Mary Harrison

“ There is as much evil wrought by want of thought as by want of heart. If it is true that there is but one step between the sublime and the ridiculous, it is equally true that there is but one step between folly and wickedness. ”

“ Take every pains to know how to judge of the quality of meat, groceries, &c., so that you may not be imposed on. Never be ashamed to say you cannot afford to have this or that. To be poor may be a misfortune, but it is not a fault; and, indeed, to be rich is often a far greater misfortune. The discipline of poverty, and the self-denial it involves, will often strengthen a character which the luxury of riches would enervate. ”

“ Pea soup, haricot soup, and lentil soup are all rich in nourishment, and may be made at a trifling cost, stock not being necessary for their manufacture. The boilings from meat, when not too salt, may be used with advantage in making these soups; but if this is not available, they may be made quite well with water; and, if carefully prepared, will have all the flavour of a meat soup.
In making stock for meat soups, it must be borne in mind that in order to extract the juices from the meat it must be put into cold water, which should be heated very gradually, and only allowed to simmer. ”

“ All kinds of rissoles, croquettes, fillets and cutlets of fish, fritters, &c., should be fried in this manner, and should not be darker than a golden brown. It is an advantage to use a frying-basket for all such things as are covered with egg and bread-crumbs; but fritters, or whatever is dipped in batter, should be dropped into the fat, as they become so light that they rise to the top of it. When they are a pale fawn colour on the one side, they should be turned over to the other. Care must be taken to drain everything, after frying, on kitchen paper in order to remove any grease. ”

“ Ovens in which the heat comes from the bottom are decidedly the best for either cakes or pastry; but no one should expect to bake well in an oven they do not thoroughly understand. There is so much difference in ovens, that the hottest part of one may be the coolest in another. To bake well requires practice and experience, and no one should be discouraged by a few failures.
Puff Paste. Ingredients—Equal quantities of Vienna flour and butter. A few drops of lemon juice. Enough water to mix the flour into a nice lithe dough. ”

“ Milk is the only perfect food, and contains all that is necessary to sustain healthy life. It is also the only food a child can properly digest, until it cuts its teeth. The improper feeding of children is the great cause of infant mortality. When it becomes advisable to add to milk other foods, they should be nutritious and well cooked. Fine oatmeal or baked flour are, perhaps, the two best. Dr. Fothergill says: ‘Children fed on the food of their seniors, or rich cake, and crammed with sweeties, do not as a rule thrive well. ”

“ The other and more usual method of making gravy, is to pour away all the fat from the pan as soon as the joint is cooked; and then pour into the pan a sufficient quantity of hot water, scraping well the brown glaze from the bottom; colour carefully with caramel, or burnt sugar, and pour it round the joint, not over it. Pouring the gravy over the meat destroys its crispness.
On no account make gravy from stock; stock is quite unsuitable, as the vegetable flavour is, to many persons, disagreeable.
RULES FOR FRYING. French or Wet Frying. ”

“ If the mixing is not perfect, the sauce will be lumpy. The milk, stock, or water, is then poured in, and the sauce is stirred one way, until it has boiled three minutes. If cream is used, it is then added, and allowed just to boil in the sauce.
In making economical sauces, when less butter and flour are used (see Economical Family Sauce) , the method employed is different. The flour is then mixed very smoothly54 with a little of the milk, water, or whatever is used, and then added to the remainder, which may be cold or boiling ”

“ A labouring man, for example, working hard each day, would require such foods as liver and bacon, steak, bullock's heart, beans, peas, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, &c.; foods, in fact, that would not be too easily digested. Hard work causes the food to be assimilated more readily. A too easily digested fare would cause a constant feeling of hunger. 11For anyone, on the contrary, leading a sedentary life, the food taken could not be too digestible. In that case, mutton, plainly cooked chicken, soles, milk puddings, and lightly boiled eggs should be the kind of viands chosen. ”

“ RULES FOR BAKING. To bake meat successfully, the oven must be well ventilated, otherwise, the joint cooked in this manner will have an unpleasant flavour. The meat should be put on a trivet, which should be placed on a baking-tin. The oven must be very hot when the meat is put into it, and the heat should be kept up for the first quarter of an hour. This is to form the casing already alluded to in the directions for roasting and boiling; the heat of the oven must then be very much moderated, and the joint cooked very gradually, allowing twenty minutes for every pound, and twenty minutes over. ”

“ The butter should then be rubbed into the flour, and the other dry ingredients should be added. The cake should then be quickly mixed, put into its tin, and placed at once in a hot oven.
If several dishes are to be made, a little thought beforehand will often prevent a very great deal of fatigue and waste of time. Suppose, for example, that you wish to prepare two or three dishes for supper and to make some cakes for tea. You have, perhaps, decided to have a 17chicken coated with Béchamel sauce, a gâteau of apples with whipped cream, a custard pudding, and some rock cakes. ”

“ When it has the appearance of boiling water, it is simply due, as already explained, to the presence of water in it, which must pass away by evaporation, before the fat can reach the required heat. When it ceases to make any noise, and is quite still, it should be carefully watched; for very soon a pale blue vapour is seen rising, and then the fat is sufficiently hot. If, from the position of the stove, it is not easy to see this vapour, a piece of bread may be held in the fat as a test; if it begins to turn brown, in about a minute, the fat is ready. ”

“ A certain amount of warmth is necessary for the growth of the yeast, but too great heat kills it. The water, therefore, should be lukewarm. When the dough is mixed, sprinkle the top with a little flour to prevent a crust forming; the pan should then be covered with a cloth and placed on a chair in a warm place, free from draught. It may be placed with advantage before the oven or boiler, but should not be put directly in front of a fire. When the dough is exposed to too great a heat it gets moist and sticky, is very difficult to make up, and is heavy when baked. ”

“ The oven should be very hot for the first twenty minutes, and then very much moderated: a sharp heat is necessary at first to throw up the bread; but the rest of the time the heat applied should be moderate. The same heat is required in baking cakes: a sharp heat at first, to throw them up, and moderate afterwards, so that they may get cooked through without the crust burning. The sugar in cakes causes them to burn very quickly. It is, therefore, a wise precaution to line the tin, even for a plain cake, with foolscap paper. ”

“ Cultivate sufficient independence of character to enable you to form your household, and regulate your expenses according to your own means, and not according to the income of your neighbours. What does it matter if some may sneer at your thread-bare carpets and frugal fare? The approval of your own conscience is of far more importance than the friendship of the vulgar-minded. ”

“ With these points carefully attended to—a bright room, neatly-laid table, well-cooked food, and cheerful conversation—dinner, or any other meal, will become what it should be, a refreshment to both mind and body. ”

“ To make a good cream, it is essential that the cream used should be double; that is, a thick cream that will whip up to a stiff froth. Beat it well with a wire whisk until it will stand on the end of it without dropping. This must be done in a cool place, especially in summer time. Cream is liable to curdle, and turn to butter, if beaten in too warm a temperature. The gelatine must be added last of all. It should be stirred in thoroughly, but quickly; it must not be too hot, or too cold, but just lukewarm. If too hot, it destroys the lightness of the cream ”

“ I have been told more than once by those benevolently interested in the working classes that with instruction to ladies on cookery they had no sympathy, and they seemed to think that it would be better if lessons on the subject were given exclusively to the poor. They forget that the wives of the working men are women who have most of them been domestic servants, and that what they learn in their situations, and what habits they there acquire, they take for good or evil into their own homes ”

“ Some practice is required to make the plain omelet to perfection, as the art consists in folding the omelet just at the right moment, before the eggs used in them are too much set. The omelet should not be firm throughout, like a pancake, but should be moist and succulent in the middle. A very sharp fire is essential, and the omelet should not take more than three minutes in the making.
Steamed Soufflée. Ingredients—1 oz. of butter. 1 oz. of flour. 1⁄4 pint of milk. 4 eggs. 2 dessertspoonfuls of castor sugar. ”

“ As such a substitution is often too expensive, owing to the 10high price of meat—cheese, which is twice as rich in nitrogenous matters (that is flesh-formers) as butchers' meat, may be, and constantly is, employed as a complete diet, and for persons in health, doing hard bodily work, it affords suitable nourishment. Even some vegetable products, rich in nitrogen, as haricot beans, may be used in the same way as meat or cheese, and for the same purpose.’ [1]
It is a pity that the value of haricot beans, peas, lentils, and oatmeal is not more generally known. ”

“ A few hints to beginners on the proper way to set about their work may be, perhaps, of some use; as I know many people get disgusted with cookery at the very outset, and after one attempt, form a resolution never to enter the kitchen again. They have spent the whole morning trying to make a single dish, and that has proved a failure; they have become hot, tired, and irritable, and ill able to bear the laughter their failure has excited. ”

“ It would effect a moral revolution if women would only look at matters in the true light. How much crime and misery may be traced to mismanaged unattractive homes! How many deaths to the ignorance of hygiene! ”

“ The yeast may be tested by mixing it with a little sugar; if it is good, it has the power of dissolving the sugar to a syrup. Everything made with yeast should be allowed a proper time to rise. A quartern loaf will generally be ready to make up in about two hours after the dough is set, but the time of rising will vary according to circumstances—for example, in cold weather it may not rise so quickly as in hot. For making bread, warm the pan or tub the dough is to be mixed in, but do not make it hot. Take care that the flour is dry, and free from lumps. ”

“ Ordinary sauces, served in a sauce tureen, should be fairly thick; the proportions taken should be 1 oz. of butter; 3⁄4 oz. of flour; 1⁄2 pint of milk. If the sauce is to be used to coat anything very thinly (new potatoes, for example) , 1⁄2 oz. of flour, instead of 3⁄4 oz., would be sufficient. If a sauce is required to entirely mask a small piece of fish, or chicken, &c., 1 oz. of flour should be used, with the proportions of milk and butter already given. Every ingredient should be properly weighed or measured. Carelessness in this respect is a mark of ignorance, and must occasion failures. ”

“ Let us hope that the refinement, falsely so called, which is only another name for vanity, laziness, and selfishness, may soon give way to the true refinement of heart and mind which considers nothing too menial which will benefit others; nothing too common that will add to the happiness of our fellow-creatures. ”

“ But there are some ladies to whom a knowledge of domestic economy ought to be especially invaluable—namely, those whose means are so limited that they cannot afford to engage servants who have had any great experience, and, therefore, who keep only what is called a general servant, a term which often means a woman or 4girl who will undertake to do everything, but who has only the vaguest notions of how anything should be done. ”