Serving Meals without a Servant.
A housekeeper who keeps no servant is often puzzled as to how to serve dessert, how to serve the other dishes at dinner, whether the plates should be distributed on the table or placed beside the carver, and so forth.
The conditions are so different in different families that no arbitrary rules can be given for these things, but here are a few suggestions which may be helpful. Have everything ready in the kitchen to put on the table without delay, and place the dishes where they will keep hot until wanted. Eggs in any form must, of course, be served as soon as cooked; therefore they must be timed very carefully. The mush should be put on the table at the housekeeper’s own place, and served in saucers or little dishes that come for that purpose. Any one who does not eat mush or fruit may decline it, and wait for the next course. After the mush has been served, remove the dishes, and place the rest of the breakfast on the table. The plates should be hot, and be piled before or at one side of the carver. While he is serving, pour the coffee. When there is another member of the family who can put the second course on the table, the housekeeper should be relieved of this part of the work. It is hard on a woman not only to have to prepare the breakfast, but also to rise from the table, bring in the second course and serve this, as she often must, since, as a rule, men are in a hurry in the morning and cannot assist their wives in serving the breakfast.