The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1884-08-07
PICNICS.
How to Provide for Pleasant Excursion into the
Woods.
lAug,Gst Vide A,rake.l
GupSTaNrTArS

As you wish to provide literally, every hun
dred who come will need the following amount,
the same or in kind Either $50 sandwich
rolls, or eight large loayes of homemade bread
made into sandwiches if made as they should
be, most of your party viii prefer these tosweet
things, excepting only the juvenile cake-sharks.
The bread should be baked only the day before,
cut very thin, not buttered, but spread with
beef OF ham. chopped fine as if grated, and
mixed with salad dressing. The sliced sand
witch Is not easy 10 manage neatly without
plate, knife and fork. II rolls are sent, part Of
the inside should be seooped out and filed with
the sandwich mixture.
If cold meats are TO be served, your hundred
will call for two small hams, or % pounds beet,
five cold tongues sliced thin, and dozen large
chickens. Salad IS relished by everybody, and
is not expensive as veal and lamb may be
mixed with chicken, while fresh chopped cab
bage, beets hard eggs, parsely and dozen
other ingredients may combine with the celery
and lettuce Salmon salad or fresh white fish
salad, will give variety, and, in serving, salad
only calls for saueers and spoons like ice cream.
If you want to manage with least trouble and
risk, instead of borrowing the plates and silver
of the entire parish, let the committee order
gross of wooden plates and saucers which come
at good deal less than cent apiece, and viii
last number of picnics. With paper napkins
in plenty, things are more civilized, and you
,
rowing and returning things. If anybody de-
sires better, it is open for them to bring their
own napkins, fork and spoon as used TO be the
custom of good society at all feasts only 200
years ago.
As long as the great American picnic-goer
likes pickles, you may as we'll provide them,
for the relief of possible bilious tendencies II
mention two gallons of homemade pickles,
let them be in variety-cucumbers dark with
spice or yellow with mustard, punches of bar
berry, caulifower, sweet picked peaches, cher
ries, plums, but all we'll drained and convent
| emit for handling All pickles OF preserves for
| picnics should be put up with stems on
| Take few loaves of bread and box of but
ter for people who prefer plain bread and but
| ter with their chicken and eucumbers. 1t is
much nicer freshly cut, and spread as wanted
Mild cheese, cut into two-ineh bits half an inch
| thick, will carry well in a napkin in q tin box.
| Five pounds will probably be enough. as the
| liking for cheese is not universal. Eggs take
| well in shape OF egg sandwiches, sliced when
| hard boiled between very thin slices of bread
| and butter; so does veal loaf, which is chopped
veal bound together with beaten eggs, and
| favored with herbs, then baked in bread pans
so that it can be sliced.
! No, / shall not forget the cake, and you may
depend on its being the only thing that other
| people will not forget either. 1t is easy know
ing how much to provide. A common scalloped
cake pan, 10 inches across, will give IS good
| Slices brick pan of the same length ten slices
or 10 as you choose to cut them. Rich fruit and
black cake are not over half an inch thick.
| A dozen loaves in all of cup cake, sponge,
chocolate, fruit and lady cake, should be
| enough for 100 people, with 125 little cakes
baked in patty pans, which may include pound
| and currant Dundee and Marseilles cakes.
Twice as many cookies, jumbles, ginger snaps
and Brighton biscuit, will prove enough fer the
/ lx1rH 1a6 oil n
fruit tarts are certain to be called for by every
one, so ask to have plenty of them. if any are
| furnished. Where dozen or 20 families do the
baking, it is as little trouble to have things in
| proportion as to have loads of frosted pound
cake and only two or three Of anything else.
| BEVERAGES.
| Beverages in variety are too much trouble
| for large volunteer parties. Content yourself
| with lemonade, not too sweet, and plenty OF
ice water for everybody, taking two or three
! clean casks or kegs along and 3 basket OF cheap
tumbers. 1t is better, however, for everybody
to bring small baskets with napkins, cups and
spoons, or whatever extras are fancied. Re-
member it takes three large lemons to make
| two quarts of lemonade with the most econom-
| ical skill and calculate accordingly. If you
must manage with fewer lemons than you like,
press them with lemon squeezeI at home and
| pour boiling water on them, quart to dozen
| lemons. Carry this, lemons and all, in COW
cred jar, set in a wooden pail and strain
through linen cloth into the ice water, add
| ing to bring up the strength, if required, two
| or three teaspoonfuls of powdered citric acid,
not tartaric. Citric acid is condensed lemon
juice anyhow. And don't let any one spoil
| the lemonade by using anything but white
| sugar in it. Citric acid and white sugar with
| the grated peel of three lemons viii make bet
ter lemonade than the washy stuff usually
served, where dozen lemons float in slices on
half-barrel or so of tepid water which tastes
| strongly of muscavado sugar. Bottled lemon
soda and cold tea with thin slices of lemon in
| it with sugar, but no milk, are popular, but do
| have them iced, for fiat beverages well summed
| in July air SAVIOR too much of cheap excursions.
| Iced milk with the cream in may be taken in
| jugs, but the best way of carrying all such
things is in half barrel or firkins, half filed
with pounded ice and sawdhst, in which the
bottles, jugs and pals can DO set, the whole
covered with many layers Of paper and piece
/! of carpet.