Hashed Potatoes. — Chop cold potatoes fine, 86 FAMILY BREAKFASTS FOE WINTER have ready in a pan a tablespoonf ul of bacon dripping made very hot, stir into this two cupfuls of the potatoes✪ Hashed Potatoes, and toss about until well browned. 87 AT LUNCHEON PKOPEKLY .treated, luncheon may be the pleasantest meal of the day. Simple or elaborate, as the housekeeper's taste may dictate, always informal, it is more comfort- able than the breakfast because less hurried, more agreeable than the dinner because less ceremonious. The table at luncheon may either be set as for breakfast, with a pretty colored cloth to cover it ; or a prettier way, if one has a table with a handsome top, is to spread on this a large luncheon napkin that only partially con- ceals the polished surface. One or more of these napkins may be used, according to their size and the amount of space you wish covered. A fringed doily or a crocheted or netted mat may be laid at each place to protect the ta- ble top from the heated plate. Other mats should be laid under the hot dishes of meat, 88 AT LUNCHEON etc., while a tile or a trivet will hold the chocolate or teapot. A writer on household decoration in a re- cent article in a popular magazine enlarged upon the charming efifect produced by paint- ing a table-top white, and thus producing a good background upon which to display old blue-and-white china. This would doubtless be extremely pretty, but in the practical mind the suspicion arises that, by the time the bare white table had held hot dishes dur- ing half a dozen meals, its surface would be marked with yellow rings that would leave no choice to the housewife but to conceal the whole of the defaced expanse with a table- cloth. A good furniture polish, or a simple mixture of sweet-oil and turpentine, applied with a piece of flannel, will restore the beauty of a hard-wood table-top, but it is question- able if the white paint could be so readily renovated. The flowers that should have freshened the breakfast board must not be lacking at lunch- eon-time. The table may be spread with a luncheon set of china, or, if one does not own 89 WHAT TO EAT — HOW TO SERVE IT this, with the same plates, etc., that are used at breakfast and at tea. The tea-tray, with its burden of sugar-bowl, cream -pitcher, tea- caddy, and dainty cups and saucers, may stand in front of the mistress of the house, while at her elbow may be the five-o'clock-tea crane bearing its kettle of boiling water; or a small- er hot-water urn in brass, copper, or silver, with a spirit-lamp under it, may be on the table near her right hand, with the teapot beside it. If the small hot-water pot is used, and the table is bare, a tray should hold the kettle and stand, lest a drop of blazing alco- hol should blister the polished surface of the wood. When cocoa or chocolate is drunk at luncheon, the paraphernalia of kettle and spirit-lamp is, of course, unnecessary. There are some brands of cocoa for which it is claimed by the manufacturers that they are excellent when prepared for use by sim- ply pouring the boiling water on the powder. So far as the writer's experience has gone, however, there is not one of them that is not benefited by being boiled for a few minutes before serving. 90 AT LUNCHEON Nearly everything that is to compose the ordinary luncheon for the family may be put upon the table at one time. Of course there must be an exception to this rule when the first course consists of soup or bouillon ; but even then all the cold dishes may be in place when the guests are seated. The waiting need be only of the simplest, unless formality is desired. Those about the table may help themselves and one another, while the duties of the waitress may be confined to passing the dishes that are on the sideboard, chang- ing the plates, bringing in hot dishes, etc.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Hashed Potatoes. — Chop cold potatoes fine, FAMILY BREAKFASTS FOE WINTER have ready in a pan a tablespoonf ul of bacon dripping made very hot, stir into this two cupfuls of the potatoes, and toss about until well browned. PROPERLY treated, luncheon may be the pleasantest meal of the day. Simple or elaborate, as the housekeeper's taste may dictate, always informal, it is more comfortable than the breakfast because less hurried, more agreeable than the dinner because less ceremonious. The table at luncheon may either be set as for breakfast, with a pretty colored cloth to cover it ; or a prettier way, if one has a table with a handsome top, is to spread on this a large luncheon napkin that only partially conceals the polished surface. One or more of these napkins may be used, according to their size and the amount of space you wish covered. A fringed doily or a crocheted or netted mat may be laid at each place to protect the table top from the heated plate. Other mats should be laid under the hot dishes of meat, etc., while a tile or a trivet will hold the chocolate or teapot. A writer on household decoration in a recent article in a popular magazine enlarged upon the charming effect produced by painting a table-top white, and thus producing a good background upon which to display old blue-and-white china. This would doubtless be extremely pretty, but in the practical mind the suspicion arises that, by the time the bare white table had held hot dishes during half a dozen meals, its surface would be marked with yellow rings that would leave no choice to the housewife but to conceal the whole of the defaced expanse with a tablecloth. A good furniture polish, or a simple mixture of sweet-oil and turpentine, applied with a piece of flannel, will restore the beauty of a hard-wood table-top, but it is questionable if the white paint could be so readily renovated. The flowers that should have freshened the breakfast board must not be lacking at luncheon time. The table may be spread with a luncheon set of china, or, if one does not own this, with the same plates, etc., that are used at breakfast and at tea. The tea-tray, with its burden of sugar-bowl, cream -pitcher, teacaddy, and dainty cups and saucers, may stand in front of the mistress of the house, while at her elbow may be the five-o'clock-tea crane bearing its kettle of boiling water; or a smaller hot-water urn in brass, copper, or silver, with a spirit-lamp under it, may be on the table near her right hand, with the teapot beside it. If the small hot-water pot is used, and the table is bare, a tray should hold the kettle and stand, lest a drop of blazing alcohol should blister the polished surface of the wood. When cocoa or chocolate is drunk at luncheon, the paraphernalia of kettle and spirit-lamp is, of course, unnecessary. There are some brands of cocoa for which it is claimed by the manufacturers that they are excellent when prepared for use by simply pouring the boiling water on the powder. So far as the writer's experience has gone, however, there is not one of them that is not benefited by being boiled for a few minutes before serving. Nearly everything that is to compose the ordinary luncheon for the family may be put upon the table at one time. Of course there must be an exception to this rule when the first course consists of soup or bouillon ; but even then all the cold dishes may be in place when the guests are seated. The waiting need be only of the simplest, unless formality is desired. Those about the table may help themselves and one another, while the duties of the waitress may be confined to passing the dishes that are on the sideboard, changing the plates, bringing in hot dishes, etc.

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Hashed Potatoes

What to eat, how to serve it