The Expert Waitress: A Manual For The Pantry, Kitchen, And Dining-Room

THE EXPERT WAITRESS

A MANUAL FOR THE PANTRY, KITCHEN, AND DINING-ROOM BY NEW YORK HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1894, by Harper &amp; Brothers . All rights reserved. TO THE COLUMBIA CLUB OF WORKING GIRLS THIS LITTLE BOOK Is Dedicated by THE AUTHOR...

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PREFACE

The papers entitled “The Expert Waitress” are intended rather as a working model than as a set of rules from which there is no appeal. It is recognized that tastes and opinions vary as much as do the various dining-rooms in which they are expressed. In writing these papers, one idea has been kept in mind: No rule has been laid down that has not a good reason for its existence. Some things, desirable in themselves, have been omitted because they are not possible to one pair of hands and feet, eve

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Breakfast

Oranges. Pearled Oats with Cream. Lamb Chops. Creamed Potatoes. Bread. Hot Muffins. Butter. Coffee. Milk. Cream or Hot Milk. The breakfast given is a usual one in many households. Learn to serve this properly, and it will be easy to make changes where ideas vary as to comfort and convenience. To serve the breakfast given there will be needed: Napkins, tumblers, salt cups, pepper boxes, salt spoons, butter plate and knife, bread-and-butter plates, bread plate, bread knife, bread board

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Luncheon

Panned Oysters. Beefsteak. Claret. Apollinaris. Spaghetti. French Fried Potatoes. Gherkins. Bread. Butter. Fruit Tarts. Cocoa. Centre-piece of flowers, ferns, or confections, napkins, tumblers, claret glasses, bread-and-butter plates, butter plate and knife, bread plate, board and knife, salt cups, pepper boxes, salt spoons, ice pitcher, trays. A dining-room, aired for a few minutes after breakfast, will be fresh for luncheon; but the thermometer should be consulted to see whether th

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Dinner

Consommé. Sherry. Olives. Salted Almonds. Broiled Bass , Maître d’hôtel Sauce . Claret. Roast Lamb , Mint Sauce . Green Pease. Baked Tomatoes. Potato Croquettes. Lettuce Salad. Crackers. Cheese. Neapolitan Pudding. Coffee. To serve this dinner you will need a heavy table-cloth, a linen table-cloth, carving-cloths, dinner napkins, flower bowl, candelabra, carafes, decanters, tumblers, sherry and claret glasses, salt cups, pepper boxes, salt spoons, bread plate, olive dishes, almond di

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Supper

Bouillon in Cups. Chicken in Aspic Jelly. Roast Ham. Saratoga Potatoes. Olives. Rolls. Mustard Pickles. Butter. Salad Romaine. Crackers. Cheese. Almond Pudding. Coffee. To serve this supper you will need: Heavy table-cloth, linen table-cloth, carving-cloths, napkins, doilies, flower bowl, candlesticks, carafes, tumblers, salt cups, pepper boxes, salt spoons, plate for rolls, butter plate and knife, bread-and-butter plates, olive dishes, pickle dishes, and forks. Supper is served,

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Afternoon Tea

For afternoon tea you need: Two small tables, fringed or embroidered tea cloths, doilies, an urn for bouillon, bouillon cups, spoons, a teakettle, teapots, tea caddy, sugar bowls, cream jugs, sugar tongs, teacups and saucers, teaspoons, a pitcher for iced water, tumblers, plates for finger rolls, plates for small cakes, bonbon dishes. The afternoon tea which may properly be placed under the head of receptions is not here considered. To serve it requires more than one person. The simple afternoon

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Picnic and Travelling Luncheons

Choose a drawer or shelf on which to keep all the neat boxes which otherwise would be thrown away. With them put cords, small, wide-mouthed bottles, with suitable corks, a package of paraffine paper, and some light wrapping paper. With these accessories at hand it is an easy matter to put up a few sandwiches, some olives or tiny pickles, and some wafers or cake. If picnic luncheons are frequent in summer and the waitress assists the cook in putting them up, she can save much time and many mistak

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Care of Dining-Room

Suppose a dining-room in which the movable furniture consists of a table, a sideboard, a side-table, a dinner wagon, a screen, and twelve chairs. In the middle of the floor is a large rug which covers all except a polished border of three feet from the walls all around the room. The two windows are draped with curtains, there are pictures on the walls and candelabra and ornaments on the mantel. In one corner of the room is a closet, with glass doors, for glass, and in another corner one similar

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Care of Pantry

Neatness and order in your pantry will depend in great measure upon the way you clear your table. If you look upon your butler’s pantry as a dumping-ground, then dirt and disorder will be inevitable. But, on the contrary, if you consider it a workshop, to be kept shipshape, you will avoid these dangers. Shipshape means a place for everything and everything in its right place. Make up your mind in the beginning where you want to lay your knives, where you want your silver, which is the best place

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Washing Dishes

To wash dishes, silver, and knives, you need: A clean sink, plenty of hot water, soap without much soda in it, a dish drainer, dish cloths and mops, a soap shaker, a cake of sapolio, a bottle of dilute ammonia, a knife cleaner, plenty of clean, dry towels. Make a suds not too strong. Too much soap quickly takes color and gilding off from china. Never leave soap lying in the water. Begin with the glass, and see that every glass is emptied before you begin to wash. Cold water in one, some milk in

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Care of Silver, Etc.

Once every week your silver should be thoroughly polished. First clean with electro-silicon, or any perfectly smooth powder, mixed with a little alcohol and water. Rub with soft cloths or chamois, and use a soft brush where necessary. Sometimes it is impossible to get all the powder out of tracery and filigree work. In that case hold under boiling water and dry quickly. If you have a Vienna coffee-pot, Benares brass trays, or similar articles to clean, rub first with electro-silicon and a mixtur

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Lamps

Dining-room lamps are either a source of great pleasure or of perpetual torment. Any one who washes dishes according to the directions given will not have to be told to have always a spotless chimney and no oil on the outside of jars. To prevent oil from oozing over the top of the burner, turn the wick down after the light is out. Rub the wicks, do not cut them. A new wick must be started right. Loose threads should be clipped off to start with, but when once in shape the necessity for clipping

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Carving

The chair placed for a carver must be high enough to allow the work to be done comfortably without the carver being obliged to stand. The platter must be large enough to hold the entire joint or bird when carved, without any piece falling over the edge of the platter. A waitress should make sure before placing a dish in front of the carver that the platter is really hot; if it is not the dish gravy will become chilled, and consequently unfit for use, before it can be served. See that no string o

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Care of Carvers

Fine carvers should be treated with the same respect as fine razors. They should be laid always by themselves. On no account should the edge of one carver touch that of another carver, nor should it touch any other hard substance. A carver must always be sharpened on its steel before it is offered for use, unless a contrary direction is given, and when necessary should be taken without delay to the shop of a careful workman to have the edge renewed. It is safest to replace carvers in their own c

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General Rules

The air of a dining-room must be fresh, and not too warm. Furniture must be free from dust. Table-cloths must be laid straight and smooth. Side-tables must be draped. Napkins must be folded simply, and not in fanciful shapes, as fans, etc. The edge of a knife must be turned towards the plate; bowls of spoons and tines of forks turned up. Knives and spoons must be placed at the right of a plate; forks at the left. Place knives and forks in the order in which they are to be used; the first one use

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Miscellaneous Instructions

Dainty meals are served in a great many houses where there is neither time nor inclination for the number of courses which are considered necessary at other tables. Perfection of serving, that is, perfect comfort, should be aimed at as much in one case as in the other. There should be absolute cleanliness and noiseless movement. Meals should be ready on time, and there should be no occasion to wait for things that ought to be close at hand. Time may be gained without causing confusion, if proper

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Useful Suggestions

In order to do any work in the best manner it is necessary that one should be strong and well. To become strong and to keep well some simple rules must be understood and carefully followed. One may be blessed with good health, but no constitution can stand the strain made upon it when the ways and means for preventing fatigue and disease are disregarded. To keep good health it will be necessary to form carefully and to continue steadily nice habits of personal cleanliness. Personal cleanliness i

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In the Invalid’s Room

It may be objected that the sick-room is not a place for the waitress—that the trained nurse is also the waitress of her patient. This is often true, for in cases of extreme illness it is many times unsafe to allow the confusion of voices with the noise of movement which accompanies the entrance of one unaccustomed to invalids. There are, however, numerous instances of transient illness or indisposition which are to be considered. If a little girl has had croup in the night, and must be kept in

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Truthfulness in the Waitress

A waitress should be truthful in spirit, as well as truthful regarding the letter of her contract. We are told sometimes that this is impossible; that it is necessary to tell some falsehoods in order to secure a good place, or to keep one after being in it for a time. But this is not so. An expert waitress need never be without a place, and she need never stay in a place for lack of another after real difficulties have arisen in her way. How do I know this? Because perfect service never goes a-b

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Adaptability

When a waitress has gone into a home, and has made a contract which is satisfactory to herself and to her employer, she will need to adapt herself to her new surroundings, as she must not expect that they will in all things adapt themselves to her. The first thing to which she may have to adapt herself is the fact that she is not looked upon as a person in whom one can repose perfect confidence. But she must remember that waitresses of the old order have in many cases abused their position, that

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A Servant’s Contract

One reason of the lack of confidence which exists between mistress and maid is the constant change which takes place between the employers and the employed. If a remedy is to be found for this—and a remedy must be found—it will be necessary to know the reason why, with some exceptions, maids are seeking good places, and good places are waiting for the right maids to come and fill them. Without doubt the chief reason is the lack of a clear understanding between mistress and maid at the beginning

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BOOKS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD.

THE TECHNIQUE OF REST. By Anna C. Brackett . Small 16mo , Cloth, 75 cents. THE HOUSE COMFORTABLE. By Agnes Bailey Ormsbee . 16mo , Cloth, $1 00. WHAT TO EAT—HOW TO SERVE IT. By Christine Terhune Herrick . 16mo , Cloth, $1 00. HOUSE-KEEPING MADE EASY. By Christine Terhune Herrick . 16mo , Cloth, $1 00. CRADLE AND NURSERY. By Christine Terhune Herrick . 16mo , Cloth, $1 00. CHOICE COOKERY. By Catherine Owen . 16mo , Cloth, $1 00. FAMILY LIVING ON $500 A YEAR. A Daily Reference-Book for Young and I

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