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Counsels on Diet and Foods
These ideas have pervaded nearly all classes of society. The cook
is made to feel that her occupation is one which places her low in the
scale of social life, and that she must not expect to associate with the
family on equal terms. Can you be surprised, then, that intelligent girls
seek some other employment? Do you marvel that there are so few
educated cooks? The only marvel is that there are so many who will
submit to such treatment.
The cook fills an important place in the household. She is preparing
food to be taken into the stomach, to form brain, bone, and muscle.
The health of all members of the family depends largely upon her skill
and intelligence. Household duties will never receive the attention they
demand until those who faithfully perform them are held in proper
respect.—
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 74, 1890
371. There are very many girls who have married and have fami-
lies, who have but little practical knowledge of the duties devolving
upon a wife and mother. They can read, and play upon an instru-
ment of music; but they cannot cook. They cannot make good bread,
which is very essential to the health of the family.... To cook well, to
present healthful food upon the table in an inviting manner, requires
intelligence and experience. The one who prepares the food that is to
be placed in our stomachs, to be converted into blood to nourish the
system, occupies a most important and elevated position. The position
of copyist, dressmaker, or music teacher cannot equal in importance
that of the cook.—
Testimonies for the Church 3:156-158, 1873
Every Woman’s Duty to Become a Skillful Cook
372. Our sisters often do not know how to cook. To such I would
say, I would go to the very best cook that could be found in the country,
and remain there, if necessary, for weeks, until I had become mistress
of the art,—an intelligent, skillful cook. I would pursue this course
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if I were forty years old. It is your duty to know how to cook, and it
is your duty to teach your daughters to cook. When you are teaching
them the art of cookery, you are building around them a barrier that
will preserve them from the folly and vice which they may otherwise
be tempted to engage in.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:370, 1870
373. In order to learn how to cook, women should study, and
then patiently reduce what they learn to practice. People are suffering