The National tribune., 1909-06-10

The season of picnics is at hand, and
many a poor mother is driven almost to
distraction in her effort to know what
to prepare for the foray into the woods,
where ants, sand flies mosketos and
various other members of the bug fam
lily will make merry with the viands II
they are bit exposed beforehand. In
The first place, II is not a wise plan TO
take any real sticky provender along
or anything drippy. Let all the cake
you take be of solid kind. Layer cake,
jellv- cake chocolate cake, anything
that heat or humidity will soften.
Should he omitted from the bill of fare.
There are about 1000 kinds of sand
wfches that can be made for picnic,
but unless II is to be a very informal
affair of only few omit them. Take
bread and rolls, If you like, and let
every fellow make his own. The very
best kind of bread to take for n picnic
s a short. well-browned, thin baking
powder biscuit Now, it must be short,
almost pie-crusty in its crispness, and
Il must be nice and brown. Carry but
ter with you, and do the buttering after
Fou arrive on the grounds. If you camp
on the edge of a stream, bury your but
ter jar in the cool running water, and it
will come out in good shape.
To go with the biscuit veal loaf, If
properly made, is delicious, and needs
little effort to make it presentable. Beef,
well boiled so that it almost crumbles
lnder the knife and chilled before start
lng,,- is also good eating. Fried chicken
well. now, fried chicken is always appe-
tiZng, but it must be well fried and all
goldy brown and crisp. Each piece of
1t should be wrapped in well-oiled pa
per, and even then it will look just a
little mussy. Roasted chicken is also a
good thing to carry. Cut it after you
arrive at the camp. Don't take any
canned stuff if you can help it. We eat
too much canned goods for our health.
Of course, the timed sardines and sal
mon taste good to hungry person, and
I'm lieu of anything home-cooked will
"do."
Salads? Yes, various kinds. What
ever kind you select, prepare the dry
Ingredients at home and carry them
separately to the camp. You can wrap
them in oiled paper and pack in the
salad bowl. You have no idea how
much nicer they will look and taste
when mixed just before serving, and it
is not a bit more trouble. Fruits should
all be of a solid kind, and should be
served in their natural state as nearly
as possible. If they must be peeled and
sliced, do that at the camp; you will
not then have the juice dripping all
over everything in the picnic basket.
Coffee and tea can be made at home,
that tablespoonful to a glass or cup
will be quite sufficient. Put these in
wide-mouthed glass bottles-not jars,
but bottles into which you can put
clean corks. With the addition of cold
water they will both make delicious
drinks Or you can heat both in tin
buckets with tight covers. They will
not have the same fragrance as when
freshly made, but only a very discrimi-
mating taste can differentiate. If you
want lemonade, squeeze out your lem
ons at home, putting in wide-mouthed
bottles the strained juice. Strained,
mind you, for IL you leave pulp and
seeds in lemonade an hour you have a
bitter mess. Fill the bottle half fun of
the juice, and then pour in sugar to fill
the other half. Shake the bottle with
the cork in it till the juice and sugar
have formed a thick sirup. If you put
In the full quantity of sugar, none will
be needed in adding the water. A cou-
pie of tablespoonfuls of the juice will
make a delicious glass of lemonade. II
you want to be more ambitious and
serve punch, carry the other fruit with
you and slice it up in the bowl. then
pour on enough of the lemon juice and
add water. 1t makes a delightfully."-
cool and refreshing drink.
Never carry pies, custards or any
thing mushy or squashy to a picnic. If
you do, you will wish you hadn't.
Use paper tablecloths and napkins,
wooden plates, tin cups and paper sauce
dishes. Even wooden chopping bowl,
occurred to paper white, makes a fine
salad dish. Never carry dish that you
prize, and carry no dishes at all if you
can avoid ii. Pretty graniteware is so
rheap and is not breakable and is sani-
tary- You can get ii in all sizes and
styles. If you carry candy, let it be of
3 KIND that does not melt or get sticky
a picnic gotten up on these lines will
let you come home in a happy frame of
mind. hence viii be conducive to good
health.
Have picnics as often as you can. 1t
does you good to get away from the