The Suffrage Cook Book

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[Illustration: Book Spine: SUFFRAGE COOK BOOK]

[Illustration]




THE

SUFFRAGE

COOK BOOK

COMPILED BY

MRS. L. O. KLEBER

PITTSBURGH

THE EQUAL FRANCHISE FEDERATION

OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

MCMXV

          COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
          THE EQUAL FRANCHISE FEDERATION
          OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

          DEDICATED TO

          _Mrs. Henry Villard_

          AND

          _Mrs. J. O. Miller_




_Introduction_


There are cook books and cook books, and their generation is not ended;
a generation that began in the Garden of Eden, presumably, for if Mother
Eve was not vastly different from her daughters she knew how to cook
some things better than her neighbors, and they wanted to know how she
made them and she wanted to tell them.

Indeed, it has been stated that the very first book printed, a small
affair, consisted mainly of recipes for "messes" of food, and for
remedies for diseases common in growing families.

Whether the very first book printed was a cook book or not, it is quite
true that among the very oldest books extant are those telling how to
prepare food, clothing and medicine. Some of these make mighty
interesting reading, particularly the portions relating to cures for all
sorts of ills, likewise of love when it seemed an ill, and of ill luck.

And who wouldn't cheerfully pay money, even in this enlightened day, for
a book containing recipes for just these same things? For in spite of
our higher civilization, broader education, and vastly extended
knowledge, we still believe in lucky days, lucky stones, and lucky
omens.

These formed no inconsiderable part of the old time cook book, and no
doubt would constitute a very attractive feature of a modern culinary
guide. However, hardly anyone would confess to having bought it on that
account.

In these later times professors of the culinary art tell us the cooking
has been reduced to a science, and that there is no more guess work
about it. They have given high sounding names to the food elements,
figured out perfectly balanced rations, and adjusted foods to all
conditions of health, or ill health. And yet the world is eating
practically the same old things, and in the same old way, the difference
being confined mainly to the sauces added to please the taste.

Now that women are coming into their own, and being sincerely interested
in the welfare of the race, it is entirely proper that they should
prescribe the food, balance the ration, and tell how it should be
prepared and served.

Seeing that a large majority of the sickness that plagues the land is
due to improper feeding, and can be prevented by teaching the simple
art of cooking, of serving and of eating, the wonder is that more
attention has not been given to instruction in the simpler phases of the
culinary art.

It is far from being certain that famous chefs have contributed greatly
to the health and long life of those able to pay the fine salaries they
demand. Nor are these sent to minister to the sick, nor to the working
people, nor to the poor. It would seem that even since before the time
of Lucullus their business has been mainly to invent and concoct dishes
that would appeal to perverted tastes and abnormal appetites.

The simple life promises most in this earthly stage of our existence,
for as we eat so we live, and as we live so we die, and after death the
judgment on our lives. Thus it is that our spiritual lives are more or
less directly influenced by our feeding habits.

Eating and drinking are so essential to our living and to our
usefulness, and so directly involved with our future state, that these
must be classed with our sacred duties. Hence the necessity for so
educating the children that they will know how to live, and how to
develop into hale, hearty and wholesome men and women, thus insuring the
best possible social and political conditions for the people of this
country.

"The surest way into the affections of a man is through his stomach,
also to his pocket," is an ancient joke, and yet not all a joke, there
being several grains of truth in it, enough at least to warrant some
thoughtful attention.

Women being the homekeepers, and the natural guardians of the children,
it is important that they be made familiar with the culinary art so they
may be entirely competent to lead coming generations in the paths of
health and happiness.

So say the members of Equal Franchise Associations throughout the length
and breadth of our land, and beyond the border as far as true
civilization extends.

Hence this book which represents an honest effort to benefit the people,
old and young, native and foreign. It is not a speculative venture but a
dependable guide to a most desirable social, moral and physical state of
being.

Disguise it as we may the fact remains that the feeding of a people is
of first importance, seeing the feeding is the great essential to
success, either social or commercial.