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                 The
             Myrtle Reed
              Cook Book


           [Illustration]


         G. P. Putnam's Sons
         New York     London
       The Knickerbocker Press
                1916


     Copyright, 1905, 1906, 1911
                 by
         G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

           Copyright, 1916
                 by
         G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

  The Knickerbocker Press, New York




    _Over One Million Copies Sold_

    MYRTLE REED


    _Miss Reed's books are peculiarly adapted for dainty yet
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      LOVE LETTERS OF A MUSICIAN

      LATER LOVE LETTERS OF A MUSICIAN

      THE SPINSTER BOOK

      LAVENDER AND OLD LACE

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      AT THE SIGN OF THE JACK-O'-LANTERN

      A SPINNER IN THE SUN

      LOVE AFFAIRS OF LITERARY MEN

      FLOWER OF THE DUSK

      OLD ROSE AND SILVER

      MASTER OF THE VINEYARD

      A WEAVER OF DREAMS

      THE WHITE SHIELD

      THREADS OF GREY AND GOLD

      HAPPY WOMEN
        16 Illus.

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        Illustrated by Peter Newell. $1.50

      PICKABACK SONGS
        Words by Myrtle Reed. Music by Eva Cruzen Hart.
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EXPLANATION


The only excuse the author and publishers have to offer for the
appearance of this book is that, so far as they know, there is no
other like it.




CONTENTS


                                                        PAGE
    The Philosophy of Breakfast                            1

    How to Set the Table                                   9

    The Kitchen Rubaiyat                                  15

    Fruits                                                20

    Cereals                                               39

    Salt Fish                                             58

    Breakfast Meats                                       72

    Substitutes for Meat                                  87

    Eggs                                                  91

    Omelets                                              111

    Quick Breads                                         121

    Raised Breakfast Breads                              147

    Pancakes                                             160

    Coffee Cakes, Doughnuts, and Waffles                 173

    Breakfast Beverages                                  186

    Simple Salads                                        191

    One Hundred Sandwich Fillings                        228

    Luncheon Beverages                                   235

    Eating and Dining                                    241

    Thirty-five Canapes                                  244

    One Hundred Simple Soups                             252

    Fifty Ways to Cook Shell-Fish                        281

    Sixty Ways to Cook Fish                              297

    One Hundred and Fifty Ways to Cook Meat and
      Poultry                                            316

    Twenty Ways to Cook Potatoes                         366

    One Hundred and Fifty Ways to Cook Other
      Vegetables                                         373

    Thirty Simple Sauces                                 423

    One Hundred and Fifty Salads                         431

    Simple Desserts                                      459

    Index                                                531




The Myrtle Reed Cook Book




THE PHILOSOPHY OF BREAKFAST


The breakfast habit is of antique origin. Presumably the primeval man
arose from troubled dreams, in the first gray light of dawn, and set
forth upon devious forest trails, seeking that which he might devour,
while the primeval woman still slumbered in her cave. Nowadays, it is
the lady herself who rises while the day is yet young, slips into a
kimono, and patters out into the kitchen to light the gas flame under
the breakfast food.

In this matter of breaking the fast, each house is law unto itself.
There are some who demand a dinner at seven or eight in the morning,
and others who consider breakfast utterly useless. The Englishman, who
is still mighty on the face of the earth, eats a breakfast which would
seriously tax the digestive apparatus of an ostrich or a goat, and
goes on his way rejoicing.

In an English cook-book only seven years old, menus for "ideal"
breakfasts are given, which run as follows:

"Devilled Drum-sticks and Eggs on the dish, Pigs Feet, Buttered
Toast, Dry Toast, Brown and White Bread and Butter, Marmalade and
Porridge."

"Bloaters on Toast, Collared Tongue, Hot Buttered Toast, Dry Toast,
Marmalade, Brown and White Bread and Butter, Bread and Milk."

"Pigeon Pie, Stewed Kidney, Milk Rolls, Dry Toast, Brown and White
Bread and Butter, Mustard and Cress, Milk Porridge."

And for a "simple breakfast,"--in August, mind you!--this is
especially recommended:

"Bloaters on Toast, Corned Beef, Muffins, Brown and White Bread and
Butter, Marmalade, and Boiled Hominy."

An American who ate a breakfast like that in August probably would not
send his collars to the laundry more than once or twice more, but it
takes all kinds of people to make up a world.

Across the Channel from the brawny Briton is the Frenchman, who, with
infinitely more wisdom, begins his day with a cup of coffee and a
roll. So far, so good, but his _dejeuner a la fourchette_ at eleven or
twelve is not always unobjectionable from a hygienic standpoint. The
"uniform breakfast," which is cheerfully advocated by some, may be
hygienic but it is not exciting. Before the weary mental vision
stretches an endless procession of breakfasts, all exactly alike, year
in and year out. It is quite possible that the "no-breakfast" theory
was first formulated by some one who had been, was, or was about to be
a victim of this system.

The "no-breakfast" plan has much to recommend it, however. In the
first place, it saves a deal of trouble. The family rises, bathes
itself, puts on its spotless raiment in leisurely and untroubled
fashion, and proceeds to the particular business of the day. There are
no burnt toast, soggy waffles, muddy coffee, heavy muffins, or pasty
breakfast food to be reckoned with. Theoretically, the energy supplied
by last night's dinner is "on tap," waiting to be called upon. And,
moreover, one is seldom hungry in the morning, and what is the use of
feeding a person who is not hungry?

It has been often said, and justly, that Americans eat too much.
Considering the English breakfast, however, we may metaphorically pat
ourselves upon the back, for there is no one of us, surely, who taxes
the Department of the Interior thus.

"What is one man's meat is another man's poison" has been held
pointedly to refer to breakfast, for here, as nowhere else, is the
individual a law unto himself. Fruit is the satisfaction of one and
the distress of another; cereal is a life-giving food to one and a
soggy mass of indigestibility to some one else; and coffee, which is
really most innocent when properly made, has lately taken much blame
for sins not its own.

Quite often the discomfort caused by the ill-advised combination of
acid fruit with a starchy cereal has been attributed to the clear,
amber beverage which probably was the much-vaunted "nectar of the
gods." Coffee with cream in it may be wrong for some people who could
use boiling milk with impunity.

For a woman who spends the early part of the day at home, the omission
of breakfast may be salutary. When hunger seizes her, she is within
reach of her own kitchen, where proper foods may be properly cooked,
but for a business woman or man the plan is little less than suicidal.
Mr. Man may, indeed, go down town in comfort, with no thought of food,
but, no later than noon, he is keenly desirous of interior decoration.
Within his reach there is, usually, but the lunch counter, where, in
company with other hapless humans, he sustains himself with leathery
pie, coffee which never met the coffee bean, and the durable doughnut
of commerce. The result is--to put it mildly--discontent, which
seemingly has no adequate cause.

It is better, by far, for Mr. Man to eat a breakfast which shall
contain the proteids, carbohydrates, phosphates, and starches that he
will require during the day, and omit the noon luncheon entirely,
except, perhaps, for a bit of fruit. Moreover, a dainty breakfast,
daintily served, has a distinct aesthetic value. The temper of the
individual escorted to the front door by a devoted spouse has more
than a little to do with the temper of the selfsame individual who is
let in at night by the aforesaid D. S.

Many a man is confronted in the morning by an untidy, ill-cooked
breakfast, a frowsy woman and a still frowsier baby, and, too often,
