If properly made from wholesome and nutritious material, and well preserved, there are few other foods that can be combined into more varied and palatable dishes than left-over bread. To insure the perfect preservation of the fragments, the loaf itself should receive good care. The receptacle used for containing the loaves should be frequently washed, scalded, and well dried. Crumbs and fragments should be kept in a separate receptacle, and as thoroughly cared for. It is well, in cutting bread, not to slice more than will be needed, and to use one loaf before beginning on another. Bread grows stale much faster after it is cut. Whole or half slices of bread which have become too dry to be palatable may be used for making zwieback, directions for the use and preparation of which are given on page 150.

Broken pieces of bread not suitable for zwieback, crusts, and trimmings of the loaf make excellent croutons, a most palatable accompaniment for soups, gruels, hot milk, etc. To prepare the croutons, cut the fragments as nearly uniform in size as possible (half inch cubes are convenient), and place them on tins in a warming-oven to dry. Let them become crisply dry and lightly browned, but not scorched. They are preferable to crackers for use in soups, and require so little work to prepare, and are so economical withal, that one who has once tried them will be likely to keep a supply on hand. Crumbs and still smaller fragments may be utilized for thickening soups and for various dressings and puddings. If bits of bread and crumbs accumulate more rapidly than they can be used, they may be carefully dried, not browned, in a warming-oven, or folded in a clean cloth, spread upon a bread-board, and rolled with a rolling-pin until fine. Prepared thus, stored in glass fruit-cans, and put away in a dry place, they will keep almost indefinitely, and are ready for use when needed. For scalloping vegetables of all kinds, these prepared crumbs are excellent; they give a fine nutty flavor which fresh crumbs do not possess.