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Preface

SOME cynical person has said that efficiency is only another name for intelligent laziness. Cook AND BE COOL is a book for the efficient and the lazy. The menus and recipes which follow were collected with the idea of offering the hostess a ready path to the maximum effect with the minimum of effort, especially in hot weather when even the most energetic and hospitable hostess finds planning and preparing a 'company' meal a burden. A few of the recipes given call for food previously cooked but the majority need no cooking at all. Others may be prepared with the aid of a small heater. Minimizing the amount of cooking conserves not only time and temper, but also space, so this collection should prove helpful not only on summer days, but in the kitchenette at all seasons.

Menus for twenty luncheons or suppers have been arranged, directions for carrying them out following each menu. There is also a section of supplementary recipes, classified under several headings, which can be used to vary the menus, or in arranging new ones. Blank pages have been left throughout the book for the addition of favorite recipes and menus similar in character to those already included.

A practical help is the installation of an Emergency Shelf, set aside and so labelled, on which to keep a collection of the ingredients called for by this book. It will be found to be a tremendous help during those culinary crises which happen in the best regulated families. The hostess whose Emergency Shelf is kept properly stocked and who has these menus at her elbow need no longer dread the approach of an automobile full of delightful but unexpected guests. She can Cook and be Cool not only physically but mentally. Attention is also called to the emphasis on garnishing and manner of serving of the dishes recommended. Time spent in this way is well repaid as attractive service is half the battle in stimulating the appetite. With sincere hope that CooK AND BE COOL will prove an invigorating tonic for the worn imagination, the reader is left to the recipes themselves.