"Can't I give you another piece of meat or pie?" "Won't you have some more tea or pudding?" Expressions like these are frequently heard.

It is in far better taste to say, "Will you have some hot coffee?" "May I give you some of the salad?" "Let me help you to this choice portion."

We trust none of our readers will regard this suggestion as trivial.

For, concerning kindness, we know that perfection is no trifle. It is the essence of that second commandment which we are divinely told is like "the first of all the commandments;" and it cannot be attained without a.s.siduous attention to all the minor words and the common acts of life.

"_Among all the Cook-Books this will certainly take its place as one of the very best_."--THE CHRISTIAN UNION

MRS. LINCOLN'S

BOSTON COOK-BOOK.

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO IN COOKING.

BY MRS. MARY J. LINCOLN,

FIRST PRINc.i.p.aL OF THE BOSTON COOKING SCHOOL

A SELECTION FROM SOME OF THE MANY NOTICES BY THE PRESS.

"Mrs. Lincoln, nothing daunted by the legion of cook-books already in existence, thinks there is room for one more. Her handsome and serviceable-looking volume seems to contain everything essential to a complete understanding of the culinary art. The Introduction of thirty-five pages discusses such subjects as cooking in general, fire, fuel, management of a stove, the various processes of boiling, stewing, baking, frying, roasting, and broiling, with full explanation of the chemical theory underlying each and distinguishing them; also hints on measuring and mixing, with tables of weights, measures, and proportions; of time in cooking various articles, and of average cost of material.

One who can learn nothing from this very instructive Introduction must be well-informed indeed. Following this comes an elaborate and exhaustive chapter on bread-making in all its steps and phases. To this important topic some seventy pages are devoted. And so on through the whole range of viands. Exactness, plainness, thoroughness, seem to characterize all the author's teachings. No point is neglected, and directions are given for both necessary and luxurious dishes. There are chapters on cooking for invalids, the dining-room, care of kitchen utensils, etc. There is also a valuable outline of study for teachers taking up the chemical properties of food, and the physiological functions of digestion, absorption, nutrition, etc. Add the miscellaneous questions for examination, the topics and ill.u.s.trations for lectures on cookery, list of utensils needed in a cooking-school, an explanation of foreign terms used in cookery, a cla.s.sified and an alphabetical index,--and you have what must be considered as complete a work of its kind as has yet appeared."--_Mirror, Springfield, Ill_.

"In answer to the question, 'What does cookery mean?' Mr. Ruskin says: 'It means the knowledge of Circe and Medea, and of Calypso and of Helen, and of Rebekah and of all the Queens of Sheba. It means knowledge of all fruits and balms and spices, and of all that is healing and sweet in fields and groves, and savory to meals; it means carefulness and inventiveness, and readiness of appliances; it means the economy of your great-grandmothers and the science of modern chemistry; it means much tasting and no wasting; it means English thoroughness, and French art, and American hospitality.' It is not extravagant to say that as far as these mythological, biblical, and practical requirements can be met by one weak woman, they are met by Mrs. Lincoln. And to the varied and extensive range of knowledge she adds an acquaintance with Milton and with Confucius, as shown by the apt quotations on her t.i.tlepage. The book is intended to satisfy the needs and wants of the experienced housekeeper, the tyro, and of the teacher in a cooking-school. In its receipts, in its tables of time and proportion, in its clear and minute directions about every detail of kitchen and dining-room, it has left unanswered few questions which may suggest themselves to the most or the least intelligent."--_The Nation_.

"Mrs. Lincoln's 'Boston Cook-Book' is no mere amateur compilation, much less an _omnium gatherum_ of receipts. Its t.i.tle does scant justice to it, for it is not so much a cook-book as a dietetic and culinary cyclopaedia. Mrs. Lincoln is a lady of culture and practical tastes, who has made the fine art of _cuisine_ the subject of professional study and teaching. In this book she has shown her literary skill and intelligence, as well as her expertness as a practical cook and teacher of cookery. It is full of interest and instruction for any one, though one should never handle a skillet or know the feeling of dough. Nothing in the way of explanation is left unsaid. And for a young housekeeper, it is a complete outfit for the culinary department of her duties and domain. There are many excellent side-hints as to the nature, history, and hygiene of food, which are not often found in such books; and the Indexes are of the completest and most useful kind. We find ourselves quite enthusiastic over the work, and feel like saying to the accomplished auth.o.r.ess, 'Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.'"--_Rev. Dr. Zabriskie, in Christian Intelligencer_.

"Among all the cook-books, Mrs. D.A. Lincoln's 'Boston Cook-Book' will certainly take its place as one of the very best. It is published and arranged in a very convenient and attractive form, and the style in which it is written has a certain literary quality which will tempt those who are not interested in recipes and cooking to peruse its pages.

The recipes are practical, and give just those facts which are generally omitted from books of this sort, to the discouragement of the housekeeper, and frequently to the lamentable disaster and failure of her plans. Mrs. Lincoln has laid a large number of people under obligation, and puts into her book a large amount of general experience in the difficult and delicate art of cooking. The book is admirably arranged, and is supplied with the most perfect indexes we have ever seen in any work of the kind"--_The Christian Union_.

"Mrs. Lincoln has written a cook-book; really written one, not made merely a compilation of receipts,--that sort of mechanical work any one can do who has patience enough to search for the rules, and system enough to arrange them. Mrs. Lincoln's book is written out of the experience of life, both as a housekeeper and a teacher. Her long experience as princ.i.p.al of the Boston Cooking-School has enabled her to find out just what it is that people most want and need to know. I have no hesitation in recommending Mrs. Lincoln's as the best cook-book, in all respects, of any I have seen. It is exactly fitted for use as a family authority, in that it is the work, not of a theorizer, but of a woman who knows what she is talking about. It is the very common-sense of the science of cookery."--_Extracts from Sallie Joy White's letters in Philadelphia and Portland papers_.

"Mrs. Lincoln's 'Boston Cook-Book' is a characteristically American, not to say Yankee, production. Boston productions are nothing if not profound, and even this cookery manual must begin with a definition, a pinch of philology, and the culinary chemistry of heat, cold, water, air, and drying.... But a touch of the blue-stocking has never been harmful to cookery. This book is as deft as it is fundamental. It is so perfectly and generously up to everything culinary, that it cannot help spilling over a little into sciences and philosophy. It is the trimmest, best arranged, best ill.u.s.trated, most intelligible, manual of cookery as a high art, and as an economic art, that has appeared."--_Independent_.

"It is a pleasure to be able to give a man or a book unqualified praise.

We have no fear in saying that Mrs. Lincoln's work is the best and most practical cook-book of its kind that has ever appeared. It does not emanate from the _chef_ of some queen's or n.o.bleman's _cuisine_, but it tells in the most simple and practical and exact way those little things which women ought to know, but have generally to learn by sad experience.

It is a book which ought to be in every household."--_Philadelphia Press_.

"The 'Boston Cook-Book' has a special recommendation. The author, Mrs.

Lincoln, was early trained to a love for all household work. That precious experience is a thing for which a cooking-school is no manner of subst.i.tute, while it is just the thing for professional training to build upon, widen, and correct. Mrs. Lincoln's book is practical, and though there is much of theory, it gives proof of being based less upon theory and much upon experiment. The book is handsomely gotten up, and will ere long attest its usefulness in better food better prepared, and therefore better digested, in many homes."--_Leader_.

"It is the embodiment of the actual experience and observation of a woman who has learned and employed superior domestic methods. It is the outcome of Mrs. Lincoln's conscientious and successful labors for the development of practical cooking. It is to be recommended for its usefulness in point of receipts of moderate cost and quant.i.ty, in its variety, its comprehensiveness, and for the excellence of its typographical form."--_Boston Transcript_.

"The instruction given by Mrs. Lincoln at the Boston Cooking-School is so widely and favorably known for its thoroughness and attention to scientific and economical principles, that a cook-book embodying these ideas and principles will be considered a great gain to the housekeeping department. In care and excellence, her book ill.u.s.trates the modern advance in home cooking."--_Boston Journal_.

"The book needs no other _raison d'etre_ than its own excellence. Every housekeeper in the land would be fortunate to have upon her shelf a copy of Mrs. Lincoln's work."--_Boston Courier_.

"Mrs. Lincoln's book contains in one volume what most other cook-books contain in three; and its directions are always terse and to the point.

It is a thoroughly practical book, and teaches us all how to live well and wisely every day in the year."--_The Beacon_.

"The most valuable feature of Mrs. Lincoln's Cook-Book is, without doubt, the application of scientific knowledge to the culinary art. Mrs.

Lincoln has the gift of teaching, and its use in this connection is worthy of the warmest commendation. She has made the necessary explanations in a very lucid and succinct manner. To the thousands of intelligent housekeepers who recognize the importance of the art of the kitchen, this book will be a boon."--_Eclectic_.

"The book, although at first sight it seems no larger than other cook-books, has over five hundred pages, and takes up the minutest details of housekeeping. Having examined all the standard cook-books now in the market, this seems superior to all. There is so much in this that is not found in other cook-books, that it is equal to a small library in itself."--_Extracts from Anna Barrow's letters in Oxford and Portland papers_.

"We have at last from Boston something better than the Emersonian philosophy or the learning of Harvard,--something that will contribute more to human health, and consequently to human happiness; and that is, a good, practical cook-book, with ill.u.s.trations.... We commend Mrs.

Lincoln's volume heartily, and wish it might make a part of every bridal outfit."--_The Churchman_.

"For plain, practical, and at the same time scientific treatment of a difficult subject, commend us to Mrs. Lincoln's 'Boston Cook-Book.' No better book has appeared to keep pace with the wholesome advance of culinary art, as practiced in the common-sense cooking-school."--_Toledo_.

"It combines whatever is best in those which have gone before, with improvements and refinements peculiar to itself. It is so complete and admirable in its various departments, that it seems to fill every requirement. How soon it will be rivalled or superseded it is unsafe to predict; but for the present we may commend it as in every respect unsurpa.s.sed."--_The Dial_.

"The volume is a compound of information on every household matter; well arranged, clearly written, and attractively made up. Of the many valuable cook-books, not one better deserves a place, or is more likely to secure and hold it."--_Helen Campbell_.

"The possession of your cook-book has made me quite beside myself. I prize it highly, not only for personal reasons, but because of its real worth. I feel so safe with it as a guide, and if I abide by its rules and laws no harm can befall me."--_Adeline Miller, a former pupil, Atlanta, Georgia_.

"One need only glance over the pages of Mrs Lincoln's Cook-Book to realize the fact of her aptness in scholarship."--_Alta, San Francisco_.

"Mrs. Lincoln brings not only the fruits of a long experience to the preparation of her work, but a great amount of scientific research, so that the book is really a mine of information in its way."--_The Post, Washington_.

"It is one of the most interesting treatises on cooking and housework that we have ever read. It contains much useful information to the general reader, and is one we would recommend to every housekeeper."--_Saratoga Sentinel_.