THE MARY FRANCES COOK BOOK

OR ADVENTURES AMONG THE KITCHEN PEOPLE By JANE EAYRE FRYER Full page illustrations by MARGARET G. HAYS Other illustrations by JANE ALLEN BOYER

Copyright, 1912, by Jane Eayre Fryer

Dear Girls

:

This book tells the story of Mary Frances, a little girl whose great ambition was to help her mother. So anxious was she to do this that even the humble Kitchen People became her teachers and instructors. They talked to her, a thing never heard of before; helped her over the hard places, and explained mysterious secrets she could never otherwise have understood. They wove around a simple little book of recipes her mother had made for her the spell of Fairyland; they led her through a series of delightful adventures such as never happened to any girl before, in which she lived for three whole happy weeks, and out of which she emerged no longer a little girl, but a real little woman.

Some very wise people would call this a story book, some a manual training book, and others a cookery book, but Mary Frances knows better; she knows that it is a Book within a Book that introduced her to Aunty Rolling Pin and a lot of other dear, dear friends, such as no little girl ever had before, and whom she now wishes to introduce for the first time to all other little girls. (I know that she gained their consent to do this because she told me so.)

In the hope that Mary Frances' wish may be realized, this record of her adventures is sent out to the girls of America with the best wishes of

The Author.

CHAPTERPAGE

I. The Kitchen People11

II. Toaster Man14

III. Mary Frances' Mother24

IV. Mary Frances Warns the Kitchen Folks27

V. Aunt Maria30

VI. Jacket-boiled Potatoes33

VII. The Pot-and-Kettle Fight40

VIII. The Potato Lunch46

IX. Mary Frances Gets Breakfast56

X. The Breakfast Burns Up65

XI. A Joke on Aunt Maria70

XII. The Tramp75

XIII. Company to Lunch83

XIV. A Patent Dish-washing91

XV. Thimble Biscuits94

XVI. The Dolls' Kitchen Party104

XVII. The Sick Neighbor110

CHAPTERPAGE XVIII. A Man's Lunch116 XIX. Poor Blue Pitcher127 XX. Mary Frances Gives a Cooking Lesson131 XXI. The Picnic135 XXII. The Candy Pull139 XXIII. Getting Ready for a Party144 XXIV. The Tea Party154 XXV. Mary Frances Gets Dinner159 XXVI. Mother's Surprise. "Good-Bye, Little Miss" 173