April, 1914 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
143 
HELPS TO THE 
HOUSEWIFE 
TABLE AND HOUSEHOLD SUGGESTIONS OF INTER- 
EST TO EVERY HOUSEKEEPER AND HOUSEWIFE 
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THE TEA-TABLE 
By Barbara Caye 
EA drinking in the afternoon is rapidly be- 
coming a Hxed American habit. And it is 
becoming a habit, or an institution, or what- 
ever you please to call it, because people 
really like it, not because it is a fad copied 
from our British cousins across the water. 
No single feature will contribute more to a general air 
of charm and hospitality than a well-appointed and at- 
tractively provisioned tea-table. Of course, it is most im- 
portant that all the tea-making paraphernalia and the cups, 
saucers and spoons should be dainty and tastefully ar- 
ranged, but it is also equally important that the biscuit, toast, 
sandwiches and other goodies be toothsome and inviting. 
If it is not convenient to have a small table that may be 
kept in constant readiness with the tea things on it, the 
next best thing is to have the necessaries brought in on a 
capacious tray. In any event, whether your tea-kettle be 
of silver or brass, keep it and its accompanying spirit lamp 
immaculate and well polished. 
If you have a tea-table that is kept set all the time, and 
you do occasionally have a large linen cloth thrown over 
the whole outfit to keep off the dust, be sure to remove it 
immediately after the dust-bearing crisis is over. There is 
nothing more ghastly than to enter a drawing-room and 
find a tea-table swathed in cloths. It is like coming unex- 
pectedly upon a funeral or a wake. 
Your tea-cloth and doilies or napkins need not be elabo- 
rate, but have them of some unusual and attractive pattern 
if possible. It adds a note of interest. The same is true 
of the china. If it is pretty and dainty and of some unusual 
color and pattern, it will lend a charm that nothing else can. 
As to methods of making tea it would be worse than foolish 
to attempt to give advice, for each woman has her own par- 
ticular way which she considers superior to all other ways. 
One thing, however, ought to be borne in mind. Some 
people like cream in their tea, some like lemon and some 
like neither, and if you wish your hospitality to be well 
thought of you will see that it is possible to dispense your 
brewing in any of these ways. 
Some people, of course, are perfectly satisfied with very 
thin slices of bread buttered, b.ut it always seems a little fiat 
and monotonous not to have anything else, especially if one 
has a sweet tooth, as most people have. One usually ex- 
pects to have some kind of bread for cup number one and 
then top off with a bit of cake to go with cup number two. 
Sandwiches of small, thin slices of bread cut in rectangu- 
lar strips with the crust removed can be made with so 
many kinds of delightful filling that it would take a small 
volume to give all the recipes, so we shall have to be con- 
tent with mentioning only one sort that is particularly tooth- 
some. T'o make the filling paste, take the amount of cream 
cheese (as dry as possible) requisite for the batch of sand- 
wiches. Crush fine on a fiat board with a rolling-pin I'.ng- 
lish walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts — others may be added 
if desired — and mix with the cheese, making a stiff paste. 
Moisten this with as much sherry as the mixture will hold 
without becoming unmanageably soft. When the sand- 
wiches are made, wrap them up in a damp cloth to keep 
them moist until wanted. 
Richer than bread and yet not so rich as cake is a kiiul 
of nutbread, for which we give the recipe taken from an 
old New England source. 
NUT BKE.M) 
T'o make excellent nut bread, take one egg, one cup ol 
sugar, one cup of sweet milk, two cups of white flour, one 
teaspoonful of baking soda, two teaspoonfuls of cream of 
tartar and one cupful of chopped nuts. 
Mix the egg, sugar and milk with the flour and then stir 
In the soda, cream of tartar anil nuts. .After well mixed 
and the nuts are distributed, put in a narrow bread pan in 
a warm place .and let it rise for twenty minutes. Bake lor 
three quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. 
It is only fair to add that this recipe has a trick of turning 
out very differently in the hands of different makers. 
As we said before, a bit of cake is always delightful to 
eat with the second cup of tea, and of the possible kinds the 
number is legion, but, if the comfort and peace of inind of 
one’s guests are to be considered, some discrimination must 
be exercised in selecting cake provender. It is embarrassing 
and vexing to have thrust at you a cake so crumbly or so 
messy with icing that most of it has to be left in tfie plate. 
There are several excellent recipes for small cakes — and 
small cakes are usually far preferable for teas both from 
considerations of convenience to the guest and economy to 
the hostess — which are particularly delicious and also easy 
to manage. 
Of these, little, round, spicy glngersnaps or ginger nuts 
with a kick to them and a very “morish" taste, come from 
an old Pennsylvania family cook-book and arc made as 
follows : 
SPICE (JINGERSNAPS 
One quart of molasses, one pound of sugar, one pound of 
butter, four tablespoonfuls of ginger, two tablespoonfuls of 
ground cloves and two tablespoonfuls of cinnamon. If de- 
sired, a touch of cayenne pepper may be added, but the 
ginger and cloves will make them ijuite hot enough for the 
taste of most people. 
Mash the butter and sugar thoroughly together, then add 
the molasses, stirring in gradually. When well mixed, stir 
in the spices, so that they may be thoroughly distributed. 
Then stir in enough flour to make a stiff, dry dough. I his 
will be in the neighborhood of two pounds. Knead thor- 
oughly and roll out thin. Cut out in little roundels about 
