In beginning with a class of school-girls from fourteen to eighteen, it is
best to let the first two or three lessons be demonstration lessons; that
is, to have all operations performed by the teacher. An assistant may be
chosen from the class, who can help in any required way. The receipts for
the day should first be read, and copied plainly by all the pupils. Each
process must be fully explained, and be as daintily and deftly performed
as possible. Not more than six dishes at the most can be prepared in one
lesson, and four will be the usual number. Two lessons a week, from two to
three hours each, are all for which the regular school-course gives time;
and there should be not more than one day between, as many dishes can not
be completed in one lesson.

After yeast and bread have been once made by the teacher, bread should be
the first item in every lesson thereafter, and the class made a
practice-class. Each pupil should make bread twice,–once under the
teacher’s supervision, and at least once entirely alone. In a large class
this may occupy the entire time in the school-year. Let the most important
operations be thoroughly learned, even if there is little variety. To make
and bake all forms of bread, to broil a steak, boil a potato, and make
good tea and coffee, may not seem sufficient result for a year’s work;
but the girl who can do this has mastered the principles of cooking, and
is abundantly able to go on alone.

The fire should be made and cared for by each in turn, and the best modes
of washing dishes, and keeping the room and stores in the best order, be
part of each lesson.

Once a week let a topic be given out, on which all are to write, any
ingredient in cooking being chosen, and the papers read and marked in
order of merit.

Once a month examine on these topics, and on what has been learned. Let
digestion and forms of food be well understood, and spare no pains to make
the lesson attractive and stimulating to interest.

In classes for ladies the work is usually done entirely by the teacher,
and at least five dishes are prepared. A large class can thus be taught;
but the results will never be as satisfactory as in a practice-class,
though the latter is of course much more troublesome to the teacher, as it
requires far more patience and tact to watch and direct the imperfect
doing of a thing than to do it one’s self.

A class lunch or supper is a pleasant way of demonstrating what progress
has been made; and, in such entertainment, do not aim at great variety,
but insist upon the perfect preparation of a few things. To lay and
decorate a table prettily is an accomplishment, and each classroom should
have enough china and glass to admit of this.

To indicate the method which the writer has found practicable and useful,
a course of twelve lessons is given, embracing the essential operations;
and beyond this the teacher can construct her own bills of fare. When the
making of bread begins, it will be found that not more than two or three
other things can be made at one lesson. Let one of these be a simple cake
or pudding for the benefit of the class, whose interest is wonderfully
stimulated by something good to eat.

Large white aprons and small half-sleeves to draw on over the
dress-sleeves are essential, and must be insisted upon. A little cap of
Swiss muslin is pretty, and finishes the uniform well, but is not a
necessity.

For the rest each teacher must judge for herself, only remembering to
_demand the most absolute neatness_ in all work done, and to _give the
most perfect patience_ no matter how stupid the pupil may seem.

TWELVE LESSONS.

LESSON FIRST.

To make stock.
Beef rolls.
Apple float.
Boiled custard.

LESSON SECOND.

To clarify fat or drippings.
Clear soup.
Beef soup with vegetables.
To make caramel.
Cream cakes.

LESSON THIRD.

Beef _a la mode_.
To boil potatoes.
Mashed potatoes.
Potato snow.
Potato croquettes.
Yeast.
Wine jelly.

LESSON FOURTH.

Bread.
Plain rolls.
Beef hash with potatoes.
Beef croquettes.
Coddled apples.

LESSON FIFTH.

Graham bread.
Rye bread.
To broil beef steak.
To boil macaroni.
Macaroni baked with cheese.
To make a _roux_.
Baked custard.

LESSON SIXTH.

Parker-House rolls.
Steamed brown bread.
Puree of salmon.
Croquettes of salmon.
Corn-starch pudding.

LESSON SEVENTH.

Baked fish.
To devil ham.
Stuffed eggs.
Plain omelet.
Saratoga potatoes.
To use stale bread.
Bread pudding and plain sauce.

LESSON EIGHTH.

Irish stew.
Boiled cabbage.
Baked cabbage.
Lyonnaise potatoes.
Whipped cream.
Sponge cake.
Charlotte Russe.

LESSON NINTH.

Bean soup.
To dress and truss a chicken.
Chicken fricassee,–brown.
Chicken pie.
Meringues, plain and with jelly.

LESSON TENTH.

Oyster soup.
Oyster scallop.
Fried oysters.
Pie-crust.
Oyster patties.
Lemon and apple pie.

LESSON ELEVENTH.

To bone a turkey or chicken.
Force-meat.
Boiled parsnips.
To boil rice.
Parsnip fritters.

LESSON TWELFTH.

To decorate boned turkey.
To roast beef.
To bake potatoes with beef.
Gravy.
Rice croquettes.
Chicken or turkey croquettes.

LIST OF TOPICS FOR TWENTY LESSONS.

Wheat and corn.
Making of flour and meal.
Tea.
Coffee.
Chocolate and cocoa.
Tapioca and sago.
Rice.
Salt.
Pepper.
Cloves and allspice.
Cinnamon, nutmegs, and mace.
Ginger and mustard.
Olive-oil.
Raisins and currants.
Macaroni and vermicelli.
Potatoes.
Sweet potatoes.
Yeast and bread.
Butter.
Fats.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES TO WHICH THE TEACHER MAY REFER.

Draper’s Physiology.
Dalton’s Physiology.
Carpenter’s Physiology.
Foster’s Physiology.
Youman’s Chemistry.
Johnston’s Chemistry of Common Life.
Lewes’s Physiology of Common Life.
Gray’s How Plants Grow.
Rand’s Vegetable Kingdom.
Brillat Savarin’s Art of Dining.
Brillat Savarin’s Physiologie du Gout.
The Cook’s Oracle, Dr. Kitchener.
Food and Dietetics, by Dr. Chambers.
Food and Dietetics, by Dr. Pary.
Food and Digestion, by Dr. Brinton.
Food, by Dr. Letheby.
Cook-books at discretion.

QUESTIONS FOR FINAL EXAMINATION AT END OF YEAR.

1. How is soup-stock made?

2. How is white soup made?

3. What are purees?

4. How is clear soup made?

5. How is caramel made, and what are its uses?

6. How is meat jelly made and colored?

7. How is meat boiled, roasted, and broiled?

8. How can cold meat be used?

9. How is poultry roasted and broiled?

10. How are potatoes cooked?

11. How are dried leguminous vegetables cooked?

12. How is rice boiled dry?

13. How is macaroni boiled?

14. How are white and brown sauces made?

15. Give plain salad-dressing and mayonnaise.

16. How are beef tea and chicken broth made?

17. Give receipts for plain omelet and omelette soufflee.

18. How are bread, biscuit, and rolls made?

19. How is pie-crust made?

20. Rule for puff paste?

21. How should you furnish a kitchen?

22. What are the best kinds of cooking utensils?