Chapter XXI

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_Napkins_ may match the tablecloths. A small size economizes labor. Avoid fringes, selecting a scalloped edge or hemstitch. Japanese paper napkins are useful in summer, and for box luncheons.

_The dishes._——Only a few practical suggestions can be given here. This is a topic for the art class.

Buy from “open stock.” This means, not a single set, but a pattern that the manufacturer and retailer have always on hand, so that the purchaser can buy one plate or cup and saucer, to replace breakage.

An elaborate or highly colored design becomes wearisome, is not practical for those who have a limited supply of dishes, and is in questionable taste. A positive color demands always the same general scheme for other decorations. A band of color, or a narrow design at the edge, of a color harmonizing easily with other colors, is in good taste. Gold and green are safe colors. See Fig. 72. White dishes with a raised border are dainty, and any color scheme may be used with them. See Fig. 71.

The number of dishes depends upon the simplicity or elaborateness of the method of living and the size of the family. It is much better to begin with a few, and increase the number when necessary, than to have the shelves filled with unused ware. (See exercises.)

_Glassware_ is pressed or cut, the latter being beautiful, but an expensive luxury. Glasses for water, and dishes for berries, are made with simple and attractive designs in the pressed ware, and serve all ordinary purposes. A pretty shape for the glass for water is shown in Fig. 71.

_Silver and plated silver_ for knives, forks, and spoons, coffee and tea sets, all add to the charm of the table. A large collection is not necessary for everyday use, and it adds greatly to the labor of the housewife. Figure 70 shows some good designs in spoons, and spoons and forks of different sizes come in the same design. A simple design is easy to clean. Three sizes of spoons, tablespoons, teaspoons, and coffee spoons, and two sizes of forks are all sufficient, with a few larger spoons for service and desserts.

Triple-plated ware lasts for years, if well cared for, and comes in good designs.

Pewter, familiar in olden days, is being used again in Colonial designs, and makes an attractive tea or coffee set, is less costly than solid silver, and has a better tone and color than plated ware.

_Cutlery._——Plated knives are easy to care for, but steel knives are more effective for some purposes. Purchase good quality steel knives, especially in the carving set.

[Illustration: FIG. 70.——Good designs for table silver. _Courtesy of Gorham Co._]

=Setting the table.=——The first principles here are to have everything clean and shining, and to lay everything straight. Have as little on the table as possible. It is not comfortable to have a large array of articles at one’s place. Figure 71 shows you a dainty and well-laid table, arranged for a Sunday night supper, and this arrangement is a good one for any meal, with substitutes for the chafing dish.

Be sure that the _cloth_ is straight, the center fold in the middle of the table, and that the cloth hangs evenly on all sides. See that centerpiece and doilies are laid at even distance.

_Laying each place._——In Fig. 71 the knife, edge out, is at the right, with one spoon, and the glass is at the right, in line with the end of the knife. Two forks are at the left, and a plate for bread and butter, with bread knife are at the left, opposite the glass. The napkin is at the left. This plan, somewhat elaborated, may be safely followed for formal service. Two knives may be placed at the right, with the soup spoon, and three forks at the left. If more than these are needed, they may be supplied later, laid on the plate placed for a certain course, in the middle of the plate, handle toward the guest.

[Illustration: FIG. 71.——A table set for Sunday night supper. _Courtesy of Dept. of Foods and Cookery, Teachers College._]

The other articles on the table may vary widely. For everyday use, where there is no maid, or only one, set in places convenient to pass, the salt and pepper, vinegar and sugar, bread plate and butter plate, and any small dish of condiment or pickle, with pretty mats for the hot dishes to be set on later, and enough spoons for serving. See that the arrangement is symmetrical and convenient. A table laid in this way has room for little more in the way of “decoration” than a slender vase holding a few flowers in the center. The dishes for dessert can be ready on a side table.

For formal service nothing is placed on the table in addition to the equipment at each place, but some centerpiece containing ferns or flowers, with pretty dishes of silver or glass holding relishes, candies, or dried fruits, a graceful arrangement being to alternate four of these with four candlesticks for meals served late in the day.

_Table decorations._——Here fancy may run riot with color schemes, and pretty devices for special occasions. A painted place card, a small bonbon box, a single flower with a pin for fastening it on,——all these have their place at times. Satin ribbon is not an appropriate table decoration laid across the table in a broad band, even when it displays a class color. Find some other way to make the color effective. A color scheme in the food can be carried out to a degree for some occasion, but do not let the color interfere with a really satisfactory menu.

Relishes have already been suggested as decoration——radishes cut in rose shape, olives, candies, and fruit.

_The tray for invalid and convalescent._——Figures 72 and 73 suggest the daintiness possible in setting a tray. It is well worth while to spend time in the careful arrangement of the tray, for pretty dishes in orderly array may tempt the appetite of the invalid.

[Illustration: FIG. 72.——A convalescent’s tray. _Courtesy of the Dept. of Foods and Cookery, Teachers College._]

[Illustration: FIG. 73.——A convalescent’s tray with rack for holding cover. _Courtesy of the Dept. of Foods and Cookery, Teachers College._]

=Waiting on the table.=——When we wait on ourselves, this should be done with cheerfulness, and all should take a share. After the food is on the table, one person can “help” one thing and one another. It is a good plan for the young people of the family to take turns as waiter in removing the soiled dishes and food and putting on the dessert. A quick method is to place a tray on a small stand near the table, taking the dishes from one place at a time, and sorting them on the tray as you go. The tray can then be carried into the kitchen, with the dishes partly arranged for washing.

One mother uses a plan for having everybody help at breakfast time, modeled after the tray system of a cafeteria. The breakfast is cooked ready to serve, and on the kitchen table is a small tray for each one of the family of four. All necessary articles are at hand, and even the boy of seven sets his own tray and helps himself to food, and takes his place at the table; and then when the meal is ended each one carries out his dishes and puts them in neat array for washing.

The waitress at a formal meal has to be alert, rapid yet gentle in all her motions, with a desire to make other people comfortable, and a faculty for remembering their likes and dislikes. A good waitress does not pass a second time a dish once declined.

The waitress must know the menu, and have everything ready for each course at hand on the sideboard, with dishes kept hot in the hot closet.

The table is laid in time, she herself is immaculate, and the room is well aired and the temperature agreeable. A piece of bread is folded in each napkin. If the first course is cold,——perhaps a grapefruit,——she arranges these at each place. If it is to be a hot bouillon, the cook tells her that all is ready, and then she informs the hostess that dinner or luncheon is served.

The details of this type of waiting vary with the place and the taste of the hostess, but the following method is simple and rapid.

=Serving.=——Serve everything from the side table. Hold the dish to be served firmly in two hands with a napkin underneath, a tablespoon and fork being placed on the dish. Pass to the left of the guest, and hold the dish at a convenient height and near the plate. After all the dishes in a course are passed in this way, watch to see if second helps are needed.

Remove the soiled plates at the left, and place the clean at the left, removing with the left hand and placing with the right.

Fill glasses at the right, and remove silver at the right before dessert when there are pieces left unused.

Brush crumbs with a soft, folded napkin upon a plate, at the left, just before dessert when everything is taken from the table but the center decoration, the candies, and the glass of water. With this plan the guest helps himself each time, even the after-dinner coffee being passed on a tray with cream and sugar, and he can take as little as he pleases, or decline. Some hostesses have some of the courses arranged on individual plates and placed, and these may be placed either from the left or right. But the other method is simple and satisfactory.

The finger bowls may be set on plates of dessert size with a doily underneath. If a spoon or fork is needed with the dessert, one or both may be placed on the plate also, one on each side, if both are used. The bowls should be less than half full of water and the water should be a comfortable temperature, neither cold nor noticeably warm. Set the plates arranged in this way before each guest. The guest himself will remove the bowl and doily and silver before the dessert is passed. In large banquets the food must be placed on the individual plate.

The question is sometimes asked, “Who shall be served first?” It is a good plan to change this from course to course, beginning the first time with the guest of honor. It is not a matter of great importance, provided no one has to wait long. Two waitresses make the service quicker.

The guests of honor sit at the right of the host and hostess.

_The number of courses._——Two or three courses are enough for everyday comfort and health. In formal serving, it is good taste not to have too many. A first course of grapefruit or perhaps oyster cocktail, a soup, a fish course, or some light substitute for it,——the main course with meat, a salad, dessert, coffee——make a quite sufficient meal. The “entrée” is a light dish, say sweetbreads in cases, after the fish course, but it is quite unnecessary. Many people are becoming very weary of the long-drawn-out dinners and banquets, which are certainly far from hygienic.

=Carving.=——This is an art that used to be taught as an accomplishment to girls, and it is not an easy matter to master.

If not done at the table, it must nevertheless be well done. Watch a good carver, and practice when you have a chance. A few simple directions can be given, but a demonstration is really necessary. First and foremost, have a sharp, strong knife, and a strong fork. The next essential is a platter large enough to hold the meat, without having it slip off. The fork must be firmly placed in the meat, and the meat held down. Notice the shape of the cut of meat. Meat must be cut across the grain. Loosen from the bone, notice the grain, and cut evenly and firmly. With fowl, discover the joints, pierce with the end of the knife, disjoint, and lay at the side, and then slice the breast across the grain. If carving at the table, learn the preference of those served, whether they wish light or dark meat, meat well done or underdone. Have a spoon for dish gravy and stuffing.

EXERCISES

1. Plan the order of work for the following menus: (_a_) Cooked cereal and cream, stewed prunes, poached egg on toast, popovers, coffee. (_b_) Tomato bisque, lamb chops with peas and mashed potatoes, plain lettuce with French dressing, Brown Betty with foamy sauce, black coffee.

2. What are the important points in serving each dish? Give some simple garnishes.

3. Obtain price lists and estimate the cost of table furnishings.

4. What do you consider good taste in china and silver?

5. What are the important points in table setting?

6. Make a list of dishes to be used for the menus given above, or other menus.

7. What are the fundamentals in waiting on the table?

8. How may the home service be made comfortable?

9. Discuss different methods in formal service.

10. How may the guest be made most comfortable?

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