This eBook was prepared by Stewart A. Levin.
by
CAROLINE FRENCH BENTON
Author of ``Gala Day Luncheons''
Boston, The Page Company, Publishers
Copyright, 1905by Dana Estes & Company
For
Katherine, Monica and Betty
Three Little Girls
Who Love To Do
``Little Girl Cooking''
Thanks are due to the editor of Good Housekeeping forpermission to reproduce the greater part of this bookfrom that magazine.
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Margaret, and shewanted to cook, so she went into the kitchen and tried and tried,but she could not understand the cook-books, and she made dreadfulmesses, and spoiled her frocks and burned her fingers till she justhad to cry.
One day she went to her grandmother and her mother and her PrettyAunt and her Other Aunt, who were all sitting sewing, and askedthem to tell here about cooking.
``What is a roux,'' she said, ``and what's a mousse and what's anentrée? What are timbales and sautés and ingredients, and how doyou mix 'em and how long do you bake 'em? Won't somebody pleasetell me all about it?''
And her Pretty Aunt said, ``See the flour all over that new frock!''and her mother said, ``Dear child, you are not old enough to cooksyet;'' and her grandmother said, ``Just wait a year or two, andI'll teach you myself;'' and the Other Aunt said, ``Some day youshall go to cooking-school and learn everything; you know littlegirls can't cook.''
But Margaret said, ``I don't want to wait till I'm big; I want tocook now; and I don't want to do cooking-school cooking, but littlegirl cooking, all by myself.''
So she kept on trying to learn, but she burned her fingers andspoiled her dresses worse than ever, and her messes were so badthey had to be thrown out, every one of them; and she cried and cried.And then one day her grandmother said, ``It's a shame that childshould not learn to cook if she really wants to so much;'' and hermother said ``Yes, it is a shame, and she shall learn! Let's gether a small table and some tins and aprons, and make a littlecook-book all her own out of the old ones we wrote for ourselveslong ago,—just the plain, easy things anybody can make.'' And bothher aunts said, ``Do! We will help, and perhaps we might put injust a few cooking-school things beside.''
It was not long after this that Margaret had a birthday, and shewas taken to the kitchen to get her presents, which she thoughtthe funniest thing in the world. There they all were, in themiddle of the room: first her father's present, a little tablewith a white oilcloth cover and casters, which would push rightunder the big table when it was not being used. Over a chair hergrandmother's present, three nice gingham aprons, with sleeves andruffled bibs. On the little table the presents of the aunties,shiny new tins and saucepans, and cups to measure with, and spoons,and a toasting-fork, and ever so many things; and then on one cornerof the table, all by itself, was her mother's present, her ownlittle cook-book, with her own name on it, and that was best of all.
When Margaret had looked at everything, she set out in a row the bigbowl and the middle-sized bowl and the little wee bowl, and put thescalloped patty-pans around them, and the real egg-beater in front ofall, just like a picture, and then she read a page in her cook-boo