1 lb. = 16 ozs. = 3 teacupsful or 2 breakfastcupsful, closely filled, but not heaped.
1/2 lb. = 8 ozs. = 1 breakfastcupful, closely filled, but not heaped.
1/4 lb. = 4 ozs. = 1 teacupful, loosely filled.
1/4 oz. = 1 dessertspoonful, filled level.
4 gills = 1 pint = 3-1/2 teacupsful, or nearly 2 breakfastcupsful.
1 oz. butter = 1 tablespoon heaped as much above the spoon as the spoon rounds underneath.
BAKING DISHES.--Earthenware are the best.
BREAD GRATER.--The simple tin grater, price 1d., grates bread, vegetables, lemon rind, etc.
BASINS.--Large for mixing, small for puddings, etc.
EGG SLICE.--For dishing up rissoles, etc.
EGG WHISK.--The coiled wire whisk, price 1d. or 2d., is the best.
FOOD CHOPPER.--See that it has the nut-butter attachment.
FRYING AND OMELET PANS.--Cast aluminium are the best.
JUGS.--Wide-mouthed jugs are easiest to clean.
LEMON SQUEEZER.--The glass squeezer is the best.
PALETTE KNIFE.--For beating white of egg, scraping basins, etc.
TINS.--Cake tin, qr. qtn. tin, vegetable and pastry cutters.
The menus given below do not follow the conventional lines which ordain that a menu shall include, at least, soup, savoury and sweet dishes. The hardworking housewife can afford neither the time nor the material to serve up so many dishes at one meal; and the wise woman does not desire to spend any more time and material on the needs of the body than will suffice to keep it strong and healthy. Lack of space will not allow me to include many menus. I have only attempted to give the barest suggestions for two weeks. But a study of the rest of the book will enable anyone to extend and elaborate them. Three meals a day are the most that are necessary, and no woman desires to cook more than once a day. If possible the cooked meal should be the mid-day one. Late dinners may be fashionable, but they are not wholesome. If the exigencies of work make the evening meal the principal one, let it be taken as early as possible.
It often happens that while the father of a family needs his dinner when he comes home in the evening, it is necessary to provide a mid-day dinner for the others, especially if children are included. Many housewives thus go to the labour of preparing a hot dinner twice a day, but this may be avoided if the following directions are carefully carried out:--Prepare the mid-day meal as if the father were at home, and serve him first. Put his portion--savoury, vegetables and gravy--in one soup plate, and cover it immediately with another. Do the same with the pudding, and put both dishes away in the pantry. A good hour before they are wanted put into a warm oven. (If a gas oven is used, see that there is plenty of hot water in the floor pan.)