1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
627 
Dinner in the Woods. 
This account of a corn roast may hold 
suggestions useful to young people who 
wish to entertain each other and a guest 
or two in a simple gypsy fashion. The 
picnic was held on a slope beneath tall 
hemlocks, where the land dipped down to 
a river bank. Part of the company came 
in a boat, and those who drove had a 
walk through an old field. It was there¬ 
fore decided to carry only such things as 
were necessary, but the rustic character 
of the feast made one of its chief charms. 
Twelve people attended the merrymak¬ 
ing. There had come in the boat 12 large 
teacups and 12 teaspoons packed in a long- 
handled frying pan, also a very large cof¬ 
fee pot filled with clear water. In a bas¬ 
ket, beneath the ears of sweet corn, were 
wooden plates, paper napkins, a carving 
knife and fork and a “side” of bacon. A 
pound of butter, an egg and some salt 
were there also. * 
One girl furnished coffee, sugar and 
plain bread and butter sandwiches. She 
had buttered the end of the loaf, then cut 
a thin slice, cut this across and folded 
the two halves together. Made in this 
way the bread can be cut very thin. She 
had made her sandwiches the last thing 
before leaving home, had lined a paste¬ 
board box with white paper, packed the 
sandwiches neatly in, and when all was 
done had wrapped the box in heavy paper 
and tied it securely. Thus kept from the 
air the bread had not dried when lunch 
time came. Cube sugar was the sort pro¬ 
vided, and four dozen cubes proved quite 
sufficient for the coffee drinking. An¬ 
other girl carried a large rich cake and a 
pint bottle of cream. One of the young 
men furnished the sweet corn, another 
brought fresh fruit, and a third came ten¬ 
derly caring for the contents of a paper 
bag which he hung high on a sapling till 
at the end of the feast, when marshmal¬ 
lows toasted over the coals added another 
round of fun and feasting. 
The girl who provided the bacon, butter 
and small items acted as cook, and had a 
dark woolen skirt in which she sat down 
before the fire and attended to the frying 
of the bacon. The lire was started as soon 
as the group assembled. The hemlock 
needles made a comfortable carpet, with 
no underbrush, though plenty of fallen 
bark and branches gave fuel close at 
hand. The best way to roast sweet corn 
is over the coals cf a large fire that has 1 
been built upon a circle of stones, the heat 
radiating from the stones being an im¬ 
portant item in the cooking. With each 
ear of corn cut sharply across at its base 
and speared upon a pointed stick the 
guests gather round the fire and hold and 
turn the corn just where it will grow toast- 
iest and best flavored. But on this hem¬ 
lock bank there was a sort of fireplace 
left by tormer campers-out. r l wo flat 
stones were bedded in tlie earth a foot or 
more apart, their tops being high enough 
to support whatever was to be cooked. 
Some smaller stones below gave a base 
for the coals and helped to store heat. 
The first move after the fireplace was 
heated was to set the coffee pot of clear 
water on the low hot stones at one side 
of the fire. Then some poles of green 
wood were cut and laid from stone to 
stone above the fire. On these the ears of 
corn were laid after being husked. They 
were rolled over as one side became 
browned, and when done were stacked up 
on one of the stones to keep warm till 
served. But before the corn had finished 
roasting the coffee had been made. 1 wo 
teacupfuls of ground coffee had been 
stirred with the raw egg and when the 
water in the coffee pot boiled the egg- 
moistened coffee had been stirred in. A 
brisk boil and the coffee was ready for 
serving. 
But now the cook was frizzling bacon 
in the hot pan over the fire, which had 
been brightened up by dry twigs. Soon 
the feast began. Some of the girls had 
plaited little doilies out of the inner husks 
of the corn, and laid one on each of the 
wooden plates. A sandwich was laid on 
these, then the cook added two slices of 
crisp bacon, and the first course was hand¬ 
ed around. A square breakfast cloth had 
been spread upon the ground as a central 
point for the picnic, but it served merely 
as a place where the butter, cream, sugar 
and salt might be found. Each feaster 
found a level niche for his cup of coffee 
and all helped in the serving. One youth 
had made himself of service by cutting 
for each a little forked branch of some 
clean shrub, and it was surprisingly easy 
to lift the bacon or take a helping of the 
salt with these woodland forks. 
Of the loitering, the jokes, the flavor of 
the viands, the picnic appetites, the many 
servings and the praise bestowed on 
cooks, coffee-maker and everything in gen¬ 
eral there is not here space to write. In 
due course the coffee pot ran dry, the 
cook was begged to frizzle no more bacon 
and the smokiest ears of corn were con¬ 
signed to the rubbish heap. Note that the 
rubbish heap was a well defined and scru- 
piously observed adjunct. On to it went 
the cornhusk doilies when the cake was 
served, leaving fresh plates. But at length 
even the last marshmallow had been 
toasted. Still, the fun was not over. 
Lounging there and watching the smoke 
making soft gray trails up amid the taper¬ 
ing tree boles and high green arches there 
was not a man and maiden so selfish in 
their own pleasing as to go away by their 
two selves up the river in the boat; there 
was none who knew a good story and did 
not tell it. If any had been at better pic¬ 
nics they did not mention it and though the 
city guests may have breakfasted at the 
St. Regis and dined at the Waldorf but 
the day before, they perhaps found the 
contrast striking enough to be pleasing, 
for not a word but praise had they for the 
corn roast. 
And the rubbish heap? Why, that 
was making the fanciful shapes of gray 
smoke amid the tree branches as the wind 
wafted it now toward the sun and again 
into the shadows. With plenty of dry 
branches to help on the flames even the 
corn husks and cobs disappeared, nor did 
the fire tenders desert their task till every 
last paper napkin and plate was cleared 
from the face of nature. 
PRUDENCE PRIMROSE. 
Some Good Meat Dishes. 
Goulash with Tomatoes.—This is an ex¬ 
cellent variation of this Hungarian stew. 
A pound of flank steak is cut into small 
cubes and a layer is placed over the bot¬ 
tom of a perfectly flat-bottomed kettle of 
good size; next a layer of sliced onions 
is added and so on until the kettle is as 
full as desired. Next add sufficient cold 
water to fill the kettle and to just cover 
the top layer of meat: then put the kettle 
over a steady, hot flame and let it come 
to a boil. About two teacupfuls of sliced 
or canned tomatoes are allowed to each 
quart of the onions and meat, and a dash 
of paprika; these tomatoes are now poured 
over the mixture, but not stirred in, as 
they gradually cook through the mass. 
The tomatoes are not added until the meat 
and onions have been brought to the boil¬ 
ing point. Let these ingredients simmer 
or gently boil for two hours. In the mean¬ 
time, have potatoes of uniform size and 
rather small, pared and ready. At the 
end of the two hours push the meat and 
onions aside—as the goulash is not to be 
stirred, unless it be absolutely necessary 
to prevent it from burning, and place the 
potatoes at one side. As soon as they are 
done, which will be in about half an 
hour, the goulash is ready. 
Veal and Ham Patties.—'One and a half 
pounds of veal, a quarter of a pound of 
bacon, two hard boiled eggs, three-quar¬ 
ters of a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of 
a teaspoonful of pepper, a little nutmeg, 
one teacup ful of water for gravy, or the 
bones of the veal may be boiled and this 
stock used for gravy. Grease some patty 
tins and line with the following paste: 
One-half pound of flour, four ounces of 
butter and half a teaspoonful of baking 
powder. Mix the butter into the flour, 
add the baking powder and make into a 
stiff paste with; water. Whe^ rolled out 
thinly, line the tins with it, cut lids from 
the remainder of paste and make a small 
hole in the center of each. Cut the veal, 
bacon and eggs into very small pieces, 
add the seasoning and the water or stock. 
Fill the patty tins with the mixture, wet 
the edges of the paste, put on the lids and 
brush the top with milk or beaten egg. 
Put in a hot oven and bake for half an 
hour. These pies are very good eaten 
cold. 
Potted Duck.—Fry carefully in iron ket¬ 
tle, if possible, six slices of salt pork. 
When brown remove pork and leave dr.p- 
pings, then put in kettle a sliced onion 
and a teacupful of water. Then cut up 
duck as for stewing, increase water to a 
quart, add duck, cover tightly, and stand 
on stove where it will cook briskly for 
an hour. Add water if necessary to pre¬ 
vent burning, season with small teaspoon¬ 
ful of salt and simmer a second hour un¬ 
less meat is found to be tender before that 
time. Make gravy as usual with one 
tablespoon ful of flour carefully mixed 
with water and enough of it stirred into 
the hot liquid to thicken it sufficiently 
Warm and season one can peas with des¬ 
sertspoonful of butter, saltspoon of salt 
and two shakes of pepper, and drain off 
the liquid before heating. Boil five sliced 
carrots in salted water until tender, drain, 
and season with small tablespoonful of 
butter. Serve these vegetables separate, 
or bank them up at either end of the 
platter on which the duck with the salt 
pork has been arranged. 
Beef Tongue en Casserole.—Washj a 
fresh tongue quickly, cover with boiling 
water and cook gently for an hour and 
three-quarters. Remove all skin and un¬ 
sightly portions and place in casserole or 
earthen stew pan with a cupful each of 
sliced carrots and minced celery, one-half 
ot a small onion if desired and a tea¬ 
spoonful of parsley. Add stock to cover 
the vegetables ; season well—of course this 
must be done according to each family’s 
taste—and place in a moderate oven for 
an hour and a half, removing the cover 
the last half hour. Make a brown sauce 
to serve with f tongue, to which add two 
tablespoonfuls of vinegar and chopped 
pickle. 
Stuffed Flank Steak.—Get a nice thick 
flank steak; instead of scoring it have it 
split to within an inch of the edge on sides 
and one end, thus forming a pocket. Fill 
this pocket with a bread dressing, made 
as for poultry, and close the opening. 
Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper 
and roll in flour. Put some drippings into 
a baking pan, let it get hot, put in the 
meat and bake in a hot oven. After 
about 10 minutes add a cupful of hot 
water, cover and cook in a slower oven 
from an hour to an hour and a half, 
basting frequently. Serve with the thick¬ 
ened gravy in the pan. If desired, in¬ 
stead of the pocket the dressing may be 
spread over the steak, which is then rolled 
up with the dressing inside it, and skew¬ 
ered and tied into a roll, which is baked 
as before directed. 
To live content with small means; to 
seek elegance rather than luxury, and re¬ 
finement rather than fashion; to be 
worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not 
rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk 
gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and 
birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; 
to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, 
await occasions, hurry never; in a word, 
to let the spiritual, unbidden and uncon¬ 
scious, grow up through the common— 
this is my symphony.—W. H. Channing. 
Painting for 
Profit 
No one will question the superior 
appearance of well-painted property. 
The question that the farmer asks is : 
“Is the appearance worth the cost?” 
Painting for appearance is undoubt¬ 
edly worth what it costs when you 
want to sell; whether it is worth what 
it costs when you don’t want to sell 
depends upon the paint you use. 
Poor paint is for temporary appear¬ 
ance only. Pure White Lead Paint 
is for lasting appearance and for pro¬ 
tection. It saves repairs and replace¬ 
ments costing many times the paint 
investment. 
The Dutch Boy trade mark is found 
only on kegs containing Pure White 
Lead made by the Old Dutch Process. 
SEND FOR BOOK 
“A Talk on Paint,” gives valuable 
information on the paint subject. Sent 
free upon request. 
NATIONAL LEAD COMPANY 
in whichever of the follow¬ 
ing cities is nearest you: 
New York, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, 
Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadel¬ 
phia (John T. Lewis & Broa. Co.) Pittsburgh 
(National Lead & Oil Co.) 
SATISFACTORY DIVIDENDS mean the highest 
rate that money will earn when SAFELY 
invested. Small savings usually earn 4# or 
loss. Under exceptionally favorable con¬ 
ditions, due to large operations for many 
years in the best loaning market, we offer 
PERFECT SECURITY and pay LARGER DIVIDENDS 
than the average savings institution. 
5%aYear 
reckoned from day of re¬ 
ceipt to day of withdrawal. 
References from every 
State in the Union. 
New York Banking De¬ 
partment snpervision. 
Assets $1,750,000. 
INDUSTRIAL SAVINGS AND LOAN CO., 
5 Times Bldg., Broadway and 42d Street, N. Y, City. 
CORNED BEEF 
We use only FRESH BEEP, and then nothing 
but the plates. WE GUARANTEE THE 
QUALITY. Everybody orders again, as the 
CORNED BEEF is as we represent. Write for 
prices—will answer promptly. 
GEO. NYE & COMPANY 
_ Springfield, Mass. _ 
RRfllfFN PHfWICQ-We offer an exceptional 
UnUALlI UUUMLO trade in good, clean, fresh 
broken cookies of the same high quality that has made 
our products famous. Sold in boxes of 30 to35 lbs. at 
$1.50 per box, f. o. b. Worcester. Check or money 
order must accompany order. 
New England Biscuit Co., Worcester, Mass. 
~kk 
FUMA 
■ ■ Is Ills Prairie Dogs, 
' ■'Woodchucks,Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
•‘The wheels of the 
gods grind slow but 
exceedingly sma’l.” So the weevil, but you can stop 
“Fuma Carbon Bisulphide”.",;Siffi 
EDWARD R. TAYLOR, Penn Van, N. Y. 
Simpson-Eddystone 
Silver Greys 
Patterns of exceptional beauty in large 
variety. 
Suitable for dresses any time of year. 
Highest quality of material, and abso¬ 
lutely fast color. 
Some designs with a new silk finish. 
Ask your dealer /or Simpson- 
Eddystone Sliver Greys. 
EDdystoKE 
PRINTS The Eddystone Mfg. Co. (Sole Makers) Philadelphia. 
Three generations of Simpsons 
have made Simpson Prints. 
