Instruction in cookery (Methuen's text-books, Thompson)

The demonstrations might be alternated with short lectures on stoves, prices of meat, suitable parts to be bought for certain purposes. One lecture on infant feeding might also be given, and two practical demonstrations on invalid cookery (see chapters on these). I do not think it easy for the students to prepare three-course dinners, as the time is so limited ; but some combination of dishes can be practised with vegetables, if care is taken in the selection of these. EVENING CONTINUATION SCHOOLS ioi A suggested syllabus is the following : Lesson. 1. Pastry (short) 2. Cakes 3. Soup and stocks 4. Baked meat, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding 5. Flaky pastry 6. Revision of above 7. Frying, shallow ,, deep 8. Seasonable dishes or jam -making 9. Warming up meat 10. Stewing 11. Invalid cookery 12. Infant’s food 13. Boiled and steamed puddings 14. Baked puddings 15. Dishes suitable for high tea or supper 16. Breakfast dishes 17. Making and baking gingerbread and larger cakes 18. Yeast, soda 19. Invalid cookery Practical Illustration. Fruit pies, tarts. Cakes made by rubbing in the fat and by creaming the fat. Bone stock, potato soup, or pea soup. Ditto. Patties, sausage rolls. Meat pies. Pancakes. Fish cakes. Mincemeat, jam, pickles, marmalade, etc. Curry, shepherd’s pie. Tripe, stewed steak, rabbit. Beef tea, custard puddings, arrowroot. Barley water, lime water. Plum pudding or college pudding, cheap cabinet pudding. Apple charlotte, baked batter, apple dumplings. Baked herrings, kedgeree, macaroni cheese. Porridge, bacon and eggs, sausages. Tea cakes, scones. Steamed fish and sauce, orange jelly. Evening classes coming from a girls’ club have generally some exhibition or competition in view. Flaky pastry, stiffened moulds of fruit or blancmange, steamed plum puddings, fried articles egged and breadcrumbed, bread, and cakes, are the most portable and easily dished up. They also find a ready sale. Good Yorkshire tea cakes always take immensely in the South. Note-Books — There is always a tendency where these are allowed for them to degenerate into mere recipe books, a practice which is severely condemned by the Government inspectors. It is a good plan to have the recipes written out, or printed and mounted on cards, and let these be used on the tables, and collected, and used over and over again, as.it is most important to train people to work from printed recipes. The note-books should contain small points not always given in recipes, and, though every teacher ought to prepare her own blackboard sketch for her own lessons, a few sketches of the sort of entry which is likely to be of most use to the pupils are given below. Pastry — Keep everything very cool, using a knife as much as possible. Handle lightly and mix very dry. Roll lightly. Bake in a very quick oven. Mixing of Cakes — In cakes where the butter is in greater proportion to the flour, J lb. butter to I lb. flour. The butter is creamed , and then beaten with the sugar. The eggs must be beaten, and beaten in gradually, to prevent curdling ; and, lastly, the flour and fruit must be stirred in lightly. Baking of Cakes — Small cakes require a quick oven. Large cakes require a moderate oven. Line tins for large cakes with paper, and place these on a tin filled with salt to prevent the bottom of the cakes burning.