Food and freedom

1. Simplifying menus, as previously suggested; that is, reducing the number of courses served, and con- sequently the number of utensils and dishes used, to be carried back and forth, and to be washed and put away again. In this connection, let us not for- get the following types of meals, which are always delightful and becoming more popular as their prac- tical value is appreciated: *' Kitchen alcove" breakfasts. "One dish" luncheons. " Two-course " dinners. "Tray-suppers" for the porch or fireside. "Picnic-basket" meals. 2. Reducing dining-room and table appointments to a minimum, and placing on the table only dishes and food that give one pleasure to look at, handle, or eat. Beauty has a wonderful way of reducing labor and neutralizing fatigue. Perhaps this is a subtle point to make, but we have only to experiment to know that it is so. A sprig of fresh parsley here, a slice of lemon there, the radish rose, the olive, the bit of pi- mento, and the table will have a crispness and a sparkle and a lightness that seem to dissipate any work there may be in caring for it. Even the paper doily under the baked custards, the leaf in the finger-bowl, the flower in the center of the table have a drudgery-reducing value all their own. I30 FOOD AND FREEDOM Perhaps the most practicable and at the same time the most artistic and attractive table itself is the plain, painted table — in cream-white or black — waxed to a polish, and arranged with very little or even no linen, and as few dishes and pieces of silver as possible. Such a table is easily washed with soap and water, it can be kept im- maculate with very little effort, there is little linen to fold, put away, launder, and the table itself furnishes the very loveliest background for flowers of any kind and whatever cheerful, gaily colored pottery china we may choose to have. Small pieces of linen — which does not mean in- numerable small doilies — are always more prac- tical than the large table-cloth with its accom- panying heavy, padded under-cloth, always a trouble to fold, wash, and care for. For the aver- age table, a small linen piece in the center, or a narrow runner, with little tea-napkins to match, is all the linen required. The unbleached crash linens and the Japanese crepe towelings are best for this purpose, and most attractive pieces can be made very quickly at very little expense. Paper doilies and napkins may be substituted for linen, if desired; while these may not be as attractive as the linen, they are worth con- sidering where the laundry problem is at all troublesome. Flat silver free from unnecessary ornamentation is the most comfortable to handle, looks best on the table, and is the easiest to keep clean. Do not have one service for "every day" and another for "company" and "Sundays." This SERVING THE MEALS 131 complicates matters, and the idea is not sound. Let us live as happily as we can — always — according to our means and standards, and then that which is good enough for our own family is surely good enough for others. 3. Checking kitchen convenience in relation to the dining-room — how many steps from stove to table? from sink to table? from dresser with dishes and silver to table?