PREFACE. 



■While gathering and formulating recipes concerning the 

 preparation of fruits for her own private use, the author 

 and compiler of the present book was struck by the fact 

 that there existed no simple yet comprehensive work upon 

 the subject. It is true that cook-books flood the market, 

 but the major portion of them deal with all sorts and con- 

 ditions of materials. What appeared to be needed, was, 

 first, a greater variety of dishes in which fruit enters as an 

 ingredient and that are at once easily made, appetizing 

 and wholesome; secondly, such an arrangement as shall 

 show at a glance the changes which may be rung upon 

 any one kind of fruit. 



It is frequently the case that the housekeeper who is 

 blessed with a superabundance of apples, peaches, pears, 

 or dates, finds her household cloying upou the two or three 

 modes in which they are usually served. Recipes for a 

 dozen new dishes to be made out of the same fruit are then 

 an acquisition, the value of which only a housekeeper can 

 justly estimate. 



In the eight million and more kitchens which are the 

 pivotal centers of the physical life and activity of our 

 country, fruits are daily growing more important as a sta- 

 ple article of food. And, as civilization advances they 



