Game and chicken are
cut up, never picked with the fingers, unless in the indul-
gence of a family dinner, when the bone may be held in
one hand and eaten. Pears are held by the stem to be
paired, and then cut and eaten like apples, beginning to
remove the skin at the blossom end. Oranges are held on
a fork while peeled and divided without breaking the skin.
Cherries in pie, or natural, should have the stones passed
to the napkin held at the lips and returned to the plate,
and grape seeds and skins are disposed of in the same
way. Salt is left on the edge of the plate, not on the
table. Ladies take but a single glass of wine, at most
having their glasses half-filled with champagne a second
time. It is beginning to be the custom to take soft bread
as well as ice cream with cake. Cocoanut pudding looks
like pie, but is helped and eaten with a spoon. Small
meringues are best eaten with a spoon, though the prac-
l^xe is to take them in the fingers.
40
THE HOME COOK BOOK.
Nothing at the table is so indicative of ill-breeding as
loud or boisterous talking. It is the height of impro-
priety for one guest to monopolize the attention of all
the others. Conversation should ordinarily be confined
to one's immediate neighbors and should be conducted
in a natural and sincere manner. Betw^een courses the
conversation may with propriety be made more general.
MARKETING.
Every lady, whatever her position in Hfe, ought to
understand how to select and purchase such stores as are
needed in her family. Possibly she may never be called
upon to put this knowledge into practice. No matter.
It is surely worth knowing; and if never brought into
active use, it will do its possessor no harm. This kind
of knowledge, more than almost any other of practical
worth, must be acquired in girlhood.
All knowledge, and every acquirement for daily use,
will be better and more thoroughly established through
the mother's teachings and under her immediate super-
vision. As far as possible, let the daughters accompany
their mother in their marketing, and watch her proceed-
ings. Let the mother explain, as they pass from one stall
to another, examining the various articles needed, the
reasons that lead her to reject one while she accepts
another of the same kind of article, but differing in quality.
Domestic economy — that part of the daughters' educa-
tion which is of more importance than almost any other,
and on which they will be most dependent when called
upon to build up a home of their own — is the one we are
all most inclined to neglect or put off till a more con-
venient season." We are too much occupied," or " There
is time enough by and bye," is an oft-repeated excuse,
when in truth the real motive for procrastination is the
(41)
42
THE HOME COOK BOOK.
mother's own disinclination to take up this duty, because
she thinks such teaching will be irksome.
To be of lasting benefit, or at all effective, instruction
of this kind should not only commence early, but be
systematically carried out, or else, before she is aware,
the mother will find the little girl has discarded her dolls,
and stands by her side a lovely woman ; but, through
that mother's neglect, uttetly ignorant of the duties that
are rising up before her.
Page 17
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
Game and chicken are cut up, never picked with the fingers, unless in the indulgence of a family dinner, when the bone may be held in one hand and eaten. Pears are held by the stem to be paired, and then cut and eaten like apples, beginning to remove the skin at the blossom end. Oranges are held on a fork while peeled and divided without breaking the skin. Cherries in pie, or natural, should have the stones passed to the napkin held at the lips and returned to the plate, and grape seeds and skins are disposed of in the same way. Salt is left on the edge of the plate, not on the table. Ladies take but a single glass of wine, at most having their glasses half-filled with champagne a second time. It is beginning to be the custom to take soft bread as well as ice cream with cake. Cocoanut pudding looks like pie, but is helped and eaten with a spoon. Small meringues are best eaten with a spoon, though the practice is to take them in the fingers.
Nothing at the table is so indicative of ill-breeding as loud or boisterous talking. It is the height of impropriety for one guest to monopolize the attention of all the others. Conversation should ordinarily be confined to one's immediate neighbors and should be conducted in a natural and sincere manner. Between courses the conversation may with propriety be made more general.
MARKETING.
Every lady, whatever her position in Hfe, ought to understand how to select and purchase such stores as are needed in her family. Possibly she may never be called upon to put this knowledge into practice. No matter. It is surely worth knowing; and if never brought into active use, it will do its possessor no harm. This kind of knowledge, more than almost any other of practical worth, must be acquired in girlhood.
All knowledge, and every acquirement for daily use, will be better and more thoroughly established through the mother's teachings and under her immediate supervision. As far as possible, let the daughters accompany their mother in their marketing, and watch her proceedings. Let the mother explain, as they pass from one stall to another, examining the various articles needed, the reasons that lead her to reject one while she accepts another of the same kind of article, but differing in quality. Domestic economy — that part of the daughters' education which is of more importance than almost any other, and on which they will be most dependent when called upon to build up a home of their own — is the one we are all most inclined to neglect or put off till a more convenient season." We are too much occupied," or " There is time enough by and bye," is an oft-repeated excuse, when in truth the real motive for procrastination is the (41)
mother's own disinclination to take up this duty, because she thinks such teaching will be irksome.
To be of lasting benefit, or at all effective, instruction of this kind should not only commence early, but be systematically carried out, or else, before she is aware, the mother will find the little girl has discarded her dolls, and stands by her side a lovely woman ; but, through that mother's neglect, utterly ignorant of the duties that are rising up before her.