"Sweets are the next thing, and usually four or five are arranged for. A good batch of pastry may be made, say a fruit tart, one or two fancy ones, such as Bakewell, treacle, or custard, some little jam puffs or lemon cheesecakes or 'maids-of-honour,' which keep splendidly; in this case a meat pie (steak and kidney, rabbit, or veal and ham) would be made instead of the cold meat dish. On alternate weeks, or if pastry is not wished for, the sweets take some such form as a Swiss roll, a batch of castle puddings, French pancakes (all of which will keep in the invaluable air-tight tin), with a rice meringue or rice, cream and fruit for Saturday, and a boiled suet pudding of some sort (ginger, treacle, or lemon), or a steamed sponge pudding for Friday's dinner. "Now work this out and see what a well-supplied larder you can rejoice over, and how little cooking you have to do the next three days. Then when Tuesday comes, utilise any remains of Sunday's joint, make another simple sweet or two, some cheese straws, or savoury eggs; develop more soup out of the stock which will by now have accumulated, and with a fresh batch of scones, and perhaps some stewed fruit, you may count on two more days clear for the many other tasks which fall to a good housekeeper's lot, and also for the most necessary free time for rest and recreation. Moreover, still another advantage of this 'look-ahead' plan is the ease of mind which the knowledge of your well-filled shelves will give you in the case of an unexpected visitor, or any other of those unlooked-for emergencies which will arise even in the best-regulated and most business-like households." Because everyone else does it scarcely seems a reason why you must do it. [Illustration: _PLATE XXXII_ AN ELECTRIC KITCHEN IN A CITY INSTITUTION. (Messrs. Crompton & Co.)] II The Late-Dinner Bogey. "For a long time it was the late-dinner bogey which caused us to keep more servants than we needed, and to live expensively and rather uncomfortably. "At last my husband's dislike of cooks became so passionate (and not without reason), that I determined to change my household arrangements, arguing that we could scarcely have worse food than we were having already. My husband, I must explain, is one of those men who cannot eat a heavy lunch and work after it, so he needs a hot and substantial dinner. How was this to be arranged with only one servant who went out twice a week, and a wife who only wished to cook in the morning? "Well, we managed thus. We bought a neat electrical heater for the dining-room, and put the hot dishes ready on it and all the cold things on the sideboard. Then when dinner was announced, the maid waited, and as she never had to leave the room, she managed well, even when we had friends to dinner.