EVERYDAY FOODS IN WAR TIME




CHAPTER I

THE MILK PITCHER IN THE HOME

(Reprinted from _The Farmer's Wife_, by permission of the Webb
Publishing Company.)


There is a quaint old fairy tale of a friendly pitcher that came and took
up its abode in the home of an aged couple, supplying them from its magic
depths with food and drink and many other comforts. Of this tale one is
reminded in considering the place of the milk pitcher in the home. How
many housewives recognize the bit of crockery sitting quietly on the shelf
as one of their very best friends? How many know that it will cover many
of their mistakes in the choice of food for their families? That it
contains mysterious substances upon which growth depends? That it stands
ready to save them both work and worry in regard to food? That it is
really the only indispensable article on the bill of fare?

Diet is like a house, a definite thing, though built of different kinds of
material. For a house we need wall material, floor material, window,
ceiling, chimney stuffs and so forth. We may, if we like, make floors,
walls, and ceilings all of the same kind of stuff, wood for example, but
we should need glass for windows and bricks or tile for chimneys. Or,
again, we may choose brick for walls, floors, and chimneys but it would