Healthful Cookery
201
and prepared with intelligence and skill.—
The Ministry of Healing,
300, 1905
The Stereotyped Breakfast
391. I would pay a higher price for a cook than for any other part
of my work.... If that person is not apt and has no skill in cooking, you
will see, as we have in our experience, the stereotyped breakfast,—
porridge, as it is called,—we call it mush, baker’s bread, and some kind
of sauce, and that is all with the exception of a little milk. Now those
after eating in this kind of way for months, knowing what will appear
before them at every meal, come to dread the hour which should be
interesting to them, as the dreaded period of the day. I suppose you
[260]
will not understand all this until you have experienced it. But I am
really perplexed over this matter. Were I to act over the preparation in
coming to this place, I would say, Give me an experienced cook, who
has some inventive powers, to prepare simple dishes healthfully, and
that will not disgust the appetite.—
Letter 19c, 1892
Study and Practice
392. Many do not feel that this [
Cooking
] is a matter of duty, hence
they do not try to prepare food properly. This can be done in a simple,
healthful, and easy manner, without the use of lard, butter, or flesh
meats. Skill must be united with simplicity. To do this, women must
read, and then patiently reduce what they read to practice. Many are
suffering because they will not take the trouble to do this. I say to
such, It is time for you to rouse your dormant energies and read up.
Learn how to cook with simplicity, and yet in a manner to secure the
most palatable and healthful food.
Because it is wrong to cook merely to please the taste, or to suit
the appetite, no one should entertain the idea that an impoverished
diet is right. Many are debilitated with disease, and need a nourishing,
plentiful, well-cooked diet....—
Testimonies for the Church 1:681-685,
1868
An Important Branch of Education
It is a religious duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare
healthful food in different ways, so that it may be eaten with enjoyment.