Have everything you need for your dish on the table before you begin to cook, and if possible have every ingredient, except the seasonings, measured.
One level tablespoonful of butter when melted is usually enough to cover the bottom of the chafing dish.
Do not use too much sherry in making Lobster Newberg, for alcohol, when used in cooking, tends to make fish or flesh tough.
Remember in measuring out the sherry that you are preparing a dish, not concocting a drink.
The sherry should not be instantly recognized; there should be just a hint of its flavor.
When your dish is completed, serve it from the chafing dish. If, however, you prefer turning it out on a platter, garnish the edges of the same with watercress or parsley.
Last, but not least, save the best and brightest story you have heard during the week, to relate at the chafing dish supper.
A Chafing Dish Supper.
A chafing dish supper menu must necessarily be confined to those dishes which are the hosts' or hostess' specialty—Welsh rarebit, panned or creamed oysters, shellfish, eggs or meats. The very informality of a chafing dish supper is its charm, the guests sitting at the table while the dishes are prepared. Decide upon the chief dish and have everything possible prepared in the kitchen and ready to use at the table, the cheese or meat cut into dice, the bread or crackers toasted, the ingredients measured and in glasses or cups and all utensils ready to use. Decorate the table with centerpiece and plate mats or large white cloth with bowl of flowers or fruits in the center. Do not have many candles or decorations on the table as these will interfere with the preparation of dishes. Have the chafing dish or dishes at one end of the table and some hostesses have a higher chair in which to sit while they preside over the chafing dish. Have the salad, trays or platters with sandwiches and coffee machine if you make coffee at the table, placed conveniently by those who prepare these articles of food. Suppose you are to serve panned oysters, on squares of toast, lettuce salad, bread and butter sandwiches and coffee, or Welsh rarebit, potato salad and coffee and sandwiches. Any of these is a good menu as you will not want sweets or ice cream at such a supper.