Testimonies for the Church Vol 1 - Lansing SDA Church

Healthful Cookery 627wife and mother who has not had the right education and lacks skill inthe cooking department is daily presenting her family with ill-preparedfood which is steadily and surely destroying the digestive organs, makinga poor quality of blood, and frequently bringing on acute attacks ofinflammatory disease and causing premature death. Many have beenbrought to their death by eating heavy, sour bread. An instance wasrelated to me of a hired girl who made a batch of sour, heavy bread. Inorder to get rid of it and conceal the matter, she threw it to a couple ofvery large hogs. Next morning the man of the house found his swinedead, and, upon examining the trough, found pieces of this heavybread. He made inquiries, and the girl acknowledged what she haddone. She had not a thought of the effect of such bread upon the swine.If heavy, sour bread will kill swine, which can devour rattlesnakes andalmost every detestable thing, what effect will it have upon that tenderorgan, the human stomach?It is a religious duty for every Christian girl and woman to learnat once to make good, sweet, light bread from unbolted wheat flour.Mothers should take their daughters into the kitchen with them whenvery young and teach them the art of cooking. The mother cannotexpect her daughters to understand the mysteries of housekeepingwithout education. She should instruct them patiently, lovingly, andmake the work as agreeable as she can by her cheerful countenanceand encouraging words of approval. If they fail once, twice, or thrice,censure not. Already discouragement is doing its work and temptingthem to say: “It is of no use; I can’t do it.” This is not the time forcensure. The will is becoming weakened. It needs the spur of encouraging,cheerful, hopeful words, as: “Never mind the mistakes you have [685]made. You are but a learner and must expect to make blunders. Tryagain. Put your mind on what you are doing. Be very careful, and youwill certainly succeed.”Many mothers do not realize the importance of this branch ofknowledge, and rather than have the trouble and care of instructingtheir children and bearing with their failings and errors while learning,they prefer to do all themselves. And when their daughters make afailure in their efforts, they send them away with: “It is no use; youcan’t do this or that. You perplex and trouble me more than you helpme.”