66. With the general rules for meal planning in mind, the housewife is
well prepared to arrange menus that will be properly balanced, as well
as varied and attractive. One means of securing variety in menus, and at
the same time supplying oneself with a very convenient piece of kitchen
equipment, consists in placing the recipes used on small cards and
filing them in a card file under the headings to which they belong, as
shown in Figs. 7 and 8. For instance, a heading should be made for
soups, one for potatoes, and so on. These cards may then be rotated in
order to make up menus. When the first card of each group has been used,
it should be placed at the back of the others in that group; then each
one will come in the order in which it was originally placed in the
file. Of course, when the cards are not filed alphabetically, it is a
little more difficult to find the recipes one needs at a particular
time, and so if desired other means of using the cards for menu making
may be easily devised without changing their position.
[Illustration: FIG. 7]
In addition to serving as a basis for menus, this arrangement takes the
place of a cook book. In fact, it is much more convenient, for instead
of a book containing recipes on the table where the work is being done,
a small card, which takes up less space and is much less likely to be in
the way, may be substituted.
[Illustration: FIG. 8]