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I used to turn up my nose at recipes and food articles, in the days I first got a yen for a writing career, but that was before I subscribed to a writers' magazine that started me thinking. I liked to experiment in the kitchen, whip up new recipes and try them out on my husband. Why not keep tabs on my experiments and write up the results? Right then and there my writing bug dug in his roots to stay.

I studied all the homemaking magazines to get the slant they used, then started a scrapbook of clippings. I devoted one page to each article clipping, labeling each with the month and magazine in which it was found and also which date to write up a similar article. As most homemaking magazines set up their material from four to six months in advance, I set down the date to write appropriate articles, at least six months before the issue in which they would be used. I also made a note on the blank spaces left on the page, or on the next page, of ideas for articles for future reference.

I bought a small notebook for the kitchen, in which to jot down notes on my experiments. Then began a session with the mixing bowl, egg beater and revamped old recipes, in which my husband became my chief taste-tester.

HERE'S HOW I go about it. I measure each ingredient carefully, writing down the exact quantity of each addition. Everything goes down into the little red book—timing, temperatures, preparation time, cost of ingredients, and finally, the result. If, when the product is made, I see a possible chance for improvement by the addition of another ingredient, eliminating an ingredient, or a different method of preparation, I make the whole recipe over again, putting it to that test. Then I compare the two, and my husband passes judgment. I keep experimenting and testing—testing and experimenting, until I reach the peak of perfection. Then I type the recipes and file them away in my Dottie Stebbins' specialties file.

When we aren't quite sure of a recipe, we invite friends to dinner and try it out on them. If it brings compliments and approval, and perhaps even a request for the recipe, I smile humbly, write it up with other recipes, and ship it off to a magazine. Our friends still don't know what we're up to—that they're our choice pet guinea pigs! In fact, very few people in my home town, Woodsville, New Hampshire, even know that I write.

WHEN I started writing a little over a year ago, I didn't have a typewriter. I wrote up a stack of articles and rented a typewriter from a local dealer. No one was more surprised than I when my first article, "Sprig of Mint," brought a lovely letter from foods editor Sara Hervey of Country Gentleman requesting permission to test my recipes. Two weeks later came a check for $50, which was then a fabulous sum to my husband and me. We celebrated by going to the movies!

One or two of my other articles sold, but the majority didn't. They were too late. The editors were very sorry, but they had recently purchased similar articles—and better luck next time.

The idea struck home that if I was going to get anywhere with my writing I had to get my articles in early; and to do that I must have a typewriter of my own. Through a helpful aunt I purchased a portable on easy payment.

An herb article sent to the Rural New Yorker brought a rejection slip, but also a request for me to do a little story entitled, "Herbs of the Bible," for the woman's page edited by Persis Smith. I did some intensive research with textbooks, booklets, herb leaflets and some clippings supplied by an interested friend, and the article sold. Through this research, I discovered some interesting facts about how herbs could be grown indoors for winter use, so I sent a query to New England Homestead asking if they would be interested in such an article entitled, "The Winter Herb Garden." They were, I wrote the article, and they bought it. The article also explained how to use each herb, etc.

The idea for "Cereal Desserts" was born one morning when I reached for the cereal box while preparing breakfast, and found it pushed back behind some other groceries in the cupboard. "Why," I thought, "should cereal take a back seat, when it's the very backbone of nutrition? It should be brought to the front and join hands with the flour, sugar, spices and shortening, in the whipping up of a few out-of-this-world desserts! I'm going to see what I can do with it." Right then I started planning, and before the day was over, tantalizing whiffs of cinnamon crumb coffee cake came seeping from the cracks in the oven door. In the days that followed, my kitchen grew familiar with cooky-jar specials, honey crisp ice cream, corn flake pastry, peaches 'n cream crisp and lemon crumb crunch. The results were so gratifying that I sat down with my completed recipes before me and wrote "Cereal Desserts," sent it to Country Gentleman, and a little over two weeks later I received a check for $75. The cereal boxes and I danced for joy.

Old forgotten recipes may also be sold. It takes but a bit of research to dig them out. They may be in old magazines, mother's scrapbook, or in grandmother's trunk in the attic. And a new ingredient or two if you wish, or give them a new name. Rewrite them in the style used by the particular magazine to which you plan to send them, and then watch for the mailman.

MANY MAGAZINES and newspapers have departments calling for single recipes, but they sell best when written up into articles. The checks are also much fatter. For example, I found several good, but unusual recipes using pumpkin. I combined them into an article for the Rural New Yorker, called "Jack-o'-Lanterns Good to Eat." The brief introduction started like this:

"Jack Frost is painting pumpkin vines And winter's on its way ..."

"Although pumpkins should go into a few jack-o'-lanterns for Hallowe'en, there are several ways to cook them for good eating all fall and winter." A few more lines of introduction on preparation, advantages and vitamin A followed, ana I gave recipes for pumpkin biscuits, pumpkin souffle, pumpkin preserves and pumpkin butter.

If you go in for food article writing, remember to dream up taste-tempting titles with plenty of wallop. They should summarize, at a glance, the idea of your article. There should be a short introduction preceding the recipes themselves, as in the example above. In these few paragraphs, play up any advantages that the recipes may have, such as economy, taste-appeal, vitamins, appearance, or simplicity in preparation. Jam-pack them with punch to make the reader (and your editor) see, smell and taste the recipes to come, in all their mouth-watering goodness. If your introduction is so inviting as to warrant clipping the recipes for immediate testing, you really have something worthwhile.

Now write your article as interestingly and entertainingly as possible, and be accurate. It must be typewritten in double space, with clean, wide margins. Use one side of the paper only. Start your first page about one-third of the way down the sheet of 8½-by-11-inch white bond. Center the title in capitals, with your name centered below. Start your introduction two double spaces below this, indenting about five spaces. Your name and address should be in the upper left-hand corner of the paper, with the approximate number of words in the upper right. Below this write "At regular rates," which will let the editor know that you are going into this professionally, and that you expect to be paid. Consecutive pages should be numbered in the upper right-hand corner. Use 9½-by-4¹/8-inch envelopes, and enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for the editor's convenience in returning your manuscript, if it doesn't fit his present needs. If you don't have a typewriter, they may be rented quite reasonably; or, if you can't type, have a stenographer do the work for you. The fee is from 40 cents to 50 cents per 1,000 words, which averages about 10 cents per page. They advertise in all good writers' magazines, and their work is dependable and accurate.

MAGAZINES USE three basic styles, or forms, for listing ingredients. For example, Country Gentleman and Household prefer this style:

PINK 'N' WHITE MARBLE CAKE

1/3 cup shortening	2 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup sugar	3 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs	¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon almond extract	2/3 cup milk
½ teaspoon peppermint extract	Red food coloring

Cream shortening; add sugar slowly, beating in well. Add two unbeaten eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Separate third egg. Add yolk to cake mixture, reserving white for frosting. Blend in well. Sift dry ingredients together three times and add alternately with milk to first mixture. Divide mixture equally into two bowls. Add almond extract to first mixture; add peppermint to second mixture and tint a delicate pink with food coloring, adding it gradually and blending until the desired shade is reached. Build the mixture into a greased loaf pan by adding a spoonful of pink, then a spoonful of white, in brick-fashion. When all layers are completed, cut through the mixture twice lengthwise. Bake in moderate oven (350° F.) about one hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Frost with seven-minute frosting.

Successful Farming uses this style in their Successful Recipes Dept.:

CHOCOLATE NUT MINTS
(Makes 36 cookies)

Combine:
    1 beaten egg,
    1 cup sugar,
    ½ cup milk,
    1¼ teaspoons mint extract.
Add:
    ½ cup shortening, melted.
Sift together and add:
    1½ cups sifted flour,
    ¼ teaspoon salt,
    1 teaspoon baking powder,
    3 tablespoons cocoa.
Blend all together until smooth.
Add:
    ½ cup broken nutmeats.
Let stand 10 minutes.
Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheet and bake in moderate oven (375° F.) 12 to 15 minutes.

The Rural New Yorker likes this style:

SOUR CREAM SPICE CAKE

Ingredients: ½ cup butter; 2 cups brown sugar; 3 eggs, separated; 2 cups sifted cake flour; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cloves; 1 teaspoon allspice; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon soda; 1 cup sour cream.

Cream together butter and brown sugar; add egg yolks and beat. Sift together flour, salt, spices, baking powder and soda. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Fold in stiffly-beaten egg whites. Bake in greased loaf pan in a moderate oven 350 degrees F., 45-50 minutes.

One has only to study the magazines to determine the individual style of each. Submitting your recipes in the desired forms enhances your chance of a sale, for it saves the copy editor the trouble of remodeling your work—and editors are busy people!

NEVER SEND out a recipe until you are assured that it is as perfect as possible. Pre-test it by making the product yourself in your own kitchen. This will save you many disappointments and postage. All magazines have a testing kitchen where their recipes are tested before a definite decision on purchase is reached. I have suffered many a cruel blow by the deciding hand in the test kitchen. I learned that even articles written on special assignment could be returned if they failed to pass the test. My first disappointment was a Christmas article for Household. Editor Ida Migliario was intrigued at my idea outline for Christmas confections made at home, and assigned me to the job enthusiastically. Plunk—my temperatures and timing fell short of perfection, and down crashed my dream of a fat check!

Other articles have failed by a mere spoon's breadth in the kitchens of Farm Journal and Country Gentleman, and back they came, crumpled and beaten, but still willing to submit to a bit of rewriting and testing, to be tucked hopefully away in my files for next year. I have sold several articles just recently that were submitted too late for a sale last year, and others that were rewrites.

A few articles have been returned because they were "not sufficiently different to warrant publication." There is the cue: Articles should be fresh and sparkling; novel and original. To illustrate this, let's take my article, "Cherry Capers," which brought $35 from Household. The title suggests bright red cherries frolicking with mixing bowl, spoon and other ingredients, to produce some tasty and truly jolly February treats. The short but snappy introduction began:

"Not only do cherries give a meal a lift in tart, fruity flavor and gay color, which are appreciated this time of year, but they are gentle on the budget as well. The following recipes will cut capers on any festive occasion ..." Five scrumptious cherry recipes followed.

Another example is "Cheese Appeteasers," which whets your interest at first glance. The title is novel and original, and the recipes, you know, will be equally interesting. "Cherry Appeteasers" gives the same impression—and gave me a handsome check for $75! "Sour Cream Secrets" revealed the secrets of grandmother's cooking success, hidden in the old brown earthen pitcher on the pantry shelf, and included unusual recipes for sour cream frosting, spicy ginger cookies, and others.

"Pancakes For Busy Days," which will appear in Country Gentleman sometime this fall, gives recipes for using pancakes for every meal, both unusual and economical. Here I reveal all my pancake secrets, in which department my husband takes over the job of "flipping"! The article may hold a few secrets, but the $100 check I have is no secret at all!

"Capers From the Cider Jug," now being tested in Household's kitchen, is an unusual article about the use of cider. The title suggests the gay antics of the well-known cider jug, and lets the imagination play.

You'll be able to think up ideas which are fresh and original, probably even better ones than the examples I have given.

IT IS often a good policy to query your proposed editor before submitting, or sometimes even writing, your article. Outline your idea briefly and interestingly. If she likes your proposition, she may give specific instructions as to how she wishes the article written. In the case of two or more suggestions, she may wish you to combine the two under one heading, with definite recipes to be used; others to be omitted. These contacts with the editor may result in an occasional and unexpected assignment. These, in turn, carried out faithfully, may result in a regular position on the payroll.

Newspapers offer other outlets for your ambitions, through their recipe columns and frequent contests. Mail order companies often purchase recipes in batches of from four to six, and many magazines offer monthly prizes for the best recipes printed.

Regional articles sell well; that is, articles centered around the traditional foods of some particular section of the country. For example, hoecakes from the mountains of Kentucky; pancakes and maple syrup of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine; Cape Cod dinners on the coast; or outdoor barbecues served in the Western ranch style of Nevada, Texas or Arizona. One may acquire sufficient knowledge through travel, but such has not been my fortune. I keep one ear forever food-bent while reading and in conversation, and am constantly on the alert for new ideas. I study and do research—then do more research and study some more; thus an article is born.

ONE DOES not necessarily need to be a homemaker to write food articles. This is a field where men tread, also, for is it not true that some of America's best cooks are men? Whether you're a chef with a reputation for famous pies and souffles, a sportsman who does his own camp cooking, or a helpful husband with the little woman's kitchen mixer, there's a place for you, too, in this fascinating hobby. Actually, your chances are all the better for being a man, for somewhere there's an editor who will literally "eat up" your idea for toasting venison over an open campfire, or your particular specialty for baked beans with bacon and "coffee from a can," So if you have a novel way of fixing that big-fish-that-didn't-get-away-this-time—a method that will intrigue and tantalize, by all means rattle it off on a typewriter and get it on the editor's desk.

Whether you're a professional or a beginner, however, there will always be a few markets which will persist in remaining just out of your reach. No matter how you approach them, all you'll get is a cold rejection slip. After a half dozen attempts at cracking these unattainables, I decided to concentrate on the more friendly markets. At least, I found, when they couldn't use an article they explained why in a nice letter. This is much easier to take than a cold-hearted rejection slip. One editor always writes me a brief note in her own handwriting. She is now one of my best markets and I often do special assignments for her. She buys just about everything I send her.

To make the most of food article writing, I have learned that one must play, each season for all it's got. There are naturally certain foods which are ordinarily associated with each season, such as tomatoes and peaches for late summer; strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus for early spring; pumpkins and melons for late fall, etc.

IF YOU want to be businesslike about this hobby, you'll need some files in which to keep carbon copies, accounts of everything you send out, records of sales, and the amount they bring, etc. If you're like most of us, you won't be able to afford regular filing cabinets at first, so my original filing idea might be of value to you. I cleaned out the drawers of my boudoir or lingerie chest, and turned them into file drawers. These little chests come either of plywood, wood or cardboard, and cost only a few dollars. You may buy filing envelopes and cards to fit them, but I made my own from heavy cardboard, printing the necessary letter on each index card. My chest has one long shallow top drawer, two long wider drawers, and four smaller drawers at the bottom. I labeled them as follows: Typing (here I put all the work that I finish that is ready to be typed); Carbons (carbon copies of everything I send out); Magazines & Information (writers' magazines; clippings and booklets on writing, etc.); Out Memo (drawer divided into thirds, containing out, sold, and rejected departments. Contains small filing cards and my records of sales, etc.); Future Ideas (any idea that pops into my head that would make a good article, food or otherwise, goes into this file for future reference where it won't be forgotten); Clippings (contains clipping that don't go into my scrapbook); and Guides (here is quick reference to everything of interest in my writers' magazines).

To save time and for convenience, I also have an address file containing the addresses of all the magazines I write for. This is a tin box (originally a box containing salted nuts!) which I painted and filled with filing cards.

It also helps to have a writing room, although it is not absolutely necessary. I found it a great nuisance to be typing on the kitchen table and have my husband come home to supper a little early, and have to scoop everything off in a hurry. Everything was scrambled when I got a chance to get back to work again. Now I can leave my work on my desk if necessity demands, and take up where I left off, with much time saved.

This is a hobby that anyone may enjoy, and may be a stepping-stone to a career, if one wishes to make it so. And once you've mastered the technique of food article writing, it's an easy matter to write how-to-do articles for writers' magazines, flower and garden articles, hobby articles, and even stories, plays and news. My writing schedule now covers many fields. I have sold to such magazines as: Writer's Guide, The Writer, the Author and Journalist, Dime Detective, Grit, Woman's Day, Profitable Hobbies and others.