The national cook book

Front matter

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Preface

The following receipts, the result of many years experience, have been placed before the public, in the hope that they may prove useful to all who may consult them, and under the conviction that they will be found truly practical.

The author has endeavored to draw them up in the most concise and simple manner ; and has in all cases sacrificed style to minute detail; not even avoiding repetition where it might render the directions more explicit.

A great defect in many works of a similar character is, that the cook is forced to wade through a formidable amount of reading before she can learn the process of making a pudding, or discover the different articles necessary to the concocting of a dish.

Whilst some are so diffuse, others on the opposite extreme, are so brief in their explanations as to fall far short of being understood, and consequently are eve? liable to misconception.

As no utensils are requisite except those in com-

IV PREFACE.

mon use in every family, the difficulty of preparing the various dishes will be greatly lessened.

Great attention has been paid to that department of cookery exclusively adapted to the sick or convalescent, most of the dishes having been prepared according to the directions of eminent physicians of Philadelphia.

Nearly all the receipts in this book are purely American ; the author therefore entertains a hope that they may meet the wants of the community, and the approbation of all those who may honor them with a trial.