1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARTHER. 



441 



fabics'. fitpartmunt. 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY; 



OK, 



HOW TO IVIAKE HOIME PLEASANT. 



BY ANNE G. HALE. 



[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 

 1866, by R. P. Eaton & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the 

 District Court for the District of Massachusetts,! 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION. 



To say that the happiness of a household de- 

 pends largely upon the diet of its members, may 

 seem a strange assertion to some of my readers ; 

 but those who have noticed the dejected counte- 

 nances, no less than the feeble frames, of dyspep- 

 tics, have heard from these victims of indigestion 

 querulous accounts of the effects of innutritions 

 and unwholesome food, or have themselves ex- 

 perienced the inertia, the stupidity, the melan- 

 choly, resulting from a thoughtless choice of vi- 

 ands, or the mistakes or misfortunes of the cook, 

 will be ready to acknowledge that improper food 

 affects the mind as well as the body. And those 

 who are observant of such matters will be quick 

 to see that the vivacity, the cheerfulness, and the 

 hopeful enthusiasm that are needed to carry us 

 easily along the rough and uncertain paths of 

 daily toil and trouble, are more frequently helped 

 and promoted by the elevated tone of the system 

 induced by a wise regimen of food for the body, 

 than by any mental bias or moral discipline. 



But nothing save close attention and careful 

 practice can qualify any one to furnish the table 

 with nice and at the same time healthful and 

 economical dishes. And while all housewives are 

 aware how important is the duty of preparing and 

 providing proper and palatable food for the family, 

 they know well how difficult and unsatisfactory 

 the work is,— -there are so many variable appetites, 

 and such a diversity of tastes, to cater for : no 

 wonder that blunders are made, and waste in- 

 curred in attempting to suit them all, and the 

 strength and patience of many a good woman ex- 

 hausted—to say nothing df her regrets for mis- 

 used time. Hoping to obviate these defects, or to 

 expedite or simplify her labors, every housekeeper 

 is eager to avail herself of the experience of others 

 in these matters, so that the cookery-book and the 

 thousand and one receipts of ladies' magazines 

 and albums are in constant requisition. But these 

 are daily receiving additions from the fastidious 

 and the whimsical, and young housekeepers, in- 

 stead of gaining help from them, are too often 

 bewildered and pei-plexed by their elaborate rules, 

 and in following them find the labors of the kitchen 

 increased and their ideas of economy set at defi- 

 ance. 



The truth is Americans cook'too much. Every- 

 thing that we eat must be baked, boiled, stewed, 

 or fried, — sometimes served in all these ways, — or 

 disguised with spice, grease, or sugar, till the 

 most nutritious qualities of all articles that come 

 under the head of food are either lost or changed 

 into something deleterious. If a reform in this 

 could be effected not only would our dyspeptic 

 friends soon regain health, and vigor, but hours 

 and hours noAV spent by the overtasked and anx- 

 ious housewife, in great discomfort, by the side of 

 blazing ovens, and over scorching and steaming 

 ranges and stoves, would be redeemed for loftier 

 purposes. 



The readiest way to bring about-such a change 

 is, undoubtedly, to bring up children on plain, 

 wholesome fare ; keeping their natural taste for 

 such food clean and hearty, by allowing them a 

 reasonable variety. Give them different kinds of 

 good, light bread, with plenty of fruit, fully ripe, 

 — either in its natural state or now and then sim- 

 ply stewed or baked, — honey, or maple syrup, and 

 they will never want rich cake or pies or pre- 

 sAves. Pickles, "the Yankees' sweetmeats," for- 

 bid, as if they were poison. Fresh vegetables, 

 too, boiled, or baked, with only the seasoning of a 

 little salt, or a trifle of nice butter, and a moder- 

 ate quantity of good, but simply cooked, animal 

 food ; plain broths, or soups, in plenty, but not 

 gravies nor sauces ; puddings, also, — light and 

 good — not rich. All these things children like, 

 and they are healthful. A little plain cake or 

 gingerbread occasionally does not come amiss, to 

 be sure,— and is not to be censured— so far as 

 health is concerned. Still, fruit is far preferable ; 

 and is, in the end, more economical, when we take 

 into consideration the time and strength of the 

 housewife. Its free use affords her great relief 

 from anxious and wearisome labor, and its nutri- 

 tive qualities being so high — superior to many 

 kinds of animal food — it ought to be considered as 

 much a regular article of diet as bread — no meal 

 should be deemed complete without it. Those 

 who are in the habit of loading their stomachs 

 with cake and pastry, have no idea of the refresh- 

 ment afforded even by so simple a repast as good 

 bread and well-ripened apples or pears, peeled 

 and sliced-tomatoes, peaches, cherries, currants, 

 and all sorts of berries, are most delicious accom- 

 paniments to the bread ; eaten raw, with the addi- 

 tion of sugar, if you choose, — and form a dish fit 

 to set before a king. 



People are beginning to see the value of fruit for 

 this purpose. When it is considered an indispen- 

 sable article of daily flire, one strong chain of 

 woman's servitude — in the shape of cake and pas- 

 try making— will be broken. Till then we must 

 have the old recipes of butter and sugar and spices 

 and eggs, with their bewilderments of weights, and 

 measures, and "thingfuls ;" and aching arms and 

 shoulders and wrists, from pounding, and crush- 

 ing, and sifting, and beating, and whisking, and 



