SOMETHING ABOUT COOKS.





WAS there ever a good cook who hadn't some prominent fault that
completely overshadowed her professional good qualities? If my
experience is to answer the question, the reply will be--_no_.

I had been married several years before I was fortunate enough to
obtain a cook that could be trusted to boil a potato, or broil a
steak. I felt as if completely made up when Margaret served her
first dinner. The roast was just right, and all the vegetables were
cooked and flavored as well as if I had done it myself--in fact, a
little better. My husband eat with a relish not often exhibited, and
praised almost every thing on the table.

For a week, one good meal followed another in daily succession. We
had hot cakes, light and fine-flavored, every morning for breakfast,
with coffee not to be beaten--and chops or steaks steaming from the
gridiron, that would have gladdened the heart of an epicure. Dinner
was served, during the time, with a punctuality that was rarely a
minute at fault, while every article of food brought upon the table,
fairly tempted the appetite. Light rolls, rice cakes, or "Sally
Luns," made without suggestion on my part usually met us at tea
time. In fact, the very delight of Margaret's life appeared to be in
cooking. She was born for a cook.

Moreover, strange to say, Margaret was good-tempered, a most