To keep food hot. — A hot closet above a coal or gas range is
made for this purpose, and steam heaters sometimes have hot
closets. A douljle boiler is a help, and one utensil may be set into
a larger, filled with boiling water. Some dishes can, be set back on
the stove, or over a simmering gas burner with an asbestos mat
underneath. The oven may be used sometimes, with the door set
ajar. The food may be kept covered unless it will steam, in
which case cover it with a towel. Serve food in hot dishes.
To keep food cool. — Leave the dish in the ice box until the last
possible moment. Sometimes serve with ice (butter in warm
PREPARATION OF MEALS 267
weather). If ioe is lacking, use other cooling devices. Serve in
chilled dishes.
Garnishing the dish. — All food must be neatly placed in the
dish, and arranged or piled with some sort of symmetry, and this is
the most that some people have time to do. Many foods may be
served in the utensil or dish in which they are cooked, and in the
case of a baking dish, if its appearance is not neat, a napkin can
be folded about it. The simplest form of garnish is browning on
the top, which makes many dishes attractive (mashed potato).
^afce the garnishing simple, and have it eatable when possible.
Slices of hard boiled eggs on spinach, chopped parsley and butter
on boiled or mashed potato, parsley and slices of lemon, with meat
and fish.
Vegetable borders are attractive and save labor in dish washing.
Arrange the meat in the center of the platter, and pile mashed i>o-
tato, or boiled rice or peas or beans, or a mixture of hot vegetables
around the edge. This saves time in table service, too.
The garnishing of salads, desserts, and cakes is treated in pre-
vious chapters.
Table equipment and service. — This is a place where
beauty is a large element, and most people understand the
charm of a daintily laid table, as the family gathers for a
meal. But many factors must be taken into account, for
it is an easy matter to pass from the simple and beautiful
to an extravagant display, to spend more on the dining-room
equipment than the income warrants, and to waste much
energy in unnecessary work. Our great need here is to learn
to see beauty in simplicity. We must remember, too, that
many people in our country live in crowded quarters, and have
no time for anything but the simplest kind of table service.^
The table should be firm, large enough to accommodate the family
comfortably, and it should permit of extension when occasion de-
mands a larger board. The top should have an oil finish that will
not easily mar and that can be washed off. Have a thick cloth or
pad to protect it — the "silence cloth."
^ For Furnishing the Dining Room, see "Shelter and Clothing," p. 88.
268 POODS AND HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT
Table covers may be the small doilies with centerpiece, strips
of fine linen crash, or blue or brown and white Japanese toweling
laid across both ways, a cloth that just covers the table, or a large
cloth that hangs well below the table edge. The doilies and strips
are used conventionally for breakfast and luncheon, but save much
labor when used for all meals. The color may be white, or tinted,
but the dark-colored cloth should be banished.
Page 133
Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To keep food hot. — A hot closet above a coal or gas range is made for this purpose, and steam heaters sometimes have hot closets. A double boiler is a help, and one utensil may be set into a larger, filled with boiling water. Some dishes can be set back on the stove, or over a simmering gas burner with an asbestos mat underneath. The oven may be used sometimes, with the door set ajar. The food may be kept covered unless it will steam, in which case cover it with a towel. Serve food in hot dishes.
To keep food cool. — Leave the dish in the ice box until the last possible moment. Sometimes serve with ice (butter in warm
weather). If ice is lacking, use other cooling devices. Serve in chilled dishes.
Garnishing the dish. — All food must be neatly placed in the dish, and arranged or piled with some sort of symmetry, and this is the most that some people have time to do. Many foods may be served in the utensil or dish in which they are cooked, and in the case of a baking dish, if its appearance is not neat, a napkin can be folded about it. The simplest form of garnish is browning on the top, which makes many dishes attractive (mashed potato).
Make the garnishing simple, and have it eatable when possible. Slices of hard boiled eggs on spinach, chopped parsley and butter on boiled or mashed potato, parsley and slices of lemon, with meat and fish.
Vegetable borders are attractive and save labor in dish washing. Arrange the meat in the center of the platter, and pile mashed potato, or boiled rice or peas or beans, or a mixture of hot vegetables around the edge. This saves time in table service, too.
The garnishing of salads, desserts, and cakes is treated in previous chapters.
Table equipment and service. — This is a place where beauty is a large element, and most people understand the charm of a daintily laid table, as the family gathers for a meal. But many factors must be taken into account, for it is an easy matter to pass from the simple and beautiful to an extravagant display, to spend more on the dining-room equipment than the income warrants, and to waste much energy in unnecessary work. Our great need here is to learn to see beauty in simplicity. We must remember, too, that many people in our country live in crowded quarters, and have no time for anything but the simplest kind of table service.
The table should be firm, large enough to accommodate the family comfortably, and it should permit of extension when occasion demands a larger board. The top should have an oil finish that will not easily mar and that can be washed off. Have a thick cloth or pad to protect it — the "silence cloth."
^ For Furnishing the Dining Room, see "Shelter and Clothing," p. 88.
Table covers may be the small doilies with centerpiece, strips of fine linen crash, or blue or brown and white Japanese toweling laid across both ways, a cloth that just covers the table, or a large cloth that hangs well below the table edge. The doilies and strips are used conventionally for breakfast and luncheon, but save much labor when used for all meals. The color may be white, or tinted, but the dark-colored cloth should be banished.