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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1918 



c 



FOE a y e a r 

 and a half I 

 have been 

 writing for Our 

 Food Page and 

 have nevej' be- 

 fore mentioned 

 dining - loonis. 

 However, it was 

 not for lack of 



convictions on the subject, for I 

 firmly believe the best of food is not 

 going to fulfill its mission unless 

 eaten amid pleasant surroundings, 

 and, I miglit add, in pleasant so- 

 ciety. 



Let me describe uiy ideal suiimier 

 dining-room. In the hist place it 

 has no telephone. Telephones are 

 sometimes exasperating conveniences. Also 

 there is no mahogany furniture to dust, no 

 rugs to clean, no windows, mirrors, nor 

 lights to wash. But you never saw a more 

 beautiful dining-room. Underneath the foot 

 there is yielding green turf, overhead are 

 blue sky and soft, fleecy clouds, constantly 

 varying in tint and formation. Tall trees 

 give shade and coolness, the air is the pur- 

 est, and in every direction is beauty of 

 lairdseape, rolling hills, a brook, rocky 

 banks, rich farm lands, all so quiet, so 

 peaceful that one can almost forget that a 

 cruel war is raging in the same world. 



No jazz band ever deafened unfortunate 

 victims in that dining-room, but we have 

 wonderful music, sweet bird voices accom- 

 panied by the soft ripple, ripple of the 

 near-by brook as it slips over its rocky 

 course, and sometimes one catches the mel- 

 low tinkle of a distant cowbell. 



If the dining-room is somewhat lacking in 

 conventional furniture, it by no means lacks 

 conveniences. There is a gracefullv curv- 



OUR FOOD PAGE 



Stancy Puerden 



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i n g old log 

 which does duty 

 as a seat or side- 

 board, according 

 to the mood of 

 the diners. In 

 the bed of the 

 brook and for a 

 wide space each 

 side of it are flat 

 slabs of sandstone which are liseful 

 for various purposes. Broad ])ieces 

 of it under the tabkndoth make a 

 hrni foundation for certain tall dish- 

 es. Other slabs may be built into 

 a health for a fire, if we_hapi)en to 

 plan a corn roast or to fry potatoes 

 or eggs. 

 There are shrubs in plenty oAa height 

 to make convenient hat and coat racks, and, 

 if you love to lie flat on your back and watch 

 the clouds, there are places where the 

 ground curves gently to make a most de- 

 lightful couch. The small children are much 

 more willing to wash their fingers in the brook 

 than in the prettiest cutglass finger bowl, 

 and they are not only willing, but anxious 

 to risk a sudden and unexpected bath by 

 paddling barefoot on the slippery bottom of 

 the brook. 



In the Puerden family picnics are gen- 

 eral very sim})le, iinpromptu affairs. Some- 

 times ''the tired business man" telephones 

 home an hour or so before the evening meal, 

 suggesting that we make it a j^icnic. Some- 

 times the inspiration comes from another 

 member of the family. Quite often another 

 family or two accompany us, but we can 

 have a blissful time by ourselves, if no one 

 else happens to be in a picnicky mood. V/e 

 have even taken our breakfast out i)icnic 

 fashion. 



Almost any sort of a meal can bo ailaptcd 



Here's the ideal .sunnner (liiiinuidoiii — ; 



