The lectures printed within this volume were delivered by Juliet Corson, superintendent of the New York School of Cookery, in the "Farmers Lecture Course," at the College of Agriculture, Minneapolis, during the session of 1884. "The lectures were familiar, extemporaneous discourses upon the topics under discussion, and the lecturer was surrounded by all the appointments of a well-ordered kitchen. The dishes as prepared were passed to the audience for examination and criticism, and full opportunity allowed for discussion," thus giving the lectures a familiar, colloquial tone.