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MISS PARLOA’S
YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER
Designed Especially to aid Beginners
ECONOMICAL RECEIPTS FOR THOSE WHO ARE COOKING
FOR TWO OR THREE
BY
MARIA PARLOA
FOUNDER OF TWO SCHOOLS OF COOKERY AND AUTHOR OF “THE
APPLEDORE COOK BOOK,” “MISS PARLOA’S KITCHEN COMPANION,”
“MISS PARLOA’S NEW COOK BOOK AND
MARKETING GUIDE,” “FIRST PRINCIPLES OF
HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT,” ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED_
BOSTON
ESTES AND LAURIAT
1894
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COPYRIGHT, 1893,
BY MARIA PARLOA.
University Press:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
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PREFACE.
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WHEREVER I have gone in the last fifteen years in following my calling
as a teacher of cooking, earnest appeals have been made to me to plan my
next book for the especial benefit of those who have just begun, or who
are about to begin, to keep house for two or three. The young wives want
to know how to buy supplies for a small family; how to cook economically
and well; what to do with food that is left over from any meal; and
numerous other things pertaining to their daily work. At last I have set
about telling them. They will find that it is not necessary to have an
immense income in order to live well. Strict adherence to careful
instructions will, with a little good sense thrown in, enable a young
housekeeper to accomplish wonders. She can practise economy and at the
same time have a table that is attractively and wholesomely
spread,—something for which most housekeepers strive without knowing the
best way to reach the goal. Of course, not all who begin to build a home
are obliged to count every dollar they expend. For the benefit of those
who can start in their married life with a servant to aid them and money
enough to indulge in luxuries, some special information and advice are
given. But, after all, the aim has been particularly to lend a hand to
those whose incomes are moderate; to make the book a simple one,—one
that even a girl may take interest in studying. If it prove of value to
those young women who are establishing homes for themselves, its chief
mission will be accomplished.
M. P.
ROXBURY, MASS., 1893.
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CONTENTS.
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PAGE
A WORD WITH THE YOUNG HOUSEWIFE 1
ABOUT FURNISHING THE HOUSE 4
DIVISION OF THE HOUSEHOLD WORK 22
SOME THINGS TO BE LEARNED EARLY 31
WORK ON WASHING DAY 44
IN THE DINING-ROOM 52
BUYING FOOD AND CARING FOR IT 60
SOUPS 80
FISH 96
HOW TO COOK MEAT 112
SAUCES FOR MEAT AND FISH 164
SALADS 172
VEGETABLES 177
MISCELLANEOUS DISHES 200
BREAD IN VARIOUS FORMS 217
CAKE 241
PASTRY 253
PUDDINGS 260
SWEETS 289
BEVERAGES 300
PRESERVES AND PICKLES 307
FOR THOSE WHO LIVE ON FARMS 324
CARE OF THE SICK 338
WHEN CLEANING HOUSE 352
ODD BITS OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 361
INDEX 391
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MISS PARLOA’S
YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER.
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CHAPTER I.
A WORD WITH THE YOUNG HOUSEWIFE.
IF one were to get a hundred reputed good housekeepers to come together
and give their ideas of what constitutes good housekeeping, no two would
agree upon all points. There are essentials which every one recognizes,
but there are many things which one housekeeper considers of the
greatest importance, whereas another may think the same things of minor
consequence or of no consequence whatever. It is a sad fact that some
good housekeepers are not good home-makers. The young housekeeper should
bear in mind that, while it is essential that the home should be clean
and orderly, and the food well cooked and regularly served, this does
not make the home. One can get all these comforts in a well conducted
hotel or boarding-house, but the man or woman is to be pitied who has no
higher ideal of a home than what is furnished by a hotel or
boarding-house, no matter how sumptuous. A selfish woman can make a good
housekeeper, so far as the keeping of the house in perfect running order
is concerned, but it is difficult for a selfish or lazy woman to make a
home. A young woman who would create an ideal home must possess some
judgment, and a heart in which charity and sympathy have a large place.
My idea of good housekeeping is where a woman keeps her home sweet and
orderly; provides simple, well cooked food; makes her home so restful
and cheerful that all who come into it shall be better for breathing the
atmosphere of kindness and cheerfulness that pervades the place; and
where the household machinery always runs smoothly because of the
constant thoughtfulness of the mistress of the house. A place like this
is truly a home, and the woman at the head of it deserves the respect
and admiration of everybody. I have seen such homes among the rich and
among the poor, for neither wealth nor poverty prevents the right person
from filling with the atmosphere of comfort and happiness the house of
which she is the mistress.
A housekeeper’s duties are many, and, to one nervous and fretful, they
are exhausting. What seems to the woman of good digestion and steady
nerves a mere trifle, to be laughed at and forgotten, may appear to the
delicate, nervous woman a calamity to be wept over. Much of the
irritability from which women suffer is due to their expectation of too
much of themselves and others. If women would be reconciled to the
inevitable, they might make everybody about them much happier. A choice
bit of china may be broken. Is it worth the while to make the whole
household miserable for what cannot be helped? A dish may be spoiled in
the cooking. It will not help your digestion or that of the family to
fret over it. You may be naturally very orderly, but some members of the
family may not. Will it pay to make them and yourself uncomfortable by
worrying over the matter? If your servant or any other member of the
household should not come up to your standard, throw the mantle of
charity over the faults that you cannot remedy, and pray that others may
be equally charitable to you.
The good housekeeper will certainly look well to the ways of her
household, but her eyes will be those of the kind, just woman. She will
not look for miracles; she will not expect to get the best supplies and
service when paying only the lowest price; she will not hope to make
something out of nothing; she will be brave enough to live within her
means, even if they be small; she will not be afraid to do her work
honestly and well; and, finally, she will be so true to herself at all
times, and so adjust and simplify her domestic duties that she will not
exhaust body and mind in trying to do two persons’ work for the sake of
“keeping up appearances.” How many families lose all the comforts of
home life in this senseless effort! If you stop to consider what this
“keeping up appearances” means it puts the people in a very unenviable
light, for it simply means that people want to give you a false
impression of their possessions. No member of the family is so much
injured by this deceptive life as the housekeeper. All her power of body
and mind is bent to the task of making the best possible appearance with
the smallest amount of expenditure. Intellect is cramped in the battle
and all repose is gone from home life. No matter how good the
housekeeping, the spirit of the home-maker is not there. No young woman
has a right to dwarf her life for such a purpose. Let her make the most
of the means at her command, but let her never sacrifice her physical,
moral, and mental well-being to a desire to make a display
disproportionate to her circumstances, for that is not good
housekeeping.
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