“She hastened forward. ‘We will go down and have our last meal at home,’ she said in the dialect of the country. ‘We have five eggs. No meat for you, dear, but enough bread and butter, some honey left, and plenty of coffee. I should like to have left old Mariandl more, but we are unable to do very much for poor people now. Milk, I cannot say. She is just the kind soul to be up and out to fetch us milk for an early first breakfast; but she may have overslept herself.’”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Butter is an expensive article, and should be selected with care. If one have the proper place for storing it, and can get it direct from some trustworthy dairy, it would be economical to purchase the winter’s supply in October. About fifty pounds will be enough for a family of two for six months. This should be put up in two or three small tubs. It must be kept in a cool, sweet place. Eggs, of course, are best fresh. It is wise economy for the young housekeeper to pay the extra price, and always be sure of the quality of her supply. Pure milk is a most important adjunct to the table. As far as it is in her power to do so, the housekeeper should see that the supply comes from a wholesome source, and then do her part to keep the milk good by having the vessels perfectly clean and the surroundings such that the milk shall not be contaminated.
Sources: The passage is from George Meredith, The Amazing Marriage — Complete, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Parloa, Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — plum cloth, beehive stamp.