Family living on $500 a year

II Author Of

■FIFTEEN AND TWENTY-riTK CENT DINNERS" ETC.

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE 1888

T3

,^^•3 3

Copyright, ISSY, by Harper &l BKOinERs.

All rights rettrved.

Preface

DuRiXG the publication in IIarper''s Bazar of the series of articles upon which this work is based, many and vivacious were the comments elicited by the subject-matter. We Americans are nothing if not critical; and we are rather given to thinking imjDossible those things Avhich we have not individually accomplished. No better answer can be made to such mental casualties than the suggestion of that mild j^hilosopher and observer of fishes and men, Isaak Walton: ^^ Douht not hut that (Jiere) is an art icorth your learning. The questi07i is rather, lohether you be capahle of learning it, since it partakes of those things " made for icise men to conte^nplate^'' etc.

But seriously we say to our readers, " Study the entire book with attention, for it is a record of things most necessary to success in housekeeping, which young housewives generally attain through many trying experiences." It would be useless to think of comprehending the system in detail by selecting at random any portion which might fix the- eye during a cursory examination. It is only by understanding the entire plan that it can be successfully practised: in-

IV Preface

tending to live in a house, one would not settle down upon the piazza.

And then, the fact always remains that many households are living comfortably by the application to every- day emergencies of the principles herein set forth, and "facts are stubborn things."

Contents

Chapter P'^"'=

I. A Working Outline 1

II. The Pukchase of Food 15

Chapter I. A Wokking Outline

It is not the easiest of problems that we propose to help our readers solve, but it is one that numbers of them are called upon to consider daily.

If the first thought is that the limit fixed here is too low, let the second be that thousands of active workers live upon one half the amount in every American city, and do not consider themselves deprived of the comforts of life. It is not within present purpose to define such living, but to outline that which is habitual among those prosperous young professional people who have just secured a foothold in life, and who have reasonable hopes of eventual success.

If we take the average income of the prosperous American household of the medium range of intelligence and culture, we shall find it to be from $1500 to $2000 a year. Young professional men and young merchants and financial men who have married and see families growing up about them do not usually exceed these amounts in, the years when they are laying the foundations of future fortunes.

If the parents of these young families are thought- 1 f ul persons, they realize that tliis period stamps a hallmark upoa whatever true metal of character and capacity there is in them. They know that they are sowing the harvest their children must reap — planting the seeds of physical and mental health, which, if they plant wisely, shall grow into the strong and gracious manliness and pure and tender womanhood that are the glory of the earth. They have certain means to work with. Given the habitual surroundincfs of the intellectual classes in this country — a comfortable home, some works of art and literature, now and then a little good music, fair facilities for the education of their children, and probable prosperity in business affairs, but no superfluity in any direction — the fact is at once evident that both husband and wife have duties, that success or failure in life must be the result of united and sustained effort, not the least upon the part of the wife, since upon her prudence and capacity the judicious outlay of the greater part of the income will depend*. Small fortune will ordinarily attend the household where the wife is an incapable, unless, indeed, the husband carries the purse of Fortunatus. The expenditure which the wife can actually regulate is that bearing chiefly upon the table. Upon her ability depends its use in right proportion to the sum of the income. When the ordinary expenses of living are considered, the table should not consume more than one third of the entire amount. Suppose this to be $1500. An average rent would be $25 per month; while in some cities it would be more, in many localities it would be considerably less, especially in young and spreading communities and their suburbs, and upon the line of metropolitan railways ; in perfectly respectable city neighborhoods a floor or a J part of a small house can be rented for from $25 to

A WORKING OUTLINE. 3

$30 a month. Fuel for a cooking-stove and two other fires, and lights, would cost about $8 per month, providing coke were used in cities, and the cinders of coal utilized, and if some of the lighting were done bykerosene. Upon this point it may be well to say here that actual tests have shown possible the entire lighting of a four-story city house with kerosene at an average cost of 83 per month, not including the cost of lamps. The average single servant's hire is about $12 per month. Then would come household wear and tear and medical attendance, that would probably be covered by $100 a year, the fact being remembered that the doctor's visits can be largely affected by the mother's own care of her family, and chiefly by keeping them properly nourished. Church dues, literature, and amusements w^ould require at least $60 a year. And this estimate would leave $300 for clothing.

At the first calculation it would appear almost hopeless to think of supplying such a table as the somewhat capricious and uncertain appetite of the people in question would seem to demand upon such a sum as $1 37 a day, for that is about the daily portion of $500 a year. We must cater for those whose occupations exhaust both mind and body, for gentle folk who are accustomed to delicate and varied fare, and who probably could not, if they tried, satisfy their physical needs with the habitual food of the robust worker in the Open air. We shall propose for the daily dinner some such variety as that on the next page, remembering that at no season will it be more difiicult to secure this than in midwinter (Avhen the task was first attempted in the columns of Harper's Bazar) ^ when the result was successful:

Soup, or

a fish -with potatoes.

Two vegct<ables with a sauce, or

one entree and one vegetable.

Roast, baked, or broiled meat, poultry, or game, or

boiled or braised meat, with a sauce.

Salad with cheese.

One large sweet dish or two small ones.

Fruit, nuts, coffee.

If, in regarding such an outline, the first thought is one of discouragement, the second reflection is: "Manydo just this, and without any special training. See, then, what can be done by calling into use some of the resources of cookery."

If we give only one bill of fare occasionally, the objection may be raised that people cannot live upon the same thing for seven days in the week. Tonjours perdrixl But in a short time we shall have several from which to choose for daily use, and, before our limit is filled, more variety than the ordinary household dreams of having during the entire year. For one of the worst evils of American housekeeping is the fact that a small round of dishes serves season after season and year after year, when a seasonable variety would benefit both appetite and health.

Upon the threshold of our experiments we must decide that at our figures there is very little margin for the indulgence of individual idiosyncrasies of taste, unless they are very simple. The caterer must be free to balance an exjoensive dinner — and there is none more expensive than a plain roast or boiled joint — by another of cheaper materials, being restricted only by considerations of health. To people who are obliged to fit strong natural prejudices within narrow financial limits we would suggest the non-advisability of culti-

A WORKING OUTLINE. ^

a

vating them. Even though morally certain that you will not like some dish, rouse up your courage to test it. It may be a sort of " forlorn hope," the only rescue possible to the culinary commander who is trying to marshal her meagre forces to capture the citadel of your capricious appetite. And your least effort should be in her behalf.

In the line of economical combination farinaceous food must play an important part, the point being so to combine it with flesh-makino^ elements that it can satisfactorily replace some of the lighter meat-dishes. The various ways of serving macaroni with sauces and cheese will illustrate this point. On a day when the principal meat-dish is small there might be a savory one of macaroni, samp, or polenta (a preparation of Indian meal). Either of these farinaceous foods, combined with sauces made of butter or drippings, and with cheese, may be used in place of part of the meat. Nor should they be thought scant fare. The most vigorous races of which history gives us record have lived chiefly upon them. The old Romans and the Greeks fought well upon them, and they are the chief subsistence of some of the hardiest of modern European agricultural laborers. Rye, oats, corn, wheat, buckwheat, and rice are staple foods in the most thickly-populated sections of the civilized world, and in Oriental countries such fare has nourished races whose origin is lost in the mists of antiquity; so that the cereals need not be thought lacking in nutriment. Their palatability depends upon their cookery.

While we begin with the expression of disbelief in Poor Richard's axiom that one should rise from the table before hunger is entirely satisfied, we must insist that there should be no waste of food, not even

Q FAMILY LIVING ON $500 A YEAK.

by children. There is no reason why a child cannot be taught to eat nicely from the hour it first takes its place at the table. Indeed, if the mass of American mothers were more attentive to the table-habits of their young children, dining at a public table would be a less uncomfortable matter than it often is nowadays. Put but little at once upon a child's plate, and if it early shows very marked distastes, try to overcome them, if they are for wholesome food. Unless they are inherited, there is generally some physical cause for them, which parents should endeavor to comprehend. The morbid tastes of young people generally have their origin in some physical disturbance that calls for medical oversight. This point should be regarded, because there are usually two or three children in the family. There will be the parents, and probably one servant. That is the extent of the household w^hose needs we propose to consider. A dollar extra may be allowed each week for additional children under ten years of age, and two dollars for those older than that, as well as for each additional adult. If the number to be provided for were much larger the proportionate expense would be much less. If there must be no waste by children, far less will any be allowable at the clearing of the table or in the kitchen. There may seem to be an objection to using again food which has once been served; and, indeed, it is the practice in many households to give it to special pensioners or to applicants at the door. This will be totally inadmissible under our estimate; there ca*nnot be a margin for the supply of any food which is not required for the actual consumption of the family. The mistress must train her maid to be such a neathanded Phyllis that there can be no objection to the

A WOEKING OUTLINE. h

second appearance of food; but it will seldom come again to table in its first form under our system, for in that state it would be cold, and health cannot be perfectly maintained upon cold food. Any substance eaten at a less temperature than about 100° Fahr. imposes upon the stomach the task of heating it to that warmth before digestion can commence.

To return to our limit of expenses: When any degree of hospitality is contemplated it will be necessary to make an additional allowance in about the proj^ortion given above. The adage that "where there is enough for one there is enough for two " will not apply at the table. It may, however, be noted that it is far easier to furnish the table economically for a large family than for a small one, because there are such indispensable necessities as fuel, light, attendance, and the bases of all meals that are not augmented proportionately with numbers. And then, too, in the matter of purchasing supplies, every housekeeper knows that advantages can be secured, even at retail rates, when the number in family allows the buyer to secure a quantity of any article of food temporarily cheap or abundant.

To afford an immediate example of our economic scheme, the detail of the cost of material and the method of cookery is given. While it is not designed to replace cookery-books by this publication, the fact that success depends upon special methods is so patent that all available space will be devoted to them. The success of all cookery depends upon the most exact manipulation of materials, and from its absence many of the multitude of cookery-books 23rove of scant use to the housekeeper who desires to combine good living with economy. If the ingredients for making the dishes now in question are bought at usual retail market prices, the bill of fare we have chosen will cost about our entire daily average; but, be the fact again repeated, our estimate necessitates the purchase in quantity of such products as will give the w^holesale buyer a margin of price large enough to cover the cost of breakfast and luncheon or supper. As the work progresses, special attention will be given to dishes suitable for these meals.

Our first bill of fare is suitable for any season when fresh vegetables are available. In the cities connected, by steamer or rail, with Bermuda and the South, fresh garden produce is perennial, although expensive at certain times.

Cream of beets.

Fried cauliflower.

Breast of lamb with stuffed potatoes.

Stewed beets with brown sauce.

Eoast beef with cheese salad.

Marianne puddings with cream sauce.

Apples, nuts, black coffee.

If the family are small meat-eaters the beef might be enough, thus saving the cost of the dish of lamb. Or the salad might be omitted, at a saving of about 10 cents ; or the fruit, nuts, and coffee, which cost about 20 cents. The ingredients "required to make all these dishes in quantity sufficient for the family we have in view would be about as follows in quantity and cost: a bunch of beets, 4 cents; a small cauliflower, 15 cents; a quart of potatoes (at 15 cents a half -peck), 4 cents; one or two small heads of lettuce, 5 cents; a quarter of a pound each of butter and cheese, respectively 6 and 3 cents; two ounces each of citron and coffee, 6 cents ; an orange and two or three

A WORKING OUTLINE. 9

eggs, 9 cents; a quart of apples (at 40 cents a- peck), 5 cents; a pound of nuts, 10 cents; a loaf of bread, 5 cents; a quart of milk, 8 cents; a pound of sugar, 8 cents; flour and seasonings, 5 cents; three pounds of chuck roast, 30 cents; and a breast of lamb or tender mutton, 10 cents.

Equally with the details of cost those of cookery are given here, in order to show that careful treatment will give good results from comparatively meagre materials. The dishes will be described in the order in which they would be made to be done at the same time. But this detail must not prepare our readers to expect it in future instances; here it is given to substantiate our financial position.

The beets must first be boiled in plenty of water, having been well washed with cold water and a cloth, without breaking the skins to permit the escape of color. Do not pierce them with a fork to test their tenderness, but take one up on a skimmer and press it with the fingers, which may be protected from burning by a towel. AVhen the beets are tender, rub off the skins with a wet cloth and slice them. Select about half a large cupful of the deepest red pieces, and rub them through a sieve with a potato-masher to make the coloring for the soup; then set aside the sliced beets and the puree^ or pulp. The time required for cooking the beets will be about two hours, unless they are very young and small. After the beets are put over the fire prepare the meats. The beef should be in the form of a large, thick steak cut from the chuck. Cut out all the bone and gristle, and put them in a baking-pan, after wiping them with a Avet cloth; lay the meat upon the table; season it with salt and pepper; break a thick slice of bread in crumbs, and put it in the middle of the meat, together with a teaspoonf 111 of salt, a saltspoonf ul of pepper, and either a tablespoonful of beef drippings or of raw beef fat chopped fine; fold or roll the meat, and secure it tightly with a stout cord; put it on the bones, and put the pan into the hottest of ovens until the meat browns; then season it with salt and pepper, and baste it with the drippings which it yields.

If the beef seems tough, add two tablespoonfuls of vinegar to the drip^^ings used in basting. The vinegar has a tendency to soften the fibres of the meat. Allow an hour for cooking it well done, then take off the strings, and serve it. The gravy is made by taking the bones out of the pan, and pouring out all but about two tablespoonfuls of the drippings; save the drippings, and put the bones aside for the next day's use in soup-stock or to boil for making gravy or sauce. With the drippings put a heaping tablespoonful of flour, and stir them over the fire until brown ; then gradually stir in a pint of boiling water and a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper, and use the gravy after it boils.

The lamb will cook in about three quarters of an hour. First boil it very gently for half an hour in enough boiling salted water to cover it, and then put it between the bars of a double-wire gridiron, and quickly brown it on both sides, seasoning it with salt and pepper. The cauliflower is to be thoroughly washed in salted cold water, and then boiled for fifteen minutes in salted boiling water, and cut in branches. Ten minutes before dinner-time it is to be rolled in flour, seasoned "with salt and peppei', and quickly browned in enough fat to i^revent burning. By breading the cauliflower the size of the dish can

A WORKING OUTLINE. jj

be increased. After the cauliflower is put to boil, the potatoes are to be washed and put into the oven. The puddings are then to be made as follows, and baked so as to be ready at the right moment: Grate two large cupfuls of stale bread, and soften it with a cupful of water; grate the rind and squeeze the juice of the orange; cut the citron in small bits and mix them with the bread, together with the yolks of two or three eggs, and sugar enough to sweeten the mixture; butter six small cups; just before putting the puddings in the oven beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, quickly mix them with bread and fruit, distribute the mixture in the buttered cups, and bake the little puddings slowly for about twenty* minutes, or until they are brown. They are to be served hot, with cream-sauce.

After the puddings are made the soups, sauces, and salad may be prepared; and when the potatoes are just tender they are to be finished as follows: as soon as they are perceptibly soft to the touch a piece is to be cut from the upper side large enough to admit the introduction of a teaspoon ; the soft interior of the potatoes is then to be taken out, mashed fine, seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter, and returned to the potatoes, when they will be ready to heat again, and serve.

All the dinner will now be cooking except the soup and sauces. Make the sauce for the beets by stirring together over the fire a tablespoonful each of butter or drippings and flour until they are brown, and then gradually stirring with them a pint of boiling water and a palatable seasoning of salt and pepper; heat the sliced beets in this sauce. For the pudding-sauce, mix together over the fire a tablespoonful each of flour and butter, and when they bubble gradually stir in a cupful each of milk and water, and enough sugar to make a sweet sauce; when the sauce boils grate in a little nutmeg, and it will be ready to use. For the soup, mix together in a thick saucepan over the fire two heaping tablespoonfuls each of butter and flour until they are smoothly blended; then gradually stir in a quart of boiling water and a scant quart of milk, and continue to stir the soup until it boils; season it palatably Avith salt, white pepper, and a very little grated nutmeg; stir in the beet pulp and its red juice, and serve the soup directly it is made.

The salad is made of lettuce carefully washed, torn with the fingers, put into a salad-bowd with a cupful of grated cheese, and dressed with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, six of oil, a level teaspoonful of salt, and quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper; the salad should be dressed at the table, because the lettuce soon loses its freshness after the dressing is added to it. If the cheese is omitted, the salad will be simply of lettuce; or cheese and bread or crackers may be served with it.

In regard to the omission of the salad to effect a saving of about ten cents these two points should be considered; first, if served with bread and butter it may replace a more expensive dish of vegetables; and, second, in combination with cheese crusts, aj^ple croHtes^ or a sweet omelette it may take the place of a larger dessert. The healthfulness of salads is beyond question, and their appetizing freshness imparts a new zest to the most perfectly cooked roast or broil. The detail is given elsewhere of their many good qualities, and its careful perusal is commended to the reader who has hitherto given them but small consideration.

The fact cannot be too earnestly emphasized that it

A WORKING OUTLINE.

will not be possible to carry out successfully the scheme of living set forth in these pages unless there is a constant personal oversight on the part of the mistress of the house. That mental quality possessed by our prudent New England progenitors, by them called " faculty," which implies the ability to meet emergencies readily, to reconcile contradictory conditions, to make things at hand take the place of desired but unobtainable ones — in short, to be capable of constant adaptation, is indispensable to the task. If the forethought is lacking that decides how one day's superfluity may be balanced by another's more meagre fare, our purpose of maintaining the economical level will soon be frustrated. There must be a daily supervision of materials on hand; while no one's fare is to be stinted, nothing may be wasted. One dish spoiled in the cooking, or the remains of food given or thrown away, or allowed to stand unused until unfit for the table, may counterbalance a carefully studied economy in another direction.

Quite small quantities of cold meat, fish, poultry, or vegetables can be rewarmed in the form of breakfast or luncheon dishes. But there must be no experiments based upon doubtful authority. If a new dish is to be tried, do not undertake it in any uncertainty: either obtain the exact recipe from some one who has succeeded with it, or from some reliable cookery-book; or, if the attempt is to be an original one, consider all the prospects of success and the possibilities of failure. To inexperienced housewives let it be said emphatically, " Be content to follow good old methods until you are competent to originate new ones; and do not ever change the ingredients of a dish or omit any part of its formula until it has been carefully made accord-

14 FAMILY LIVING ON S500 A YEAR.

ing to the recipe and tested in its entirety." Do not imagine that you will not like a thing; until you have tried it, give every dish the benefit of the doubt. If you do not like a dish properly made, do not alter it at the risk of failure, but make one about which you are certain. There are dishes enough in any branch of cookery to satisfy every taste, every individual idiosyncrasy, no matter how marked or peculiar. It is poor management, as well as an act of injustice to its originator, to spoil any dish by alteration or omission.

THE PURCHASE OF FOOD.

CHAPTER 11.

THE PURCHASE OF FOOD.

Further on in this book reference is made to an economic experiment, the success of which largely depends upon the purchase of supplies at the market early in the day. As this early marketing is sometimes inconvenient, a plan is here proposed which can readily be carried out in any city or town where a number of friends live in the same neighborhood; indeed, it might be followed as a regular business by any responsible person acting for several families living near each other. An intelligent, active woman could soon make a remunerative connection for herself, as a matter of pure business, by undertaking the marketinof of half a dozen or more households. If there are facilities for keeping food, the best way of marketing is to buy the dry groceries by the barrel or case, and the perishable articles two or three times a week. Even if only the daily needs are catered to, one person can choose for five or six as well as for one, only a little more time being required, in addition to a definite idea of each household's wants. If this system of buying were to be undertaken by one person as a business, the evenings might be given up to calling at different houses for orders ; the daily needs having been m.et, the housekeeper could, in a few moments, ascertain what supplies remained on hand, and what would be required for one or more days' use. The objection that this would be troublesome is simply inadmissible; no one need hope to profit by the suggestions here given unless time and care are made to replace the expenditure we seek to avoid; no idle or shiftless person can possibly accomplish our results.

The advantage of making up the buyer's list in the evening would be that the marketing could be done in the early morning. The housekeeper who habitually markets after breakfast would be astonished to see the activity which prevails in the large markets from four to six o'clock in the morning. It is then that the hotel and club caterers are selecting the choicest of the fresh market supplies, and that the heaviest buying of the day is done. The local vegetable or truck farmers drive their loaded wagons to market during the late afternoon or evening, remaining near their stands until the buyers come. The meats are sent at night or early morning from the slaughterhouses; and the milk and local fruit trains speed in their quota in " the wee sma' hours." So the caterer who desires the best of the market must needs be early there. The bulk of the local produce commission business, which consists in placing in the retail dealers' hands the daily receipts of perishable supplies, such as fruit and vegetables, is done between the hours of 9 p.m., when the Long Island farmers come in, and about 4 A.M., when the last of the Southern trains arrive. The Savannah and Norfolk boats are due about midnight, with new cabbage, potatoes, pease, string-beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The garden truck from Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey arrives by rail between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. All this produce is either on the commission stands or in the retail dealers' wagons by daylight.

THE PURCHASE OF FOOD.

After a " season " is well under way, that is, as soon as any local product ceases to be a rarity, there is but little daily variation in prices, unless the heat is so great as to make the attempt to keep food overnight ill-advised, or unless the regular market days occur but two or three times a week, as is the case in some Western and Southern towns; then the dealers may lower the prices as the day declines rather than try to keep their stock over. As a rule, it is not a good practice to buy from street peddlers in cities: their stock is generally that left on the large dealers' hands at the close of the market demand, and is in danger of spoiling, if not already spoiled. The exception to this condition is where some dealer or licensed vender, known to his customers, habitually brings his wares to their houses; in some instances quite fresh fruits and vegetables are thus obtainable, better than those which have been exposed to the sun and dust at the greengrocer's, notably if the vender has a little market garden in the suburbs, as many Germans and negroes have near New York, Cleveland, Washington, and other large cities. When licensed itinerant venders who are not produce raisers, or are not known to their customers, have fresh goods, they usually sell from an overstocked market, or give scant measure, taking advantage of the fact that they will not soon revisit the scene of their questionable dealing. But in small country neighborhoods the costermonger of England has his prototype in the peripatetic dealer who brings perfectly good supplies to the doors of his regular customers.