TEN DOLLARS ENOUGH
KEEPING HOUSE WELL ON TEN DOLLARS
A WEEK; HOW IT HAS BEEN DONE;
HOW IT MAY BE DONE AGAIN
BY
CATHERINE OWEN
[Illustration]
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1888
Copyright, 1886,
BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
_All rights reserved._
SEVENTH EDITION.
_The Riverside Press, Cambridge_:
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.
PREFACE.
The success of “Ten Dollars Enough,” as it appeared serially in the
pages of “Good Housekeeping,” and the numerous letters received by the
editor of that magazine asking for it in more convenient shape, has led
to its publication in its present form.
It is very pleasant to learn from these same letters that the writers
have tried Molly’s recipes with such success, there being, I am assured
by the same gentleman, but two exceptions (and one of these candidly
says the fault might be her own) among the large number who expressed
satisfaction.
This testimony is especially gratifying, showing, as it does, how
earnest and faithful my readers have been; for, although the directions
were minutely given and every effort made to meet difficulties, all
_my_ care would not have sufficed to produce success, had there not
been faithful coöperation on the part of those who followed them. I
take this opportunity to make clear two matters which, I found early in
the course of the story, were lost sight of by two or three readers,
perhaps others.
I allude to the prices of provisions and the amount of cooking
accomplished in a given time.
To those who questioned the cost of articles I would say: they forgot,
reading in _December_, when they were doubtless paying higher prices,
that the prices quoted were for _September_. To another who quotes the
high price _she_ has to pay for certain things, I only say: Molly was
keeping house with some luxury, on the same amount of table-money as
many require to live very plainly. This could not be done except by
buying everything only in its season; if beyond a certain price, she
waited for it to get lower.
This brings me to what is after all the gist of the matter. “Ten
Dollars Enough” was intended for readers in widely different parts of
the country. It would have readers where the meat and poultry prices
would seem very high, and the groceries equally low. I therefore
decided to take average New York retail prices and not to go below them.
There may be cities and suburbs where the prices are higher than in New
York, but in my experience these are few compared with the many where
they are lower.
As to the question of time, Molly is not represented as an
inexperienced young wife, but as a graduate of cooking-schools, who
could herself have joined the corps of culinary teachers had it been
necessary.
Her expertness had not come without many failures, and the readers of
“Ten Dollars Enough” were invited to profit by the finished result of
her failures and experiments. Because she had often failed before she
succeeded, she was able to avert failure from Marta or others.
Bearing in mind, then, that Molly knew precisely what to do and how to
do it, it will be readily seen that her most elaborate dinner was very
simple indeed, compared with the _ménu_ prepared by one lady and her
assistant at any first-rate cooking demonstration, in the same space of
time.
CATHERINE OWEN.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Mr. and Mrs. Bishop try the Experiment 1