wield the rolling pin or bend over a hot stove, and
strawberries may well be substituted for pies.
True economy must be practiced in the planning
of menus and one thing fitted into another so that
nothing is lost.
USE OF FATS
Perhaps there is no one thing more often wasted
in the average household than fat, yet this is essen-
tial to our health, and we pay high prices for it in
cream, olive oil, and butter, when cheaper forms
might be substituted in some cases.
The fat trimmed from meats is too often left
at the market or thrown away after cooking, instead
of clarifying it according to the directions on page
73. This, when properly prepared, would be far
superior to the lard and cooking butter often bought
for culinary purposes.
The flank fat from beef, or "cod fat," as some
market-men call it, is much softer than suet, and, if
carefully prepared, is to be preferred to cooking-
butter for making ordinary cookies, gingerbread,
pastry, etc. This clarified fat usually costs less than
ten cents a pound, even after the weight of the scraps
is deducted. -
When a housekeeper has not time to prepare
such fat, she may buy uncolored oleomargarine at
about half the price of table butter, or in the vicinity
of fifteen cents a pound. (Colored butterine is taxed
ten cents a pound.) Many preparations of cotton '
TABLE SERVICE 181
seed oil are on the market, which are satisfactory
when fresh for frying and for use in doughs.
One must use discretion in combining fats for
different uses. It is not desirable to use smoked
fat like that from bacon, or highly seasoned fat, such
as comes from sausages, for frying doughs, but these
should be kept each by itself and used for warming
potatoes and other vegetables.
The hard suet and soft chicken oil clarified together
give an excellent compound, which may be substi-
tuted for butter in tomato sauce and some soups, as
well as in many doughs.
In the same way all bits of meat and bone should be
used for stock, alone, or combined with vegetables.
Where meat is served once or twice daily in a house,
there is rarely need of buying any especially for soups.
TABLE SERVICE
The desirability of careful table service for the
simplest foods is shown by this incident told by one
pupil.
"My aunt had great difficulty in getting us to
eat cereal for breakfast, so she bought us each a very
pretty blue bowl. We were allowed to use these
only when we had cereal for breakfast. The result
was that we eagerly asked for it every morning and
now are very fond of the various kinds."
No one can deny that such attention to details
is an important part of the housekeeper's duty.
Where there are no servants, a housekeeper must
1 82 PRINCIPLES OF COOKERY
be .careful that her efforts for dainty service do
not involve her in labor beyond her strength. Each
member of the family should have a part in the table
service that everything may move smoothly.
MENUS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Every housekeeper occasionally has to plan a
special menu for home or club or church society, and
consideration of this matter may be helpful here.
It is of first importance that we do not undertake
more than we can carry out well. This applies to
the choice of the food material, to the number of
courses, and the way in which they are to be served.
Page 68
Presented as published in 1910. 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
wield the rolling pin or bend over a hot stove, and strawberries may well be substituted for pies.
True economy must be practiced in the planning of menus and one thing fitted into another so that nothing is lost.
USE OF FATS
Perhaps there is no one thing more often wasted in the average household than fat, yet this is essential to our health, and we pay high prices for it in cream, olive oil, and butter, when cheaper forms might be substituted in some cases.
The fat trimmed from meats is too often left at the market or thrown away after cooking, instead of clarifying it according to the directions on page 73. This, when properly prepared, would be far superior to the lard and cooking butter often bought for culinary purposes.
The flank fat from beef, or "cod fat," as some market-men call it, is much softer than suet, and, if carefully prepared, is to be preferred to cookingbutter for making ordinary cookies, gingerbread, pastry, etc. This clarified fat usually costs less than ten cents a pound, even after the weight of the scraps is deducted. -
When a housekeeper has not time to prepare such fat, she may buy uncolored oleomargarine at about half the price of table butter, or in the vicinity of fifteen cents a pound. (Colored butterine is taxed ten cents a pound.) Many preparations of cotton '
seed oil are on the market, which are satisfactory when fresh for frying and for use in doughs.
One must use discretion in combining fats for different uses. It is not desirable to use smoked fat like that from bacon, or highly seasoned fat, such as comes from sausages, for frying doughs, but these should be kept each by itself and used for warming potatoes and other vegetables.
The hard suet and soft chicken oil clarified together give an excellent compound, which may be substituted for butter in tomato sauce and some soups, as well as in many doughs.
In the same way all bits of meat and bone should be used for stock, alone, or combined with vegetables. Where meat is served once or twice daily in a house, there is rarely need of buying any especially for soups.
TABLE SERVICE
The desirability of careful table service for the simplest foods is shown by this incident told by one pupil.
"My aunt had great difficulty in getting us to eat cereal for breakfast, so she bought us each a very pretty blue bowl. We were allowed to use these only when we had cereal for breakfast. The result was that we eagerly asked for it every morning and now are very fond of the various kinds."
No one can deny that such attention to details is an important part of the housekeeper's duty.
Where there are no servants, a housekeeper must
be .careful that her efforts for dainty service do not involve her in labor beyond her strength. Each member of the family should have a part in the table service that everything may move smoothly.
MENUS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Every housekeeper occasionally has to plan a special menu for home or club or church society, and consideration of this matter may be helpful here.
It is of first importance that we do not undertake more than we can carry out well. This applies to the choice of the food material, to the number of courses, and the way in which they are to be served.