CHAPTER XVI
Sandwiches and Drinks
SANDWICHES OF CHICKEN OR MEAT
For picnics, school luncheons, and her evening parties my little maid will want sandwiches, and there are many kinds easily made. And generally she will want the bread cut very thin and spread with soft butter. For ordinary occasions she may use any kind of meat she happens to find in the house, slicing it if she can, then seasoning with mustard, or else putting it through the grinder and seasoning with mustard, a small minced pickle, or finely chopped sweet green pepper. In using the ground meat, however, rub it to a paste with the butter intended for the bread, and it will spread more easily.
HAM SANDWICHES
To be particularly nice, mince the ham, cream with the butter, season with mustard, spread on one slice of bread, cover with a crisp lettuce leaf, add the top slice of bread, then cut in triangles.
LETTUCE SANDWICHES
On thin slices of buttered bread lay a fresh leaf of lettuce, and spread with salad dressing, before adding top slice.
OLIVE AND CHEESE SANDWICHES
These are especially good for afternoon tea or parties. Butter the bread each time before slicing, so it can be cut very thin without breaking. Spread with cream cheese that has been rubbed to a paste with cream, and sprinkle with chopped olives. Cut in fancy shapes.
RAISIN SANDWICHES
Spread thinly sliced brown bread with butter first, then with raisins, seeded and chopped.
CRACKER SANDWICHES
Butter graham crackers, and spread with chopped and mixed nuts and raisins. Or, take square soda crackers, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and toast a light brown. The latter, served hot, are also very nice for afternoon tea.
Though children should not be allowed to drink tea and coffee, (and young people are better off without them,) every little maid should be taught how to prepare these drinks for the grown-ups, most of whom are apt to be critical.
TEA
First, find out the kind your friends like if you possibly can, and do not give Ceylon to a lover of uncolored Japan! Then have fresh boiling water, and scald out your teapot, which should be earthenware or china. While it is still hot, put in the tea, a teaspoonful for each cup if you use the ordinary kinds, but only half a teaspoonful of some of the strong black varieties. Pour on immediately the required amount of boiling water, and set in a warm place, or cover with a cozy for five minutes. If desired cold, then pour off the grounds, and when cool enough, put in the ice box or serve at once with chopped ice. Never boil tea, nor allow to stand on the leaves very long, as it draws out the injurious tannin, besides impairing the flavor. A thin slice of lemon in each glass improves the taste as well as the looks.
COFFEE
People have different ways of making coffee, but a very easy one is to measure out a tablespoonful of ground coffee for each cup desired, tie up in a square cheesecloth, and cover with an equal number of cups of boiling water. Set on the stove where it will keep just below the boiling point, for three minutes, then pour and serve with cream and sugar. But to make this way, grind very fine. If your friends prefer boiled coffee, however, measure out a tablespoonful for each person, moisten well with part of the white of an egg, cover with one cup of cold water, and when that boils, add rest of the required amount from your boiling teakettle. Cook for five minutes, then settle with a third of a cup of cold water, and place where it will not boil up again. This will make one cupful apiece.
COCOA
Cool drinks are most welcomed in hot weather, and several kinds are quite nice for little girls to make. Iced cocoa requires for each person half a glass of milk and half a glass of water, heated to the boiling point. Mix in a cup a round teaspoonful of cocoa with one round spoonful of sugar, and dissolve with the hot milk. Then put together in the kettle, boil gently several minutes, and flavor with a drop or two of vanilla before taking from the fire. After cooling, place on ice, and when ready to serve, pour in glasses over ice, and cover the top with sweetened whipped cream. Delicious hot, however.
GRAPE JUICE
Grape-juice is the most nourishing kind of a fruit drink, and every family ought to put up enough in the fall when grapes are plentiful and cheap to last all winter. First pick the fruit from the stem, wash and put on in water enough to cover. Cook until the grapes lose their form, put in a jelly-bag, and let them hang overnight. Next day measure, and put on to boil with half as much sugar. Cook for five minutes and put at once into air-tight bottles. When ready to serve, either dilute with a small quantity of water or pour on chopped ice.
LEMONADE
A most refreshing beverage on a very warm day is a lemonade made from the juice of two lemons, a half cupful of sugar and eight glasses of water, to which is added the pulp of a small grapefruit that has been removed with a sharp-edged teaspoon. Fill up glasses with shaved ice.
FRUIT SYRUPS
During the canning season often a small quantity of rich juice will be left. If this is strained through a cloth and bottled boiling hot, it will make a splendid drink, diluted with water and served iced.