Twenty-Five Cent Dinners for Families of Six. Juliet Corson

fact. The hardy and thrifty working classes of France, the country where the most rigid economy in regard to food is practised, never use tea or coffee for breakfast, and seldom use milk. Their food and drink is BROTH. Not the broth from fresh meat, for they do not often eat that; but that which is made from vegetables, and perhaps a bit of bacon or salt pork.

      If you will reflect on the reasons I give in the next chapter for boiling food, instead of roasting or baking it, you will learn two important lessons in economy, namely: that boiling saves at least one fourth the volume of food, and that the broth which is produced, when properly managed, always gives the foundation for another meal. You should always bear in mind that the object of cooking is to soften and disintegrate food, so that it can be easily masticated; and to expand it, so as to present a large surface to the action of the digestive organs. In this connection you must open your eyes to certain physiological facts if you want your food to agree with you. I shall not tell you more, and perhaps not so much, as you ought to know, and to teach your children.

      In calculating the cost of the receipts I give you, I have used the retail prices asked in Washington market, and in ordinary grocery stores, at this season of the year; the average is about the same as that of past years, and probably will not change much; so that I believe I have not placed too low an estimate upon them.

      At the first glance it may seem impossible to buy healthy meat at the prices I give, but you must remember that I speak of the good second quality of meat, and that the marketing must be done with economy, and in low-priced localities. It can be done, for I have done it myself. Go to packing houses, and provision stores, for meats; to German green-groceries for vegetables, and fruit; and to "speciality" stores, for butter, sugar, tea, et cetera.

      In conclusion I only have to say that I hope my little book will be useful to every one who consults it.

      JULIET CORSON.

       New York Cooking School.

DAILY BILLS OF FARE FOR ONE WEEK.

       Table of Contents

MONDAY	Breakfast: Johnny Cake, 5; Cocoa, 6; Broiled Herring, 5.	16	75
	Dinner: Chicken Soup with Rice, 5; Fried Chicken and Potatoes, 35.	40
	Supper: Tea, 3; Broiled Kidneys, 10; Rice Bread, 6.	19
TUESDAY	Breakfast: Pulled Bread, 3; Coffee, 6; Macaroni, Farmers' Style, 10.	19	62
	Dinner: Broth and Brewis, 5; Stewed Beef with Norfolk Dumplings, 19.	24
	Supper: Tea, 3; Peas Pudding, 10; Bread, 6.	19
WEDNESDAY	Breakfast: Biscuit, 6; Cocoa, 6; Codfish Steaks, 15.	27	76
	Dinner: Spinach Soup, 15; Gammon Dumplings and Potatoes, 15.	30
	Supper: Tea, 3; Baked Beans, 10; Potato Bread, 6.	19
THURSDAY	Breakfast: Breakfast Rolls, 6; Cocoa, 6; Stewed Pig's Kidneys, 10.	22	69
	Dinner: Macaroni with White Sauce, 10; Brain and Liver Pudding, with Potatoes, 18.	28
	Supper: Tea, 3; Rice, Japanese Style, 10; Bread, 6.	19
FRIDAY	Breakfast: Indian Cakes, 5; Coffee, 6; Vegetable Porridge, 15.	26	66
	Dinner: Thick Pea Soup, 6; Fish and Potato Pudding, 15.	21
	Supper: Tea, 3; Fried Beans, 10; Rice Bread, 6.	19
SATURDAY	Breakfast: Biscuit, 6; Cocoa, 6; Rice, Milanaise Style, 10.	22	58
	Dinner: Mutton Broth, with Barley, 3; Epigramme of Lamb, 16; Potatoes, 3.	22
	Supper: Tea, 3; Polenta, 5; Potato Bread, 6.	14
SUNDAY	Breakfast: Toast, 6; Fried Lentils, 10; Coffee, 6; Oatmeal Porridge, 8.	30	1.19
	Dinner: Roast Fowl and Baked Potatoes, 38; Half-pay Pudding, 20.	58
	Supper: German Potatoes, 10; Cream Rice Pudding, 15; Bread, 6.	31
TOTAL.			$5.25

CHAPTER I.

       Table of Contents

      MARKETING.

      The most perfect meats are taken from well-fed, full-grown animals, that have not been over-worked, under-fed, or hard-driven; the flesh is firm, tender, and well-flavored, and abounds in nutritious elements. On the other hand, the flesh of hard-worked or ill-fed creatures is tough, hard, and tasteless.

      All animal flesh is composed of albumen, fibrin, and gelatin, in the proportion of about one fifth of its weight; the balance of its substance is made up of the juice, which consists of water, and those soluble salts and phosphates which are absolutely necessary for the maintenance of health. It is this juice which is extracted from beef in the process of making beef tea; and it is the lack of it in salted meats that makes them such an injurious diet when eaten for any length of time to the exclusion of other food.

      The flesh of young animals is less nutritious, and less easily masticated than that of full grown animals, on account of its looser texture. Beef, which has firmer and larger fibres than mutton, is harder to digest on that account, but it contains an excess of strengthening elements that is not approached by any meat, save that of the leg of pork.

      The tongues of various animals, the fibres of which are small and tender, are nutritious and digestible; the heart is nutritious because it is composed of solid flesh, but the density of its fibre interferes with its digestibility; the other internal organs are very nutritious, and very useful as food for vigorous persons on that account, and because they are cheap. The blood of animals abounds in nutritive elements; the possibility of its use as a general food has closely engaged the attention of European scientists; notably of the members of the University of Copenhagen, who recommend its use in the following forms, in which it is not only suitable for food, but also capable of preservation for an indefinite time. First, as sausages, puddings