The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day Cookery

Corson, Juliet, 1842-1897Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.6

Word count: 202K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day CookeryAuthor: Corson, Juliet, 1842-1897,Language: English, Class: TX: Technology: Home economics, Release Date: Mar 12, 2010

Editor's review

This is Juliet Corson's manual of economical everyday cookery, a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg classified under home economics. Its value lies in presenting the idea of "economical cookery" from the late-nineteenth-century American domestic science movement: arranging daily meals on a limited budget, emphasizing practical steps and the use of ingredients rather than showy recipes. The book preserves traces of the kitchen tools, measuring habits, and dietary structures of the time, making it useful for readers of food history, domestic history, and everyday life history. It should be read as a historical text rather than a modern operating guide: some techniques and preservation conditions have changed and require judgment based on modern food-safety knowledge. It suits readers interested in old recipes and the tradition of domestic writing, who are willing to read slowly and take excerpts; those seeking ready-to-use modern recipes or precise nutritional ratios may be disappointed.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Enthusiasts of food history and domestic history who want to understand late-nineteenth-century American ideas of everyday cooking.
Readers who enjoy reading old recipes and collecting historical kitchen texts.
Course learners studying the domestic science movement and the idea of "economical cookery."
Slow readers willing to treat old recipes as material for excerpting rather than following them exactly.

Not a good fit for

Kitchen beginners seeking ready-to-use modern recipes with precise steps.
Readers who need guidance on modern nutritional ratios and food-safety standards.
Readers of contemporary cookbooks expecting rich illustrations and elegant layout.

Reading tips

First read through the table of contents, classify by ingredient or meal, and choose entries close to current kitchen conditions for trial reading.
Keep a notebook to excerpt old measures, old tools, and preservation methods, noting differences from modern practice.
Read the book as food-history material, alongside background on nineteenth-century American life or the domestic science movement.
If trying old recipes, first make small batches and review steps against modern food-safety knowledge.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this cooking manual be used directly to cook from?

It can be tried in part, but should not be followed wholesale. The measures, stoves, and food-preservation conditions in the book belong to the late nineteenth century, and some steps differ from modern kitchen equipment and food-safety standards. It is advisable to try small batches first and review heat, temperature, and preservation with modern cooking knowledge, reading it more as a historical recipe book.

Why is it called a manual of "economical cookery"?

The title emphasizes economical everyday cookery: the core is arranging daily meals on a limited budget, stressing the use of ingredients and practical steps rather than expensive or showy recipes. Readers can see how the domestic science movement of the time combined "economy" with "everyday," which is also its value as material for food history and domestic history.

What should I note when reading the electronic edition?

This is a Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook; the text is searchable and easy to excerpt, but the layout, tables, and measures of old recipes may display unevenly on e-readers. It is advisable to use reading software that supports table-of-contents navigation, and when measures or steps are misaligned, judge from context and note page references from the original for verification if necessary.

Does it still have reference value for the modern family kitchen?

Its reference value lies mainly in ideas rather than precise formulas: how to arrange daily meals with limited ingredients, reduce waste, and incorporate scraps into the diet. Specific techniques and preservation conditions need adjustment to modern standards. Read with a historical eye, it offers much inspiration; if you want ready-to-use modern recipes, choose a contemporary cookbook instead.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Corson, Juliet, 1842-1897 Author

Juliet Corson (1842–1897) was an important figure in early American domestic education and cookery writing, though public information about her is limited and the details of her life are difficult to establish with certainty. Her three surviving works reflect a consistent focus on practical cooking guidance for ordinary households. The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day Cookery centers on economical everyday cooking and emphasizes concrete, workable steps. Twenty-Five Cent Dinners for Families of Six addresses meal planning for low-income families, seeking to sustain a household of six on a limited budget. A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery combines the principles of domestic economy with cookery instruction, showing her intention to raise kitchen practice to a systematic course of study. Her plain, cost-conscious and nutrition-minded writing helped advance domestic education and household dietary reform in the United States of her time.