Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1920-12-21

lea ouo lOooSs
The Joke about the young bride not
knowing how to boil water without
burning It sounds a., but there Ii more
point tn the jnke than one may suppose.
For pothing 90 mars the delicacy Of .
pot OF tea 90 poorly, or rather, insum
There 10 An old rhyme that goes some
thing like this:
"Unless the teakettle boiling be,
Filling the teapot spells the tea."
And the same thing applies to coffee.
Too often the water that IL poured over
the latter is boiled water, to be sure, but
not boiling water-it has been allowed
% cool, and as result the coffee IL
carcely more than colored liquid.
Afternoon tea plays an important role
in the social life Of the day and every
potential hostess, II she 10 wise, makes II
point to learn how to make Q CUP Of
tea par excellence-she discovers the
best kind of tea to use for light bever-
age 10 the afternoon and the right kind
Of pot to steep 1t In, and the necessity of
boiling water afresh for every service.
But what shall she serve with tear
She decides upon toast, for 1t 10 one OF
the things that most people never weary
of when It is we'll made, crisp and OF
tempting favor and fine of grain. II she
has mastered the art Of toast-makipg,
there are number of delectable dishes
| that she can concoct with II as basic
Welsh rarebit, for instance, and q club
sandwich, etc.
1t IL the f1ne.grained bread that always
makes the best toast, and It ought not
be cut into slices more than half an inch
thick. Warm the bread thoroughly be.
fore actually toasting it--it will max
the toast lighter. Heat 1t on one side
and turn II before browning 1t. Notice
how the f]rst heated surface contracts
and the outside surface rounds on,
through this drying of the bread.
Do not dry the bread too slowly, OF
the result will be exactly like cake, OF
bread that has been cooked by too slow
fire. Singed bread is never good.
When the bread is thoroughly hot, bur
not too dry, nor TOO moist, the result Il
that fine, delicate brown that 10 so psls.
table.
Toast that welters In butter 10 not
wholesome, all opinions to the contrary
notwithstanding. Have the butter
warm and butter the toast while bot,
but do not press down the butter upon
the toast, unless the latter is totally
dried out. Then 1t does not make 60
much difference. If you can possibly
avoid 1t, do not lay one buttered slice
upon another.
To return to the tea; 1t has been de
cided by jury of experts that the best
sort of pot is the upglazed earthen
ware type. When making ready for the
tea, fill the pot with hot wafer and let
stand while boiling the water for the
tea. For each cup allow one teaspoon.
full of tea. For sanitary reasons the
experienced housewife pours little
boiling water over the dry tea and then
pours 1t off again, and then adds the
amount of water required. Let the
boiling water and the tea stand for
about FIVE minutes and then pour all the
tea from the grounds into another hot
pot, If there is to DO another serving "all
round"
In summing up, remember these
items: Water to be boiling must be dis
turbed over It's entire surface, the water
itself must be gslloping and this is the
only temperature at which to use the
water. The pot must be hot and the
time OF drawing short. As for toast,
dry bread, quick fires, and carefully sp,
piled butter will give the best results
j. W. w.