The "A1" cookery book

„ baker and confectioner’s ,, l ,, „ greengrocer’s „ TV „ fishmonger’s „ „ These figures are not absolutely correct because I wish to avoid smaller fractions, and also the amounts will vary a little from week to week; but, on the whole, the proportions are what they should be. It so entirely depends on the kind of household that has to be provided for, as to the cost of catering for it, that it is difficult to give any hard and fast rule for the amount to be spent on food. The usual thing is to allow 105. a head per week where the expense has to be considered. In a large household this allowance is a liberal one for ordinary good plain living, and with a little skill a very good table can be kept on it ; but for young married people, where the household is small, it is hardly sufficient unless economy dictates its necessity. It always costs much less in proportion to feed a number than a few. But taking as an example a household of six — a husband and wife, three servants, and usually one visitor — and a weekly allowance of ^3, the books will average as follows : £ s. d. Butcher . . x o o Grocer . . . 0120 Dairy . . . o 12 o Baker and confectioner . 070 Greengrocer . . 046 Fishmonger . . 046 One week the books may be less and another more, but at the end of a few weeks this should be the result. In the baker’s book is reckoned all the flour that is used. If the bread and cakes are made at home, which is strongly advised, then this book will come to less, but the grocer’s and dairy book will be a little more, as you must add to them the fruit, butter, and eggs used in making cakes. Tea and coffee are included in the grocer’s book. Butter and eggs are always troublesome items to control, as there is practically no limit to the amount that can be used in cooking. It is therefore absolutely necessary, where economy has to be studied, to order only a certain quantity of each every week, and then to regulate your cooking accordingly. To help do this I have divided the list of sweets and puddings under three headings : those that contain eggs and butter, those that contain only eggs and no butter, and those sweets and puddings that contain neither. Under this last heading are milk puddings, as the small amount of butter required is insignificant and is also not indispensable. Good cooking takes an immense amount of butter, but it is easier to regulate the use of it in soups and made- up meat dishes and vegetables than in sweets. In households where people keep their own poultry and grow their own vegetables this will make a great difference to their weekly books, and something must be deducted from the weekly allowance for the maintenance of the garden and poultry yard ; that is to say, the allowance per head must be less than the regulation io.y. a week. In first-class private schools, where the number to feed is anything over forty, a most excellent table of the kind required can be kept up at 6s. a head per week. This is partly because large quantities of provisions are cheaper than small quantities, and partly on account of the plainer food required, but it is the truest economy to buy the best of everything — -that is as regards quality ; I do not mean the most expensive things.