Miss Farmer presents you with menus and recipes for special occasions, such as children's birthday parties, Halloween, and other holidays in this delightfully-illustrated book. New creations as well as some of her favorite recipes await you. Have a look inside!
She says in her foreword, "Americans of to-day are accused, somewhat unjustly, it seems to me, of being inhospitable. Because we do not, in the manner of a generation or two ago, lay aside all our duties at the visit of friends and welcome them ungrudgingly to our ordinary meal we expose ourselves to this charge; but, in truth, it is a higher conception of hospitality that has brought about this change. In these days of rapid transit, by sea as well as by land, the markets of the world are brought almost to our very doors, and we have a hundred combinations to our grandmother’s one. We, therefore, receive our guests more formally; we make preparations for their coming, and take pleasure in giving them a meal which shall vary from the humdrum order of culinary production. The fashion in entertaining, as in so many other things, has changed, and consciously or unconsciously we conform to the new standards. And why, on the whole, is not the new hospitality more satisfying, both to the host and guest, than the old? It seems to me that housekeepers are enjoying as never before the days set apart for their friends, and have learned to appreciate the saying of Brillat-Savarin, “He who receives friends, without himself bestowing some pains upon the repast prepared for them, does not deserve to have friends.” And certainly there is none of us so regardless of the delights of the table that he does not respond to the warming influences of a meal prepared by a thoughtful hostess as a tribute to him as a guest.
"The difficulty for the housekeeper lies in the selection of an appropriate menu. This little book is intended to meet this difficulty. May it be a help to many!
"Let me ask you to remember that all the recipes have been thoroughly tested, and not found wanting. You should have in mind, too, that in all these rules of mine the measurements are made level. Measuring cups, divided into thirds and quarters, are used; also tea and tablespoons.
"With these words let me leave you to the enjoyment of the new hospitality!"
