For maximum housewifery in the kitchen, especially with a large family, learn to make a white sauce, AKA Béchamel. Practice until you can do it without the recipe, without measuring, and without heating the milk separately, whisking it slowly into the roux. >In French cooking, there are a few basic sauces that are played with for endless variations. It’s worth figuring out. I hope you can find a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking or The Way to Cook at a used book sale.

Originally published in The School for Housewives. Read original article