neading_.

By _stirring_ is meant a continuous motion round and round with a spoon,
without lifting it from the mixture, except to scrape occasionally from
the sides of the dish any portion of the material that may cling to it.
It is not necessary that the stirring should be all in one direction, as
many cooks suppose. The object of the stirring is to thoroughly blend
the ingredients, and this may be accomplished as well by stirring--in
one direction as in another.

_Beating_ is for the purpose of incorporating as much air in the mixture
as possible. It should be done by dipping the spoon in and out, cutting
clear through and lifting from the bottom with each stroke. The process
must be continuous, and must never be interspersed with any stirring if
it is desired to retain the air within the mixture.

_Kneading_ is the mode by which materials already in the form of dough
are more thoroughly blended together; it also serves to incorporate air.
The process is more fully described in the chapter on "Bread,"

TEMPERATURE.--Many a cook fails and knows not why, because she does
not understand the influence of temperature upon materials and food.
Flour and liquids for unfermented breads cannot be too cold, while for
bread prepared with yeast, success is largely dependent upon a warm and
equable temperature throughout the entire process.

COOKING UTENSILS.--The earliest cookery was probably accomplished
without the aid of any utensils, the food being roasted by burying it in
hot ashes or cooked by the aid of heated stones; but modern cookery
necessitates the use of a greater or less variety of cooking utensils to
facilitate the preparation of food, most of which are so familiar to the
reader as to need no description. (A list of those needed for use will
be found on page 66.) Most of these utensils are manufactured from some
kind of metal, as iron, tin, copper, brass, etc. All metals are
dissolvable in certain substances, and some of those employed for making
household utensils are capable of forming most poisonous compounds when
used for cooking certain foods. This fact should lead to great care on
the part of the housewife, both in purchasing and in using utensils for
cooking purposes.

Iron utensils, although they are, when new, apt to discolor and impart
a disagreeable flavor to food cooked in them, are not objectionable from
a health standpoint, if kept clean and free from rust. Iron rust is the
result of the combina