In the selection and arrangement of the recipes contained in this volume, the compiler has chosen those known to her, from actual and long experience, to be the best and most economical. Every one knows how desirable and important it is to both health and comfort, that the food for the daily use of a family and its guests should be properly prepared. Physicians will tell you that all food which is not properly prepared and cooked is both indigestible and unhealthy, and is often the source of many of the ailments we complain of. The recipes in this book have been selected with the greatest care, and will aid all housekeepers in preparing wholesome food and tempting delicacies for their daily requirements. In other words, it is the "art of cooking made easy." A fair trial of them will convince anyone that the wide field embraced within this book comprises all that is useful and valuable, both to the lady of the house and her cook, who, if unskilled, will find the assistance herein rendered of great comfort. Most of the recipes are my own, or such as I have used for years, and taken from old books that have never been printed, and were known only to some of the best housekeepers in Maryland and Virginia. Those who have contributed to fill these pages are known to me as excellent housekeepers, whose recipes I am glad to add to my own.

In placing my book before the public I feel that I have a right to claim a like indulgence to those who, before me, have given to the world the benefit of their experience, and I feel confident that my "Cook Book," being the result of an experience of twenty years, will meet with a just reward.

"The Authoress."

Ratcliffe Manor, Talbot Co., Md. December, 1894.