In arranging the explanatory lessons, information has been drawn from many sources, but particularly from the works of Atwater and Parkes. It is the intention that these lessons be studied in connection with the practical work; they contain matter suggestive of that which it is necessary to understand in order that something may be known of the complex changes which take place in food in the various processes of cooking.
The recipes have been carefully chosen and perfected, some having been changed many times before final adoption. In most of them the quantities are small,—such amounts as would be required for one person,—but by multiplying or dividing the formulæ any quantity may be made, with uniform results.
Detailed descriptions have been given in order that those who know nothing of cooking may be able, by intelligently following the instructions, to make acceptable dishes. Repetition and similarity of arrangement will, it is hoped, serve to impress upon the mind certain points and principles.
In some instances the recipes are original, but for the most part the ideas have been gathered from lessons and lectures on cooking, and from standard books, among them Mrs. Lincoln's "Boston Cook Book." Generally the order in which each recipe has been written is the order in which the different ingredients should be put together. The proportions have been placed first, and separately from the description of the process, for greater convenience in using.
Valuable information for the chapter on the feeding of children was found in Uffelmann's "Hygiene of the Child."
I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Simon Flexner and William D. Booker of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in reviewing, respectively, the explanatory lessons and the chapter on the feeding of children.
M. A. B.
Baltimore, Jan. 18, 1893.