Cooking in Advance.—An Interesting Letter.
"In these days, when so many women are managing with a smaller domestic staff than usual, and often doing much of the actual work themselves, they might try the experiment with advantage of 'cooking mornings,' a plan already mentioned several times by you. It is a method which makes for efficiency and better results with less work.
"In the first place, to give up the whole of Friday morning and a couple of hours on Tuesday to the preparation of food alone, means that one has not to leave the housework or sewing on other days to mix one odd dish or so, thereby effecting a certain saving of time; secondly, much less fuel is used than would have been required to heat the stove for the same number of dishes prepared separately; thirdly, the labour of washing up and cleaning culinary utensils is much reduced. A really good manager can always plan the meals well for several days ahead, so if provisions and stores are ordered in beforehand, that again is far better than constant daily marketing for small supplies.
"My personal plan, which answers very well, is to sketch out menus roughly, order meat, etc., on Thursday, and prepare so far as I can on Friday, something after this fashion.
"The range, being well heated, will cook both in the oven and on the top as fast as I can get things ready, and I can usually make two sorts of soup (two meals' supply in each), a milk soup for immediate use, and a vegetable, lentil, or haricot purée which will keep a day or two; then any remains of meat, game, or ham are minced and used to stuff tomatoes, onions, or potatoes, and put aside for breakfast or lunch dishes; fish is flaked and made into rissoles or a pie; beef steak or shin of beef, cutlets or rabbit or a pigeon can be prepared and cooked en casserole ready for reheating when required; a cold dish for Sunday supper, which will come in also for breakfast or lunch, such as a small meat mould, or a beef galantine is prepared; next, a batch of scones, which keep well in a tin, and some rock cakes or a plain ginger loaf or sultana cake (for present use), and either a good chocolate or cherry cake or some little fancy 'petits fours,' which will be ready in case of emergency, and, if not required earlier, will be just as good towards the end of the week.
"Sweets are the next thing, and usually four or five are arranged for. A good batch of pastry may be made, say a fruit tart, one or two fancy ones, such as Bakewell, treacle, or custard, some little jam puffs or lemon cheesecakes or 'maids-of-honour,' which keep splendidly; in this case a meat pie (steak and kidney, rabbit, or veal and ham) would be made instead of the cold meat dish. On alternate weeks, or if pastry is not wished for, the sweets take some such form as a Swiss roll, a batch of castle puddings, French pancakes (all of which will keep in the invaluable air-tight tin), with a rice meringue or rice, cream and fruit for Saturday, and a boiled suet pudding of some sort (ginger, treacle, or lemon), or a steamed sponge pudding for Friday's dinner.
"Now work this out and see what a well-supplied larder you can rejoice over, and how little cooking you have to do the next three days. Then when Tuesday comes, utilise any remains of Sunday's joint, make another simple sweet or two, some cheese straws, or savoury eggs; develop more soup out of the stock which will by now have accumulated, and with a fresh batch of scones, and perhaps some stewed fruit, you may count on two more days clear for the many other tasks which fall to a good housekeeper's lot, and also for the most necessary free time for rest and recreation. Moreover, still another advantage of this 'look-ahead' plan is the ease of mind which the knowledge of your well-filled shelves will give you in the case of an unexpected visitor, or any other of those unlooked-for emergencies which will arise even in the best-regulated and most business-like households."
Because everyone else does it scarcely seems a reason why you must do it.