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[Illustration: READY TO POUR THE JELLY]
COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS
BY OLIVE HYDE FOSTER
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
DUFFIELD & COMPANY
MCMX
COPYRIGHT, 1910,
BY DUFFIELD & CO.
THE PREMIER PRESS
NEW YORK
_DEDICATED_
_To two of the dearest little girls that ever learned
to cook._
Preface
This book has been prepared with the special purpose of assisting
mothers throughout the country to train their small daughters in the art
of cookery. Scarcely any child can be trusted to take a recipe and work
alone, as the clearest directions need the watchful supervision of an
experienced woman, who can detect the coming mistake and explain the
reason for doing things in a certain way.
All children like to experiment in the kitchen, and instead of allowing
them to become an annoyance, they should be so directed that their
efforts will result in immediate help to the mother and prove invaluable
life lessons to the little ones themselves. Nothing is really more
pitiable than the helpless woman who, when occasion demands, finds
herself unable to do ordinary cooking. And that young wife is blessed
indeed who has been prepared for her duties in the home by a
conscientious mother. Therefore let no woman think it too much trouble
to teach her child the preparation of various kinds of food, impressing
on her at the same time the dignity and importance of the work.
The following articles, though considerably lengthened and rearranged,
were written at the request of the Editor, and ran for a year in
_Pictorial Review_; and the encouraging letters they elicited from women
and children everywhere, prompted this publication in book form. The
intention has been not to make a complete manual of cookery, but instead
to create interest in enough branches to enable an otherwise
inexperienced person to successfully put together any good recipe.
Thanks are also due for the use of material appearing in _The Circle_
and _Harper's Bazar_.
OLIVE HYDE FOSTER.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. GOOD THINGS FOR BREAKFAST 1
II. USING ODDS AND ENDS 13
III. SOME EASY SOUPS 23
IV. FISH, FRESH AND DRIED 31
V. SIMPLE MEAT DISHES 37
VI. THE INTERESTING POTATO 45
VII. DIFFERENT KINDS OF VEGETABLES 53
VIII. FOR THE UNEXPECTED GUEST 63
IX. RICE AND MACARONI 73
X. BAKING CAKE AND BREAD 81
XI. DESSERTS GOOD IN SUMMER 95
XII. THE THANKSGIVING DINNER 107
XIII. THE CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY 117
XIV. DELICIOUS HOME-MADE CANDIES 125
XV. PRESERVING 131
XVI. SANDWICHES AND DRINKS 139
XVII. A FEW MORE DESSERTS 145
ILLUSTRATIONS
READY TO POUR THE JELLY _Frontispiece_
PAGE
PREPARING TO MAKE BISCUIT 3
CREAMED EGGS 7
TABLE SET FOR VALENTINE LUNCHEON 15
FRESH VEGETABLE SALAD 16
HEART SALAD 20
GREEN PEPPER SALAD 24
TOSSING UP A SALAD 29
CREAMED CODFISH AND COFFEE FOR FATHER'S BREAKFAST 35
VEAL CUTLET AS REED BIRDS 38
A STANDING ROAST OF BEEF 43
CLEANING UP 51
CUCUMBER JELLY 59
TABLE SET FOR AN EASTER LUNCHEON 64
CREAMED OYSTERS IN BASKETS 67
TRAY ARRANGED FOR WELSH RAREBIT 69
COMPOTE OF RICE 75
ICING THE CAKE 83
TEA CAKES BAKED IN HEART SHAPE 85
AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO 92
FRUIT JELLY WITH WHIPPED CREAM 97
CORNSTARCH PUDDING, SMALL MOULDS 103
DINNER TABLE WITH FRUIT CENTERPIECE. NUTS AND RAISINS IN
INDIVIDUAL BASKETS 109
MAKING PIES 113
DELICIOUS HOME-MADE CANDIES 126
MARKING THE PRESERVES 132
MARSHMALLOW CREAM 145
CHARLOTTE RUSSE 148
COOKERY FOR LITTLE GIRLS
CHAPTER I
Good Things For Breakfast
(For these recipes, unless otherwise specified, make
all measurements level. The use of measuring cups,
divided into halves and thirds, is strongly urged, as
well as the tea and table measuring spoons.)
Every mother should begin to instruct her little daughter at an early
age in the different branches of housekeeping, and if taught in the
right way, none will prove more attractive than cooking. When quite
young the child will be eager to experiment, and generally will be
careful; and with many of the simple recipes she can scarcely make a
mistake, and they will prove invaluable to her later on.
Cooking is of great educational value. Aside from giving a girl that
knowledge necessary to the proper conduct of a home, in the dextrous
handling of utensils and food products, the concentration required, and
the practice of doing certain work for certain results, it also gives
excellent mental training and brings all-round development. Every girl
should become a good practical cook; and in the majority of cases the
mother, for many reasons, is the best teacher.
EQUIPMENT
The small cook should be provided with her own apron, sleeves and cap.
Also attach to her belt a tea-towel and a small holder for lifting hot
pans. This will make her feel more important and too, impress upon her
the need of having everything clean and orderly. Then emphasize the
necessity of always following directions, and taking the pains to make
each cupful an _even_ cupful--each spoonful an _even_ spoonful. The pan
for baking should be thoroughly greased and set aside ready for use,
after the fire has first been put in good condition, so that the oven
will be right, and then all the cooking utensils and materials placed
conveniently at hand.
For the first lesson suppose the choice be baking-powder biscuit. When
properly made they are delicious, but from the number of times that
otherwise good cooks fail on this point, I have come to the conclusion
that the secret lies in the mixing and handling.
[Illustration: PREPARING TO MAKE BISCUIT]
BAKING-POWDER BISCUIT
Have the child place two even cupfuls of flour in the sifter, with two
level teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, and
then sift. To this add one rounded tablespoonful of lard. The little
maid's hands and nails should be specially cleaned so she can work this
thoroughly into the flour, and it may take her five minutes to do it
properly. Next, dusting her hands, have her take a table fork and stir
all the time as she adds the milk. Generally three-quarters of a cupful
of milk is enough, but if the flour was packed in solid it may take a
whole cupful. Mix up well with the fork into a soft dough, and turn out
on a floured bread-board. She must not handle it, even now, but
sprinkle over just enough flour to keep the rolling-pin from sticking
while she rolls it out until three-fourths of an inch thick.
Next she should be shown how to cut into small rounds without any waste,
for the dough that is left to be molded over will take up more flour and
consequently be thicker and not so light. As each biscuit is cut it
should be carefully placed in the pan, close to its neighbor, but not
crowding, and when all are ready, popped into a hot oven for fifteen
minutes' baking.
This lesson should be repeated in a few days, before the child has
forgotten any of the details, and thereafter it is advisable to let her
make the same dough, for different purposes, at least once a week for a
while. For meat pies, dumplings, or shortcake, one-half the recipe will
be plenty for a family of four, and she will feel that she has learned
each time how to make a new dish. Provide a small blank book and have
her write down every recipe, with the full directions for mixing. This
will be her very own, and as it grows will come to be a valued treasure.
BAKED APPLES
As cooked fruits are such nourishing food, let the child prepare some
kind while the biscuits are baking--apples, for instance. The oven
being hot, it is best to bake them, so show her how to wash, core and
then fill each opening with sugar, cinnamon and a little butter. It will
take only a few moments to prepare them, and while the baking is in
progress the dishes that have been used should be washed and set in the
closet, the materials left be put away. All must be in order before the
lesson is pronounced over and the dish-pan wiped and put up. Where it is
desired to serve the apples and biscuits at the same meal, the apples
should be prepared first, as they take longer to bake.
CORN BREAD
Corn bread, too, is easy for any child to make. Have her mix one and
one-half cups of sifted flour, one-half cup of yellow corn meal, three
tablespoons of granulated sugar, one teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons
of baking powder. Add two well-beaten eggs, one cup milk, and one
tablespoon of melted butter. Pour in buttered tin or gem pans, and bake
in hot oven for fifteen or twenty minutes.
MUFFINS
Then next try muffins. Have her sift two cups of flour, one teaspoon of
salt, and two teaspoons of baking powder. Add one cup of milk, two
tablespoons of melted butter, and two eggs, with the stiff whites last.
Bake in buttered muffin tins fifteen or twenty minutes in a hot oven.
GRIDDLE CAKES
If successful with these things, she will be quite sure with a little
care to make good griddle cakes. Have her sift two cups of flour with
two teaspoons of baking powder, half a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of
sugar, and stir in the yolks of two eggs, well beaten, and a cup and a
half of milk. When perfectly smooth, and just before baking, fold in the
stiff whites. Grease a hot griddle with a piece of suet, put down a
spoonful of batter at a time, and turn as soon as it bubbles well over
the top. Watch carefully to keep from burning, but never turn a pancake
the second time.
After a girl has learned how to make biscuit and other light breads, she
should be shown at once how to prepare eggs in different ways so that
she will be able at any time to serve a dainty breakfast.
[Illustration: CREAMED EGGS ON TOAST]
BOILED EGGS
To boil an egg would seem to be the easiest matter possible, but it
requires care just the same. Scarcely any two people in a family like
eggs cooked the same length of time, and so, after ascertaining the way
each one prefers, have the water boiling hard, and then check by adding
a little cold water so that the shells will not crack from the heat. Put
in the eggs carefully with a tablespoon, to prevent striking each other,
boil the required number of minutes and remove each when its time is up,
sending to the table at once. Hard boiled eggs, to be digestible, should
be kept just at the boiling point for thirty minutes. The yolks will
then be mealy.
POACHED EGGS
Poached eggs should be dropped in buttered gem pans and then set in a
deep dripping-pan and covered with boiling water. When boiled as long as
desired, lift gently on to rounds of buttered toast, sprinkle with salt
and pepper, garnish with parsley or small celery leaves and serve on a
hot platter.
PLAIN OMELET
For an omelet for four people, separate yolks and whites of five eggs.
Beat yolks very light, add one-quarter teaspoonful salt, pepper, five
tablespoonfuls milk, and lastly the whites, beaten very stiff. Mix
lightly, but thoroughly, and pour in well-buttered hot frying-pan, place
on stove about two minutes until well puffed up, then put in oven for a
moment until firm on top. On removing, fold omelet over with a
cake-turner, place on a hot plate and garnish with parsley.
FANCY OMELETS
After the little daughter has mastered this popular dish, show her how
to make it into a fancy one by adding various things. A small quantity
(half a cupful) of chopped ham stirred in before cooking, converts it
into a ham omelet, a cupful of cold boiled rice mixed thoroughly through
the uncooked eggs, a rice omelet, while a cupful of chopped meat--or
better, chopped chicken--will make a meat or chicken omelet. A delicious
green corn omelet has the pulp from two ears of green corn, grated from
the cob, added just before cooking. This should be given a slower fire
and more time. For a cheese omelet, sprinkle half a cupful of grated
cheese over the eggs after they are cooked before folding over.
OMELET GARNISHING
The wise mother will suggest to the young cook that instead of always
using one recipe she try to think of some way of improving or varying
it. A few green peas left from dinner can be made hot and sprinkled over
an omelet the same way as the cheese, or the cup of stewed tomatoes left
from the day before be strained, thickened with a teaspoonful of flour,
seasoned with butter, pepper and salt, and served as a sauce, this
making a delicious accompaniment to a plain omelet.
CREAMED EGGS
Take the desired number of hot hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters, lay on
pieces of hot buttered toast, and cover with white sauce. This makes a
most appetizing dish for breakfast or luncheon. Garnish with parsley.
DEVILLED EGGS
Put on in hot water, simmer for half an hour, then place in cold water
to loosen shells. When cold, cut in half, remove yolks, mash, and season
with salt, pepper, a dash of prepared mustard, and a teaspoonful of
vinegar, with a half teaspoonful of soft butter for each egg. Rub to a
smooth paste, and pack back in the whites. For picnics, fasten two
halves together with a wooden toothpick.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
Beat the desired number enough to break the yolks, season with salt and
pepper, and add a tablespoonful of milk for each egg. Put in a hot pan
half a teaspoonful of butter for each egg, and when melted, pour in the
beaten eggs. Stir constantly, scraping from the bottom of the pan until
cooked enough to suit individual taste, but watch closely, for the
longer they cook the drier they become. Garnish with parsley or with
dried beef, frizzled in a hot skillet with a small quantity of butter.
BACON AND EGGS
Place thin slices of bacon in a hot skillet, turn frequently to keep
from curling, and remove to a hot plate when cooked as much as desired.
Break eggs in a saucer, one at a time, to see that they are fresh, then
drop gently into the hot fat. When done to suit individual taste, lift
carefully to the center of a hot platter, and garnish with the bacon.
* * * * *
The secret of an attractive table, which should be made clear to every
girl, is clean linen, with dishes and silver carefully arranged. Each
article of food, however simple, should be carefully placed in the
center of its dish, and vegetables, meats and salads garnished with
parsley, celery leaves, or occasionally rings of hard-boiled eggs. The
eggs are especially nice on salads and on such a vegetable as spinach.
* * * * *
A kitchen lesson would be incomplete without a few words regarding the
care of the all-important dish-towels and dish-cloth. However many may
be on hand, it is a wise plan to teach the little cook to take warm
water and plenty of soap and wash them out each time, being careful to
rinse them thoroughly after she is through. Then hang out in the air to
dry.