This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905. Excerpt: ... THE RIGHT SELECTION AND COMBINATION OF FOODS THIS is the soul and secret of economy: you may economise, and be liberally fed; you may be lavish, and yet starve. You may spend on all the rarities and search for all the appetisers, and yet produce an unsatisfactory, unsatisfying table. And although it is impossible to lay down any rules for guidance that will apply to all conditions, for individual peculiarities vary as much as individual means, yet there is always this to be said--there is an eternal fitness in things, a fitness in pleasing the sight, the palate, the season, the needs; and, in doing this, or learning how to do it, we find out what makes economy of living--for us. For instance, fish eaten alone may be easy of digestion and nourishing, but it is neither satisfying nor economical; serve with it potatoes and sauce, a little cucumber and piquant dressing, and you have supplied the necessary fat, mineral, and bulk that was wanted to make a meal. Fruit and nuts are an example of perfect harmony as a dessert, because nuts give us nourishment in a concentrated form with oils, and fruit abounds in elements whose office it is to dissolve and carry off obstructing matters, and they also increase the activity of the digestion. Mineral matter, which we sometimes disregard in our daily rations, is needed to give solidity to the bones, tissues, and muscles; we find this in green vegetables, fruits, and some cereals. In some green vegetables we find potash in excess, and have to counteract this by taking common salt; hence it is an instinct of true taste that leads us to cook greens in salted water, to eat salt with potatoes, and so forth. We serve green vegetables that are strong in mineral salts with meats which are rich in nitrogen. Wheat, when left wit...