The Young Housekeeper
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Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page YOUNG HOUSE-KEEPER. Blank Page THE YOUNG HOUSE-KEEPER, OR THOUGHTS ON F OOD AND COOKERY. BY WM. A. ALCOTT, Author of the Young Husband, Young Wife, Young Woman's Guide, House I Live in, &c. &c. S ixth Stereotype Edition BOSTON: WAITE, PEIRCE & COMPANY, No. 1 Cornhill. 1846. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by W m. A. A lcott, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. G. C. R a n d Printer, 3 Cornhill. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. DIGNITY OF THE HOUSE-KEEPER Silent influence of the house-keeper. Her character as a teacher and educator. Should the mother be the house-keeper? Vulgar notions. Anecdote. Dignity of the house-keeper asserted. She is, in some respects, a legislator—a counsellor—a minister—a missionary— a reformer—a physician............................................ 21—48 CHAPTER II. FIRST PRINCIPLES. 1. Obey the dictates of conscience. 2. Dare to disobey the mandates of fashion. 3. Dignify your profession. 4. Keep the house yourself, as much as possible. 5. Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well. 6. Importance of securing the aid of the husband and others. 7. Anecdote and reflections...................... 49—60 CHAPTER III. HAVING A PLAN. Why a plan is indispensable. Hour of rising. Ar rangements. Breakfast. Particular advantages. Mrs. Parkes’s opinion. Time gained, how to be employed. 61—70 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER IV. KEEPING ACCOUNTS. Every housewife should keep her own accounts. Defi ciency in female instruction. Method of keeping an account. Advantages.............................................. 71—74 CHAPTER V. KEEPING A JOURNAL. General importance of keeping a journal. Qualifications. Method should be simple. Materials of the journal. A difficulty—how overcome. Reflections. 75—78 CHAPTER VI. NATURE OF FOOD IN GENERAL. In what sense man is omnivorous. Man a free agent. Animal food. Nutritious character of food. Table of nutritious substances. Second table, from the French. Inferences from these tables. Proofs of the inferior nutritive powers of lean meat. Three great divisions of aliments. The grand object of all food. 79—90 CHAPTER VII. FARINACEOUS FOOD. Primary aliments. Secondary aliments. Substitutes. The following part of the work a vocabulary. Gen eral plan. Its contents............................................ 91—94 CHAPTER VIII. FOOD FROM WHEAT. Remarks on Wheat in general. Bread. Why wheat meal should not be bolted. Unfermented cakes. Loaf bread. Mixed bread. Crackers, biscuit, &c. Bread pudding. Boiled wheat. Toast, &c. Bread and milk. Bread and butter. Pastry. Gingerbread. Flour puddings. Bread and fruits. Potatoe bread. 95—116 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER IX. INDIAN CORN, AND ITS COM POUNDS. Qualities of Indian corn. Its excellence as food. Hulled corn. Boiled corn. Hommony. Indian cakes—eaten cool. Warm cakes. Parched corn. Boiled pudding. Brown bread. Baked pudding. Hasty pudding. Loaf bread. Dumplings. Meat bread. Gruel. Green corn. Polenta..........................................................117—136 CHAPTER X. FOOD FROM RYE. Extensive use of rye. Brown bread. Rye bread. Mixed bread. Biscuit, &c. Unleavened cakes. Ginger bread. Puddings. Gruel.................................... 137—142 CHAPTER XI. RICE. Rice extensively used. Mistaken notion of its producing costiveness and blindness. Boiled rice. Baked rice. Rice bread. Rice and milk.................................. 143—148 CHAPTER XII. BARLEY AND OATS. Barley much used in Europe. Its properties. Mixed bread. Pearl barley. Oats..................................149—150 CHAPTER XIII. THE POTATOE. Importance of the potatoe as an article of diet. Modes of cooking it—boiling, baking, steaming and roasting. Bad boiling. Examples of a better mode. Cooking a potatoe well, seldom understood. The “ civic crown.” Mashed potatoes. Potatoe bread. Potatoes and milk. Potatoe soup. “ Hash.” Fried potatoes. The potatoe sometimes poisonous. ............................... 151—162 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. BEANS AND PEAS. Beans and peas produce flatulency. Why. How they should be cooked and used. Green peas and beans. Their pods. Bread of peas and beans. Puddings. Pea soup. Bean porridge. ..............................163—168 CHAPTER XV. BUCKWHEAT AND MILLET. Buckwheat pancakes. In Germany, used for bread, puddings, &c. Hulled buckwheat. Anecdote of Peter the Great. Buckwheat bread in Boston. Millet. 169—170 CHAPTER XVI. BEET, CARROT AND PARSNIP. Richness of the beet. Boiling, steaming, baking and roasting it. Pickled beets. Medicinal properties. Nature of the carrot. Fit only for strong, healthy stomachs. Seasoning it. Does it prevent intestinal worms? Medicinal effects. The parsnip. How kept. Should it be eaten young ? ...............................171—174 CHAPTER XVII. THE TURNIP. Character of the turnip. Use made of it by the Romans. Mashing it.......................................... 175—176 CHAPTER XVIII. THE ONION AND RADISH. Dr. Paris’s opinion. Modes of cooking the onion. How to preserve it. Radishes. Objections to their use. 177—178 CHAPTER XIX. THE SQUASH, PUMPKIN AND TOMATO. The squash. Boiled. Made into pies. The pumpkin. Pies. The tomato. ......................... 179—180 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTER XX. CABBAGE, LETTUCE, &c. Cabbage of little value. How best adapted to use. Boiled. Raw. Sour crout. Eaten with ham and chesnuts. Lettuce. Anecdote of Galen. Greens and celery................................................................. 181—184 CHAPTER XXI. ARROW-ROOT, TAPIOCA, &o Nutritive properties of arrow-root. Made into jelly. Eaten with rice. Sago. Mushrooms. 185—186 CHAPTER XXII. ON FRUITS IN GENERAL. Second grand division of aliments. Principles inter spersed. Apology for the order and arrangement. 187—183 CHAPTER XXIII. THE APPLE. The apple one of the Creator’s noblest gifts. Varieties of this fruit. Little used for food. The apple very nutritious. Sweet apples. Rules for selecting the apple. Raw apples best. Baked apples. Why apples sometimes “ disagree.” Five rules for learning to use apples as food. Apples for breakfast. Accompani ments. Boiling apples. Apple sauce. Danger of putting it in home-made earthen vessels. Stewing apples. Baking and roasting. Baked apples and milk. Apple dumplings. Puddings. Bird’s nest puddings. Fried apples. Preserves. Mince pies. Improved mince pies. Other preparations of apples. Apple bread. AH apples should be perfect. Never cook green apples............................................................. 189—206 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. THE PEAR. Quality of pears. Bad ones. Baking and roasting pears. Cautions in preserving them. Forcing maturity. Mealy pears. Cultivation of the pear. Stewing. Drying. Pear jam................................................ 207—210 CHAPTER XXV. THE PEACH, APRICOT AND NECTARINE. Stone fruits in general. Nature of the peach. Cooking it. Drying. The apricot and nectarine. 211—212 CHAPTER XXVI. THE STRAWBERRY. Prejudice against fruits—how unreasonable. Fruits a preventive of disease. Green fruits injurious. Market fruits very imperfect. Cultivating the strawberry. General laws of summer fruits. Strawberries for breakfast. Eaten alone. Eaten with wine, sugar, milk, &c. Strawberries and bread. Used for lun cheon. Preventive of gravel and other diseases. 213—22G CHAPTER XXVII. THE RASPBERRY. Medicinal character of the raspberry. Its varieties. Every family should cultivate it, as they should the strawberry. Difficulties. How overcome. Female labor......................................................................... 227—234 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE BLACKBERRY. The best variety of this fruit. Raising it ourselves. The dewberry. Prejudice against the high blackberry. Anecdote to show how unfounded it is. Abuses of the blackberry............................................................... 235—238 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XXIX. THE WHORTLEBERRY. An error. The whortleberry with milk. Not improved by cookery Varieties of this fruit...................... 239—240 CHAPTER XXX. THE GOOSEBERRY, CURRANT AND GRAPE. Character of the gooseberry. When useful. The currant. Used unripe. The grape. What varieties useful. 241—244 CHAPTER XXXI. THE CHERRY. Proper selection of cherries. Swallowing the stones. Its evils. Drinking wine or spirits with cherries. No cooking into pies, puddings, &c., admissible. Varieties of the cherry. It should be eaten in the morning..................................................................... 245—252 CHAPTER XXXII. THE PLUM. The plum indigestible. It should be eaten alone. The prune......................................................................... 253—254 CHAPTER XXXIII. THE MELON. The muskmelon. Hot bed cultivation. The water melon. How sometimes raised............................ 255—25G CHAPTER XXXIV. THE CUCUMBER. Evils of the cucumber overrated. Ripe cucumbers. Not very nutritious.................................................. 257—258 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXV. THE FIG AND RAISIN. The fig extensively used for food. Fresh figs. Dried figs. Figs and bread. The raisin...................... 259—260 CHAPTER XXXVI. NUTS. The chesnut much used by the ancients. Boiled ches- nuts. How used now in Europe. Used for bread. 261—264 CHAPTER XXXVII. ANIMAL FOOD. Where animal food is admissible. Should be used, if used at all, principally as a condiment. What animals have been eaten. Arrangement of the subject. 265—266 CHAPTER XXXVIII. MILK. What the circumstances are in which milk is admissible. Milk for infants. Milk for diseased persons. Use of it by the Arabs. Milk a cheap