• The book is an edited and illustrated version of the original one and includes 15 or more unique illustrations which are relevant to its content.• The writer deems that no apology need be offered for adding another to the long list of works on the truly interesting, if not noble science of gastronomy, provided she has accomplished the desirable object of producing a work that will commend itself to all persons of true taste; that is to say, those whose taste has not been vitiated by a mode of living contrary to her own. She has made that her aim, and although not an Ude or Kitchener, she does profess to have sufficient knowledge of the occult science, if properly imparted, to enlighten those not versed in culinary lore.The utter inefficiency of most works of the kind, are well known to every experienced housekeeper, serving but to lead the uninitiated astray, who following implicitly the directions given have to lament in the language of that homely but not inapt proverb, that their cake is all dough. Among the few exceptions she would mention the Frugal Housewife by Mrs. Child, which is a very useful book, and fully answers its author’s design; but that is limited as its name imports to the plainest cooking, and is not intended for those who can afford to consult their taste in preference to their purse. The writer of this short but she trusts comprehensive work, has endeavored to combine both economy, and that which would be agreeable to the palate, but she has never suffered the former to supersede the latter.