Planning good meals for the entire family, whether sick or well, is well worth the time and thought it takes, not only because appetizing meals are popular but also because food is important to the maintenance of good health. Good food is not always the most expensive food. Proper preparation and the judicious use of imagination in seasoning with herbs and flavoring can make inexpensive foods attractive and enjoyable as well as nourishing. The art of being a good cook is an asset to any homemaker.

A reliable cookbook will help every woman who keeps house to prepare nutritious and appetizing meals. When she makes a new dish or is learning to cook, she should try to follow very carefully the directions given in the cookbook. After she becomes skilled at coking, she can afford to take a “pinch of this” and “about so much of that” in preparing a particular food. But until her hand and eye are trained, she may ruin much good food by careless missing of ingredients and improper methods of cookery.

Modern cookbooks can be found in wide variety, ranging from those that offer recipes for the person who lives eats alone those that have quantity cooking recipes for 50 or more people. Cookbooks are specialized in other ways too. Some give recipe from New England, the Southwest, and other sections of the country; others feature Chinese, French, Italian, and other national foods, and still others contain recipes for foods prepared with herbs, wine, or spices. Picture cookbooks give step-by-step illustrated directions for both simple and complex recipes.

There are also cookbooks designed to meet special dietary needs. These, for example, contain recipes for the preparation of the diabetic, sodium-restricted, low fat, high protein, and weight reduction diets. Recipes for the patient who is on a liquid diet are distributed by the manufacturers of several brands of blenders.