. These German-speaking... more...

THE EARLY ENGLISHMAN AND HIS FOOD. William of Malmesbury particularly dwells on the broad line of distinction still existing between the southern English and the folk of the more northerly districts in his day, twelve hundred years after the visit of Caesar. He says that they were then (about A.D. 1150) as different as if they had been different races; and so in fact they were—different in their origin, in their language, and their diet.... more...

PREFACE The title of this book is not ambiguous, but as it relates to a subject rarely thought about by the generality of people, it may save some misapprehension if at once it is plainly stated that the following pages are in vindication of a dietary consisting wholly of products of the vegetable kingdom, and which therefore excludes not only flesh, fish, and fowl, but milk and eggs and products manufactured therefrom. The Author. This work... more...

PREFACE. In presenting our friends and the public with the thirteenth edition of our "Home Comforts," we have the pleasure to remark that so greatly has the book been appreciated, that the large number of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND copies has been called for. The value of the Jubilee Edition was enhanced by some new recipes; these are repeated in the present edition, to which, also, some valuable additions have been made. Since the introduction of... more...

These charts are prepared for popular use, rather than for students of botanical science; all technical terms are, therefore, as far as possible, avoided. The names "mushroom" and "toadstool" are indefinite, are both applied with equal reason to any fleshy fungus, and are here used as synonymes, like the corresponding term "plant" and "vegetable," or "shrub" and "bush," in common conversation. No general test can be given by which a poisonous... more...

MRS. WILSON'S COOK BOOK Bread, the staff of life, must be palatable and good if we are to be satisfied with it when we eat. Can you think of anything that will spoil a meal more quickly than poor, over moist, doughy or heavy bread? Bread may truly be called the staff of life, as it will maintain life longer than any other single food. Yet many women think bread-making is a simple task; that the ingredients can be thrown together... more...

MARKETING. Upon the amount of practical knowledge of marketing that the housekeeper has, the comfort and expense of the family are in a great measure dependent; therefore, every head of a household should acquire as much of this knowledge as is practicable, and the best way is to go into the market. Then such information as is gained by reading becomes of real value. Many think the market not a pleasant or proper place for ladies. The idea is... more...

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 Midleton, of Philadelphia. A letter being... more...