The next generation will doubtless see even greater
progress in the arts and sciences than has been made in
these latter years of the nineteenth century. Will there
be a similar advance in the appliances and methods
w^hich regulate our home life? There is' certainly an
opportunity for it, since, thus far, improvement in the
kitchen has not kept pace w^ith that in other depart-
ments of our civilization. What w^ill be accomplished
in the future depends mainly upon the individual house-
keeper, and whether she is ready to claim the aid of
modern science in improving existing conditions, or
whether she is contented to keep house as her grand-
mother did. The mothers of to-day must see to it that
their daughters have opportunities to apply the knowl-
edge they gain in school to the everyday duties of home
(5)
6
THE HOME COOK BOOK.
life. There is so little practical application of science in
the kitchen that many girls never see any connection be-
tween physics and chemistry and the drafts and dampers
in a stove or the behavior of yeast or baking powder.
This is the office of the schools of cookery and house-
hold science — to teach the reason for common pro-
cesses and to reduce housekeeping to a systematic busi-
ness. Any young woman receiving training in such a
school, supplemented by home practice, will retain the
best features of the housekeeping of the past and be
ready for the new methods of the future.
The rapid advances in the study of bacteriology are
imposing new burdens upon the housekeeper, which she
will cheerfully accept when she realizes that the health
of her family is dependent upon such details. We are
learning that surface or apparent cleanliness is not suffi-
cient; everything must be chemically clean, free from
any foreign substance. To this end the coming house-
keeper will select utensils of the best material and the
simplest pattern, with no grooves and crevices where
dangerous micro-organisms can lurk. Every article of
furniture and every decoration will be chosen with re-
gard to the possibility of keeping it cleanly with little
v^aste of labor.
Future generations may be expected to learn, what
the housekeepers of to-day have not discovered, that
time has a definite value and must be counted in the
cost of any process or article of food. It is often wiser
to pay a few cents more for a reliable article, than to run
the risk of obtaining either an unhealthful food or some-
thing that will require time and strength in its prepara-
tion.
HOUSEKEEPING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. 7
In the serving of our food at table there is a greater
degree of refinement apparent in each generation. The
modern tendency is away from the gross abundance of
the past and toward simplicity and originality in such
service. Little that is uneatable is allowed to appear on
the table, and individual portions are very popular,
while carving is becoming a lost art save in hotels.
Where our great grandmothers aimed to have a bountiful
supply in great variety, to excite the appetite, the house-
keeper of the future will strive to adapt the food to the
individual needs of the different members of her family,
that no energy shall be wasted in disposing of undesira-
ble substances.
Page 1
Presented as published in 1896. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The next generation will doubtless see even greater progress in the arts and sciences than has been made in these latter years of the nineteenth century. Will there be a similar advance in the appliances and methods which regulate our home life? There is certainly an opportunity for it, since, thus far, improvement in the kitchen has not kept pace with that in other departments of our civilization. What will be accomplished in the future depends mainly upon the individual housekeeper, and whether she is ready to claim the aid of modern science in improving existing conditions, or whether she is contented to keep house as her grandmother did. The mothers of to-day must see to it that their daughters have opportunities to apply the knowledge they gain in school to the everyday duties of home (5)
life. There is so little practical application of science in the kitchen that many girls never see any connection between physics and chemistry and the drafts and dampers in a stove or the behavior of yeast or baking powder. This is the office of the schools of cookery and household science — to teach the reason for common processes and to reduce housekeeping to a systematic business. Any young woman receiving training in such a school, supplemented by home practice, will retain the best features of the housekeeping of the past and be ready for the new methods of the future.
The rapid advances in the study of bacteriology are imposing new burdens upon the housekeeper, which she will cheerfully accept when she realizes that the health of her family is dependent upon such details. We are learning that surface or apparent cleanliness is not sufficient; everything must be chemically clean, free from any foreign substance. To this end the coming housekeeper will select utensils of the best material and the simplest pattern, with no grooves and crevices where dangerous micro-organisms can lurk. Every article of furniture and every decoration will be chosen with regard to the possibility of keeping it cleanly with little waste of labor.
Future generations may be expected to learn, what the housekeepers of to-day have not discovered, that time has a definite value and must be counted in the cost of any process or article of food. It is often wiser to pay a few cents more for a reliable article, than to run the risk of obtaining either an unhealthful food or something that will require time and strength in its preparation.
HOUSEKEEPING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. 7
In the serving of our food at table there is a greater degree of refinement apparent in each generation. The modern tendency is away from the gross abundance of the past and toward simplicity and originality in such service. Little that is uneatable is allowed to appear on the table, and individual portions are very popular, while carving is becoming a lost art save in hotels. Where our great grandmothers aimed to have a bountiful supply in great variety, to excite the appetite, the housekeeper of the future will strive to adapt the food to the individual needs of the different members of her family, that no energy shall be wasted in disposing of undesirable substances.