Excerpt from A Book of Dorcas Dishes: Family Recipes, Contributed by the Dorcas Society of Hollis and Buxton The cooking in small hotels and boarding houses along our countryside does not com pare with that in England or on the Continent, and we are constantly criticised for the small amount of nourishment and large amount of dyspepsia with which we furnish our farming and laboring classes. The devising of a good liberal diet, simple but varied, is one of the most important ends to which the mistress of a household can de vote her energies. Is Dorcas doing all she might in this matter? How can we inspire and help our brothers, husbands, fathers to bring back the old garden to its once noble estate? Where are the rows of currant and raspberry bushes we used to see at the side or back of the house? We need not raise small fruits for the market if we lack time or strength, land or labor, but how about raising things for the family and the growing children? When I was a girl there were always a few black and red currant bushes in the garden, with blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries. There was a single pear, or crab apple, quince, or plum tree in the orchard, and a Concord grape-vine over a porch. Citron melons were grown then, and there was a barberry bush planted by the kitchen door; and what deli cions preserves for the long winter came fromthose quince and apple trees, those citrons and damsons and pomegranates! Green and ripe tomatoes helped to swell the list, and mother had only to buy lemons and sugar and ginger to fill the goody-cupboard to bursting. Home made jellies and jams mean a few days in a hot kitchen, but what comparison is there between these, with their pure, wholesome fruit juices, and the gelatine-laden products of the shops? How shall we make the table more attractive, the food at once more appetizing and nourish ing? How, especially, can it be done when the mistress of the house is a mother of children, having, with a little help, or with none at all, to take care of washing, ironing, sewing, mending, as well as cooking? Only a woman of good health, rare common sense, great patience, and fine spirit can compass this daily round of duties successfully; but it is a very beautiful, even a splendid thing when it is compassed! About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.