Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-08-19
PAPER BAG
COOKING
Great System Perfected by NJ.
SOyer, Famous London Chef.
HOW l COOKED A COMPANY
DINNER.
BY Martha MccuIIoch Williams.

Being reasonably vain OF my cook
ing when 1 go and learn new ways
the next thing is to show them off
Hence, my ourse-dinner-paper bag
ged of course. Likewise, a company
dinner. 1t would be a deadly insult
to good food even to think of serving
it in courses to one lone feeder.
My guests came a trife late-by
the time they had off hats and wraps
I was ready to take them in the
kitchen. This because of a shrewd
suspicion that they thought l had
been telling fairy tales-they could
not conceive of real food, coming real
ly cooked out of paper bag.
My people shifted gratefully as they
entered the kitcnen. Truly things
were not half bad, by the smell. It
was very mild-hardly more than an
agreeable faint. A hot dish sat ready
upon the paper covered table. I lifted
out the broiler, set it beside the dish,
slipped the edge of the dish well
under the bag resting upon the
broiler, showed it we'll to the middle
and opened it. Then came forth in
full strength the smell of fish not
rankly offensive, but inviting. Inside
the bag there was halibut, la min
ute-it had been cooking fifteen
minutes, was done to a turn, flaky,
faVorous, and literally swimming in
a sauce of it's own juices, mingled
with those of the tomatoes covering
it, the lemon that had been squeezed
on it, and the butter with which it
had been literally dotted.
To go with it there were baked po-
tatoes-baked in bag, and mealy,
without a trace of scorch. The diners
vowed they had a new, a singularly
fine flavor, somewhat approaching
that of roasted chestnut. They
praised the ashland ate in a way
to show it deserved the praise. Still,
I think they wondered bit-was this
one bagful all they were to get by
way of reward for coming all the way
to Harlem? They had not noted that
the stove was still in commission
possibly through seeing neither pot
nor pan on top of it.
But when they were graciously per-
mitted to help take away the fish
course and see the taking up of
steak, also in bag, they evidently
felt better. Especially when the po-
tato bag yielded sweets, which had
been cooked along with the white
ones, and kept warm underneath, and
still another bag furnished tomatoes
stuffed with scraped corn. The toma-
toes had cooked a little too long, and
came out pretty much huddled, but
good for all that. They were eaten
to the last street.-The steak also
looked pretty ghostly at the finish.
Since this was bag dinner salad
was conspicuously absent. Room must
be left for the apple dumplings. When
they came on, my dinner guests plain
ly suspected me Of the black art. The
dumplings, made ready in advance,
had been bagged as the bell was ring
ing, popped in the oven after I had
welcomed my company, and had
cooked there while we ate the other
things. The sauce for them, also pre-
viously prepared, had kept warm over
hot water, in something covered. If
anybody ever made better dumplings,
it was never my luck to eat thereof.
Black coffee, fruit and cigars for
the gentlemen, wound up the perform
ance. In three hours, working single
handed, I set my table, cooked my
dinner, having all materials in hand,
read an evening paper, and even loaf
ed a minute or two now and then.
Copyright, 1911, by the Associated
Literary Press.)