Food and freedom

venient, and the construction, material, and shape that will best satisfy the standards of a good stove and one's own esthetic need. Where more than one fuel offers itself, estimating compara- tive costs of operating different stoves, and bal- ancing certain practical advantages in construc- tion, or possible results, of one stove against another, under the particular home conditions in which it is to be used, can help one to come to a profitable conclusion. When installing a stove all connections and necessary adjustments should be prope^ ''y made, when operating it the directions provided by the manufacturer should be observed, and a stove should receive such regular care as will keep it in good working order so that the maximum satisfaction and economy shall result. Not until the right attitude toward kitchen work is generally adopted shall the food help that the world now needs from the homes of America be effectively and truly realized, and our own individual release at the same time come to pass. As we have been told over and over again, this help must come through organized knowl- edge and the ability to put that knowledge into practice. Whether, as housekeepers, we do the cooking ourselves or not, is no longer part of the question. Practical food and housekeeping knowl- edge is needed by every one of our twenty-two milHon housekeepers or the American home cannot COOKING THE MEALS 125 register as a positive stronghold in the crisis through which history is passing. Unfortunately, however, it is not only this knowledge that is needed — the knowledge itself is, after all, not so difficult to acquire — some- thing must be done to make us want the knowledge needed. Something must be done to make us think of the work done in our kitchens as also "one of the forces now operating, the sum of which is to set the world free." Something must be done to change the thought that kitchen work is drudgery, despised, to the truer thought that it can be more nearly like a holiday in fairy-land. There is a way, if we can only make the spirit go and find it. REFERENCES: See References at close of Chapters IV, V, VI, XI. Also, Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Fannie IMerritt Farmer. New Book of Cookery, Fannie Merritt Farmer. Food and Cookery for the Sick, Fannie Merritt Farmer. Key to Simple Cookery, Sarah Tyson Rorer. Bread and Bread Making, Sarah Tyson Rorer. New Salads, Sarah Tyson Rorer. Vegetable Cookery and Meat Substitutes, Sarah Tyson Rorer. Cooking for Two, Janey McKenzie Hill. How to Cook and Why, Condit and Long. "Ninety Tested, Palatable, Economical Recipes," Bul- letin No. 34, Teachers College, New York, N.Y. 126 FOOD AND FREEDOM The Cook Book of Left-Overs, Clarke and Rulon. The Corn Cook Book, Elizabeth O. Hiller. Foods and Household Management, Kinne and Cooley. ''Some Attempts to Standardize Oven Temperatures," Bulletin No. 22, May B. Van Arsdale, Teachers College, New York, N. Y. Economics of Electric Cooking, P. W. Gumaer, Univer- sity of Missouri, Columbia, Mo. The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning, Richards and Elliot. Bacteria, Yeasts, Molds ijt the Home, H. W. Conn. Farmers' Bulletins, pubHshed by Department of Home Economics, United States Department of Agri- culture.