•Tan LAKY, 19'20 



G L K A X 1 X e, S I X L! K K C U J- T U U E 



25 



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these days 

 industrial 

 unrest, insidi- 

 ous Bolsliovisni, 

 .laylicrht hold- 

 ups and niurdors, 

 low salaries and 

 high wages, and 

 a shortage ot" 

 nearly all neces- 

 sities combined with incredibly high prices, 

 it is not strange that the spirit of hospitality 

 has suffered. Stories of colonial days or of 

 the old South, when nearly every family 

 kept open house and the chance guest was 

 welcome to remain as long as he pleased, are 

 delightful; but I have no desire to go back 

 to just that sort of hospitality, for the 

 friends we most enjoy entertaining are not 

 apt to be the ones who arrive unexpectedly 

 and remain indefinitely. 



But I deplore the fact that on account of 

 the shortage of household help and high 

 prices" of food most of us are unable to en- 

 tertain each other as often as wc could wish. 

 When I say entertain I do not allude to for- 

 mal parties. I know just one woman who 

 says she enjoys receptions, and as for the 

 men, there never was one who regarded 

 with anything but horror the prospect of 

 shaking hands with a receiving line, and 

 later standing with a row of other unfortu- 

 nates, holding a cup and plate containing a 

 tiny sandwich or cake, balancing wearily 

 from one fallen arch to the other with his 

 face set in a sickly smile. Between you 

 and me, the only drawback to being the 

 mother of two fine boys is the prospect that 

 some time, when they are old enough to 

 marry, I may have to give something like 

 a reception for their wives. 



The kind of a party favored by men in- 

 cludes a good, square meal, served at the 

 regular time for a meal, with a good time 

 afterward. After such an evening, unless 

 one is hopelessly dyspeptic, he can go home 

 and sleep the sleep of the just, untroubled 

 by the wakefulness or nightmare that is 

 apt to follow "light refreshments" served 

 at the close of the evening. But, someone 

 objects, there is no way of entertaining your 

 friends that entails more work than a din- 

 ner party, and one can entertain so few at 

 a time that way. That is quite true, and it 

 is why I am going to talk about 

 Picnic Suppers. 



I don 't mean the picnic meal eaten out of 

 doors, the kind that was always understood 

 by that term when we were children, but 

 the modiern co-operative meal which gives 

 us a chance to meet our friends often with 

 a minimum amount of work for each house- 

 keeper instead of a maximum for one. A 

 visitor in our town once said she would al- 

 ways remember it as "the town of the Pic- 

 nic Supper." Not that picnic suppers are 

 confined to Medina, but, like dandelions, 

 they surely do flourish here. Scarcely a 

 week passes that I am not called up and re- 

 (piested to come to a picnic supper, accom- 



OUR FOOD PAGE 



Stancy Puerden 



1 



^^^^^^^^ 



lU 



panied by my 

 husband and 

 some food, the 

 latter probably 

 even more desir- 

 ed by the com- 

 mittee than the 

 former. Church 

 organizations, 

 clubs, lodges. 

 King's Daughters' circles, neighborhood 

 gatherings, and family parties are fed by 

 picnic suppers. 



Ever since I have been a housekeeper I 

 have belonged to a little social club com- 

 posed mainly of old schoolmates. The mem- 

 bers meet one evening a week with their 

 work for a couple of hours, at the various 

 homes in turn, no refreshments being served. 

 About once a month we have a party and 

 invite our husbands. The first few years a 

 committee of four was appointed for each 

 party, to act as hostesses and furnish all 

 the refreshments. In time these parties be- 

 came somewhat of a burden to the four on 

 the committee. Finally one bright member 

 suggested the picnic supper. We never 

 went back to the old laborious method of 

 entertaining the club, and having success- 

 fully held these picnic suppers for so many 

 years, we have a very good working sj'stem. 

 A committee of three, appointed for the 

 season, plans the menus and notifies each 

 member what she is to take. This work is 

 done as far as possible at the previous club 

 ineeting, to save telephoning. It is under- 

 stood that each member is to bring one dish, 

 such as fried chicken, scalloped potatoes, a 

 salad or cake, and six sandwiches. The sand- 

 wiches insure there being enough bread and 

 are easier to serve than bread and butter or 

 rolls. For the first year or two the commit- 

 tee did not designate what each member 

 should bring, aside from, the sandwiches, 

 thinking that in a club of 20 chance would 

 bring it about right. But after one party 

 viliere 90 per cent of the members were mov- 

 ed to take potato salad, the committee plan- 

 ned just how much of each article on the 

 menu was needed and assigned it according- 

 ly. If a member finds at the last minute 

 that she is unable to attend, it is understood 

 that she will furnish what she agreed to, 

 unless she gives the committee 24 hours' no- 

 tice. 



In addition to the food each member 

 packs in her basket plates, cups, silverware, 

 sherbet glasses or dessert plates, and nap- 

 kins for herself and husband. The hostess 

 furnishes hot coffee, cream, and sugar and 

 provides tables, lunch cloths, and chairs for 

 the crowd, which is usually about 36 out of 

 a possible 40 each time. Each member, as 

 she arrives with her husband, unpacks her 

 basket, arranges the food she has brought 

 in the kitchen, and places her dishes and 

 silverware o7i one of the tables. Usually 

 two or three members assist the hostess in 

 serving, and after the meal is over each 

 iiieinber gathers her soiled dishes and nap- 



