The wise cook saves her best flavors for the foods which would be least
acceptable without them and does not add them to foods which are good
enough by themselves. The latter course marks the insidious beginning of
luxury. "Once give your family luxuries and you are lost as far as
satisfying them economically is concerned," remarked a clever housewife.
"Even a rat will not taste bread when bacon is nigh," observed a sage
physiologist. The demand for flavor grows and grows with pampering, till
nothing but humming-birds' tongues and miniature geese floating in a sea
of aspic jelly will satisfy the palate of him who eats solely for
flavor--who never knows the sauce of hunger, or the deliciousness of a
plain crust of bread. We must be on guard, saying, like the little
daughter of a classical professor, "If Scylla doesn't get me Charybdis
will." Flavor we must have, but not too much, not too many kinds at once,
and not applied indiscriminately to foods which need them and foods which
do not. The wise cook uses her arts to secure the proper nourishment of
the family and not for her fame as "a good cook."




CHAPTER VIII

ON BEING ECONOMICAL AND PATRIOTIC AT THE SAME TIME


Who does not sigh for the fairy table that comes at the pressing of a
button? It is invariably laden with the most tempting viands, satisfies
beyond words, and disappears when the meal is over, leaving behind no
problem of leftovers or planning for the next meal! No money, no work, no
thought, only sheer enjoyment. Alas, how different is the world of fact!