Book excerpt: For all cooks, this book is a true classic. It contains hundreds of interesting recipes along with hundreds of hints will make anything you prepare a success. The owner of the Toll House Restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts, Ruth Wakefield offers here the most famous and successful tips and recipes which made her restaurant so renowned. The author begins with the necessary information all good cooks need: helpful hints (dip peeled bananas in lemon juice to prevent discoloration, how to measure solid fat); equivalents and proportions; purchasing guide; timetable for roasting, broiling, boiling, oven steaming; care of your refrigerator and range, how to save fuel; table setting and service; challenging menus; inexpensive everyday meals; success with frozen desserts; and much, much more. There is also a "primer for brides," which contains 36 essential dishes for the new homemaker (from making hot or iced coffee to main courses, desserts, even champagne punch!) Then come the mouth-watering recipes: hors d'oeuvres (cheese balls, caviar toast, stuffed mushroom caps, etc.), appetizers (fruit shrub, stuffed cantaloupe, oyster cocktail, etc.), soups, stews, and chowders (clam bisque, baked bean soup, lobster stew, clam chowder, croutons, croustades, etc.), bread (crumb bread, shredded wheat bread, Swedish tea ring, health bread, orange bread, etc.), meats and poultry (pot roast with vegetables, Neapolitan meat loaf, shepherd's pie, crown roast of pork, chicken divan, chicken terrapin, etc.), meat substitutes (goldenrod eggs, foamy omelettes, cheese croquettes, noodle ring, etc.); seafood (baked halibut, salmon and rice delight, Toll House lobster, lobster imperial, etc.), vegetables, salads and dressing, desserts, all kinds of sauces, cakes and cookies, frosting and fillings, pastries and pies, candies, tea time sandwiches, relishes, and oddments. The book concludes with sections on solving kitchen problems, how to cook for a hundred people, and a guide to purchasing, preserving, and canning jellies, jams, fruits, and vegetables.