The Virginia Housewife: Or, Methodical Cook""Let every thing be done at the proper time, keep every thing in it's proper place, and put every thing to it's proper use." These are the three simple rules that Mary Randolph, a noted hostess with the reputation of being the best cook in Richmond in her day, gives to Virginia housewives in the first cookbook ever published in the South. Mrs. Randolph reminds Virginia ladies of their tradition of being "proverbially good managers" and cautions that they "have no right to expect slaves or hired servants to be more attentive to our interest than we ourselves are." Thus, stress is placed on the morality of exact neatness and method. If the "mistress" guides "subordinates" in an orderly routine, the author insists she will soon discover: "There is economy as well as comfort in a regular mode of doing things." Here is truly a charming book of recipes, "written from memory, where they were impressed by long practice," for the Southern housekeeper that had neither the prepared foods nor the modern culinary technology of today. It still remains a handy, resourceful companion for those homemakers who believe like the author that "methodical nicety is the essence of true elegance." -- |
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bake beat beef black pepper boiling water bottle bowl brandy bread cakes catsup cayenne pepper chopped clean cloves colander cold water cover cream crumbs custard deep dish drain Dutch oven E. H. BUTLER fire flavour flour forcemeat garnish gill grated nutmeg gravy half a pint half a pound hour jelly juice keep knead lard large spoonful lemon let it boil let it stand little salt loaf sugar mace meat melted butter minutes nice nutmeg onion oven pare parsley peaches peel pepper and salt pickle Pictorial History potatos pound of butter powdered sugar Published by E. H. PUDDING puff paste quantity quart quart of flour ROAST salt and water sauce scraped serve sieve sift six eggs skin soft soup sprinkle stew stew pan stir strain syllabub syrup tea-spoonful tender thick thicken tomatos turmeric veal vinegar wash white wine yeast yelks