New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-03-24
HOW SHALL We DINRf

| HOW SHALL WE DINRf
Our friend Nj. Blot laws down the law at the
beginning of every month as to what we shall
eat and how we shall cook it. The Derplexcd
housekeeper can be sure now OF precisely what
fish, flesh, or fowl is suitable for her table in
boisterOus March or showery April but not
with this assurance do her troubles end. 1t is
| not What to eat, but How to eat it, that
puts her soul upon the rack. The genius of
hospitality is strong within her, and hospital
ity, with most Americans, means primarily to
feed. She has herself sat at banquets which
she remembers as n strain of music out OF
Fairyland so complete was their ministry to
every sense and faculty. Dainty breakfasts
with the morning light and freshness no more
apparent in the lovely rooms than in the mood
and humor of the guests; dinners cooked de-
lciously and served nOiselessly, amid flowers
and exquisite table appointments and far-oif
music, and a flow of wit and thorough good,
refined fellowship, III which the grOsser matter
of eating sinks into its proper secondary place.
But our housekeeper has 20 golden key to
open these glmpses of Paradise to her guests !;
she has no French cook in her kitchen, nor
skillful walters in her dining-rOOm with whom
serving is high art. She cannot even afford,
| except upon the rarest occasion, to order from
a caterer both dinner and walters. She has
| cook from Cork, n cbambermad from Ilppe-
rary. Watch as she WILL the beef is sometimes
burned to a crisp; the silver leaders are greasy.
Suppose she asks to her table A. or b. or C.,
men and women with whom she has had in
| terchange Of some rare thought or feeling, to
know whom better she feels will strengthen
hn1a in Ifa f..
how can she offer them the hospitality of wis
| dom or humor when her faculties are all at
work with Jane over the roast in the kitchen
or Mary serving the soup' Sydney Smiths
wit might make a dinner delightful in room
where you could not swing cat, and where
a twelve-year old "Bunch" served; but she
has not Sydney Smiths wit. The hopelessness
of it all is too much for her. If she is shall
low, would-be fashionable woman, she clears
up all scores by grand rout once year; If
a quiet domestic matron, she bars her table to
all guests and gives it up to her husband, his
newspaper, her noisy schoo-boys and girls,
and whatever order and pleasure they may
happen to bring with them. Now woman Is
no better wife or mother because she chooses
to be nothing else, and there is no more
of an unpretending, well-bred hospitality i'll
their homes.
we know a bold little woman, who solved
the problem by drilling her cook indefatigably
in the preparation of two or three simple but
good dinners. OF one kind of soup at least
she is now absolutely sure the sirloin roast
is certain to be done to a turn; the potatoes
of feathery lightness; silver and napery are
g
maids. An hour or two of work in the morn
ing from herself furnishes cheap but delicate
entrees and dessert; and she is ready for all
corners. She finds that the simplest dinner
served d Ia Russo, with only the flowers and
fruit upon the table, while the carving is done
ont of sight, is not only infinitely more agree
able to the guests as to both sight and smell,
but is much more easily served. Having thus
given her best endeavOr In preparation, she
dismisses all weight from her mind, and sits
down as guest at her own table. ready to be
blind to and to make light of all failures.
Good cooking and serving, as she knows, are
important elements of success to hostess,
but not the most important. The meal and
its ceremony being the same as that to which
they are used daily, children and servants are
at ease; the home atmosphere is perceptible,
and it gives q relish and individuality to the
very food, just as the air of the woods does
to rasher of bacon brOiled over q campfire.
Our little lady, too has not that consciousness
that an effort is required of her-sOmething
bizarre, original. sensational, which Expresses
the majority of American hosts, especially in
the reception of distinguished guests. 1t is
owing to this wretched straining after effect
that our grand balls or banquets to foreign
notables have too often been marked by the
EXTREMIST pretension and bad taste. Men who
in their ordinary habits are quiet and we'll
bred, in the anxiety to make their mark on
the mind of the traveller. have been known to
tell vulgar stories to a poet to clap grave
divine on the back with jokes upon his ugli-
ness, or to drag world-famous philanthropists
over their houses to tell them the prices Of
the carpets and curtains. Our hostess respects
herself and her guests; she has tact, good
feeling, listens well; her dinners are sure to
be successful, though the soup should be cold
and the meats overdOne.
Capacity to manage large trust fund does not
seem to be greatly developed in England, il we may