Marion Harland's Cookery for Beginners A Series of Familiar Lessons for Young Housekeepers

"Marion Harland's Cookery for Beginners" by Marion Harland is a practical cookery guide written in the late 19th century. This work serves as a comprehensive introduction to cooking for novice housekeepers, focusing on basic culinary techniques and recipes essential for daily meal preparation. The book emphasizes the importance of mastering fundamental cooking skills, particularly bread-making, to ensure healthful and satisfying dining experiences. The opening of the guide begins with a discussion on the significance of good bread in culinary practices, positing it as a fundamental skill for any cook. Harland introduces her readers to the process of making homemade yeast and the first loaf of bread, providing detailed instructions and practical tips to ensure success. She stresses the importance of ingredient quality and the proper technique, assuring beginners that even with less-than-perfect materials, practice will lead to satisfactory results. Overall, the initial section sets a foundational tone for the subsequent lessons in the book, aiming to encourage confidence and competence in kitchen endeavors. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Mary Virginia Terhune, also known by her penname Marion Harland, was an American author who was prolific and bestselling in both fiction and non-fiction genres. Born in Amelia County, Virginia, she began her career writing articles at the age of 14, using various pennames until 1853, when she settled on Marion Harland. Her first novel Alone was published in 1854 and became an "emphatic success" following its second printing the next year. For fifteen years she was a prolific writer of best-selling women's novels, classified then as "plantation fiction", as well as writing numerous serial works, short stories, and essays for magazines.