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Work InformationThe Campaign for Domestic Happiness by Isabella Beeton
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This book, originally published as part of a longer work in 1861, is essentially a how-to guide for the middle-class housewife. If Martha Stewart, Peggy Post, and Alice Waters had a book baby 150 years ago, it would be The Campaign for Domestic Happiness. When viewed as a historical document, this book is both interesting and humorous, with some advice that still applies today. However, if looked at as anything else, it is truly problematic. The work reinforces and reflects the societal and gender norms of the time. There are sections on social etiquette for parties, for visiting friends and acquaintances, for how to dress and style oneself, meals, leisure time, how much to pay household servants, and how to keep a balanced account of monies spent. There are a number of recipes in the later half of the book, many of which include an average cost, as well as the seasonality of ingredients. I am curious to try cooking some of the dishes, to see if they are agreeable to a modern palate. Overall, this is an interesting little book that functions as a window into life of the middle-class woman in the mid-1800s England. no reviews | add a review
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Firmly of the belief that a home should be run as an efficient military campaign, Mrs Beeton, the doyenne of English cookery, offers timeless tips on selecting cuts of meat, throwing a grand party and hosting a dinner, as well as giving suggestions on staff wages and the cost of each recipe. With such delicious English classics as rabbit pie, carrot soup, baked apple custard, and fresh lemonade - as well as invalid's jelly for those days when stewed eels may be a little too much - this is a wonderful collection of food writing from the matriarch of modern housekeeping. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)640Technology Home and family management Home managementLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin AustraliaAn edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia. |
She includes a recipe for 'Benevolent Soup' made to feed the poor.
She lauds the sheep for all it's services to mankind's comfort.
I love her.