Taste is a matter of education. Let us educate ourselves to like the things that are good for us.

“Perseverance in a self-denying course of eating and drinking will soon make plain, wholesome food palatable, and it will be eaten with greater satisfaction than the epicure enjoys over his rich dainties.”

MEASUREMENTS

Flour is always sifted once before measuring and is laid into the measure lightly with a spoon to just level, without being shaken down; when measured otherwise, results will not be correct.

The measurements of tablespoons and teaspoons in this book are for slightly rounded spoons, as granulated sugar would be when the spoon is shaken sidewise. This seems the natural way of measuring. When level spoons are specified, the spoon is leveled off with a spatula or the straight edge of a knife.

The half-pint cup is the standard measuring cup.

A cupful is all the cup will hold without running over.

FLAVORINGS

If we heed the injunction of the wise man to eat for strength and not for drunkenness, we will exclude the burning, irritating condiments from our dietary, since they by causing a feverish state of the system and creating “a thirst which water cannot quench,” are among the greatest causes of inebriety.

When our sense of taste is not benumbed or destroyed by harmful accompaniments we are in a condition to keenly enjoy the thousands of fine, delicate flavors that our loving Father has placed in wholesome foods.

Among the stronger flavors for those who do not at once enjoy the delicate ones, we have sage, savory, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, bay leaf, garlic, onion, chives and leeks.

Then come celery salt and seed, leaves and stalks; lemon thyme, shallots, spearmint, parsley, basil and tarragon.

The flavors of carrots, turnips, cabbage and spinach have their place.

The small leaf buds of sassafras may be dried and ground for soups and stews.

Celery leaves dried with gentle heat make excellent flavorings. They may be powdered by rubbing through a wire strainer the same as leaf sage.

Crush stalks of celery and let them stand in the soup or sauce to be flavored for 15 m., then remove them.

For a fresh positive onion flavor, let slices of onion stand in the food for 5 or 10 m.

The flavor of garlic is usually obtained by rubbing the dish in which the food is to be served or the spoon with which it is stirred with the cut surface of one of the cloves or sections. Slice it and crush it with salt when using it in cooked foods. One clove will flavor a large quantity.

Use bay leaf in the proportion of one large leaf to a quart of liquid.

As far as possible raise your own herbs. If in no other way, plant them in pots and boxes in the house. Somewhere I have seen the suggestion of planting parsley in holes in the sides of a barrel which has been sawed in two, and such plants as sage, thyme, mint, basil and tarragon in the top.

Gather herbs before flowering, dry in the shade, tie in paper sacks and hang in a dry place. Powder only a small quantity at a time and keep in close covered small jars. Fresh herbs, especially mint and tarragon, when obtainable, are far superior to dry ones.

The fact that raising any oil to a temperature high enough to brown it, decomposes it and produces a poisonous acid—a powerful irritant—is one of the best known to science.

Flour is rendered more digestible by browning and when combined with cream, oil or butter, gives the browned oil flavor without the poison.

To prepare browned flour, sift bread flour into a broad flat pan, let it stand in a warm oven, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly dry, then gradually increase the heat of the oven, stirring often, until the desired degree of brownness is reached.

A delicate cream color, so light that you would hardly know there was any color except by comparing it with flour that had not been in the oven, gives a delightfully meaty flavor to some gravies and sauces. A light or medium brown is convenient to have at times, but the one most useful is the dark chestnut brown. The darker it is the longer it will last, as less of it will be required for flavoring.

To obtain this color a very high degree of heat will be required at the last, with almost constant stirring. As this dark flour lasts so long (I seldom make it more than once in a year for a large family), it pays to give it the necessary attention at every stage. Do not try to hurry it. If you begin browning it before it is thoroughly dry, it will burn. When done,