day in warm weather, and every three or four days in cold weather. _ The worst of salt meat is that the liquor can seldom he used again in this way, and especially when saltpetre has been plentifully used to redden salt meat. The best thing that we can do after salt meat has been boiled is to taste the liquor, and if it is very salt, to throw it away at once. If saltpetre has been sparingly used, the liquor may serve for pea or lentil soup, but for no other kind. So much for boiling meat. And now for vegetables. The majority of these should be thrown into plenty of fast-boiling salted water, and boiled with the lid c^the pan. If this can be done, and the vegetables are of moderate age, they will be sure to be a good colour. Sometimes, when they have to be cooked on an open range, the fire is smoky, and therefore the lid must be put on. They will not then be of such a good colour. Closed ranges are, however, becoming every day more usual amongst us, and with them there need be no difficulty in preserving the colour of vegetables. An exception to the general rule of putting vegetables into boiling water is made in the case of old potatoes, which should be put into cold water and gently stewed. New potatoes may, however, be put into boiling water like the rest. IV. BAKING. many parts of England baking is spoken of as if it referred to bread alone. I do not want us to con- sider it in that way, but rather as a means of cook- ing food of different kinds, such as meat, pastry, and puddings, as well as bread. Baking is really but another form of roasting, the difference between the two being that in roasting the meat turns before the fire in the open, so that a current of air can play upon it, and in baking the meat lies motionless in a confined space. There is no doubt that meat roasted before a fire is 24 The Girl's Own Cookery Book. very much superior to meat baked in the oven. Those who have been long accustomed to the first cannot enjoy the second. They can detect it at once, both by its taste and its smell, and consider it both unpalatable and un- wholesome. The old-fashioned open ranges are certainly very objectionable for a great many reasons. They consume a great deal of fuel, and they are exceedingly dirty, all saucepans that are put upon the fires becoming so sooty that it is scarcely possible for those who have to use them to help being grimy also ; and with them food becomes smoky very quickly ; but there is no question that with them meat can be roasted to perfection. We have, however, to do with things as they are, and tliese open ranges are rapidly becoming things of the past. We may quite expect that in the course of a few years they will be done away with altogether, and on the whole it will be a very good thing. The principal reason why I shall be glad to see close ranges universally used, is, that I believe ladies will practise cookery more when they are common, than it can possibly be expected they will when they cannot cook a mutton chop without blacking themselves and their dress. With closed ranges they can put on an apron and a pair of sleeves, and with their own hands prepare little delicacies for their husbands and fathers; remove the apron, and, without further trouble, take their places at the head of the table, looking as fresh as a summer flower.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

day in warm weather, and every three or four days in cold weather. _ The worst of salt meat is that the liquor can seldom he used again in this way, and especially when saltpetre has been plentifully used to redden salt meat. The best thing that we can do after salt meat has been boiled is to taste the liquor, and if it is very salt, to throw it away at once. If saltpetre has been sparingly used, the liquor may serve for pea or lentil soup, but for no other kind. So much for boiling meat. And now for vegetables. The majority of these should be thrown into plenty of fast-boiling salted water, and boiled with the lid of the pan. If this can be done, and the vegetables are of moderate age, they will be sure to be a good colour. Sometimes, when they have to be cooked on an open range, the fire is smoky, and therefore the lid must be put on. They will not then be of such a good colour. Closed ranges are, however, becoming every day more usual amongst us, and with them there need be no difficulty in preserving the colour of vegetables. An exception to the general rule of putting vegetables into boiling water is made in the case of old potatoes, which should be put into cold water and gently stewed. New potatoes may, however, be put into boiling water like the rest. BAKING. many parts of England baking is spoken of as if it referred to bread alone. I do not want us to consider it in that way, but rather as a means of cooking food of different kinds, such as meat, pastry, and puddings, as well as bread. Baking is really but another form of roasting, the difference between the two being that in roasting the meat turns before the fire in the open, so that a current of air can play upon it, and in baking the meat lies motionless in a confined space. There is no doubt that meat roasted before a fire is The Girl's Own Cookery Book. very much superior to meat baked in the oven. Those who have been long accustomed to the first cannot enjoy the second. They can detect it at once, both by its taste and its smell, and consider it both unpalatable and unwholesome. The old-fashioned open ranges are certainly very objectionable for a great many reasons. They consume a great deal of fuel, and they are exceedingly dirty, all saucepans that are put upon the fires becoming so sooty that it is scarcely possible for those who have to use them to help being grimy also ; and with them food becomes smoky very quickly ; but there is no question that with them meat can be roasted to perfection. We have, however, to do with things as they are, and tliese open ranges are rapidly becoming things of the past. We may quite expect that in the course of a few years they will be done away with altogether, and on the whole it will be a very good thing. The principal reason why I shall be glad to see close ranges universally used, is, that I believe ladies will practise cookery more when they are common, than it can possibly be expected they will when they cannot cook a mutton chop without blacking themselves and their dress. With closed ranges they can put on an apron and a pair of sleeves, and with their own hands prepare little delicacies for their husbands and fathers; remove the apron, and, without further trouble, take their places at the head of the table, looking as fresh as a summer flower.

The girl's own cookery book