CHAPTER I ⬩ ECONOMY_Letters to a Young Housekeeper

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LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER ❧ ❧

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LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER

JANE PRINCE

[Illustration: Publisher’s Logo]

Boston & New York

Houghton Mifflin Company

The Riverside Press Cambridge

1917

Published February 1917

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MY SISTER

AT WHOSE SUGGESTION THESE LETTERS

WERE WRITTEN FOR SOME

YOUNG FRIENDS

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❧ TABLE OF CONTENTS ❧

1. Economy in the Household 1

2. The Budget 17

3. Servants 29

4. Maid of all Work 57

5. Weekly Cleaning 73

6. Family Meals 85

7. Duties of Servants 103

8. Behind the Scenes at a 137

Dinner

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LETTERS TO A YOUNG

HOUSEKEEPER ❧ ❧

CHAPTER I ⬩ ECONOMY

IN THE HOUSEHOLD

YORK HARBOR, _June 20_.

_Dear Penelope_:

You have no idea how your plaintive little “wail” in the form of a

letter went right to my heart, or what memories long forgotten it

brought back to me of my early married life. You are perfectly right in

thinking that I too had my “experiences,” and I am so pleased that you

came to me to see if I could help you by recalling what I actually went

through myself and what those “experiences,” almost tragic to me at the

time, brought about in the way of remedies.

I have no doubt that it will seem “like a leaf out of your own book”

when I tell you that when we began housekeeping I started, as a matter

of course, in about the same way of living that I had been accustomed to

in my mother’s house. This was my standard and I knew no other. What was

my horror to find, when the end of the month came, that I was taking so

much for table expenses that we had little left for anything else. This

discovery nearly reduced me to tears, for we had both been brought up as

you have, with a great dread of living beyond our means.

Our first thought was to move into a house with lower rent, but, after

considering the question from all points of view, we decided to remain

where we were and find some other way of cutting down our expenses. This

was a difficult problem for any one so inexperienced and who had never

had to think much about economy, but it was the very same problem that

you are facing in very much the same way, and I did just what you are

doing, consulted a friend in whom we had confidence and who had had

years of experience. This consultation encouraged me to feel that there

were many changes I could make in our way of living, and I was honestly

amazed to find how much that seemed necessary for the table, just

because I had always been accustomed to it, was not necessary at all,

but that one was quite as well off without it.

I came home full of enthusiasm to see what I could do. Then came a

serious settling down to the subject and a careful looking into ways and

means. Together my husband and I talked over his income and decided what

proportion we should allow for the table. The next month was to be a

practice month, carefully watching how the money went, in order to make

a plan for other months. How interesting it seemed! It meant that I had

a vocation as well as my husband; that, by careful thought, I could make

him feel that it was worth while to work hard if what he earned went

just as far as it could and if when he came home tired he found my part

attended to so well that the home was comfortable and serene. For why,

if he went faithfully to his business daily, as a matter of course, in

order to give me the wherewithal to run the house, should not I do my

part as seriously and faithfully?

From that time economy and the management of the household took a new

interest, and what had been drudgery became a fascinating puzzle. I

plunged into the study of good cookery books, learning all I could about

the different cuts of meat, how to tell good fowl, etc., so that I could

choose well and make the money go as far as possible. In this search I

discovered that the cheaper cuts of meat are sometimes the most

nourishing and can be made tender by long cooking and very palatable in

various ways. I also learned a great many different receipts for cooking

the less expensive vegetables and serving them in an attractive way to

give variety with the least expense.

I then started with my practice month in this way: I bought groceries in

small quantities, only as much as we needed for a few days at a time,

asking the price of things and keeping an account of them to check off

with the bill when it came at the end of the month. Bills are a torment

with a small income, so, while I found the bills for staple groceries,

ice, and milk almost a necessity, I paid cash for all other articles of

food; that is, meat, vegetables, fish, eggs, butter, etc. I went to

market two or three times a week buying and paying for everything on the

spot and seeing everything weighed and measured that was sold in that

way. At the end of this practice month I made a list of what we had used

in groceries, ice, and milk, and also added together all the cash spent

on the other articles of food. With the grocery list in hand, at the

beginning of the second month, I laid in a complete supply of groceries

for the whole month, keeping it in a storeroom and giving out each

morning enough for the day’s needs. Of course some months we used a

little more, some a little less, but it averaged pretty even and was a

good guide. I laid in laundry soap by the box, because to keep a box

ahead, if you can, is the best economy, for it lasts twice as long if it

is stacked on shelves with spaces between the cakes so that it can dry

thoroughly before using.

The amount of groceries, milk, and ice we should use per month having

been decided upon as nearly as I could, we divided the _cash_ I had

spent on the other food during this practice month by 30, to see what

allowance this would give me per day. Then, when I went to market I took

with me in my marketing purse only the exact sum we allowed for the

number of days for which I was marketing. Otherwise I felt sure I should

spend too much, as the markets are so tempting and human nature so

frail!

Luxuries we did not have; we were young and did not need them and we

have never regretted that we saved them in order to have them in our old

age. Finding fancy groceries expensive, I did not buy them, but tried to

put the money we had allowed ourselves for the table into nutritious

food. Before going to market I used to make a rough outline ahead of the

meals and take with me a list of what was needed for them. One is much

more apt to have variety by thinking ahead, and taking a list to market

is an economy, for, while one may change it after getting there, and

substitute one article of food for another, still there is less

likelihood of getting unnecessary things.

Money spent on a few good cookery books is well spent, for without their

suggestions one is apt to fall into a rut, and this the family cannot

forgive. No cook left to herself does her best. She needs constant

supervision; to be told, “a little more salt here,” “more sugar there,”

“slower cooking,” etc., and also to be praised for what is good. If the

praise is not given, the cook gets discouraged; if mistakes are

overlooked, she gets careless. As some cooks don’t take correction

pleasantly, however well given, you will find that it works best to give

it at the end of your morning talk when all the ordering is finished.

In beginning with a new cook, it is well to explain at once to her that

you want her to lay aside everything that is left over, if only a

tablespoonful, putting it into the wire safe or refrigerator for you to

decide about the next morning. This is not generally done by American

housekeepers, so that, at first, cooks are apt to think you are mean

unless you explain to them cheerfully and pleasantly that it is in order

to have a greater variety and that this is one of the reasons that the

French cookery is so good.

You will find in some of your receipt books about the French

_pot-au-feu_ and can learn from this how to manage your own soup pot,

using the bones left over from roasts, etc., to start a stock and

varying this soup each day with left-overs, such as even a tablespoon of

peas or some spinach (strained), or string beans, tomatoes, shreds of

lettuce, or creamed oyster plant. This may not _sound_ especially good

to you, but my cook now makes soups that surprise me by their good

flavor and variety in just this way.

These left-overs also make good salads, sometimes the basis being

potatoes, to which is added a few beets, a little shredded lettuce, or,

in addition, some meat chopped up, each thing being too small a quantity

in itself for any one dish. Thus, a hearty and good salad or a hot dish

is evolved from what many people allow to be thrown away. I would advise

you to study some of the scientific diet menus that are published now

and find out the relative values in nutriment of the different foods.

Among the ideas of value to you you will discover that there are many

foods, such as cheese, peas, lentils, and beans, which take the place of

meat. As, for example, one pound of cheese equals two pounds of beef in

nutriment.

Eloise is at my elbow imploring me to stop writing and give _her_ some

advice about her dress for Mrs. Blake’s fancy ball, so I mustn’t run on

any more. Don’t hesitate to tell me anything that troubles you, for it

will be such a pleasure to me if I can help you.

Very affectionately yours,

_Jane Prince_.

P. S. Some days, when you don’t feel well, it is hard to think of the

menu, so I would advise you, whenever you have tried a receipt and found

it good, to write in a blank book, kept for the purpose, the name of the

dish, the title of the cookery book, and the page on which you found the

receipt; thus: “_Fish pudding_, Mary Ronald’s Century Cook-Book, page

123.” Before you know it you will have a book, not of receipts, but of

suggestions, which will tell you just where to look for the sort of dish

you want for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In order to make it perfectly

easy to turn at once to any especial dish, divide the blank book, before

you make any entries in it, into as many sections as may be convenient,

leaving several pages to each section:

So many pages for _relishes_

So many pages for _soups without meat_

So many pages for _meat soups_

So many pages for _fish soups_

So many pages for _fish receipts_

So many pages for _entrées_

So many pages for _meats_

So many pages for _vegetables_

So many pages for _salads_

So many pages for _desserts_

So many pages for _lunch dishes_

So many pages for _breads and cakes_

So many pages for _eggs_

Can’t you imagine the relief such a book would be in an emergency and

how valuable it would become after a while because it has references

only to tried receipts?

Devotedly yours,

_Jane Prince_.

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