NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES
3 3433 07736325 1
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
BACHSLOR.S
CUPBQARp
Containing CrumbsCulled
from 1he Cupboards of
the. Great Vhu/edded
Dra-urinbs by
Boston
JoJmWLuce ^Company
^ >> ^-^^
'"'" yORK
.RY
79235
i-K FOUNDATIONS
1935 r
Copyright, i go 6
BY JOHN W. LUCE & Co.
Entered at Stationers' Hall
(JTolontal
Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.
Boston, U. S. A.
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TO
Sole Sutbtbor
OF
THE FIVE BACHELORS OF ' THE SHACK,"
I AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATE
THIS BOOK.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. ON BEING A BACHELOR .... i
II. THE IMPECUNIOUS BACHELOR ... 9
III. STOCKING THE CUPBOARD .... 19
IV. BACHELOR ETIQUETTE 29
V. AROUND THE CAMP FIRE .... 37
VI. CARVING AND GAME 49
VII. SNACKS OF SEA FOOD 57
VIII. A CHAT ON CHEESE 67
IX. DEVILS AND GRILLS 77
X. MEXICAN AND CREOLE COOKING . . 85
XL BACHELOR BONNES BOUCHEES ... 97
XII. CONCERNING CONDIMENTS . . . .113
XIII. VARIOUS VARIATIONS WITH VEGETABLES 125
XIV. A DISSERTATION ON DRINKS . . . 133
XV. WHAT TO PAY FOR WINES AND How TO
CHOOSE THEM 149
XVI. CORRECT WINES FOR ALL OCCASIONS . 161
XVII. TEMPERANCE DRINKS 177
XVIII. CORRECT CLOTHES 181
XIX. How A MAN MAY VALET HIMSELF . . 187
XX. How TO CLEANSE CLOTHING . . . 197
XXI. HANDY HINTS ON HOUSEKEEPING . . 205
w^ . a
A BACHELOR^!
CHAPTER I
"At! drink if you -will to the handsome
man,
Or the proud athlete undaunted.
And toast him, too, the husband true,
^^^lose faith has long been vaunted.
And drink to the strong and handsome
man.
But lift your glasses higher
^Vhen the toasts ring out, in a merry
shout,
For the man that men admire."
JAMES CLARENCE HARVEY.
BEING a bachelor is easy. Staying a
bachelor ah! there's the hitch! But
that's another story. Yes, it's easy to
be a bachelor, but to be a thorough-
bred, unless it is inbred and the single
man is " to the manner born," is more
difficult. It requires unlimited time,
patience and education as well as a
store of myriad bits of information
on a multitude of subjects.
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
The ' ' correct ' bachelor must not only know how ,
but he must know why. He must be a woman's man
and a man's man, an all-round ' good fellow." He
must " fit ' everywhere and adapt himself to all sorts
of society under all sorts of circumstances. Good
breeding and kindliness of heart are the essentials.
These, above everything, he must have ; and given them,
the other attributes may be easily acquired by study
and observation.
Any man may be a bachelor most men are at some
time in their lives. The day of the " dude " has passed
and the weakling is relegated to his rightful sphere in
short order. But to the bachelor the world looks for
its enjoyment and inspiration and gayety. Upon him,
as a matter of course, fall many burdens. These, if he
knows how to bear them, are speedily transformed into
blessings and counted as privileges.
Have not some of the world's greatest men enjoyed
lives of single-blessedness? Have not some of its
greatest bon-vivants, epicures, artists, musicians, and
writers led the solitary life from preference rather than
necessity ?
1 I am a bachelor," says one gallant, " because I love
all womankind so well I cannot discriminate in favor
of the one."
Bachelors are the most charming of entertainers.
What woman ever refuses an opportunity to chaperon
at a bachelor dinner or studio tea? What debutante
does not feel secretly ecstatic at the very idea of look-
2
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
ing behind the scenes and peeping into the corners of
some famous bachelor menage? And who, indeed, can
be a more perfect host than a bachelor? He can be
equally gracious and devoted to all women because of
the absence of that feminine proprietorship which al-
ways tends to make the married man withhold his most
graceful compliments, his most tender glances and his
most winning smile.
It is the bachelor who makes society ; without him
it would indeed be tame and find itself dwindling down
into a hot-bed of discontent, satiety and monotony.
He adds just the right touch of piquancy to its hot-
house existence and furnishes husbands for its debu-
tantes and flirtations for its married \vomen.
His versatility makes him a valuable acquisition to
any gathering. He knows the correct thing in dress,
the latest novelty of the London haberdasher and what
the King is wearing to Ascot. He is familiar with the
etiquette of European courts and American drawing-
rooms and can tell of the little peculiarities of social
functions in Washington, Boston, Baltimore, Charles-
ton, London or Vienna. He can valet himself if he
has to, and does not scorn to clean his own boots in an
emergency.
He can quote that prince of epicures, Brillat-Savarin,
and tell how Billy Soule broils trout over the coals.
When it comes to condiments, he can tell by the aroma
of a dish what its seasoning is; at mixing toothsome
devils and curries he is a past master. He is an au-
3
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
thority on wines and knows how to judge them; or,
possibly eschewing alcoholic beverages, he can offer sat-
isfactory substitutes that fill the bill, and is sufficiently
broad to take his lime and seltzer or Apollinaris with a
crow r d of good fellows growing mellow over their
champagne; and ten to one he has a fund of witty rep-
artee that scintillates among that of his fellows. If
he drinks, he does it like a gentleman and knows when
to ''turn down the empty glass." If he has a hobby,
he rides it decently without coming a cropper at every
high gate.
The correct bachelor knows all these things intui-
tively. He may be impecunious, but he must be artistic.
The ' artistic temperament ' is more easily acquired
than the stolid young lawyer poring over his Blackstone
may dream. The combination of the practical and
artistic is much to be desired, and with each succeeding
generation this is becoming more largely a matter of
intuition and environment than study.
The artistic temperament flourishes in that real
Land of Bohemia ' \vhere many are called, but few
are chosen." There c every man is manly, every
woman is pure " and the spirit of bon camaradie is al-
ways in the air. The old Greek maxim, " Know thy-
self," and that other, " To thine own self be true,"
build a creed of greater worth than tomes of ancient
lore. The hand clasp firm of those who dare and
do half way meets that of those who bravely do and
dare."
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
The ' men who do things," the most talked-of
bachelors, form brilliant coteries in different parts of
the world. The Lambs' Club in New York, the Bo-
hemian Club in San Francisco, bravely pulling itself
together after its great disaster, the Savage Club in
London, the St. Botolph Club in Boston all show in
a glance over their membership rolls the names of men
who not only do things, but do them well. Renowned
artists, famous composers, maestros, millionaires, au-
thors and all-round good fellows gather to applaud the
work of their fellow members and are eager to en-
joy the spirit of Bohemian brotherhood.
Many bachelors, after an early life of uncertainty,
find themselves past the threshold of success, but
through money and character they may attain a place
in society.
Many have slaved over ledgers and bent over the
ticker, who have had no time in the bustle and worry
of their business life and struggle for success to
gather the odd bits of miscellaneous knowledge of
etiquette, arts and letters, epicurism, habiliment, and
so on, that are required of a successful bachelor. ' Be-
ing a bachelor ' becomes a business, even as keeping a
set of books or making investments. Any bit of knowl-
edge that will add to his accomplishments is as good a
business investment as a bond or mining certificate.
The latter may be taken away, but his knowledge, once
gained, is always his " to have and to hold."
Even as " a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,"
5
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
how much more dangerous is it to be without it. No
one is so wise that his wisdom may not be increased.
One bachelor may be able to win at poker or break a
broncho into quivering submission to his will, but will
be quite out of place, like the proverbial bull in a china
shop, in a fashionable drawing-room, and all for want
of a little knowledge of the etiquette of afternoon teas
or evening receptions. Another may be able to cook
and serve a French dinner of eight courses, but be piti-
fully wanting in the lore of camp cookery and " rough-
ing it." Another may be an authority on colonial fur-
niture and a connoisseur of wines, yet wonder why peo-
ple try to hide an involuntary expression of surprise
when he appears at dinner in a Tuxedo and a white
waistcoat.
For some years the world at large has been possessed
of a passion for knowing " how to do things." ' How
to do this " and " how to make that " have been " top-
liners " in Sunday newspapers, and from " Jiu Jitsu in
twenty lessions ' to ' what to name the baby ' and
' how to make your canary bird sing," these expert
writers have condensed their stores of knowledge into
printed page or paragraph and have set forth in con-
cise or exhaustive information, as the case may be,
' how to do " almost everything under the sun. Even
David Belasco has been tempted into telling how to
write plays, and Bernard Shaw instructs one upon
' going to church." ' Bossie " Mulhall shows how to
6
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
rope a steer and Theodore Roosevelt tells how to lead
a strenuous life; but in all this great store of condensed
instruction one field at least has remained still uncov-
ered. No one has written on " how to be a bachelor,"
for the spinsters seem to have appropriated all the
space. For them there has been advice a-plenty on
how to select a husband and how to keep on the sunny
side of thirty, and so on through the gamut of woman-
lore.
Why has the bachelor been neglected? Possibly
because he is popularly supposed to be quite self-suffi-
cient and omniscient. An occasional paragraph on why
clocked socks are better form than embroidered ones, or
how to tell when the girl of one's choice loves him,
creeps into print ; but for the bachelor who really wants
to " know how " there is no royal road to learning save
the rocky, steep thoroughfare that each one must needs
climb by himself on his daily journey in quest of
Experience.
There is no "complete compendium' for the ambi-
tious bachelor who washes to become bon vivant,
epicure, ' connoisseur de vins ' and ' up ' on all the
little things that combine to make him an authority on
the things of single men of the world. But his pro-
verbial fare of " bread and cheese and kisses " needs to
be modified to suit present-day needs, and the judicious
addition of a few crumbs to his store of provender may
be welcome. From these crumbs from many bachelor
7
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
On Being a Bachelor
cupboards, then, may he find an occasional ' ' crumb of
comfort' and a little lift over some hard place along
the road. If he finds it herein, the purpose of ' A
Bachelor's Cupboard ' will have been fulfilled.
8
CHAPTER II
u rr
" In heat of youth, poor Jack engaged a
wife
\Vhose tongue, lie found, might prove a
scourge for life ;
Perplexed, he still ^ut off the evil day,
Grew sick at length, and just expiring
lay.
To \vhich sad crisis, having brought the
matter
To wed or die he wisely chose the
latter."
OF all bachelors, the impecunious
bachelor is most deserving of sympa-
thy. In fact, he is the only one who
needs it. No one ever asks a mill-
ionaire bachelor why he leads a
single life; the reason is too obvious.
But too often, alas! it is from neces-
sity rather than choice that the im-
pecunious fellow remains single.
That is the irony of Fate. To those
who would wed, it shall be denied."
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
Possibly it may be the invasion of woman into all
the trades and professions of men that accounts for this
dollarless portion of many young men. Where once
they reigned supreme, they are now dethroned and
doomed to grow round shouldered over a ledger at
twelve dollars a week, while a gay, irresponsible miss
of seventeen fresh from the Business College runs
everything in the office from the temperature to ' The
Boss," and draws eighteen or twenty dollars from its
coffers every Saturday night.
A man of good family and enviable social connec-
tions who may be obliged to work for a meagre stipend,
has to forego many pleasures that rightfully belong to
him. He may not afford his club, his favorite military
organization must be stricken from his list; he is chary
of accepting social obligations which he may not return,
therefore is obliged to miss many a pleasant evening.
He is too proud to become a "hanger on," and if he
has had money and lost it, then is his lot even harder,
for he is often patronized by his one-time friends.
Only a man who has lost his money know r s how many
of his friends went with it.
The strictest economy is his allotment; and even
with a salary of twenty-five or thirty dollars a week, he
may not indulge in many social pleasures. If he has
been accustomed to the good things of life, it is indeed
hard for him to give up the things he most enjoys. A
twenty-one-meal ticket at four dollars \vill keep away
hunger, but one might almost prefer hunger's pangs
10
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
occasionally to the agonies of a public dining-room with
its poor ventilation, mixed company and hurried serv-
ice. These would combine to make a perfect dinner
unendurable. And the average dinner of the boarding
house is far from perfection.
But after all, there is compensation in this state, as
in all things. The Impecunious Bachelor has his true
and loyal friends, and he can always depend upon them
in any emergency. They are his friends for friend-
ship's sake, not for what he may possess in w r orldly
goods. And if he is inclined to be philosophical, he
may extract from his dull routine many pleasures that
are denied his more fortunate brothers.
The Bachelor who earns about $1000 a year, may,
if he does a little careful thinking, live comfortably,
even luxuriously, if he sets up his Lares and Penates in
an unfurnished room and builds for himself therein at
least one room of his " house of dreams."
Here, his individuality may run riot, and because he
is poor is by no means a reason why he should be com-
monplace. His one room may be as artistic as he de-
sires, and if he is willing to sacrifice a little of his time
and thought, the result will soon be in evidence. Its
decorations may reflect his tastes, whether they be for
riding, fishing and hunting, good pictures or athletic
sports. He may not be a bachelor from choice ; but it
is far easier to put money by for the home which he
expects to have one day, if he has comfortable bachelor
quarters in which to spend his evenings. With his
ii
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
books, his pipe, all his treasures about him, and a
few loyal friends to drop in now and then to keep him
company, he will soon cease to regret the absence of
club life, and in his own little circle will be far happier
than many men of ten times his income.
Suppose a man has an income of $1200 a year. This
means $25 a week, and upon this basis he may live
delightfully if he knows how to deny himself certain
things.
Ordinarily, a man would pay for a furnished room
in a good locality no less than $5.00 a week. For
from $150 to $175 a year it is possible in most cities to
get a large unfurnished room with a good closet, and
in some cases hot and cold w r ater in the room, together
with the privilege of the bath on the same floor which,
however, he is likely to have to share with two or three
others.
If he takes an unfurnished room at $150, this leaves
a margin of $100 \vith which to purchase his own
belongings. Perhaps he will feel that he can afford
to spend another $50, since it is only for the first
year that this additional expense of furnishing will be
had.
Upon taking it by the year, the proprietors of the
house or apartments are supposed to put it in perfect
order. Generally they are willing to paper it for a
permanent tenant, allowing him to choose the paper for
himself. If he can induce them to put up a plate rail
about five feet from the floor, so much the better.
12
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
There may be a figured paper in warm crimsons, cool
dark blues or sage greens, according to the exposure of
the room and its allowance of sunlight, below the
plate rail. Above it, plain cartridge paper of the same
prevailing shade will make an excellent background for
his pictures and other decorations.
The floor will also be done over and nicely waxed,
and window shades are supposed to be furnished. Also
heat and hot and cold water. The gas or electric lights
are generally extra and each room provided with a
meter.
If one has no book case, and there is a corner in the
room where bookshelves could be built, a carpenter
will, for a comparatively small amount, fashion shelves
to fit that particular space and deliver them painted
or stained to match the woodwork of the room. He
will also make for three or four dollars, a frame for a
window seat which the bachelor may upholster himself
if he be inclined. If the room has a bay window, the
seat would cost a trifle more, but the result would be
well worth the expenditure. The bookshelves may be
fitted with glass doors, or a simple brass rod upon which
a curtain may be hung.
Weathered oak, despite the fact that it is so com-
monly used now, makes ideal furnishing for bachelor
quarters. If he prefers to buy old mahongany, and has
the time to attend auction sales, he may pick up great
bargains and for a half more gratify his taste for
antiques.
13
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
If he decides upon weathered oak, a fair idea of the
expense may be gained from the following prices:
Chiffonier, which should be severely plain with brass
knobs, $24.00 ; round table, four feet in diameter w T ith
a shelf beneath, $6.00; a bed-couch, four feet wide and
eight feet long with National springs, may be bought
with mattress for $7.00; a Morris chair in weathered
oak with cushions at from $12.00 (leatherette cush-
ions) to $20.00 (with real leather) ; two colonial
chairs at $1.85 each, $3.70; an arm chair or rocking
chair with leather seat, $5.00; a closed or flat-top desk
will be $8.00 more although they are to be had at
from $5.00 upwards and a desk chair with leather
seat to match will be $4.00 more. For from $15.00 to
$20.00, cabinets for chafing dish and ' Bachelor's Cab-
inets ' for bottles and glasses may be had. Doubtless
he will want but one, and if so. let this be for the
bottles. A settee at $6.00 with a back which forms a
table is a convenient piece of furniture for a bachelor.
In the seat, he may keep his overshoes, gloves or any-
thing he chooses. Some bachelors use them for tea
things, which are thus kept free from dust. This is
admirable to use for chafing dish cookery, because of
its ample size, and is to be recommended rather than a
small table.
A tabouret for smoking things and a rack for plates
and steins will cost respectively $2.50 and $3.00 more;
if he includes in the furnishings a piano which may be
hired for $40.00 a year or purchased upon the instal-
14
A BACHELOR : 'S CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
ment plan for about the same sum, this will be sufficient
furniture for a room of ordinary size.
If the room has an alcove, so much the better. In
this his chiffonier may be set, and portieres may screen
it from sight. He may sleep upon his couch, and the
alcove might serve as a dressing-room. If the man is
handy with tools, he might make for himself from old
packing boxes a cupboard for his boots, shoes, blacking
brushes, etc., to be kept here. A shelf could be put
across one side of the alcove, upon which to keep hat
boxes, w r ith hooks beneath; a curtain tacked along this
shelf would cover his clothing and keep the dust from
it. With this provision, his closet could be used for
the storage of his eatables or as a "kitchenette." If
it be fitted with running water, as many closets are in
old-fashioned houses, so much the better.
If the bachelor wants to pay a particular compliment
to one of his women friends, then let him ask her to
help select the curtains. For $2.00 a paif at the most
he should succeed in finding something quite recherche
that will be in keeping with the hangings of the room.
If he wishes sash curtains, then let them, together with
the curtains before the bookshelves, be of raw pongee
silk. If the lady is a very particular friend, perhaps
she'll offer to make them for him.
As for rugs that's a delicate question. But let
us suggest that for temporary use the bachelor purchase
some of the pretty Japanese cotton rugs that come in
pleasing designs and rich colorings. These may be
15
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
_ - . - --- . - - _ -_ ..
had 3x6 at $1.50 each, and look as well as many a ten-
dollar rug. Then, when he sees a special bargain in
good Persian, Turkish or Afghanistan rug, he may
buy whatever strikes his fancy; excellent books on
rugs with beautiful illustrations are available at the
Public Libraries, and a few evenings' study on the sub-
ject will give a man an insight into rug buying that
will stand him in good stead, provided he is not al-
ready a connoisseur.
The furniture already mentioned will cost about
$104.00. Then there will be the additional expense
of couch and table covers, curtains and sash curtains,
linen, and pillows or cushions.
For this room the bachelor will need six sheets and
six pillow slips, half a dozen bath towels, a dozen and
a half of hand towels, a couple of scarves for the
chiffonier, a dozen glass towels and three or four dus-
ters. These will cost as follow: sheets, $3.00; pillow
slips, $1.50. Three slips may be sufficient. Bath
towels, $1.50 to $3.00, according to quality; hand
towels, $4.50; dusters, which may be of cheesecloth,
25c. ; and glass towels, $1.50 to $2.00. He will also
need a pair of blankets at from $3.00 to $5.00 and
possibly a puff or comforter, which will be $3.00 for
cotton and $10.00 for down.
This linen he will include in his laundry, and it will
probably average a dozen and a half pieces a week, for
which he will pay at the rate of $.50 the dozen.
The lights will probably average about $1.50 to
16
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
The Impecunious Bachelor
$2.00 extra a month and the service of a maid is gen-
erally ten cents an hour or $1.00 a week, which in-
cludes giving the room a thorough cleaning once a
week and ' doing it up ' on other days, making the
bed, dusting and airing, washing what dishes may be
left from breakfast or the night before and putting
things to rights generally. Thus the actual expense
of the room and laundry will average about $5.00 to
$5.25 a week. If the bachelor particularly wishes to
retrench, he may, as many men do, care for his own
room.
CHAPTER III
rr tr
'WTien I was a bachelor, I lived by
myself,
And all the bread and cheese I had, I
put upon the shelf. "
Mother Goose.
'The Fate of Nations Depends upon
How They Are Fed. "
BRILLAT-SAVARIN.
IN stocking the cupboard there is
much to be considered: whether the
bachelor sports his own menage with
a cook and butler and valet, or
whether he has simply a humble flat
which he shares with other men, pre-
sided over by a New England spin-
ster maid-of-all-work of uncertain
age, a capable Chinaman, a joyful
" Jap," a " greaser," or a " cullud
gen'leman," according to its locality.
Whether it be a single man of means
whose hotel furnishes him with a
19
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
kitchenette and a cold storage box in his apartment,
or one of ' the hallroom boys ' who has his larder in
a shoe box, nailed to the window ledge, a mental process
is essential.
In the process of elimination the bachelor with his
own menage may be "cut out." He knows what he
wants and if he doesn't, then his butler does. For
the others, and the impecunious bachelor mentioned in
another chapter, a little gratuitous advice may not be
amiss, particularly since it is contributed by scores of
bachelors who are guilty of various degrees of house-
keeping and by some artists who have the science of
hiding a complete housekeeping outfit behind a Japanese
screen down pat.
' Blessed be nothing " so far as possessions are con-
cerned; for there is nothing like starting on a " clean
slate," as it were.
The bachelors \vho live in a flat are hard people to
deal with when it comes to furnishing the kitchen, for
each one has his own pet ideas, culled from nothing in
particular, as to what the furnishings of kitchen, dining-
room and pantry should include.
My sympathies are with the * hallroom boy ' who
has limited space, limited means, limited acquaintance.
To him, stocking his cupboard often becomes a tragedy,
because of his inability to distinguish in his blessed in-
experience between necessities and luxuries. Some
there are who decide that they can do without neces-
sities but must have luxuries. Supposing then, that
he is " the bachelor impecunious " who has his quarters
20
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
nicely fitted up for permanent occupation, save the
things necessary for that closet which he will have for
his ' kitchenette and pantry ' and is going to stock
up on the utensils and supplies necessary for his use in
providing his own breakfast, and an occasional Sunday
spread or little supper for his friends. The stocking
of the cupboard may be divided into three classes: the
service, the utensils for cooking, etc., and the supplies.
In ordinary cases the following list will be sufficient.
The bachelor should remember if the first cost seems
a bit large, although it eats a tremendous hole in his
week's salary, that it is the first cost that counts ; for the
dishes w r ill last, likewise the condiments ' and sich,"
most of which will keep indefinitely.
THE For ordinary use, he may follow his own
SERVICE taste in china; but it is well to expend a
trifle more in getting something that is artistic, and
will always be in good taste. Willow ware is always
in perfect taste, and, being heavy, has the added ad-
vantage of " toughness," which is a good point. Sup-
posing then that one decides upon this:
i dozen large plates 2 covered vegetable dishes
\ dozen small plates i sauce boat
\ dozen bread and butter i salad bowl
plates i cream pitcher
1 dozen cups and saucers \ dozen sauce plates
2 platters $ dozen soup plates
2 bowls
This will be enough of the Willow ware. For des-
sert or fruit, a half dozen china plates will be needed,
and half a dozen glass jelly plates as well. For his
21
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
tumblers, he would better have them uniform and may
have inexpensive ones of blown glass, or beautiful cut
glass ones at a wide range in price. If he elects to
have liquid refreshments, then he will get the correct
thing in w r ine, cocktail and lemonade glasses, with the
beloved steins of his college days answering for such
beverages as beer, ale and stout.
Then in addition he will need for his table the usual
service w r hich w T ould better be of glass as good as he
can afford. It is really surprising what pretty and
good glassware may be bought for a mere song. The
list includes:
i vinegar cruet
i oil cruet
i water bottle
i Touraine castor for salt,
black and red pepper
i mustard pot and spoon
1 butter dish
2 sugar bowls for cut and
powdered sugar
i celery tray
i olive tray
and the following silver:
\ dozen each forks, knives,
steel knives, dessert and
teaspoons
i sugar spoon and tongs
i butter knife
i glass fruit dish
i marmalade jar
i mayonnaise dish
i bread tray (preferably
silver)
i china tea pot and stand
i French copper coffee pot
(expensive but a joy for-
ever)
i chafing dish and accom-
panying utensils
6 demi tasses
i nut cracker,
i olive fork
1 dozen oyster forks
i carving set.
One may get on nicely with these and possibly may
be able to eliminate some from the list. The nut
22
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
cracker is useful for breaking lobster as well as nuts,
and the picks of course will be included, also fruit
knives and orange spoons and after-dinner coffee
spoons, if he can afford them. With the list as above,
the bachelor may entertain very nicely on a small scale.
He may, if he has the time and inclination, pick up
veritable treasures at old auction rooms and second
hand shops in solid silver and quaint old china that
will give his dining service an individuality as strong
as his pocketbook will stand.
FOR THE utensils and ' articles de cuisine," the fol-
COOKING lowing list will be found to embrace all
the things needed for a very small menage:
i covered agate kettle 2 mixing bowls
1 tin oven to use over gas i colander
2 large frying pans i chain dish cleaner
2 small ones 2 covers for frying pans
i quart measure 3 kitchen knives
1 flour sifter 3 forks
2 basins 2 mixing spoons
1 double boiler
3 oblong baking tins
2 small skillets
i strainer
i toaster
i broiler
measuring spoon
graduated measuring cup
chopping bowl and knife
egg beater
meat board
ladle
i dish pan x skimmer
i large tin pan i pitcher
This sounds a lot, but you will be surprised to see
the small amount of space they take when neatly hung
on the closet door and placed on the shelf that the
closet will doubtless contain for their reception. He
23
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
must also have a large tin bread box for bread and
biscuits. A closet fitted with high shelves for the sup-
plies might have either drawers or low shelves for the
cooking utensils. Then let the dishes all be kept pro-
tected from dust in a cabinet with a glass door, which
may be purchased very reasonably. If that is out of
the question, surely the handy bachelor may make
his own china cupboard, and have some fair friend fash-
ion a curtain for him to hang in front.
THE Now for the supplies which he must keep
SUPPLIES on hand. This list includes, beside the
necessities in one column, the luxuries in the other.
These bought, he may bargain for his milk and cream
to be left at the door and may also arrange for his
butter and eggs as he wishes. Then the vegetables,
fruit, meat and fish will be bought as he requires them.
It is always well to have a few canned things on hand
in case of emergencies.
NECESSITIES
Salt
Pepper, black and red
Soup herbs or poultry sea-
soning
Mustard
Sugar, cut and powdered
Ginger
Macaroni
Wheat flour
Spaghetti
Indian meal
Onions
Cereal whatever desired
Biscuits in variety, includ-
ing sweet biscuits and
water biscuits, as wished
Oil
Vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce
Rice
Laundry soap
Coffee
Tea
Cocoa
Condensed milk or cream
Olives
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
Lard
Eggs
Lemons
Bacon and salt pork in jars
Tinned soups
Tinned fish
Tinned vegetables
Cheese, American or in jars
LUXURIES
Pickles
Curry powder
Chutney
Anchovies and Anchovy
essence
Kitchen bouquet
Tarragon vinegar
Tinned French vegetables
Tinned or dried mush-
rooms
Tinned red peppers
Marmalade
Jam
Potted meats
Capers
Caviare
Celery salt
Chow chow
Macedoine in glass
Mango pickles
English relishes
Cooking sherry and white
wines
Rum and brandy
Bottled Mayonnaise
Noodles
Parmesan cheese
Soy
Tinned Truffles
Pate de Foie Gras tinned or
in jars
Asparagus in glass
German sausages in jars
Jellies for use with game
Foreign cheeses
Preserved fruits in glass
Irish bacon
Virginia ham
Garlic
Caramel
Essences of vanilla, lemon,
and pistachio
Cocktail olives and cherries
The bachelor in an apartment, who has limited
space and wishes to confine his cookery to a few
chafing dish dainties, may invest properly in one of the
handy chafing dish cabinets that are so attractively
fashioned in mission style with a " place for every-
thing." Perchance he may also have and probably
will a cabinet in which to keep his bottles, mixing
glasses, shakers, etc., which is styled appropriately
enough " the Bachelor Cabinet."
25
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
He may get on nicely with a half dozen plates, his
steins, some silver knives, forks, and spoons, and possibly
some small plates for toast, bread, or biscuits. These,
with some small dishes of cut glass for salted almonds,
olives, celery and such relishes, will be quite sufficient
for ordinary use. In his cabinet with the chafer he
should have the alcohol, salt, pepper, mustard, Wor-
cesterhire or Harvey sauce, chutney, paprika, bicar-
bonate of soda, oil and vinegar, and possibly some an-
chovy essence, which so improves many chafing dish
specialties. These, with some saltines and a jar of
potted cheese unless he desires some of the more per-
ishable varieties will be quite sufficient with the usual
accompaniments, in case he wants to make a rabbit, an
English Monkey, a Newburg, or some other simple del-
icacy for an after-theater supper. The other things
in the other cabinet what bachelor needs to be shown
what to buy? He surely ought to have a few bottles
of carbonated water and some limes always handy, as
well as a little imported ginger ale in case he may en-
tertain a teetotaller. Ginger ale is not the worst
beverage in the world with a good rabbit, while lime
and seltzer is a refreshing drink at any time in the
year.
The poor hall bedroom laddie with his pathetic
makeshift on the window ledge may not afford such
an elaborate layout. But for a dollar he may invest
either in a little alcohol stove \vith a quart skillet in
which to cook his cereal or boil w r ater for his tea, or
26
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
buy a few feet of tubing and a tiny gas stove. One
bachelor who earned a scanty $15 a week made for
himself a really attractive cupboard from a tall shoe
box, perhaps four feet in height and half as wide and
deep. It was stained, a row of brass headed nails
driven around the edge, some shelves nicely fitted in,
a few hooks added and a denim curtain, and in it was
his whole outfit nicely concealed from inquisitive eyes.
And he had some feasts too, if they were cooked in a
ten-penny frying pan on his little gas stove. That
he made his coffee in a woman's afternoon tea kettle
w T ith an alcohol lamp was his affair; and it was nectar.
His tastes were simple, at the same time he had a va-
riety. In the morning, a cup or two of delicious coffee
with condensed cream, one or two English muffins
nicely toasted and buttered, a couple of eggs, fried,
boiled, or scrambled, as he elected, or perhaps poached
on a bit of toast, and a bit of fruit, made a splendid
breakfast for a chap leading a sedentary life. The
down-town luncheon and dinner w r ere more elaborate,
and if he wished a bite in the evening when a friend
dropped in, or he came in late from his weekly night
at the theatre, there were all sorts of appetizing things
to be concocted in the tiny frying pan, in which a basin
\vas set and surrounded with water in lieu of a chafing
dish. Finally he bought a double boiler, thus escap-
ing scalded fingers from too close contact with steam.
What did he eat? The usual thing culled from a
cookery book dedicated to the chafing dish and some
27
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Stocking the Cupboard
concoctions of his own, which appear in another chap-
ter. But no one I ever knew could do up oysters and
clams and crabs as nicely as he; sea food was his
specialty, and, living on the coast, he was able to gratify
this taste, even to the extent of serving on his one
table for some admiring chap as delicious a Lobster
Newberg, devilled crab, or oysters panned, California
pepper roasted or fried, as ever were tasted. His
oysters, fried in oil, as Minico Finelli used to do them
in Philadelphia, were luscious.
His weekly bill was very small but he never made
the mistake of buying cheap things and always insisted
upon the best of butter, eggs, and whatever else he
bought.
" I have generally found that in buying so-called
* bargains ' in edibles," he said, * there is so much
waste that it invariably pays to buy the best of every-
thing. The satisfaction of knowing that it is the best
more than makes up for the few extra pennies spent."
28
CHAPTER IV
TT TT
"Manners are of more importance tnan
laws. " BURKE.
'WHAT is a gentleman? " a young
debutante naively asked of her uncle,
a club man and ' gentleman of the
old school." The world-old query
provoked the following reply from
the man, who was too wary, how-
ever, to fall into the pitfall laid for
him.
' My dear, I can't tell you in set
terms. It is a condition of being
that is no more definable than a
woman's charms. Either one is or
isn't a gentleman that's all."
' Has birth anything to do with
it?"
' It has and it hasn't. There
are men of the bluest blood who are
hopeless bounders and cads, and, on
the other hand, some of the most per-
29
'A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
feet gentlemen I have ever met have come of obscure
origin and plain beginnings. The mere fact of not be-
ing well-born, however, has never kept a man out of
a club or society, nor would a long pedigree necessarily
give the entree. Social affiliations are indispensable.,
however inherited or acquired. No one can tell ex-
actly what makes a gentleman; still, everyone recog-
nizes one the moment he comes upon the scene."
1 A man's a man for a' that," says Bobby Burns;
and after all, it's the little things that count that go
to show whether a man is a gentleman or no. One who
wishes further information upon this interesting subject
may do well to read " John Halifax, Gentleman," after
which he may brush up on etiquette. But all the dic-
tionaries of etiquette in the world will not make a man
a gentleman, if he be not kind, brave, and honorable
in love and business, truthful, loyal, and reverent.
Someone has said that courtesy is a good imitation
of Christianity, since most rules of etiquette are based
upon unselfishness and a proper regard for the feelings
of other people.
Most people have heard of the French king who
was so well bred that when one of his friends dropped
a priceless wine glass, immediately, as though through
inadvertence, broke one himself to prove that such a
mischance, which might happen to anyone, was of no
special consequence.
There is, of course, a distinction between good man-
ners and good form. The one comes to a man through
30
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
innate good breeding, the other is acquired by careful
study and a close observance of the forms of conduct
that at the moment are en regie.
1 He is gentil," says Chaucer, ' who does gentil
deeds." And it has been proven that habit is second
nature. Courtesy, conciliation, kindliness, forbear-
ance, which are the essence of politeness, were taught
by St. Paul, who was the very model of a gen-
tleman. Society has agreed, here and abroad, upon
certain conventions which have through countless gen-
erations resolved themselves into a code a decalogue
of good behavior. The present social code in America
is patterned largely after usages in favor among the
English upper classes, although occasions may arise in
which a man is a law unto himself. Daniel Webster
once said, after a visit in London, " the rule of polite-
ness there is to be quiet, act naturally, take no airs, and
make no bustle. This perfect breeding has cost a
great deal of drill." Bonaparte studied deportment
with Talma, a great French actor, and his court was
as carefully drilled in etiquette as was his army in mil-
itary tactics.
' Good manners inspired by good principles,
prompted by goodfellow T ship, polished by good form,
will admit a man to good society anywhere," says Mrs.
Burton Harrison, who is one of the highest authori-
ties on etiquette. The cultured manner of to-day is
simple, cordial, and free from all affectation.
As it is assumed that the bachelor of to-day is \vell
31
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
versed in savoir faire, only a few general rules and a
few miscellaneous hints will be given here as to the
etiquette of bachelor entertainments.
The American man, because of the exac-
tions of business, is permitted to pay calls
in the evening and on Sunday afternoons. In the
large cities he may present himself with propriety as
late as nine in the evening; in the country, half-after
eight is the limit generally set, while one seldom
arrives earlier than half-after seven. Sunday after-
noon calls may not be made earlier than three o'clock.
In the country, morning calls are often made, and a
man may always, of course, call on a lady's day at
home, if he can arrange to do so. A dinner call is a
matter of paramount importance, and a man must
also pay a " duty call " after receiving any hospitality,
within a fortnight of the invitation, whether the invi-
tation is accepted or not. He must also call upon the
bride w r hose cards he has received, directly after she
returns from the honeymoon. A man who has served
as pall bearer at a funeral should call upon the be-
reaved family within three weeks, though this call
rarely means more than the leaving of a card with a
kindly inquiry. After a man has paid a duty call, he
should not call again, unless requested to do so, or
unless his hostess extends further hospitality to him.
A man may not take another man friend to call upon
a lady unless he has first received her permission to
do so. A man who wishes to make the acquaintance
32
A BACHELOR " S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
of a young lady through a friend must call in com-
pany of the friend the first time, after which, if she
wishes to receive him, he may call alone.
When a w r oman has been entertained by a bachelor
at his apartments, she leaves a card for him, accom-
panied by that of her chaperone.
In paying calls, a man may take his hat and stick
into the drawing-room if he prefers, although the serv-
ant generally takes them in the hall.
A man who receives callers at his apartments should
accompany each departing guest to the door, and open
the door for him; he may with propriety show the
ladies to their carriages, although this is not obliga-
tory.
It is the duty of a man when calling to relieve
women of empty teacups and to carry refreshments to
those who are sitting at a distance from the tea-table.
He must rise from his chair when a woman caller
enters and when anyone is presented to him. When
he rises he should stand beside or behind his chair, and
continue to stand as long as the lady on whose ac-
count he has risen remains standing.
A man calling on Sunday afternoon should ask for
" the ladies ' when the mother has extended an invi-
tation for him to call. After the first call he may ask
for " the young ladies," or the particular one for
whom his visit is intended.
A very formal afternoon call should occupy not less
than fifteen minutes and not more than half an hour.
33
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
On the hostess' day at home one may linger an hour
or longer.
Concerning business calls, in which a woman calls
upon a man in his office, he need not offer to shake
hands unless she be an old friend. Should his time be
limited or other people be in his private office, he may
meet her in the public office or even the corridor. He
must always remove his hat, and if he wishes her to
be brief, may courteously explain that pressing affairs
necessitate his immediate attendance. In his office, a
man rises also when a woman caller rises to leave,
and if the interview has taken place in his private
office, convention demands that he open the door for
her. He need not go beyond the door with her, al-
though if she is a friend or relative he will doubtless
wish to see her safely to the elevator.
A business address should never appear on a visit-
ing card, although his home address or that of his club
may appear in the corner, his permanent address ap-
pearing in the right-hand corner. Not infrequently
his home address appears in the right-hand corner and
his favorite club in the corner opposite.
BACHELOR It is quite the fashion nowadays for the
HOSPI- well-to-do bachelor, even if he has no near
rALI women relatives to assist him, to entertain
his women friends in his own apartments, at his club, or
at a hotel. The city bachelor of to-day is not a home-
less man whose life is divided between his house of busi-
ness and his boarding-house bedroom. If he is pros-
34
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
perous in his profession, he lives in a suite of pretty
rooms in a studio or in a small suite in bachelor
apartments, or possibly in a hotel. And even a man of
average salary may afford a large, tastefully-decorated
room in which to set up his Lares and Penates, where
he can entertain in a small way.
Of course he has some matron to act as chaperone,
and the easiest and safest form of entertainment is an
afternoon reception. At this he may repay some of
the many hospitalities which eligible bachelors always
receive.
Just a w r ord from a clever hostess of international
popularity may not be amiss. Apropos of the prevail-
ing impression w r hich is generally correct that the
unmarried man is so persistently certain that he is wel-
come everywhere, and that when he lunches or dines
at a house he confers a favor, this grande dame says:
The bachelor is the most ungrateful of guests, as a
rule. He w r ill accept my invitation, lunch or dine at
my house three or four times in a week all the year
round, and still continue to speak of those w r ho lib-
erally entertain him as a mere acquaintance unless they
happen to be more than usually prominent and then
reward them with nothing better than a picture post-
card at Christmas ! '
Possibly this woman's indignation may be well-
founded for it is a fact that bachelors are in such
demand that they come to realize their own social im-
portance perhaps better than their hostesses do. A
35
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Etiquette
man of tact may express his appreciation of continued
courtesies and entertainments by sending an occa-
sional gift, such as a book, or some roses, or even
matinee or concert tickets for his hostess and her daugh-
ters or some friend whom she may be entertaining.
CHAPTER V
" Give me a lodge in some vast -wilder-
ness. "
LIFE in camp, from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, in the mountains and by
the sea or inland lakes and rivers, has
a peculiar charm, not the least of
which is found in the camp cookery.
Epicures whose palates are tired of
entrees and game in city restaurants,
who fret and fume if their planked
steak is not to their liking, or if the
after-dinner coffee has not the de-
sired soupqon of chicory, will eat like
lumbermen when fed upon camp ra-
tions, with never a word save of
praise for the camp cook. Possibly it's
a matter of environment ; for Mother
Nature has a way of soothing tired
nerves and of tickling jaded palates
to such an extent that the hum-
37
I|ftte~:f9
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
blest fare is fit for a king, and the muddiest camp
coffee nectar to the tired, hungry man just in from
a day's fishing or hunting in the wilds.
Most men who camp do not need to be told the
little things that combine to make camping comfort-
able: how to dig a trench around the tent and how to
make a stone fireplace or a stove from rocks and an old
stove-top; or how to shave off fir boughs for a hard
but fragrant bed.
They all know that a deep hole should be dug some
distance from camp in which to throw refuse and
debris, covering it daily \vith fresh earth, which so
quickly kills all odors. They know the staple rations
to be taken prepared flour for griddle-cakes and hot
bread, with rising already in it; salt pork, smoked ham
and bacon, dried beef, salt fish in case the fresh ones
fail to bite; pilot-bread, crackers, and biscuit of all
sorts, potatoes, beans, onions, canned fruit and vege-
tables where fresh cannot be obtained ; Indian meal,
salt, sugar, pepper, mustard, molasses, vinegar, butter,
tea, coffee, chocolate powdered and sw r eet rice, oat-
meal, baking soda, ginger, spice, soap, paraffin candles,
matches, and kerosene oil. These and such luxuries
as milord demands compass the culinary needs.
But lest he forget and it's so easy to do that in the
excitement of going into camp a list of other necessi-
ties may not come amiss, and it includes tin kettles
with covers, spiders with covers, coffee and tea pots
with lips instead of spouts, gridiron, pans, basins, tin
38
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
cups, pails, milk cans, knives, forks, spoons, lanterns,
bags (paper and 'gunny' sacks), strings, thread,
needles, matches, shovel, axe and hatchet, hammer,
tacks and nails, sticking plaster, Jamaica ginger, towels
and bath towels, dishpan, dish towels and cloth, pins,
mosquito netting, oil of pennyroyal if in fly season,
plenty of old newspapers, fishing tackle, guns, ammuni-
tion, and last of all, extra stockings and flannel gar-
ments. If flannel is worn, one should never take cold
even after a thorough soaking; but of cotton and linen,
for use in camp or on ranch, beware! Parties scorning
the idea of bothering with all these things when rough-
ing-it will find camp life quite rough enough, even with
the things provided that are mentioned in the list.
The need of a match or a pin or string can never be
realized until one has had to do without them in camp
or on the water.
Every man who cooks shines at his best when in
camp or being chef in the open. The guides in the
Rangeleys can cook a trout to perfection, while the
half-breeds of Canadian jungles, could show a New
York chef a thing or two about cooking a partridge. A
cowboy out on a round-up can concoct as toothsome a
stew or " Mulligan " as was ever served up as ragout in
a Broadw r ay restaurant or French "Bouillon" kitchen.
A lonely prospector can show one a little about broil-
ing bacon and frying flap- jacks, and when it comes to
broiling a beefsteak or grilling a chop, a New York
club man is generally a past master at the art, espe-
39
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
daily if he is a member of the famous Beefsteak Club.
And when a New Yorker gets into camp and wants to
do the cooking let him; he knows.
THE in camp cooking, broiled fish, or roast
VALUE OF birds, has been demonstrated long since
BASTING by f amous Maine guides. Billy Soule, for
instance, broils his trout before a clear, brisk fire, with
thin strips of bacon or salt pork fastened with tooth-
picks so that the fat trying out will run continually
down over the fish, basting it as it broils. In roasting
a bird, pieces of bacon or pork are skewered on in the
same fashion.
A NOTED w h has been fishing the streams in the
BOSTON vicinity of Colebrook, N. H., for several
BON years, tells of a camp dinner cooked by him-
VIVAN1 se if an j comrac l es which is really worthy
of repetition. ' One of the boys," he says, * went
down to a farmhouse near the river at noon, after a
morning's fishing, and for a quarter bought a dozen
eggs and a couple of quarts of potatoes with a handful
of salt thrown in. We made a hot fire, and let it die
down. Then one of us cleaned and washed the trout,
and after wrapping them in several thicknesses of
green leaves, coated them on the outside with mud.
We also coated each egg thickly with mud, making
them look like giant wasps' nests. After the fire
had died down sufficiently we laid the fish and eggs
in the ashes, also the potatoes, covering them well
with the hot ashes. This done, we then built another
40
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
hot fire over the original one. When the edibles were
done, we raked them out with sticks, and stripping off
the outside layer of mud from the fish, the charred
leaves and skin came off with it, leaving a delicious,
perfectly-cooked, salmon pink or w^hite meat. The
mud \vas cracked off the eggs and they tasted like the
hard-boiled variety. And as for the potatoes, they
were quite good enough, even with salt as the only
seasoning. The meal was fit for an epicure and best
of all, there were no dishes to wash."
FOR A in autumn, when the deer has not been
CAMP sighted, or the grouse prove too nimble
for amateur hunters, a camp dinner like
the following one may be relished and put the men
on their mettle for the coming sport:
Hard-boil as many eggs as there are to be guests
and then as many more as they agree to eat. Boil
potatoes until nearly done, then drain them dry and
slice into a skillet in which thin slices of bacon are
crisping. In another dish shred a little salt cod, cover
with boiling water, and cook until the fish is tender
and the water has evaporated. Add a cup of sw T eet
cream to this and if near a farm this is worth tramp-
ing after. Then when the potatoes are browning
nicely, turn the fish and cream over them and add a
little pepper. The eggs should be put in cold water
when done, and peeled. The salt of fish and bacon
will be sufficient for seasoning. To serve, pile the
potato mixture on a large hot platter and surround
41
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
with the eggs. This is called a ' Shaker ' dinner
but it's good anywhere. Evaporated or condensed
cream may be used instead of fresh cream. The Bor-
den brand is best, as it is less sweet than most others.
ROASTED In camp, birds, either small or large, are
BIRDS commonly roasted, broiled, or stewed.
Pick all the feathers off, cut a slit and draw them.
Wash and wipe carefully with a towel. If for roast-
ing, tie the legs together and place in the pan, dredging
with flour. Cover the bottom of the pan with water.
Grouse and partridge require about thirty minutes and
most wild ducks the same, notwithstanding the epi-
cures protest that they should have but from twelve to
fourteen minutes. Small birds will require only about
half that time, but the oven must be very hot. Maine
guides who cook partridges in their feathers know that
it is the only real way to do them at their best. The
bird is opened and drawn in the usual manner; then it
is covered with wet clay and buried in hot coals and
cooked for forty minutes. Draw from the coals and
peel off the clay, and with it will come feathers and
skin. Most men prefer them to the regulation roast-
ing and where an oven is not obtainable, it is the
best method.
BROILED are split and cleaned, wiped dry, and
BIRDS broiled either on a wire broiler or forked
stick over the clear coals, from a wood fire. Ten or
fifteen minutes is generally sufficient for this.
42
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
TO STEW grouse, or wild pigeons, place the birds in
PAR- a small kettle and dredge with salt, pep-
per, flour, and, if liked, mace and cloves, to
give a true epicurean touch. After simmering two
hours, thicken with three spoonfuls of flour and stir in
two spoonfuls of tomato catsup. Simmer an hour
longer, and serve.
AN OLD Here is an old camper's recipe for cooking
CAMPER'S partridge and grouse, and it can't be beaten.
Cut up the birds as for a fricassee. Fry
them in a frying-pan in butter or salt pork fat until
brown, dredging with flour, salt, and pepper. This
makes them a delicious golden brow r n. When tender,
take out the pieces and put them on a platter on pieces
of toast. Then turn into the brown fat a cup of sw r eet
cream, stir quickly, and w r hen it crinkles with scalding,
turn over the platter of meat.
A for birds, when broiled, is made by putting
GOOD a large spoonful of butter in frying-pan.
SAUCE When it has melted, add a tablespoonful of
flour and stir until brown, then add a cup of boiling
w^ater, salt and pepper to taste.
BROOK Does a rule for cooking brook trout seem
TROUT amiss here? Of course almost every bach-
elor knows how, or ninety and nine in an hundred. But
for the hundredth man, here goes: Split the trout nearly
to the tail to clean, leaving heads off or on, as preferred.
Wash and drain, wipe, and dip in a mixture of
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half flour and half Indian meal and a little salt.
For a dozen good-sized trout, fry six slices of salt
pork. When brown, take out the pork and put in
the trout and fry, first on one side, then on
the other, until a golden brown. Serve the pork
with them. Smelts may be cooked in the same
fashion.
\
SALMON should be split down the back, when large
TROUT enough, cleaned, wiped, and rubbed with
oil or butter, then broiled over clear coals. When
small, cook the same as brook trout.
SALT Sometimes, even in camp, there are times
FISH of a morning when, for some special rea-
son, a piece of salt fish would taste good. Cut from
the thickest part of the fish squares of desired size.
Remove skin, wash, and broil over clear coals ten
minutes, then dip in boiling water, butter, and serve.
Excellent in ' that cold gray dawn," don't you
know.
FRYING ' Spoff ' Flint was a famous guide on the
SALT Magalloway River who used to fry salt
pork in batter, when he had milk to do it
with. A batter was made with a cup of flour to a cup
of milk, to which was added a little salt and a beaten
egg. Fry some thin slices of pork slightly, then dip in
the batter and fry in pork fat to which two spoonfuls
of drippings or lard have been added. With potatoes
roasted in the hot ashes that is fit for any King that
ever sat a throne.
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BEEF- smothered in onions is a good camp dish
STEAK and venison or bear steak may be cooked
in the same manner by way of variety. Fry brown
four slices of salt pork; when brown take out the pork
and slice in thinly six good sized onions. Fry about
ten minutes, stirring all the while, then take out all
save a thin layer. On this lay the sliced steak, then
a layer of onions, then steak, and cover thick with
onions. Dredge each layer with salt, pepper, and
flour. Pour over this a cupful of boiling water
and cover tight. Simmer over a hot fire half an
hour.
FOR wash a quart of dry pea beans the Cali-
BOSTON fornias are best. Put in a pan with six
BAKED quarts of cold water and let them soak
BEANS over ni *ght. In the morning wash again
and put them on the fire with cold water and a pinch
of baking soda. When the skins begin to crinkle drain
off the water and put in the bean-pot. Have a gener-
ous piece of salt pork, gashed through the rind, and
put it on top of the beans with two tablespoonfuls of
molasses, one each of salt and pepper, and a pinch of
mustard, and cover with boiling water. An onion
may be added if desired. Bake ten hours, either in
the oven or in the ground. If the latter, dig a hole
large enough for the pot, which should be surrounded
with hot stones. Then cover and build a hot fire
over them. They should be watched carefully, and
if they become dry, pour in more water.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
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CORN Somehow, corn dodgers seem particularly
DODGERS to belong to camp fare. Take three tea-
cups of Indian meal, one teaspoonful of salt, one table-
spoonful of sugar, and pour on enough boiling water
to wet it nearly one quart. Then make into small
flat cakes, about one inch thick, and fry in boiling fat
until golden brown. They will fry in fifteen or
twenty minutes.
FRIED Would you fancy some fried mush in camp
MUSH with the game? Well, then, into two
quarts of boiling water stir a tablespoonful of salt and
one cup of flour mixed with a quart of Indian meal, or
more, if needed to make stiff enough. Beat it well to
remove lumps and boil gently two hours, and then
turn into deep bread tins to cool. In the morning
slice off thick slices and fry golden brown in salt
pork fat, serving slices of pork with it, and syrup, if
desired.
FOR which are made with the prepared flour,
mix one pint flour with half a pint of milk
CAKES or waten Have the griddle smoking' hot,
and grease with a piece of pork or bacon rind, then
pour half the mixture into it. Smooth with a spoon
and cook four minutes, or until the top forms minute
bubbles. Then turn the cake and cook four minutes
longer. Take up, grease the pan again, and cook the
balance. If preferred, the batter can be fried in small
cakes instead of two large ones.
A BACHELOR ; 'S CUPBOARD
Around the Camp Fire
GINGER- Every camp cook should know how to make
BREAD gingerbread. Somehow, nothing else in
the cake line seems to fill the bill like hot gingerbread.
To make it, take a cup of molasses, one teaspoonful of
saleratus, one of ginger, a tablespoonful of butter or
lard, and, if lard is used, a pinch of salt. Stir to-
gether and then pour over half a cup of boiling water
and a pint of sifted flour. Bake about one inch deep
on a tin sheet in a quick oven.
WILD It is well to remember that wild ducks
DUCKS that have a fishy odor may be improved by
rubbing the breast lightly with a slice of onion and
putting into the bird, when cooking, half a dozen raw
cranberries. The mountain cranberries may be used
instead of the Cape berries. A handful of the small
mountain variety will be sufficient.
TO Cut the tenderloins of a buck that has been
COOK properly hung for at least five days, into
VENISON p{ eces an j ncn thick and two inches in di-
ameter. Skewer these on a small willow stick, with
pieces of bacon judiciously strung along the line.
Sprinkle the whole with finely-chopped onion, red pep-
per and salt, and roast over the coals. Do not hesitate
to make this a full yard of lusciousness, for the morsels
will melt in the mouth, and one seems never to have
enough. Some men affirm that the deer's liver is the
greatest delicacy, and indeed it is, when properly
cooked with salt pork; and if there is any left over,
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A BACHELOR " S CUPBOARD
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which is quite unlikely, just try making liver hash
with the chopped liver, cold boiled potatoes chopped
fine, and a suspicion of onion. Cook the whole to-
gether in salt pork or bacon fat.
If you are in camp during sweet corn time,
after you have become tired of boiled corn
and roasted ears, try baked corn and beans
in your Saturday night meal. Prepare a
pot of Boston baked beans in the usual way. About
half an hour before serving time, have plenty of the
corn cut from the cob, and, removing the pork, stir the
cut corn well into the beans and cook half an hour
longer. This is delicious and will bear repetition.
BAKED
CORN
AND
BEANS
^GA^ 1
Ss^^-esS
&
CHAPTER VI
" A man hath often more trouble to
get food than to digest it. "
WHO has said that ' the carving
knife is mightier than the sword " ?
But in spite of that fact, how few
there are in proportion to the number
of diners out who know how to
wield it!
There is no sight more delight-
ful," says May Irwin, " than to see a
man carve at table. The dexterous
grace with which the expert carver
slices off a bit of breast from a bird
or disjoints a fowl makes me hold
my breath in admiration and awe."
Truly, a carver, like a poet, is born,
not made ; yet any man with practice
may acquire this somewhat difficult
art, and it is an accomplishment that
every man should enjoy, for he never
knows where or when he may be
49
^
r-\
\m
&
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Carving and Game
called upon to do the honors. It is quite the fashion
now for women to learn carving, and at the cooking
schools there is special instruction given ladies in the art.
But for men, who are deprived of such instruction, the
best school is experience, which coupled with an oc-
casional judicious tip to a head waiter, who is supposed
to be a past grand master of carving, should make him
sufficiently dexterous in a short time to negotiate a
joint without sending it into the lap of his vis-a-vis or
splashing the festive board with brown gravy.
First, the carver should learn to gauge his cuts to a
nicety. He must measure satisfactorily the appetites
of those whom he serves, and not judge them by his
own. This judgment, coupled with a sharp knife and
trusty steel and a measure of confidence in his ability
to wield both, is all that is necessary.
FISH, is difficult to serve nicely. In carving a
IF BOILED cod, halibut, lake trout, or other large fish
that are served whole, it is best to make
BAKED , ., ,
one cut from the head to the tail down to
the bone, and then cut slices across from this line to
the sides. As codfish is apt to break into flakes, care
should be taken in serving from the fish knife not to
spill the flakes on their way to the plate. In carving
salmon, draw the fish knife across the center of the
fish down to the bone from head to tail. Then
cut slices from the center, and add to each a
small slice of the thin part which is not quite so
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pronounced in flavor. A sole of ordinary size may be
divided, like Gaul, into three parts. A small sole is
cut across in half, and a very large sole, like those
served au gratin, is generally cut in slices like a salmon,
and the slices lifted on each side, thus avoiding the
small bones that edge each side of the fish.
GROUSE Thin slices should be first cut off the breast,
AND after which the wings and legs are re-
PHEASANT move( j > j n cubing off a wing the carver
should also try to get a strip of the breast (though a
thin one) to attach to it.
DUCK A great deal depends, in carving a duck,
upon its size and fatness. A large, fat duck, with
plenty of meat on the breast, is carved like a goose.
Thin slices are cut off its breast, and then the duck is
turned endways toward the carver, the wings nearest
and the legs farthest from him. Remove the wings,
leaving a thin strip of breast attached to each. This
requires considerable dexterity. Next remove the legs
and afterward the neck bone. The whole breast-bone
is now separated from the rest by cutting through the
sides, \vhen the backbone can easily be divided in two
by pressing downwards. A small quantity of the stuf-
fing should be served with each portion.
FOWL A wag who was a guest at a dinner where
the host, an ostentatious man, allowed the fowl to get
cold while expatiating upon the beauty of the gildings
of frame and sconce in his newly decorated dining-room,
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said impatiently, " Never mind your gilding give us a
taste of your carving! ' Boiled and roasted fowls are
carved alike. Care should be taken to cut off plenty of
the white meat of the breast w r ith the wings, the knife
being slowly drawn and downward pressure avoided,
as the boiled white flesh is apt to crumble. The front
end of the fowl should be toward the carver. Insert
the fork in the leg with the knife underneath in re-
moving the leg and thigh, and then raise the leg away
from the remainder of the bird. The leg adheres only
by a piece of skin, so this is simple. The thigh bone
will now leave the socket, and with very little assistance
from the knife the leg will be set free. The neckbone
is next removed, and then the breast separated from the
carcass by cutting the thin rib bones through on either
side. The liver, wing, and breast are esteemed the
choicest parts in America, and everyone who has trav-
eled in Europe is familiar with the extra charge for
a portion of fowl w r ith which a wing is served.
QUAIL, are best carved by being cut in half right
PAR- through the breast and back, cutting down
TRIDGE c i ose to t j le breast-bone. Each half is suf-
AND r -11
PIGEONS ncient > with the accompanying toast, cress,
and jelly, for a portion.
TURKEY In carving these, endeavor to obtain as
AND many slices as possible from the breast.
f^ i~\ f*\ CT T7
This also obtains in carving a domestic
duck. Cut off the meat close to the breast bone down
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to the wing bone. When the thigh is eaten hot, the
drumstick can be separated from the thigh and the
meat on the thigh cut off. But when not wanted, it
is better removed whole.
SIRLOIN * Ply me, try me, prove ere you deny me! '
OF BEEF sang Apollo. If a sirloin is properly
roasted there may be a portion served to the liking of
each guest from the crisp brown top of the roast to the
blood-rare, juicy center for the epicure. A sirloin
may be divided in two parts, the under-cut of fillet and
the top or rump. It is usual to carve the under-cut
first and not to begin on the upper part until the other
cut is finished, for the reason that the joint presents a
far better appearance w T hen sent to the table cold.
Often the under-cut is sufficient to dine a small com-
pany say four or five; then the remainder is served
cold, and, nicely garnished, makes a handsome luncheon
dish. The under-cut is carved in rather thick slices
down to the bone. The top or upper-cut is carved in
thin slices, and care should be taken to keep it straight
and not to cut out the tender part in the middle.
A LEG OF is best carved by cutting slices parallel with
MUTTON the bone, w r hich gives it the appearance of
a haunch, and is practically the same thing.
SADDLE should be carved in thin slices on either
OF side of the center bone. Have the relays
roN of hot gravy served separately, as this joint
cools quickly. Plates should be very hot.
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FORE- Separate the shoulder from the other part
QUARTER by cutting round its outer edge. Place the
LAMJ shoulder on another dish and separate the
ribs from the brisket. The shoulder is rarely cut when
hot, as most people prefer the other portions.
HAM " Ob all de meat dat's fit ter eat, f'm
turkey down to ham," ham is the most difficult to carve
nicely. It should be cut in slices as thin as a wafer
and from the extreme end of the knuckle, thus grad-
ually cutting into the meat and leaving the knuckle
bone bare.
TONGUE Cut the tongue in half, and then cut thin
slices off each half. A little fat should be cut from
the root of the tongue and served with each slice of lean.
A word as to the etiquette of carving will not be
amiss and this is it : Do not talk to the carver. For he
is like the motorman and should not have his attention
distracted from the very important business in hand.
"RABBITS, except in soup stock," says Sir John Bailey,
' ought never to appear on a gentleman's table. But
if it must be served, let it be whole, and treat it as
Apollo did Midas let its ears be apparent." Theo-
dore Hook was a famous carver, and when with his
intimates he frequented some country inn outside Lon-
don he was in the habit of acting as his own caterer
and selecting from the poulterers and butchers what-
ever he desired. The " Eel Pie House," Twickenham,
the " Green Man," Blackheath, and the " Anglers " on
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the Thames, with the famous " Star and Garter," Kew
Bridge, were some of his frequent haunts, and the free-
dom of the kitchen was always his.
A late royal duke whose talents and knowledge were
world-famous once exclaimed aloud at the large house
party of a fellow-nobleman in Worcestershire, ' Take
this away! it's a very bad help." This must have been
mortifying to the carver, but he doubtless deserved it,
for some carvers destroy everything that falls under
their careless, clumsy hands; they never think of
' diving for green fat, sounding for cod sound, divid-
ing the fin and liver in equal portions, and they will
serve woodcock and snipe without trail, turkey without
stuffing, and plover without toast."
Every bachelor epicure knows that steel is detrimen-
tal to the delicate flavor of fish, and should insist upon
being given a silver fish knife for serving it.
55
EOOIX
CHAPTER VII
TT TT
" With such cooking, a monkey might
eat his own father."
ESCA- Don't ask me what that
BECHE means I won't tell. But
try it for your fish course some time,
when the mercury goes up into the
eighties, and if a better name occurs
to you, you're at liberty to use it.
Parboil two pounds of halibut,
schrod, or any firm white fish. Cut
in fillets and place in a salad bowl.
Mix in a small bowl a tablespoonful
of vinegar, three of olive oil, salt,
cayenne, bits of orange peel cut thin
as thin can be, a teaspoonful of onion
juice, a sliced green pepper, and, if
you have them handy, a bay leaf and
a sprig of thyme to give an added
bouquet. Mix well, pour over the
fillets, garnish with sliced orange,
and pop into the ice box to await the
serving.
57
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FISH These two particular sauces were invented
SAUCES especially for bachelors, and they're quite
new. For chile sauce, one must mash to a paste a clove
of garlic, finely minced, and two red peppers which
have been softened in boiling \vater and rubbed through
a sieve. Add a bit of the water, salt, and one table-
spoonful of vinegar. In the blazer have sizzling hot a
cupful of olive oil and stir the pepper pulp into this.
Whatever fish you elect to have, cut in fillets and cook,
closely covered, in this sauce. For the other, which
we will call after Pittsburg Phil, take a cupful each of
tomatoes, onions, and green peppers from which the
seeds have been removed. Scald and skin the toma-
toes, and skin the peppers by blistering on a hot stove.
Chop all together, adding salt and enough olive oil to
moisten. This is not to be despised as an accompani-
ment to cold beef, although it is perhaps at its best
with fish. Try it on Barracuda, Spanish mackerel,
Ouananiche, or even the plebeian cod, and report the
result in your Sunday newspaper's Woman's Page.
SARDINES would make a man bow dow r n before a
1 L'INDI- Hindu god. This is how M. Mooker-
jee of Calcutta serves them to his Eng-
lish friends. Into the chafer put a pat of but-
ter and stir in the yolks of four beaten eggs,
salt and cayenne to taste, and a teaspoonful of
chutney. When it forms a smooth paste, mash with
it some trimmed sardines from which the oil has been
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wiped, dip in eggs and bread crumbs, and after saute-
ing in hot butter, dish up on thin strips of toast.
TURTLE Should a man be so fortunate as to have
STEAK sent up from Maryland with his birds a
small terrapin, then shall he call himself blessed and
ask in three or four of his intimes for a quiet game.
No matter what the losses, this turtle steak will amply
repay the loser and make the smile of the winner ex-
pand like Sunny Jim's. After melting two spoonfuls
of butter in his blazer, the host, who meanwhile has
the champagne cooling and the plates heating, will
stir into the chafing dish a tablespoonful of mushroom
ketchup, two tablespoonfuls of currant jelly, a gill of
port, a dash of cayenne why do they alw r ays say
'dash"? and some salt. In this simmer the steak
until tender, and, as a crowning touch, stir in the
juice of half a lime. Piping hot should be the plates,
the inevitable toast, and the steak. With the cham-
pagne of the right coolness and the steak of the pre-
scribed hotness, even Sam Bernard wouldn't know,
I'll wager, just when one should cry 'Sufficiency!'
CANNED Who would ever dream that the plebeian
SALMON canned salmon could be transformed into
a morsel of such surpassing richness that it was im-
mortalized by no less a person than Thackeray him-
self ? Yes, canned or * tinned ' salmon was in style
as long ago as that, my friends. And this is how the jo-
vial litterateur did it for himself and his gifted friends :
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A gill of olive oil should be popped into the blazer with
a tablespoon of chopped onion, a minced clove of gar-
lic, two cloves, six peppercorns, and, when browned, a
can of canned salmon in its liquid. Now add salt,
bay leaf, a few slices of lemon, a pinch of curry pow-
der, a pint of tomato pulp, a gill of Niersteiner, and
water enough to cover the fish. Simmer twenty min-
utes, then pour into a deep dish that has been lined with
toast, and call it 'Bouillabaisse"
CRABS Melt in the hot water pan a large spoonful
A LA of butter and cook in it for five minutes a
/
small onion and a small sweet Spanish pep-
per, minced fine. Stir while frying an d add half a
pint of strained tomato juice, a gill of chicken broth or
canned chicken bouillon, some celery salt, and four
soft shelled crabs nicely cleaned and cut in half. Sim-
mer seven minutes no longer and serve on delicately
browned toast.
BOSTON Did they originate at the Somerset Club
CLAMS or the Puritan? It's immaterial which,
but this is how they're done: Cut in dice three or four
slices of fat salt pork and fry crisp in the chafer. Add
some soft clams, freed from the tough part, salt and
pepper to taste, and saute them in the pork fat, serving
on slices of hot Boston brown bread.
FINNAN as served at the Hotel Essex in Boston owes
HADDIE its reputation to its creator, Rudolf Ziitter.
The skin is removed from the finnan haddie and the
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bones removed, after which it is parboiled in salt water.
It is then cut in pieces about an inch square. Equal
quantities of leeks, celery, and green peppers finely
chopped are sauted in butter till tender, then the pieces
of fish and two sliced boiled potatoes are added and the
whole covered with cream. Salt and white pepper are
used for seasoning, and it all boils together. If a
little cream sauce is at hand, it may be thickened with
that. If not, the beaten yolk of an egg stirred in
improves it and thickens it slightly. Finish with small
dots of butter and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
HERRING Speaking of fish, did you ever eat a savory
OMELETTE herring omelette ? It's a specialty of the
Manhattan Club of New York. Skin and bone one
fat smoked bloater herring and cut in thin pieces.
Place in a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter,
paprika, chives, and parsley. Stew slowly and add a
quarter-cup thick cream and four egg yolks; then take
off the stove. Beat the four egg whites stiff and mix
all together, then shuffle and fold as an omelette in a
buttered pan, place in a hot oven three minutes, and
then serve.
A UNION would not go badly on a yachting trip or
GRILL for a hot bite after the theater. It is sim-
plicity itself, and this is how it is done: Clean a pint
of oysters and drain off all the liquor possible. Put
the oysters in the chafing dish, and as the liquo-r flows
from them remove with a spoon and so continue until
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the oysters are very plump. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper and serve on whatever biscuit you fancy. And
don't forget to add two tablespoonfuls of melted butter
when seasoning them.
THORN- The Thorndike Hotel in Boston has an
DIKE oyster recipe invented by its chef which is
OYSTERS rea lly a delicacy. Two tablespoonfuls of
butter are melted in the chafer, and a pint of oysters,
drained of the liquor, is added to cook until plump
to bursting point. Then over them is poured a quar-
ter-cup of thin cream and two egg yolks are stirred in
to thicken it. With salt, black and cayenne pepper,
and a slight grating of nutmeg, the trick is done, and
zephyrettes on hot plates are brought on for the
serving.
CLAMS Who pleads guilty to Clams a la Rialto?
A LA William Faversham or Francis Wilson?
RJALTO Upon my word, I can't remember, but don't
let either say he hasn't received proper credit, and here
goes: Chop fine three dozen little neck clams. Put a
tablespoonful of butter in the chafing-dish, add the
clams with their juice and season them with a teaspoon
of minced chives, tw r o teaspoons of chopped parsley, and
a little pepper. After boiling about five minutes add
one tablespoon of walnut catsup and then stir in soft
bread crumbs to absorb the liquor, add another table-
spoon of butter, and serve very hot. This is war-
ranted to make any leading lady sw r eet tempered, even
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after failing to find her name in foot-high letters on
the billboards.
LOBSTERS It was a benedict from New Orleans who
WITH first told me about lobster with mushrooms.
He was a hopeless bachelor when a girl
ROOMS . . . , , . . , r i
who initiated him into the mysteries or this
luscious bonne bouchee promised to forsake spinsterhood
for him and all because she could cook. So if you are
anxious to be won, just give this recipe to the only
girl, and see w r hat follows. A quart of finely-cut lob-
ster meat is the first requisite. To follow, have a cup
of sweet cream, a sweet green pepper with seeds re-
moved and the pulp finely minced, a teaspoon of
minced onion, a ripe tomato peeled, quartered, and
sliced, and a pint of large, fresh mushrooms peeled and
cut up small. Put in the chafing dish a tablespoonful
of butter and add the pepper and onion and cook two or
three minutes over a brisk flame. Add tomato and mush-
rooms and toss about until the mushrooms are dark and
tender. Then turn in the cream, and when hot add the
lobster. Season to taste with salt, and when as hot
as can be serve up on toast. The same lady bakes
mushrooms, the large campestris, gills up, in a baking
dish. The up-turned cups are filled with butter and
a slight sprinkling of salt and pepper is added before
the baking dish is tightly covered. After baking about
ten minutes there should be plenty of juice to form the
finest possible sauce for the mushrooms.
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SHRIMPS finishes a trio of recipes from the Bayou.
x
A LA Melt one-half tablespoon of butter with the
CREOLE S ame quantity of lard in a stewpan, then
add a tablespoon of brown flour and stir until smooth.
A dozen large shrimps boiled and shelled and a large
chopped onion are fried for five minutes, after which
a cup of chopped tomatoes, thyme, and parsley to taste
are added and the whole is simmered half an hour.
Then come three chopped green peppers, salt and cay-
enne, and a half-hour more of cooking. The Orlean
serves the dainty with plenty of nicely cooked rice, and
it is a dish fit for the King of the Carnival.
AN A young pathologist, \vhose name is equally
OYSTER well known in Boston and Berlin, is quite
>ECIALTY as d evc) ted to his chafing dish as he is to
his laboratory, and lie has generally something quite
recherche to offer his guests when they drop into his
rooms for an evening. One of his oyster specialties
is enjoying fame in his own circle at present and small
wonder. For it is a toothsome morsel for a little sup-
per, if ever there was one. How is it done? Listen:
Butter the size of two eggs is melted in a dish and into
this is poured a quart of oysters and their liquor. By
way of seasoning he combines paprika, salt, pepper, and
a dash of Tabasco. This is stirred well into the mix-
ture and the flame left high under the chafer. About
three tablespoonfuls of thinly sliced celery is then
added, and when it is tender and the oysters are bub-
bling hotly, two tablespoonfuls of sherry and the juice
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of half a lemon are added. Cook then about ten min-
utes, and if it is to be especially appetizing, half a pint
of rich coffee cream is stirred in. If this be heated first
it will be better, as the sherry and hot oysters are apt
to curdle the cold cream. Serve on hot toast or slices
of brown bread and drink with it just what you seem
to crave at the moment supposing, of course, that a
cocktail has preceded. And, by the way, Rhine wine
and seltzer doesn't go half badly with this particular
dish, although of course if you prefer beer I've nothing
to say.
SHAD When the shad is smiling in the market
ROE place, the festive bachelor bethinks himself
of the succulent roe. For four people a pair of shad roe
if they be large will be sufficient. Scald them in the
hot water pan with a pint of hot \vater, a gill of vine-
gar, a bit of mace, and some lemon peel, not forgetting
three peppercorns for the final touch of mystery. Boil
fifteen minutes, then spread with butter blended with
chopped parsley and the juice of a lemon.
" The gentleman who dines the latest
Is in our street esteemed the greatest;
But surely greater than them all,
Is he who never dines at all."
OYSTER a la Sir John Bayley: 'Bruise one small
TOAST anchovy fine and take two dozen oysters
and cast off their beards. Chop the oysters fine with a
silver knife and put with the anchovy in the chafing
dish. Mix both together with sufficient cream to give
65
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Snacks of Sea Food
it a pleasing consistency. Heat well, stirring all the
time. Have ready some buttered toast, and serve the
hot oysters on these rounds. Eat in solemn silence, and
wash down with brown sherry."
Sir John, by the way, stipulates always that the din-
ner hour be adhered to with military exactness. It is
related of Cambaceres that Napoleon kept his dinner
waiting half an hour, and in despair he sent for his
cook and in true military phraseology exclaimed,
' Henri ! Save the entremets! The entrees are anni-
hilated ! ' The late Dr. Kitchener, who prided him-
self upon his punctuality, had written over his side-
board the motto, ' Come at seven, go at eleven."
Theodore Hook, who always liked the wee sma' hours
best, added the word " it " to the above, and great was
the doctor's surprise when he found that by alteration
the notice advised his guests to " go it at eleven." To
this might be added the advice of Baillie Nicol Jarvie:
' Don't accept a man's hospitality and abuse the scoun-
drel behind his back.'
CHAPTER VIII
TT IT
" CKeese is but a peevish elf
It digests all except itself."
CHEESE is one of the most valuable
of foods, and contains, in one pound,
as much nutriment as is contained in
two pounds of beef. In its raw state
it is rather difficult of digestion to
some, but this it somewhat overcome
by cooking. A small amount of bi-
carbonate of soda should always be
added to cooked cheese. In the face
of this, it seems strange that cheese
should be eaten to aid digestion, but
a small portion of very rich cheese
eaten after a hearty dinner aids that
function wonderfully.
The various popular brands of
cheese take their names from the
places where they are made. Many
foreign cheeses are now so well imi-
tated in this country as to render im-
67
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
portation unnecessary. For many years the Neufchatel
cheese has been made here, and is really quite as good
as the original French cheese, while there is made in
Connecticut alone a very large quantity of so-called
' Camembert cheese ' which supplies the leading mar-
kets of the large cities of America.
The favorite skim-milk cheeses are Edam, Gruyere,
and Parmesan. Holland is the home of the Edam,
which is generally served here in its hard or ripened
condition. But in Holland the usual breakfast served
the traveler includes, besides the delicious cocoa or
coffee, rolls, thick slices of plum bread, and great pieces
of fresh Edam cheese, which is a dark golden color,
and melts in one's mouth. The Gruyere is Swiss
and the Parmesan an Italian cheese, the latter princi-
pally used for grating over macaroni and served in this
form \vith soups and on dishes au gratin.
The favorite milk cheeses are the Gloucester, Che-
shire, Cheddar, and Gorgonzola the first three Eng-
lish and the latter Italian. The milk and cream
cheeses include Stilton and Double Gloucester from
England, the favorite Young America and New York
Dairy of ' the States," and the Canadian Cream
Cheese from the Eastern Townships of Canada.
Cream cheese includes Brie, Neufchatel, and Camem-
bert, which are the popular varieties served in America.
Anyone who has lived in Paris, however, has doubtless
acquired a taste for the Port de Salut, the Pont
1'Eveque, both similar to Brie, but with a more pun-
gent flavor, and the luscious little Coeur Creme cheeses
68
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
which, with the Fromage d'Isigny and the Gervais
Creme, are served with Bar le Due currants or goose-
berries, or with various comfitures and compotes of
fruit.
The Schweitzer Kase, or Swiss Cheese, is another
favorite, but the love of Limburger is generally con-
fined to Teutons, most Americans disliking the odor
cordially. Perhaps the most popular cheese to-day is
the Roquefort, which is ripened in dark caves in France
and allowed to mold until ripe. There is a fashion of
loading a Roquefort cheese with brandy, which not only
preserves it, but gives it an incomparable flavor. The
various potted cheeses, like MacLaren's and the Cana-
dian Club, are put up in jars w T ith brandy and retain
their delicacy of flavor indefinitely if kept in a cool place.
Pineapple cheese is similar to Edam and seldom pre-
ferred, w r hile Sap Sago is a \vell-known competitor.
The gourd-shaped Italian cheeses are so strong that
few care for them, although when grated over a dish
of spaghetti they are not to be despised. The cheese
from Switzerland made from goat's milk and the Nor-
wegian cheese of reindeer milk seldom find their way
to this country, where the " full cream country cheese '
made by the farmers' wives is far-famed.
Who has not eaten the luscious ''Cottage Cheese,"
' Dutch Cheese," or " Schmier Kase," made from sour
milk and worked smooth with sweet cream? This is
sold in some dairies in the cities, nicely wrapped in
five-cent packages, and is sometimes improved by the
addition of chopped sage, parsley, or chives.
A BACHELOR " S CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
The correct cheese to order after a dinner depends
entirely upon the preceding courses and the taste of
the diners-out. While English people often take a
bit of Gorgonzola or ripe Stilton, Americans gener-
ally order Roquefort, Camembert, or Brie, and Ameri-
can cheese is generally relegated to the noon luncheon
as an accompaniment to the inevitable American tri-
angle of pie. A French dinner usually terminates
with a bit of cream cheese and a confiture, unless a bit
of Roquefort is taken with the cognac and coffee.
CHEESE At some dinners, a canape, in which cheese
CANAPE forms a part, is frequently served, the Ca-
nape Lorenzo of cheese and crab meat, which originated
at Delmonico's, being world-famed. An ordinary
cheese canape is made by browning a circular piece of
bread in butter and spreading with French mustard,
then with a layer of grate'd cheese seasoned w r ith salt
and cayenne. This is set in a hot oven and baked
until the cheese is melted.
CHEESE run the gamut from Schweitzer Kase in
SAND- rye bread with German mustard down to
WICHES a d a i n ty affair served at afternoon teas or
receptions, which is made of a slice of brown bread and
a slice of white bread, between which is a filling made
from minced green peppers, English walnuts, and olives,
blended with Neufchatel cheese and softened with
mayonnaise. Grated Gruyere cheese mixed with
chopped walnut meats seasoned with cayenne is a
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
favorite English sandwich, while fresh whole wheat
bread with slices of American cream cheese and English
mustard is " not to be sneezed at."
" Cheese and bread make the cheek red." German.
Cheese, like tobacco, is at last being dignified with
literature of its own. The daily papers are cartooning
the " Cheshire Cheese," that delightful old inn in
the " Dreams of a Welsh Rabbit," and, if you please,
Wine Office Court off Fleet Street in London, where
Dr. Johnson ate toasted cheese and pudding and drank
his musty ale, has published an interesting history of
this, the most perfect old tavern existing in London,
its title being ' The Book of the Cheese." Goldsmith,
who lived nearby, used to sit there with Dr. Johnson,
and there are many souvenirs shown of the two famous
litterateurs.
And the cheese? Was there ever anything to com-
pare with the toasted cheese one has there? It's an
idealized sort of rabbit, served up in little square tins
on slices of toast and brought in sizzling and set before
one on the rough board bench \vith a mug of musty
or a pitcher of ale and porter mixed and frothing over
deliciously. The secret of the toasted cheese is, like
that of the pudding, jealously guarded, and it is said
that but one man in London ever knows at one time
just how the trick is done. But it's a morsel that is
well worth crossing the Atlantic for, provided one isn't
satisfied with his own chafing dish cheese stunts.
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A Chat on Cheese
Why is not cheese used more, I wonder? It is
nutritious, and, eaten properly, aids in digesting a
dinner. If one always drinks plenty of good old ale
or beer with his rabbit and includes in its ingredients
a pinch of soda there's no reason, unless there's a
chronic indigestion to contend with, why a rabbit need
not digest as easily as a new-laid egg.
In foreign countries cheese is as staple an article of
diet as bread. One reads of the husky English laborer
with his pail of beer and mid-day tiffin of bread and
cheese. The German considers no luncheon complete
without his Schweitzer Kase or Schmier Kase, while
the Swiss goat-milk cheese, the Norwegian reindeer-
milk cheese, the Italian cheese, and the hundred and
one variety of French cheeses are equally famous staple
articles of diet.
AN APPE- Take equal parts of MacLaren's Roque-
TIZER fort cheese and sweet dairy butter and melt
in the hot water pan, using a very low flame. When
of cream-like consistency add cayenne and Worcester-
shire sauce to taste, stirring until it foams. Crisp
crackers and the beer that made Milwaukee famous
complete a trio of famous palate-ticklers.
FROMAGE -A- Gruyere cheese appetizer is a favorite
A LA with the students of Geneva and Lausanne.
FLORIAN Florian Robert brought the recipe into his
coterie at the Sorbonne, and in the little
apartment on the Boul' Miche' a few congenial souls
occasionally gather of an evening and wash down with
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
"Bock 5 this dainty: Melt in a copper saucepan over
the charcoal brazier a chafing-dish will be used
over here a quarter-pound of grated Gruyere cheese
with a teaspoonful of butter, some chopped onion and
parsley, a cup of chicken broth or half a can of
chicken soup strained salt, pepper, and a suspicion of
nutmeg. When well blended, add four well-beaten
eggs, and after stirring until it looks just good enough
to eat, serve on triangles of toasted bread.
FONDUE A delicate fondue au fromage may be
AU quickly made of the sort that one serves
FROMAGE W j t .j 1 ginger ale or Apollinaris lemonade.
Melt with a piece of butter the size of two chestnuts
(I'm tired of saying " a walnut ") in the blazer, a half-
pound of broken or grated cheese, and stir until melted.
Add a cupful of thin cream, a bit of salt, and a sprink-
ling of pepper. Serve on any biscuit or toast you fancy
but try toast made from Boston brown bread if you
want a distinct novelty to connect two continents.
QUEEN Would not a recipe from Victoria the
VIC- Good be acceptable to the loyal John
TORIA'S Bull? Then let it be toasted cheese from
TOASTED t j ie R y a l Lodge at Windsor, which is
/-'LJpTpOp
done in this fashion: Grate half a pound
of cheese very fine, and add three tablespoonfuls of ale
and a small glass of champagne. Mix well in a silver
dish over the hot water pan for ten minutes and serve
on toast. It's almost as good not quite as that
served at " Ye Cheshire Cheese."
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r A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
ONION I have no time to waste in the idle discus-
RABBIT sion of whether it's Rarebit or Rabbit. If
you must know, consult the Encyclopaedia Brittanica
w r hile two large Spanish onions are boiling in the hot
water pan. When they are soft, your mind will be
at rest, and you will chop the onions and put them in
the blazer together with a small piece of butter, milk,
salt, cayenne, as much Tabasco as you like, a teaspoon-
ful of made mustard, and a half-cupful of grated cheese.
It should be very ' short," and, with a steinful of
Wurtzburger, it will be so delectable that when it's
gone you'll doubtless bless me for telling you how to
do it then make another.
FRIED These odorous but wholesome vegetables
ONIONS take on a new savor when friend in this fash-
WITH ion : Fry a quarter-pound or salt pork until
/"'T-T'P'PC'C
quite brown, then remove from the pan.
Slice a quart of onions into the fat, adding a little salt
and pepper and half a cupful of water. Cover the pan
and cook the onions until a light brown, then cut into
dice three-quarters of a pound of good cheese and add
to the onions about five minutes before serving. Allow
them to simmer slowly, and do not break up the cheese
in frying. This comes from Pierre Lavigne, a promi-
nent young artist in Paris, who says he learned it of
peasants in the valley of the Loire.
OYSTER A deviation from the time-w r orn rabbit is
RABBIT an Oyster Rabbit a la Frank Harris, which
cannot fail to tickle some palates. Clean and remove
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
the hard muscles from half a pint of oysters and let
them heat until their edges curl in a chafer with some
of their own liquor, finally removing to a hot bowl.
Then put in the blazer one tablespoonful butter, one-
half pound cheese broken in small bits, one saltspoon
each of salt and mustard, and a few grains of cayenne,
with a suspicion of bicarbonate of soda, if desired.
While the cheese is melting, beat two eggs slightly,
adding them to the oyster liquor and pouring gradually
in the melted cheese. Add the oysters, cook a moment,
and serve up on hot toast or crackers.
A "BED- Herman Oelrichs occasionally created a
SPREAD " bonne bouchee" and this, which he called
FOR TWO" fas "bedspread for two," is another oyster
concoction that is worthy of the name. Stir six eggs
together in a soup plate, and in another plate cut up
a dozen medium Blue Points moderately fine. Rub
the bottom of the blazer with anchovy paste, put in a
good-sized piece of butter, and proceed to do the eggs
into a creamy scramble. Just as they are turning,
throw in the oysters and stir until well blended and
cooked through, then serve on toast lightly spread with
some of the anchovy paste.
SARDINE Will you brave insomnia and indigestion?
RABBIT Then listen: Have some sardines broiled
and placed on squares of buttered toast, then make in
the chafer a thin rabbit, using milk in lieu of ale, and
a dash of Tabasco. Stir in one direction, adding
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Chat on Cheese
cream, and when the consistency of ' cold molasses '
pour over the broiled sardines.
CHILELY A gay bachelor from 'Frisco who is too
modest to give his name taught me this trick with
cheese New York Dairy. Break in pieces a quarter-
pound of it and rub to a paste with a tablespoonful of
butter, a teaspoonful of made mustard, two tablespoon-
fuls of thick cream, a dash of Tabasco, and some cay-
enne. Stir until nearly melted in the hot \vater pan,
and then stir in quickly this sauce w 7 hich has been cook-
ing in another chafer: Scald and skin three tomatoes
of medium size ; add one small w r hite onion and one
bell pepper with seeds removed and chopped fine, and
cook ten minutes over a hot fire. Pour off super-
fluous tomato juice before adding to the cheese. Mix
thoroughly, and if ' Bock is in season," then you'll
need no passport to the Land of Delight.
CHAPTER IX
" One Devil Drives out Another "
DEVILING is a particular form of
cookery that was doubtless devised
by some inventive bachelor; at all
events, ' devils ' are beloved by epi-
cures the world over. What New
Yorker does not remember with joy
the famous u devils ' procurable only
in their glory at " Jack's"? There is
a subtlety in Jack's concoctions that
makes the chefs at Sherry's, Delmon-
ico's, Rector's, and Martin's throw
up their hands in the face of his in-
comparable mixture. The ' devils '
of more than one London club,
but particularly the Junior Carlton
and the Army and Navy, are famed
the world over, while even the
Somerset Club in Boston by no
means lags behind in the preparation
of deviled kidneys.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Devils and Grills
The distinction between deviling and grilling?
Well, grills need not be deviled, but devils MUST be
grilled. The proper dressing of a good devil is one
of its chief requisites. It must be pungently spiced,
hot to the taste, cooked in a sizzling fry-pan, and served
smoking hot. Kidneys and chops are especially well
adapted to deviling, but anything in the tinned meat
line, and sausages also, are improved by the dressing,
while rare slices of roast beef and mutton and all sorts
of game may be made tempting as well.
JACK'S is jealously guarded, but Walter Mac-
RECIPE Queen of the famous " Broiler Club " gives
one that is so like it as to be its twin brother. (Are
sauces masculine? This one should be, at any rate.)
Stir in the chafing dish enough olive oil to flood the
bottom, a spoonful of mustard, half a teaspoonful of
paprika, a little salt and some black pepper. When
thoroughly blended, pop in the kidneys or whatever is
to be deviled, and if an added zest is required, throw in
a few olives and heat thoroughly. A bit of toast or a
crusty end off a French loaf and a glass of musty ale
add just the proper touch to this Satanic morsel.
INDIAN Admiral Ross of the English navy handed
DEVIL down to posterity a recipe for ' Indian
MIXTURE Deyll Mixture " that is not to be ignored.
This is it:
Four tablespoonfuls of cold gravy, one of chutney
paste, one of ketchup, one of vinegar, two teaspoon-
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Devils and Grills
fuls of made mustard, two of salt and two of butter.
Mix these all thoroughly in a soup plate, then heat in
the chafer.
DEVILED is a favorite dish in the menage of a New
DUCK York bachelor, who always makes it the
piece de resistance of his meal. The skin having been
removed from a cold roast duck and the bird cut in
pieces of a convenient size, he proceeds as follows:
The livers are mashed \vith a spoonful of dry mustard,
a teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice
and a dash of cayenne, to a smooth paste in the blazer,
in which two tablespoonfuls of butter have been melt-
ing. The same amount of water is added, and finally,
a gill of good old Madeira. When this is smoking hot,
the pieces of duck are added and left to simmer until
smoking hot, too.
"A says an English bachelor whose suppers at
DEVILED his Jermyn Street chambers are famous
KIDNEY, feasts, " is the most delicious morsel ever
enjoyed by an epicure." Sheep's kidneys of course are
used, and split in half with the skin and white mem-
brane removed. Put two ounces of butter in a sauce-
pan, and when hot throw in the kidneys, dust with
salt and pepper and cook quickly. Throw over them a
tablespoonful of onion juice, tablespoonful of Wor-
cestershire sauce and four tablespoonfuls of sherry.
Have your plates hot and the ale tankards brimming.
With a bit of bread and some ripe old Stilton to fol-
low, these make a supper fit for a saint or sinner.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Devils and Grills
DEVILED requires a different treatment. For this, a
LOBSTER dash of curry powder is stirred into a paste
with some dry mustard, salt, black pepper and olive
oil. Spread over the pieces of lobster, then lay them in
a dish and in an ounce of melted butter; cook ten
minutes if fresh and no epicure ever wants canned
lobster.
A FASHION left-over slices of cold meat that prevails
OF in a bachelor household not far from
DEVILING Washington Square in New York, is this:
The slices are carefully trimmed, then, if cut thick, are
scored with a knife. French mustard, pepper, salt, and
cayenne are mixed with soft butter to make a paste,
then rubbed in the scored slices and grilled.
GRILLED are also popular at this studio, and are done
SARDINES by first draining the sardines from oil and
removing the skins by rubbing them off. A tablespoon-
ful of butter is heated in the chafing dish, and the
sardines are laid in this and heated thoroughly before
serving on toast or crackers. Toasted Uneeda biscuit
make a delightful accompaniment to these. If deviled
sardines are wanted, mash the sardines with a silver
fork and after sauteing in melted butter or a little of
the oil, a generous quantity of tomato ketchup is added,
with a dash of tabasco, if wanted very hot, and the other
usual seasoning of salt, pepper, etc. A few drops of
lemon juice furnish the final touch, as the mixture is
served piping hot on toasted crackers.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Devils and Grills
DEVILED makes a fine morsel for a snack or even
LIVER for a sandwich filling. Take three pounds
of uncooked liver and chop together with a quarter
pound of salt pork. Mix well with it half a pint of
bread crumbs, three tablespoonfuls of salt, a teaspoon-
ful of pepper, half a teaspoonful of cayenne, and half
a teaspoonful of mace and cloves. Put in a covered
dish and set in a kettle of cold water. Cover the
kettle and place on the fire to boil two hours. When
done, let the steam escape by removing the cover before
setting.
DEVILED speaking warmly, are not half bad and de-
EGGS serve to be better know r n. Put a large
spoonful of butter in the blazer and stir into it half a
teaspoonful of dry mustard, two tablespoonfuls of to-
mato sauce, one of mushroom and one of Worcester-
shire sauce. When hot, put in four hard boiled eggs,
nicely quartered, salted and peppered. When heating,
make some toast, spread with butter and anchovy paste,
and serve the eggs on this and see if it isn't "just the
mustard."
One more bachelor, who remains modestly incognito,
gives herewith, his famous rule for deviled bones, to
wit:
DEVILED Melt in a chafer two tablespoonfuls of but-
BONES ter, add I tablespoon each of Chili sauce,
Worcestershire sauce, Walnut catsup, I tablespoonful
made mustard and a dash of cayenne. Take the drum-
sticks, second joints, and wings of a cooked chicken and
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Devils and Grills
cut small gashes in each piece. Sprinkle with salt and
pepper, dredge with flour and cook in the ceasoned but-
ter until well browned. Then add half a cup of hot
stock in which the chicken was cooked, simmer five
minutes and sprinkle with chopped parsley the last
thing before serving.
DEVILED as cooked in a famous San Francisco restau-
CRABS rant, the Techau Tavern, will appeal to
most people strongly. Tvvo tablespoonfuls of flour was
braided into two tablespoonfuls of melted butter and
two-thirds of a cup of white stock was added to make
a sauce, into which was stirred smoothly the yolks of
two eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sherry, salt and pepper,
one-fourth cup finely chopped mushrooms, and a cup
of chopped crab meat. After cooking this three
minutes, a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley was
sifted over. The mixture was then cooled and the crab
shells, which had been washed and trimmed, were
brushed with melted butter, filled with the crab meat
and sprinkled with stale bread crumbs that had been
mixed with a little melted butter. Then the shells
were popped into a hot oven and baked a golden brown,
after having scored the tops in three creases with a
case knife.
" Fresh pork and new wine kill a man before his time."
BROILED If ever you've lived in the land of ' hog
PORK and hominy," you won't despise a dish of
CUTLETS < fresh po'k ' to set before your guests.
Ever try this? Cut two pounds of fresh pork loin into
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Devils and Grills
flat pieces of a portion each. In a deep dish, make a
marinade of a tablespoonful or more of vinegar, a little
chopped tarragon, if you're an epicure, a clove of
chopped garlic and a chopped green pepper (seeds re-
moved). Lay the pork in this for two hours, then broil
and serve on hills of mashed potato. This was used in
the South ' befo' de wah," and I reckon you-all '11
relish it some cold night when the wind is whistling
round the corners.
CREOLE Even a bachelor may tire of a porterhouse
GRILLADES occasionally and sigh for a change. Then
is the time for him to test the Grillades, which they do
this way in New Oleans: Cut a thick steak tender-
loin will do into pieces about four inches square.
Pour a little olive oil over each piece and let stand a
few minutes, then broil over hot coals if you have them,
otherwise under a fine hot gas flame just enough to
sear the outside. Then place in a baking pan, sprinkle
with one chopped onion, one green pepper, a table-
spoonful of tomato sauce, juice of a lemon and a
quarter cupful of oil. Cover closely and when brown,
turn. Add a bit of hot water to the gravy, boil up and
serve.
HOT Suppose you've just seen a Bernard Shaw
BIRDS play; isn't that an excuse for something to
follow, a bit out of the ordinary? Well, while the
champagne is nicely cooling in its nest of shaved ice,
you will let one of your guests read Shaw's ' On
Going to Church " to the others while you are cutting
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Devils and Grills
up three or four pigeons in four pieces each and mari-
nating them in a half cup of olive oil for ten minutes.
Drain the oil into the blazer and while Jeems ' is
laying the plates I take it you're not an impecunious
bachelor you are chopping an onion, a clove of garlic,
a green pepper and some parsley. Fry in the oil until
transparent, then add the pieces of pigeon and sear
them all over. This is preliminary. Next get out the
nice brown French casserole and put all of this in it
together w r ith a can of tomatoes, salt, paprika and
cayenne to taste, a tablespoonful of finely minced salt
pork, half a cupful of sliced olives, and a can of bouil-
lon or a pint of good stock. Cover tightly and sim-
mer an hour; it takes time, but it's worth the waiting.
Five minutes before serving, moisten a tablespoon of
browned flour with a little of the gravy, stir in and
when it thickens it's ready. Pass with this, grated
Parmesan cheese, or, if you're sure they all care for
it, sprinkle over the casserole while it's on the fire. It's
as red as Shaw's \vhiskers and as fine as 'Candida,"
while it will disappear almost as quickly as did " Mrs.
Warren's Profession.'
CHAPTER X
TJU
" New dishes beget new appetites."
SAN FRANCISCO was a city of restau-
rants the most wonderful restau-
rants in all America. With the
passing of the old city one shudders
to think of the fate of Zinkand's, the
Techau Tavern with its sweet-voiced
Hawaiian singers and sadly beautiful
native music, Tait's mammoth un-
derground palace, the Palace of Art
with its wonderful collection of
paintings, including a Rosa Bonheur,
the new and the old " Poodle Dog "
the latter one of the show places of
the Coast. Then there was the
newly opened Oyster Grotto, where
nothing but shellfish, including the
delectable California crabs, was
served. There was the Italian cafe
of one Coppa on Montgomery Street
that had been decorated by the fa-
85
MM
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Mexican and Creole Cooking
mous San Franciscan artists and where writers, mu-
sicians, and painters met to drink Chianti and eat
spaghetti, ravioli, and frittura, and through their smoke
wreaths admire the wonderfully suggestive frescoes re-
calling Gelett Burgess and his " goops," Jack London,
and other celebrities whose names were lettered upon
the border together with those of ' Maisie," ' Isabel,"
' Murger," ' Verlaine," and other good Bohemians
who know how to live and to die. The restaurants
of Chinatown passed by, there was that of one Matias
in the Telegraph Hill region which was unique of all
eating places in the West. For it was a Mexican res-
taurant over which Matias, an Austrian, presided
proudly, and served his few patrons in the two clean,
shabby little rooms that smelled of garlic and were
decorated with colored prints all the way from Spain,
showing glorious bull fights in every stage from a hand-
some, lone matador, calmly awaiting the onslaught of
Taurus, to the gory finish with rivers of blood ; and
from without, coming through the open windows, all
the clattering tongues of Italian and Greek, Mexican
and Portuguese, denizens of the " Barbary Coast."
In the little alcove kitchen in the rear of the first
room stood Matias's wife, a handsome, liquid-eyed
Mexican woman of thirty, busily cooking the " Albun-
digos," Tamales," stirring the ' Chili con carne,"
and rolling the ' Enchiladas ' for the Senor who sat
in the next room drinking of the heavy, puckery Mexi-
can wine.
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With the second course of delicious fish, with a sauce
even hotter than the soup, Matias brought the register,
or guest book, which reminds one of a similar one at
the * Cheshire Cheese ' in London. Filled with au-
tographs of famous people and drawings by artists and
verse by poets and pen pictures by descriptive writers,
it was a worthy tome, and interested one for more than
an hour's time.
The delicious enchiladas which form a part of every
Mexican dinner are simply tortillas or corn cakes
rolled over like a German pancake and filled with
grated cheese and sliced onion with chili sauce poured
over it, and a soupgon of garlic grated on top. It is
impossible to make tortillas as they are made in Mexico,
as the corn is not made into meal there, but is rubbed
between stones into a soft, pulpy mass but I have
eaten some very good ones made by a San Francisco
artist in his studio on Russian Hill, made like an
ordinary corn griddle cake with a little wheat flour
added to prevent brittleness. He fried his onions in a
little olive oil, then put a spoonful on each enchilada''
and grated some cheese over, rolled it deftly, and
poured over it the chili sauce, which as everyone knows
is made from tomatoes and hot Mexican peppers.
The same artist gave to me some of his choicest
Mexican recipes which had been given him in a burst
of generosity by Madame Matias. Chili chicken is
not the least delectable of these, and is made so-
f ashion :
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CHILI Boil a chicken until tender, let cool, and
CHICKEN chop fine. Wash and dry a cup of rice, put
it into a pot which contains equal portions of melted lard
and butter and fry a few moments, then add chopped
tomatoes, onions, salt, and some chili powder, which can
be bought at any purveyor's. When this is well
blended and the rice has swelled, add the chicken and
some of the broth in which it has been boiled.
HOT I wonder if any of you have ever eaten a
TAMALE fresh hot tamale, and if you have ever
essayed the canned substitutes offered occasionally on
buffet cars of the vintage of Armour or the Libby can-
ning factories? There's just the difference between
a new-laid egg and a very bad one with all due
respect to the canners, who certainly do their best
to turn out the real Mexican article. But a fresh
tamale with the corn husks smoking hot can only be
prepared properly by a Mexican woman so I will
not attempt to tell you how they are done. They can
be had in their perfection in the City of Mexico, and
from there on up the coast to Portland, Oregon, where
they are very good indeed.
By w r ay of a change, some day when you are having
chicken or chili con carne, try with it some genuine
SOPA Boil some rice rather soft, with a trifle
DE ARROZeach of chili sauce and onion juice or
chopped onion, and eat it with salt, pepper and butter.
It \vill be found a vast improvement over the plain
boiled " Carolina head."
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Mexican and Creole Cooking
CHILI RE- is the most delicious of Mexican dainties
LLENOS stuffed pepper, to be sure, but savoring
little of the ordinary hotel product. To some finely-
chopped boiled beef, one-half that amount, each, of
chopped raisins and chopped almonds, pecans or wal-
nuts, is added. The pepper pods are prepared by being
scraped thin thinner than usual and after being
stuffed with this mixture, the rellenos are fried in egg
batter in smoking lard and served with or without
chili sauce, as the fancy dictates. To almost any Mex-
ican cookery a substantial shaking of chili powder is
added before the chilis are done.
There may be many lovers of chili peppers who are
unable to gratify their taste for the toothsome things.
To such people, like the ranchman in his desert of
cacti and sage brush, the canned sweet peppers or
pimientos put up in oil are a luxury, and an inexpensive
one at that, since the cans are but 15 cents in most
places, and contain enough of the peppers for three or
four meals. A favorite dish prepared with them in a
Colorado ranch is called
POTATOES A half cup of lard is put in the frying pan
O'BRIEN with some sliced onion and a strip of
bacon to give the proper flavor. Then some raw pota-
toes are sliced and cut across very thin, and three or
four pieces of the canned peppers are also cut in tiny
pieces. The whole is mixed, and when the lard is
smoking hot put in the pan with salt, pepper, and a
dash of chili powder, or * sweet chili pepper," as it
A BACHELOR ! 'S CUPBOARD
Mexican and Creole Cooking
is labeled. Covered closely with a little hot water
poured in after they have begun to get tender, they
should cook for ten minutes, and then chopped with a
knife and stirred. Care should be taken not to have
enough lard to make them soggy. Are they good?
Ask Buffalo Bill.
Not the worst salad in the world is made from
romaine or lettuce with these same peppers sliced in
strips and a French dressing poured over them. Try
it and see.
These * pimiento morrones ' are delectable addi-
tions to almost any salad, and give a dash to a clear
soup, while as sandwiches with cream cheese and
graham or wheat bread, they make a delightful bonne
bouchee. While in camp, add a few to the " Mulli-
gan," or transform a plebeian beef stew into a stew
a la Mexicaine by their use.
PIMIENTO Boil six large sweet red peppers until ten-
BISQUE <jer. Remove skin and seeds and rub
through a colander with a few spoonfuls of the water in
which they were boiled. While they are boiling, put a
half-cup of rice in a double boiler with one and a half
quarts of white stock or an equal quantity of milk.
When perfectly soft, rub through a fine sieve and add
the pepper pulp, a teaspoonful of onion juice, a tea-
spoonful of salt, and enough Tabasco sauce to make
very hot. Bring to a boil, then remove from the fire
and stir in slowly one-half cupful of thick cream into
which has been blended the yolks of two eggs. The
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Pimientos Morrones or canned peppers may be used if
fresh ones are out of season. Have ready some crou-
tons you can make them by sauteing tiny cubes of
bread in olive oil until golden brown and smack your
lips over the hottest and most delicious of Mexican
soups.
CODFISH Put three tablespoonfuls of Sierra Madre
MEXICAN oil in the blazer and fry in it for a mo-
TYLE ment a clove of chopped garlic, then add
two cupfuls of raw potatoes which have been peeled
and cut in thin slices, until brown. Then add one
pound of picked salt codfish it should have been soaked
for several hours previous one can of strained toma-
toes, a soupqon of marjoram, a cupful of vinegar, and
the pulp of four luscious red peppers failing the
fresh, use Pimiento Morrones which have been
soaked and rubbed through a sieve. Cook slowly for
two hours.
KIDNEYS Suppose that, after this rich soup and ap-
ALAMEX- petizing fish, one elects to omit the roast
ICAINE an( j substitute an entree. Can he find a
more tempting morsel than the kidney in Mexican
style? At all events, let him give the dish the benefit
of the doubt until it's tried. Now for it: Slice three
veal kidneys, removing the skin and hard membrane.
Have in the blazer two tablespoonfuls of lard, and in
this saute four sliced onions medium-sized ones
until brown. Then add half a dozen tomatoes sliced
thickly, six green peppers from which the seeds have
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been removed, finely chopped, and four slices of fat
bacon. Cook five minutes, then add four raw pota-
toes that have been peeled and cut in thick slices, salt,
and of course as much Tabasco as your guests
can stand; and, lastly, the sliced kidneys and just
enough water to cover. Stew until the kidneys are
tender, then take out with a skimmer all the mixture.
Thicken the liquid remaining with the yolks of six
hard-boiled eggs rubbed to a paste with a glass of
sherry and a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Add
the whites of the eggs chopped, and, if you want it to
be extremely local in its flavor, serve some nicely boiled
rice with it.
FRI- One must not think of setting this feast
JOLES before his guests without frijoles. Their
cooking takes time but one is well repaid. A pint
of small red Mexican beans will be sufficient. Cover
with two quarts of water and boil slowly. Drain
them, cover again with cold water and boil, and then
again, " three times and out." Then, when the water
has boiled nearly away, add two large tablespoonfuls of
lard, one large Spanish onion sliced, the inevitable gar-
lic clove, two Chili peppers (don't remove the seeds
unless you want the temperature lowered), and five
slices of bacon. Simmer slowly on the back of the
stove all day, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon
to thicken the gravy. The beans should be partly
broken when done. Half an hour before serving, pour
the desired quantity into a Mexican earthenware pot,
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pour over a tablespoonful of Sierra Madre oil, and
simmer until needed.
SALADEDEThis shall be the salad. With the heady
PIMIENTOS Mexican wine be sure you do not drink
too much and the clear strong coffee to
come after, you will have a feast that should
live in your recollection many a day.
Drain the contents of a small can of red peppers.
After drying in a towel, slice in rings, cut fine an equal
amount of celery, and mix. Add one teacupful of
tiny balls made from MacLaren's Imperial cheese,
w r hich should be rolled in fine cracker crumbs. Rub
the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs to a paste w T ith the
oil drained from the peppers. Rub the salad bowl
with garlic and put in the salad, over which pour a
good French dressing. Serve on crisp lettuce leaves,
and then pat yourself on the back over the success of
your dinner. What liqueur? You know!
Nowhere else in America is there a cuisine like that
of New Orleans. The delicate blending of the French
and Spanish schools with a sublime it's nothing else
touch of negro cookery gives it a particularly unctuous
flavor, to be compared perhaps to the musical Gumbo
French spoken by the darkies in the kitchen.
The salient points of this Creole cookery are the
artistic manipulation of the onion, which gives to cook-
ing the same suggestion of diablerie to be found in the
coquettish smile of a pretty woman nothing more tan-
gible the uses of roux, and the coffee. One who has
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tasted New Orleans coffee will give it precedence over
Turkish, Dutch, or the cafe au lalt of La Belle France.
Nowhere have housewives labored more devotedly
than in New Orleans, where they have striven for gen-
erations to preserve their o\vn peculiar cooking, and in
most households one will be served at every meal with
at least one dish typical of the Creole cuisine. Among
the most famous of these plats are a few that w r ill bear
trying in the bachelor kitchen. And the first is from
no less talented a lady than Dorothy Dix. Men may
not altogether approve of her unerring printed judg-
ment of them, but her oysters are sure to be popular
with the most critical.
OYSTERS For each person to be served select half a
*
A LA dozen large oysters in the shell and roast
them. When done, remove the upper shell,
leaving the oyster in the lower, and serve
on hot oyster plates. For the accompanying sauce,
allow for each individual one heaping teaspoon butter,
which should be melted, juice of one-fourth a lemon,
a drop of Tabasco, a drop of onion juice, and a pinch
of salt, with a sprinkling of chopped parsley thrown
in while blending. Pour sizzling hot over the oysters
and serve. Some toasted saltines will accompany this,
and one's favorite brand of imported beer, or perhaps
a bottle of Scotch ale.
Have you eaten Creole bisque? Then of course you
will w^ant to make that for your formal dinner, for it
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is a delight, and will surely be a success if the follow-
ing rule is carefully followed.
CREOLE Half a dozen slices of okra or half a can of
BISQUE canned okra should be used. If fresh,
wash and slice. Add half a can of tomatoes, one
sliced onion, three whole cloves, a finely-chopped
green pepper, half a teaspoonful each of all-
spice and salt and a tablespoonful of butter. Cover
jhese ingredients w r ith a quart of cold water and place
on the fire in an enamel kettle and bring to the boiling
point. Add more water, if needed, then strain and set
on the back of the stove where it will not boil. In a
double boiler heat one pint of milk and thicken with
a small teaspoon of corn starch blended with a little
cream and let come to a boil. Then pour the prepared
soup into a tureen, stir in a pinch of baking soda to
prevent curdling, and pour over the cream sauce, stir-
ring all the while. Stir in croutons of toasted bread
and serve very hot.
CREAM This is another Creole soup that will find
OF PEA instant favor. Have a can of small French
peas, drain and wash carefully. Place in
a small saucepan, adding a sprig of fresh mint, a little
onion juice, a pinch of sugar, a dash of cayenne, and
a generous saltspoonful of salt. Cover with a pint
of cold water and cook until the peas will easily mash
and press through a sieve. Return to the fire and grad-
ually stir in a half-pint of cream and a small cup of
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milk, and just before it comes to the boiling point add
a tablespoonful of butter blended to a roux with a tea-
spoonful of flour. Pulled bread should be served with
this.
BOUILLA- is another typical Creole dish but should
BAISSE be made on the Gulf, where the red snap-
per is just from the water, where the redfish is fresh,
and then only can it be known in perfection. Those
who live on the Gulf know how to make it those who
do not cannot obtain the ingredients in their perfection,
so I will simply say it's delicious.
CHAPTER XI
" Every animal but one keeps to
one disk" The Spectator.
EVERY bachelor is an epicure or
thinks he is. According to time and
season and environment, the single
man who has dabbled in cooking at
all will tell you that he has " the
best thing ever ' then promptly
proceeds to 'show you," as though
you were straight from St. Louis.
Even the New England farmer
has his specialties, which are apt, in
summer, to include a famous dish of
pepper grass, lettuce, and mustard
leaves tossed together with salt, pep-
per, vinegar, and sugar, as a salad
course ; and from ( Reuben ' up to
the Marquis de Dion, with his suc-
culent snails or "Escargots de Bor-
deaux," he runs the gamut of edibles.
The cow r boy on the Western plains
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will show you how to do a Mulligan " such as was
never seen on the Emerald Isle, and the student just
home from Heidelberg will tell you that no German
restaurant ever serves sauerkraut w r ith such delicious
brown gravy as he learned to make in Germany not
even Tony Faust of St. Louis, who certainly has this
continent beaten on the food of the Fatherland. The
American Art Student home on his vacation will deftly
prepare a Chateaubriand by grilling a thick fillet be-
tween two slices of rump steak, which contribute their
juices, but are thrown aside while the fillet is being
delicately browned over the hot coals before popping
on the hot platter.
Among some of these good things collected from
bachelors and some benedicts, too are a few so
choice that they must be mentioned as a part of the
stock of the Bachelor's Cupboard. Tell me what a
man eats and I'll tell you what he is ' is generally a
pretty good rule to follow, but have you ever tried to
tell what a man eats by what he is? That is the more
difficult psychological problem to solve.
There's David Belasco, for instance. One would
imagine that the writer of ' Zaza ' and ' DuBarry '
and all the rest would be something of an epicure, and
want his dishes highly seasoned. As he affirms, there's
many a dish \vith excellent constituents that fails for
lack of skill in combining them, just as many a good
play is ruined in the building, though the raw material
may be excellent. An artistic proportion should be
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maintained between ingredients, he says, just as be-
tween the characters of a play. His Salmi of Goose is
his favorite entree, and this is how he has it prepared:
SALMI Cut the remains of a roast goose in small
OF oblong pieces, removing the skin and gris-
tle. Take the bones and scraps and boil
them down until the water is reduced to a cup of
strong stock. Add to this a carrot, a young turnip, a
tomato, an apple, and a stalk of celery, all cut in dice
and previously parboiled together for ten minutes.
Simmer in the gravy until they will go through a vege-
table press, then put the meat in the stock and cook un-
til tender. Thicken the stock with browned flour, put
the goose on some slices of toast, and pour the gravy
over and surround with the vegetable puree. This is
guaranteed to please.
FINNAN Henry Miller selected for his gastronomic
HADDIE contribution the plebeian finnan haddie;
but, as he says, its transformation makes it nothing short
of divine, especially when accompanied by fried green
peppers. The actor-manager w r ho prepares them does
them in a chafer with no fuss at all. ' For finnan
haddie," he says, ' have the fish thoroughly washed,
and after standing in cold water about an hour put in
boiling water for five minutes, then wipe dry. Rub
butter and lemon juice well into the fiber of the fish,
then broil over a clear fire for fifteen minutes; or if
the clear fire is not handy, put in the blazer in some
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butter, with the cover on tight. Serve either with
hot butter sauce or tartare sauce although I incline
to the former.
' For the fried green peppers, split them and remove
the seeds, then lay in salted ice w r ater. When they
feel crisp, wipe them off with a cloth. Melt some
butter in the blazer, and w r hen smoking hot fry the
peppers in it until tender."
KARTOF- De Wolf Hopper does not hesitate to
admit that if he were to cook his favorite
KLOESSE di s hes, they would no longer be favorites.
There are too many good things to eat," he says,
1 to pick one special dish and label it in preference to
others." One of his favorite dishes was served to him
in a German restaurant " Kartoffel-Kloesse " like
American potato dumplings only different. This is
how:
Pare, boil, and mash potatoes and put aside to cool.
Take three cups of potatoes, one cup of bread, two w r ell-
beaten eggs, beaten separately, pepper, salt, and the
inevitable nutmeg to taste, and some chopped parsley
which has been heated in butter. The bread should
be prepared as for croutons, and crushed after being
browned in butter in the oven. The mixture should
be very stiff, then molded into small balls and dropped
into salted w T ater which boils very fast. The water
should be kept boiling for fifteen minutes, when the
1 Kloesse ' should be puffed about twice the original
size and done through to the center. These will make
anyone think himself transported to " Happyland."
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Kyrle Bellew paraphrases the old maxim, and says,
" When in France, eat what the Frenchmen eat "
and goes one better by adapting his tastes to the cook-
ery of the country in which he happens to be eating at
the moment. He admits, however, preferences for
Hungarian Goulash, as served in Buda Pesth, and a
Spanish Omelette from a Madrid cuisine.
THE may be easily prepared, and the ranchman
GOULASH may find it a delightful change from his
Irish stew. A pound of beef is cut into little squares
and stewed gently an hour, without coming to the
boiling point, when the "first dose of paprika' is put
in. Also, two carrots and two onions cut in dice.
Then more paprika. Half an hour before the meat
is done add two potatoes and celery stalks cut fine
and more paprika. When all is tender, serve on a hot
platter, with the vegetables surrounding the meat.
THE is built as follows: from a tablespoonful
OMELETTE of butter and a tablespoonful or brown
ESPANOL fl our braided in a frying-pan or blazer,
make a sauce by stirring in a cup of canned tomato,
half a cup of thinly-sliced mushrooms, and half a cup
of chopped ham. Season with red pepper, onion juice,
and salt. After simmering about ten minutes, stir in
four beaten eggs, stirring carefully as it thickens, and
when the eggs are set, serve on buttered toast.
SHAVIAN Arnold Daly likes to experiment with the
RABBIT chafing-dish, but admits that he never
dares to avail himself of poetic license, and always
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adheres strictly to the letter of the recipe, for he doesn't
dare depend upon his own judgment. That he re-
serves for histrionic effects in ' Candida," or f How
He Lied to Her Husband." ' My favorite recipe for
a hot bite after the performance," he says, c is to mix
three tablespoonfuls of grated cheese, one tablespoon-
ful of butter, and some onion finely chopped and sifted
on, a sprinkle of salt and paprika, and the whole popped
into the chafing-dish and stirred until the cheese is
melted. Then I pour in six eggs and stir until they
are cooked, blending carefully with the other mixture.
This, served on toast, makes an after-theater dish
which has won me the envy of some of my fairest
friends and a good many nuisances among the fellows,
for somehow actors never seem to have enough of any-
thing."
CRAB Robert Edeson shines equally as a football
MEAT AND artist and a concoctor of chafing-dish
MUSH- dainties, among which none perhaps is
more acceptable than crab meat and mush-
rooms in the manner he prepares them. He says:
Take two cups of crab meat cut in dice and half
a can of mushrooms, also cut up in the same size. Braid
together a heaping tablespoonful of flour and two
tablespoonfuls of butter stirred until smooth ; then mix
the crab meat and mushrooms together, season with
paprika, salt, and a soupcon of onion juice. Turn into
the hot sauce and cook three minutes-, then remove from
the flame. Add quickly three tablespoonfuls of cream,
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heated with a pinch of soda, set over the flame a mo-
ment, add a glass of sherry, and serve hot.
DAVID Hungry men who want something more
HARUM substantial, just wake up and take notice
POT while William H. Crane tells how to do
ROAST a Dayid Harum Pot Roast: " Lay a round
of beef in a deep pot. Add a cup of boiling water and
two slices of onion, cover closely, and for every pound
of meat cook ten minutes. Then transfer to a drip-
ping-pan, rub with butter, dredge w^ith flour, and
brown in a hot oven. Strain and cool the gravy left
in the pot, and, after removing the fat, put in a sauce-
pan seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little kitchen
bouquet. Thicken with a roux of browned flour and
butter, boil up once, and serve poured around the
meat. It's not a bad idea to put some potatoes that
have been peeled all over around the meat and let
them cook in the oven. A little good salad, plenty of
fresh horseradish, and something cold to drink, make
this an ideal feast for the jaded palate that turns at
truffles and mocks at mushrooms."
SCRAM- Raymond Hitchcock transforms himself in
BLED EGGS the twinkling of an eye from a Yankee
AND Consul ' into a maitre d'hotel, and his
/"'T TT7T7C'T7
scrambled eggs and cheese deserve a place
in the galaxy of stars recipes. He breaks three eggs
and slips them into the blazer, beats them with a
generous lump of butter and two tablespoonfuls of
grated cheese, with salt and pepper to taste. It cooks
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five minutes over a brisk flame, and when just the
right thickness is poured in a deep hot dish over
some fried toast, and in three minutes only the dish
is left.
POMMES It is possible that Counte Boni de Castellane
CASTEL- invented the potato which bears his name;
LANE ^ h e fad, he ought to have proper credit, for
it is a mouthful that is certainly deserving of more
than mild praise. It is a potato baked in its jacket
and should be a sizeable one. Then, when it is done,
its center is cut out until it is something of a shell, but
with some good, plain potato still clinging to the in-
side. Into it there is stuffed a " farce " of crayfish, the
mashed yolks and chopped whites of hard-boiled eggs,
with plenty of good cream and seasoning. Then the hole
is closed with a piece of the skin, the potato is put back
into the oven to heat then served ' en surprise!'
Imagine the immaculate Count, if you can, preparing
this legume. More likely Paillard or Frederick gave it
its cachet by honoring him w r ith its naming. Count
Boni is indeed an epicure of the younger French school,
which includes Marcel Fouquier, the Due de Morny,
Santos-Dumont, and, if you please, our own James
Hazen Hyde, who has nothing less than a ' poached
peach a la James Hazen Hyde ' named for him at
Durand's in Paris. The peach is poached like an egg
and then has kirsch poured over it and ignited. This
completes its cooking, and the burnt kirsch really
makes a most delicious sauce.
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QUAILS The Marquis de Massa really does invent
A LA dishes. Recently he gave to the world a
delicious morsel in a piquant dish of quails
DE MASSA , , . -ill i r
that he has wished to bear the name of a
Capus. The quails are ' poached ' in a saucepan,
which means ' completely cooked at slow ebullition,"
together with a good quantity of Muscatel grapes that
are yet green. When nearly done a finishing touch is
added in a Madeira wine only a little, remember but
ah ! what fascination !
There is a " school " of latter-day epicures in Paris
to w r hich the great chefs cater, and the result is in
' Lobster Alexander," the " John Osy Zegwoart veal,"
1 Poulet a la Dr. Pendergast," the fish vol-au-vent
Stanhope, and Lowther, Rathbone, Tuck, J. W.
Mackey, and General Williams eggs all named by
one Frederick, the only impressionist chef in Paris,
w T hose specialties are sky-blue sauces, purple stuffings,
and nile-green potages and the naming of his culi-
nary masterpieces after favorite customers the rich
Parisian wine merchants from Bercy, and the Amer-
icans.
SAM- Although sweets have not a large place on
BAYON bachelor menus, there is one a Milanaise
... delicacy which raises the entire meal from
LANAISE . , , ..
the dead level or the usual Italian table
d'hote, and, as prepared by Caruso and Sgbrilia and
other Italians with silver voices, enraptures the eater
quite as much as those mellow high notes. Just try
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a " zabajone a la Milanaise," and fancy eating it while
Enrico sings an impassioned love song from " II Trova-
tore ' or 'Carmen"! But of course the two don't
go together, so the average person will have to sample
either by itself. Take for six persons five yolks of
eggs and beat them, with a Dover egg beater until they
are thick, adding for each egg one and one-half tea-
spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Cook this in a double
boiler, beating constantly, until the mixture is light
and fluffy. Then add drop by drop one half egg-shell
full of Marsala wine for each two eggs. Serve at
once in cups or punch glasses. Care should be taken
not to cook this until it curdles, or to put in too much
w T ine. It should be of the consistency of whipped
cream.
NORWE- Superintending the building of an irriga-
GIAN BUT- tion ditch in the Big Horn Basin of Wyo-
ming has been a young Norwegian civil
FCCS
engineer, one O. J. Midthun by name, and
" Mid " for short. " Mid " is an epicure of the deep-
est dye, and patrons of the hotel Irma at Cody \vill not
forget the sanguinary struggle between the clerk and
the chef and all because " Mid " inaugurated the cus-
tom of cognac with coffee after dinner in Buffalo Bill's
big hotel. But this is digressing, for I w r as about to
give ' Mid's ' recipe for buttered eggs as served in
his Norwegian home at high tea, but which may be
served as a luncheon dish or a snack after the play.
Four new-laid eggs are required, and two ounces of
1 06
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees
butter, a small onion, and chopped parsley. The eggs,
well beaten, are poured into the blazer, in which the
butter has been melting, together with chopped onion
and the parsley, salt, and pepper. Keep stirring one
way until the mixture is thick, and serve hot and there
you have the favorite bonne bouchee from Christiania.
SAUSAGES When Prince Henry was feted in New
AND York nothing pleased him more than a
CELERY breakfast dish of sausages and celery
which was served him. His Prussian palate was
tickled so delightfully by this dainty that it is doubt-
less still being served him on his Highness's royal
yacht. To do them, prick as many small sausages as
you think the appetites of your party demand. This
prevents them from bursting. Put in the blazer and
cover with a quarter-cup of boiling \vater, and cook
until all the water is evaporated. Uncover and brown,
adding a little butter, or better still, some bacon fat.
Two or three minutes before they are done add two
tablespoonfuls of chopped celery and cook just long
enough to be tender, but not enough to lose the fresh cel-
ery taste. Serve either on slices of brown bread or toast.
A SUBLIME Out in the Canadian Rockies, not many
SAND- miles from Banff the Beautiful, there is a
WICK member of the Northwestern Mounted
Police force, the scion of a titled English family, with a
house in Belgravia and a superb estate in Cumberland,
who loves the free, wild life of the hills in the new coun-
try, and lives it in preference to the hothouse existence
107
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees
of the London Club and the functions of Park Lane.
No, I won't tell his name, but many a delicious morsel
is concocted after his day's ride is over; and after a
plunge in the hot springs and a gallop home to his
shanty with his " bunkie," a handsome six-footer from
Sheffield, he has his dish of tea, and with it a sublime
sandwich of his own particular variety, w r hich his
sister serves on her house-boat at Henley or during the
shooting season at their Scottish castle. Work as much
brown sugar as is needed into a bowl of butter until
the butter has absorbed all that is possible, then flavor
with old Jamaica rum and nutmeg until it has the
desired ' bouquet." Spread on thin slices of whole
wheat bread which have been thinly buttered, and make
into triangular sandwiches. This, with a cup of
smoking-hot Ceylon tea, would reconcile a man to even
the ' pink ' variety of afternoon teas, especially if he
is allowed a dash of the rum in his teacup.
SALADE Salad is the one thing on the menu that
A LA should be considered a penal offence if im-
4AS properly served. This salad was devised by
Alexandre Dumas, and it has become famous through-
out two continents : ' Put in a salad bowl the yolk
of a hard-boiled egg; add a tablespoonful of oil and
make a paste of it; then add a few stalks of chervil
chopped fine, a teaspoonful each of anchovy and tunny
paste, a soupgon of French mustard, a small pickled
cucumber chopped fine, and a little soy. Mix the
whole well with two tablespoonfuls of white wine vin-
108
A BACHELOR : 'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees
egar, then add two or three cold potatoes sliced, a few
slices of beet, some of celeriac and rampion, salt and
pepper the Hungarian variety to taste; toss gently
with a wooden spoon and fork for twenty minutes;
then serve.
SAUCE is a savory addition to a salad. To make
A LA IT AL- it, chop one or two anchovies quite fine
and rub smoothly in one teaspoonful made
mustard and a tablespoonful of oil ; then add by de-
grees three more tablespoonfuls of oil, one of garlic
vinegar, and one of good wine vinegar; stir until
smooth and creamy and serve in a bowl, to add sep-
arately to the salad at table.
D'Albignac of Limousin, who was a favorite in
London through his skill in mixing salads, made a
great fortune there through his matchless art. This
is his
SAUCE Melt half a pound of butter; strain into
MAITRE it the juice of one lemon, and add salt, pep-
*^* per, cayenne, and parsley to suit the taste.
SAUCE Put into a dish the yolks of two eggs, a
TATARE teaspoonful of vinegar, and a little salt.
Mix this quickly into a cream, then add a teaspoonful of
mixed mustard, cayenne, and a pinch of parsley. Two
spoonfuls of oil should now be added, drop by drop.
SAUCE for chops and cutlets. Cut two onions
ROBERT fn small pieces, fry light brown in but-
ter, dredge a little flour in the pan, and add a tea-
109
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees
i
spoonful of vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Let
boil up, and after stirring half an hour mix in a tea-
spoonful of mustard and one of anchovy. Stir for a
few moments before pouring over the chops.
SAUCE FI- A pint of rich stock, an ounce of brown
NANCIERE thickening, one glass of Madeira, one glass
of mushroom ketchup, a pinch of cayenne, and a piece
of glaze. Boil the stock well up with the thickening,
then add other condiments. Simmer fifteen minutes
and add the glaze, straining for use.
MOCK is a famous dish, and when the real thing
VENISON js ' out of season," a man can generally
succeed in convincing his friends that he is dodging the
game warden if he follows this recipe well: Into the
blazer put a heaping teaspoonful of butter and work
with a spoon until it creams and foams. Then cut in
some thick, rare slices from a well-hung leg of mutton,
turn in the hot butter once or twice, season with cay-
enne, two tablespoonfuls of currant jelly, a gill of old
port, and simmer a few minutes longer. There is
nothing better to serve w r ith this than crisp lettuce
hearts and plain French dressing.
KIDNEYS How would kidneys and- mushrooms go
AND with a bottle of Dog's Head for a little
snack after the play? Have ready six
lamb's kidneys, halved and skinned. Half
a can of French button mushrooms will also be needed.
Put a tablespoonful of butter into the blazer and brown
IIO
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees
a minced onion in it, then stir in a tablespoonful of flour
and add half a can of bouillon, stirring carefully and
not forgetting to add a bay leaf. Next goes in a
spoonful of kitchen bouquet to give it that brown rich-
ness, some salt and cayenne, and a bit of chile pepper.
Throw in the kidneys and mushrooms, and when they
have heated thoroughly, and the edges of the kidneys
are deliciously curled eat them.
A COM- is a good accompaniment if the palate
MODORE craves cheese with the ale. Mash up a
GERRY generous slice of soft, ripe cheese with vin-
"CRAB 1 "
egar, mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth
paste and spread on toasted crackers of the saltine
variety. It has the genuine crab flavor, and is an
ornament to the Commodore, in truth.
EGGS This is the chef d'ceuvre of a Marchese
A LA who does not disdain to roll back his im-
MESSINA macu l at:e cu ff s a nd go into the kitchen
for who else could he entrust with his famous bonnes
bouchees? The recipe has been handed down in the
house of this Sicilian nobleman for no one dares say
how many generations. Boil six eggs until hard, then
remove the shells. Roll them in flour, then in a beaten
egg to which has been added one-half teaspoonful of
oil and the same of vinegar, a few drops of onion juice,
a dash of grated nutmeg, salt and pepper, and chopped
parsley. When quite well covered, roll again in ver-
micelli broken into fine bits, and put in the frying bas-
iii
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees
ket and plunge in deep lard, frying until golden brown.
Arrange on a deep platter and pour over them the fol-
lowing sauce: Put in the blazer a tablespoonful of
butter and braid into it a tablespoonful of flour,
which should gently brown. Add one-half cup-
ful of Italian white wine and a half-can of bouillon,
salt, and cayenne. After boiling about fifteen minutes
add a teaspoonful each of chopped chives, parsley, a
few stoned olives, and as many mushrooms as you
think it will stand. Bring to a boil and serve piping
hot with Chianti, or, better still, Brachetto Spumanti
or Lachrima Christi.
112
s^^^
CHAPTER XII
tru
"Good living is due to that action of the
judgment by which things that please our
taste are preferable to all others." SAVARIN.
IN the Bachelor's Cupboard there
are many condiments. The epicure
has so cultivated his taste that he
can tell in the twinkling of an eye
just what ones are used in the prep-
aration of a dish, just what it lacks,
or, perchance, if there be too much
of one seasoning.
By his knowledge and apprecia-
tion of condiments is the epicure rec-
ognized ; insipidity of taste goes with
lack of character, and the greatest of
dullards satisfies himself with the
simplest of foods. To be an epicure
does not necessarily mean that a man
must be possessed of means; for, as
Savarin tells us, ' the pleasures of
the table are common to all ranks
and ages, to all countries and times;
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
they not only harmonize with other pleasures, but re-
main to console us for their loss." The discovery of
a new dish, he says, does more than the discovery of a
planet for the happiness of the human race.
The true epicure has an intuitive knowledge of
taste. He can tell immediately as the cover is lifted
from a dish, by the aroma, just what the seasonings
are. And his knowledge of the condiments of all
nations is positively uncanny, and suggests more than
one reincarnation. An authority on curries, a dis-
serter on culinary arts of the time of Confucius and
Pliny, he can tell of the last feast served in Pompeii
and what Nero last drank and how Napoleon fared
at St. Helena. He can recite a list of the dishes at a
feast of Lucullus, and tell precisely how many orto-
lans were sacrificed for it, the age of a ripe oilve, and
the vintage of a claret, by its bouquet. The deriva-
tion of each seasoning and the country of its discovery
are as simple to him as the rule of three ; and there is to
him the same delight in dissecting a dish and in rem-
iniscing on its origin as there is to the Egyptologist in
deciphering some graven stone found in a long-closed
tomb.
The bachelor who is or expects to be an epicure
may begin with a few simple facts about condiments,
and from this knowledge cull an appreciation for
things epicurean that will enable him to become a self-
taught Sybarite of the deepest dye. The bourgeoisie
of France teach us that it is not the quality of the meat,
114
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
but its seasoning, that gives it that perfection we recog-
nize. A five-penny soup bone may attain by judicious
seasoning at the hand of the French femme de cuisine
the dignity of a plat at the Cafe Royale.
In stocking the cupboard, then, do not forget the
value that lies in the condiments, for without them no
dish is palatable. The simplest of them all, the ple-
beian salt, is the most necessary, and without it the
finest feast would be impossible.
Pepper is another essential, and the varieties that
should be included are black pepper and white pepper,
each obtained from a plant both wild and cultivated,
growing in India. Cayenne pepper is the sharpest
variety, and the sweet chile pepper of New Orleans
and Mexican cities, which is much milder, is also de-
sirable. The pimientos belong to the pepper family,
and no one should fail to include in his condiment cup-
board a few cans of the Pimientos Morrones, or sweet
peppers put up in oil. Chile pepper occupies the same
place in Creole cookery that curry powder holds in
that of India and Ceylon. Paprika is the national sea-
soning of Hungary, and is perhaps a shade stronger
than the chile pepper, and vastly better for use in
dishes containing cheese. Here is a fact that should
be remembered : It is said by a famous physician that if
a person eats every day a little red pepper w T ith his
food, he will never become a paralytic. But by the
same token, there is danger in eating too much, as one's
stomach may easily become burned by it.
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
When Louis XV. at the request of Madame Du
Barry conferred the order of " cordon bleu" upon the
cook in recognition of her perfect cooking, he was quite
overcome at the perfection of each dish and its sea-
soning. The French as a race are past masters at the
art of seasoning food, and devote the same attention to
these culinary masterpieces that a poet or painter does
to his art. A list of condiments and their uses may
aid the bachelor in preparing his feasts, and from it he
may select whatever suits the individual taste.
ANCHOVY A British firm practically controls the
ESSENCE world's market in the manufacture of
anchovy essence, which is made from a little sea fish
caught in the Mediterranean. It can be bought
for use as hors d'ceuvres in little kegs or in bottles
as packed in Italy. The essence is used in flavoring
fish sauces, and the anchovy paste or anchovy but-
ter which comes in small jars is used spread upon
canapes and on hot toast, while it is used in England
in sandwiches served at afternoon tea. Anchovy
eggs are appetizers made from hard-boiled eggs, the
yolks mashed with anchovy paste and returned to the
cavities.
AROMA- is a fine salt having mixed with it for
TIC SALT ready use pepper, mace, bay leaf, rose-
mary, sage, thyme, celery seed, and perhaps other ingre-
dients. It saves time and trouble in mixing the vari-
ous seasonings necessary for soups, etc.
116
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
BEAR- A Swiss sauce named from King Henry,
NAISE The Bearnaise," in his Swiss home. A
popular sauce for serving \vith beefsteaks
and fillet of beef.
CAPERS Pickled green berries from a shrub, an old-
time relish to eat with mutton. Caper sauce is made
from butter sauce mixed with capers and the caper
vinegar. Capers are used as well in certain salads.
The pods of the nasturtium flower are often used as
a substitute.
CA- is a relish beloved of gourmands the world
VIARE over. In Berlin a favorite supper dish,
served with cayenne and lemon, bread and butter. In
London, as a sandwich, and in America commonly
served as ''canapes a la Russe" It is the salted and
smoked roe of the sturgeon, and generally branded as
Russian, although it is coming to be made in this
country to some extent.
CELERY is ground celery seeds added to common
SALT salt, and a very necessary adjunct to the
bachelor's cupboard.
CHILI is made from Mexican sweet peppers, finely
COLO- minced in vinegar pickle. Can be bought
RADO - m b ott i es anc j excellent for oysters or cold
SAUCE
meats.
CHILI is a sauce or relish made from tomatoes,
SAUCE green peppers, and spices. A favorite
sauce for cold meats in America.
117
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
CHOW is made from mixed pickles thickened with
CHOW scalded mustard.
CHUTNEY is an East Indian sweet pickle, similar to
Bengal Chutney. One may also buy mango chutney,
a characteristic Singhalese condiment, particularly good
with curry.
CURRY is a yellow powder of which the principal
POWDER ingredient is turmeric, a species of ginger.
When one speaks of Ceylon and of India, his thoughts
naturally revert to curries, which are served there in
such delicious variety. Many of the London clubs
having their culinary specialties, notably the Oriental
in Hanover Square, where curried prawns are served
at their best; the Garrick, and the little grill over
Toole's Theater, where the curries are flavored with
tamarinds. Every bachelor menage should be supplied
with curry, and the making of the various kinds will
give the cook a wide knowledge of dry curry, Singhal-
ese curry, and so on through a long list.
ESTRA- are tne same a garden herb used for
GON AND flavoring vinegar. Tarragon vinegar is a
TARRA- necessary ingredient in the making of spe-
GON cial salads and sauces.
FINE may be purchased already mixed in tins,
HERBS and poultry seasoning, which is practically
the same, is excellent for stuffing, the Bell's Poultry
Seasoning being the best known variety.
FINAN- consists of brown sauce with sherry,
CIERE cocks' combs, livers, pieces of sweet-
GARNISH breads> etc .
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
FRENCH is an indefinite name for a variety of salad
DRESSING dressings, but commonly made from salt,
pepper, oil, and vinegar, with perhaps a bit of red
wine to color it.
GARLIC is a member of the onion family, and de-
licious, if used with great care. Italian and Spanish
cooks are masters in the art of using it, and a " clove
of garlic ' is simply one of the divisions of the bulb,
not a head of garlic. It should be in every menage, if
for nothing but to rub a salad bowl, which imparts a
delicious flavor to the salad.
HARVEY'S is an English relish.
SAUCE
HORSE- is the root of a plant bottled in vinegar.
RADISH German horseradish sauce is grated horse-
radish boiled either in gravy or water, to which yolks
beaten up in cream and vinegar are added, but not
allowed to boil. English horseradish sauce is simply the
root grated into vinegar, preferably Tarragon vinegar.
Horseradish mustard is an excellent condiment for cold
beef, and horseradish butter is made from grated horse-
radish, lemon juice, and butter kneaded together for a
beefsteak sauce, and served at the famous Beefsteak
Club in London.
MACE- A French product used for soups, salads,
DOINE and garnishing planked steaks. They come
VEGE- j n glass, with carrots, turnips, string beans,
TART FS
peas, and green beans, a delightful melange
of color, and delicious when served with a plain French
dressing as a salad.
119
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
MANGO are stuffed young melons or cucumbers,
PICKLES and an admirable relish with cold cuts.
MAYON- is an uncooked salad dressing made from
NAISE oil and the yolks of eggs, mustard, lemon
juice or vinegar, and salt.
MINT is chopped green mint, vinegar, and sugar,
SAUCE mixed and served cold with lamb or mut-
ton. Also served in America with hot roast lamb,
but never in England.
MUSH- tinned, are a necessity for use in many
ROOMS entrees, or cooked in the chafing-dish by
themselves. Cepes are large mushrooms preserved in
oil, and mushroom catsup is a delicious relish. Mush-
rooms dried, can be bought at Italian groceries and are
better as to flavor than the tinned variety, when used
for sauces and garnishes for steaks.
MUSTARD is one of the essentials, like salt, in every
cupboard. Epicures in Shakespeare's time ate mustard
with pancakes. Several varieties of mixed mustards
may be bought in glass, notably the German mustard
and English mustard. Mustard mixed in w T arm water
is a valuable emetic in case of poisoning, and mustard
plasters and hot mustard-water foot-baths make this
condiment an especially valuable one.
NOODLES, are respectively the American, French, and
NOUILLES German names for a yellow paste similar
to macaroni, but containing the yolks of
NUDELN T~\ ^ - i j vi
eggs. Delicious as cooked like macaroni,
and much used also in clear soups.
1 2O
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
OIL is one of the most important of condiments,
and used by the Latin races in their cookery in prefer-
ence to butter. Olive oil is obtained by crushing and
pressing the olives in sacks, after which it is subjected
to a refining process. A vast quantity is produced
annually in France, Italy, and Spain, and in Califor-
nia it is coming to be one of the staple products.
There are many varieties, but in Italian oil the Lucca
is considered the best, and can best be had from Italian
grocers in bulk. Most epicures, however, prefer what
is said to be the finest oil made, the French ; Veuve
Chaffard," w r hich has a slight greenish tinge, and is
carefully bottled.
The two distinct schools of cookery in France are
the " langue d'Oil" which is distinct from the
' langue d'Oc" In the Northern cuisines and in
Paris butter is the principal vehicle, but in the
sunny Riviera and the Midi oil is the chief assimilator.
French authorities hold that the ' cuisine au beurre *'
is more conducive to digestion than the ( cuisine a
I'huile" A thoroughly educated palate may soon learn
to distinguish the French oil from the Italian.
OLIVES are the most popular of hors d'ceuvres in
this country and in Europe. There are many varie-
ties, the best the Spanish Queen olives of mammoth
size; then the Sicilian olives, the ripe olives of Cali-
fornia, and olives stuffed with red peppers and ancho-
vies, as well as pickled olives. No well-regulated cup-
board should be without them.
121
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
OSCAR'S is the chef d'ceuvre of Oscar of the
SAUCE Waldorf-Astoria.
PARME- is an Italian cheese which comes grated in
SAN bottles, and an indispensable accompani-
ment to most Italian dishes, such as maca-
roni, spaghetti, ravioli, onion soup, and all soups made
from Italian pastes.
PIMIENTO is allspice.
PIMIENTO are canned sweet peppers.
MORRONES
SAGE is the best herb flavoring for pork, sausage,
goose, and tame duck. Can be bought in pressed
packages or ground in tins.
SAVORY is another soup herb that comes in two
varieties summer and winter savory. Better bought
green from the green-grocer than in the powdered
state.
SOY is a bottled sauce of high flavor, imported
from China and India.
TABASCO is the ' hottest ' sauce known. Indis-
SAUCE pensable.
TRUFFLES A fungus growing underground, and es-
teemed as a great luxury in Europe. Principally used
in game pates, boned capon, and other made dishes,
the Perigord variety being the most choice.
TARTARE is mayonnaise mixed with chopped onion
SAUCE and parsley and served with fish. Olives
and pickles are also added, when desired.
122
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Concerning Condiments
VINEGAR is best bought bottled, unless one is sure
of getting the finest cider or maple-sugar vinegar made
by New England farmers. White-wine vinegar is also
delicious for salads, and this, with the common variety,
a bottle of Tarragon vinegar, and a small jug contain-
ing vinegar into which the dregs may be emptied from
wine bottles and kept for French dressing, should be
found in every cuisine. Many condiments may be dis-
pensed with, but oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and mus-
tard are the essentials with w r hich a man of moderate
means may get on nicely in the preparation of simple
repasts.
WORCES- is an English relish of world-wide fame.
TERSHIRE Essential for a Welsh rabbit and has a
SAUCE variety of uses.
123
CHAPTER XIII
"He that waits upon fortune is never
sure of a dinner."
AT times there seems to be a craving
for vegetables that is irresistible.
Possibly the hungry bachelor may
have a Sunday luncheon in progress,
or mayhap a more than usually sub-
stantial supper at which he wishes to
serve up in some succulent form a
vegetarian snack. For him, then, let
these few chafing-dish recipes be set
down.
BROILED Does it seem possible
TOMATOES that the luscious tomato
was ever considered poisonous and
that sure death awaited the eater? A
fact it is, though, but most of us
would prefer to think of this vegeta-
ble as the one-time " love-apple " ;
surely it is a name that conjures up
more delightful thoughts when the
125
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Variations with Vegetables
juicy red tomatoes are broiling. Put in the blazer
a tablespoonful of butter, and while it melts cut in
thick slices some large ripe tomatoes. Dust them with
salt, pepper, and, if the tooth be sweet, a bit of sugar;
then dip in cracker dust and lay in the blazer, turn-
ing frequently until they look ' just right to eat."
They make a delightful accompaniment for a chop or
a deviled kidney.
PEAS A LA This shall be the name for a dish of peas,
BOUDET for at the little Cafe Boudet on the corner
of the Boulevard Raspail and the Rue Leopold Robert,
in Paris, is a quaint little cafe with a "cuisine bour-
geoise" where the jovial ' cuisiniere des legumes '
kindly favored me with her recipe for the most deli-
cious peas I ever tasted. A slice or two of fat bacon
or salt pork is cut in dice and put in the blazer to fry
gently, and a small onion is sliced into the fat when ft
is hot and sizzling. When the onion is brown and
tender and the bacon is crisp, a can of French petits
pois is drained of the liquid and turned into the mix-
ture, with salt, pepper, and a bit of butter. Two or
three spoonfuls of thin cream may be added a discretion,
and this is a dish fit for Napoleon himself.
CREAMED A small can of French mushrooms, which
MUSH- may be bought for fifteen or twenty cents,
makes from four to six portions of creamed
mushrooms. Happy be the bachelor who is an authority
on Mycology; he may go into the fields or woods and
select his own mushrooms, buttons, puff-balls, or fairy
rings, and prepare them as best suits him. But " in de
126
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Variations with Vegetables
vinter time," when the market price of fresh mushrooms
puts them beyond the pale, the canned ones may be sub-
stituted with good result. Into the blazer put a table-
spoonful of butter and stir into it a tablespoonful
(level) of flour; when this has blended, stir into it a
cup of thin cream, or even a cup of milk, if you desire
to be economical. When this has heated, turn in the
mushrooms, and serve when hot on slices of toast that
are crisp and w r ell-buttered. Creamed potatoes are
prepared in the same way, substituting for the mush-
rooms cold boiled potatoes cut in dice and perhaps a
suspicion of chopped parsley.
POMMES The Latin races are famous for their pro-
SAUTE liflc use of olive oil ; and truly, it imparts a
delicacy that makes even fried food palatable if one
likes oil. It's said to be an acquired taste, and many
people are unable ever to like it ; but as this book is sup-
posed to cater to epicures, and to be an epicure one
must like olive oil. I'll tell you how saute potatoes are
done as they do them in a queer little restaurant in the
Rue de la Grande Chaumiere, in Paris. The Russian
exile who keeps it is anarchistic in his conversation, but
his saute potatoes will cover a multitude of anarchistic
tendencies. Slice very thin raw potatoes that have
been peeled and laid in very cold water for a few min-
utes. Have in the blazer a liberal quantity of fresh
huile d 1 olives, the " Veuve Chaffard ' variety, and
after it is smoking hot, dry the potatoes in a towel
and put in the oil, with salt and pepper. Saute gently
with a fork every now and then until quite done.
127
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Variations with Vegetables
HASHED Shall these accompany the grilled steak?
BROWN Put then in the blazer two tablespoonfuls
POTATOES O f butter and one of flour, salt and pepper.
Mix well and turn in sufficient cold boiled potatoes
chopped fine for the meal. Stir the potato until it is
thoroughly heated through, then allow it to cook with-
out stirring until it is a golden brown. Turn out
in a hot dish, brown side up. Oil may be used instead
of butter, and gives it a delicate flavor.
f Many dig their graves with their teeth"
said Ben Franklin ; but what a glorious way to dig
them ! If eating and drinking were taken from us, life
wouldn't be worth the living, and there are more who
die from insufficient food than from good living. Good
livers who take the proper amount of exercise are rarely
troubled with gout and the kindred ills the flesh of the
gourmet is heir to. Then ho! for the next delicacy,
which shall be a hitherto-unnamed dish of my own
invention. I call it
MACE- Into the blazer put two generous table-
DOINE spoonfuls of butter or oil, and then a can of
CHAUD j^g Delicious French vegetables that come in
such tempting form or a glass of them, if this be pre-
ferred. There will be succulent French beans, petits
pois } and tiny cubes of carrots, turnips, mayhap a bit
of parsnip or salsify, and with all this you may like
a suspicion of onion, which may be had by gently stir-
ring in the melted butter for a moment two or three
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A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Variations with Vegetables
slices of onion, which are afterward removed. When
the vegetables are hot, they are good enough to eat
with almost anything; but if there is cream handy, a
spoonful or two stirred through the vegetables is cer-
tainly an improvement. It has a very Frenchy bou-
quet, this dish, and suggests one of Verlaine's spring
poems. Try it.
BRUSSELS Suppose you are entertaining an English-
SPROUTS man and want to give him something
' homey." If you are perchance deviling slices of rare
roast beef in one chafer, then give him some Brussels
sprouts in the other, and he will beam upon you in
truth. For Brussels sprouts are to Johnny Bull what
rice is to a Chinaman. Wash a quart of sprouts and
take off any decayed leaves, then boil until tender in
salted water. They cook very quickly. Take out and
drain, then melt some good butter in the blazer and
saute the sprouts lightly in the pan, dusting lightly with
salt and pepper. And no matter how hot your
' devil," don't neglect to have English mustard handy
for your Briton.
SPA- This may properly come under the head of
GHETTI vegetables, and do you know that it can be
deliciously cooked in a chafing-dish? Have boiling in
the hot-water pan some salted water, and take as much
spaghetti as required, a few sticks at a time, and gently
slide into the boiling water without breaking. The
secret of good spaghetti is in not overcooking it, as Joe
of the Cafe Angelo in Boston's Little Italy told me;
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
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and he knows. When it is done, which will be in
about fifteen or twenty minutes, drain and put in the
blazer some butter two tablespoonfuls. Into this
work a little flour, and, if you want spaghetti with
cream, put in a cup of milk and salt and pepper to taste,
and when it is smooth and thick, add the spaghetti.
Pass grated Parmesan cheese with it when served.
If, however, you want it in true Italian fashion, put
in a cup of strained tomato juice instead of the milk,
and either some button mushrooms cut in slices or some
of the dried mushrooms that can be bought at any
Italian grocery and soaked out in cold water. A little
grated cheese may be stirred in, but it should be passed
as well. Lastly, add the spaghetti. If you have any
pieces of cold ham, cut fine and add them. They give
a delicious flavor.
ASPARA- Shall it be canned asparagus tips or aspara-
GUS gus on toast ? Either is an excellent chafing-
dish dainty that is improved vastly by a cup of thin
cream in the cooking. Have the asparagus heated, with
possibly a little melted butter poured over the stalks or
tips if you like it and who doesn't? Then in your
blazer put the aforesaid cup of cream and season it with
salt and pepper and a slight soupqon of chili pepper.
Have ready some triangular slices of toast, and when
this sauce is hot, dip each slice of toast in it quickly
with a fork, and put on a hot plate. Lay on the toast
some of the asparagus, and when all the plates are filled
pour over each some of the hot cream sauce.
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ASPARA- In Pliny's time, when asparagus grew
GUS FROID wild, it may not have been considered as
great a delicacy as now ; and one does not learn of the
variations of serving that it was treated to then ; but
now, in the high places where one is miles from a
little neck or an oyster, this is a substitute that may
well begin a dinner it's especially inviting after a
lone-tree cocktail. Have some boiled asparagus tips
nicely cooled and served on shaved ice with a dressing
of lemon juice, horseradish, salt, and pepper; and don't
forget to pass the Tabasco. You'll be surprised at the
appeal this tidbit makes to you.
CUCUM- Don't tell me that you never fried cucum-
BERS r bers; if you haven't, it's quite time you
SALT] learned. Put in the blazer a tablespoonful
of butter, and slice your cucumbers, nicely peeled, into
quarter-inch slices; dip in beaten egg, then in cracker
crumbs, and fry in that same butter a delicate brown.
Serve with broiled chicken, or any game even with
that mock-venison \vhich I've already told how to do in
the chafing-dish. It's a welcome change from cucum-
bers with French dressing, and not at all indigestible,
though some may say so.
CHAPTER XIV
UtT
* They that love mirth.
Let them heartily drink ;
'Tis the only receipt
To make sorrow sink."
BEN JONSON.
WHY do men drink?
To quench thirst? To drown sor-
row?
Both are good reasons; but there
are many other reasons why, for cen-
turies, drink has been a synonym for
good cheer. While some may be
drowning their woes in the wine cup,
others are right jubilantly celebrat-
ing their good fortune. The drink-
ing horn has been emptied and the
wassail bowl has flowed right merrily
dow r n the ages since St. Paul advised
* a little wine for the stomach's
sake."
The man who drinks too much is
not more intemperate than he who
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A Dissertation on Drinks
drinks too little ; the truly temperate mariner who steers
the middle course is the only one worthy of the name;
his conduct fits the word.
What mental lubricator can equal a choice drink?
It calls forth jest and song, it stimulates eloquence and
awakens wholesome mirth.
Then " let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow
we die."
A painter who lacks skill in mixing his colors spoils
many a good canvas. So it is w r ith the concocter of
drinks. Be his materials never so numerous and pure,
if he lacks skill as a compounder; for he will not only
mar good ingredients, but disappoint a company. To
avert so sad a calamity is the mission of this chapter,
in which divers delectable drinks are given, with direc-
tions for their mixing.
f Drink in the morning staring
Then all day be sparing"
ABSINTHE Into a goblet of shaved ice put two dashes
COCKTAIL of maraschino, one dash of orange bitters,
and one pony of absinthe. Stir well, strain, and serve.
r The fish lead a pleasant life they drink when they
like"
ALE Three pints of ale, draught or bottled, a
FLIP spoonful of sugar, a piece of mace, six
cloves, and a small piece of butter. Let this boil, and
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then beat the white of an egg and the yolks of three
eggs in a little cold ale, add to the boiling ale, and
pour the whole swiftly from one vessel to another for a
few minutes, then serve.
"Ale sellers should nae be tale tellers"
ALE One quart of Burton ale, one quart of
PUNCH Niersteiner, a wineglassful of brandy, a
wineglassful of capillaire syrup, the juice of a lemon
and a piece of the peel ; grate a bit of nutmeg and add
a piece of brown toast ; mix w r ell and let it stand cold
for two hours before straining and serving.
' Good ale is meat and drink and cloth"
IR Heat a half-pint of ale and a half-pint of
WALTER sherry, add one quart of boiling milk,
RALEIGH sugar to taste, and some grated nutmeg.
It should stand in a warm place for an
FOR SACK , , . , , . , j . i,
POSSETT nour > an ^ Just before serving add the yolks
of two eggs, then beat well and serve hot.
' // you brew well, you may drink well"
LAMB'S Heat a pint of good ale, add sugar and
WOOL nutmeg to taste, then lemon peel and a
pinch of cloves and ginger. Put in a bowl with three
roasted apples sliced and three pieces of toast. Serve
very hot. It's a prime nightcap.
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f To good eating belongs good drinking"
SCOTCH Mix with one well-beaten egg two table-
HOT spoonfuls of ale, some nutmeg, and one-
fourth pint of Scotch w r hisky. Stir in two
pints of boiling-hot ale and add sugar to taste. Pour
from one pitcher into another until frothy, and serve
at once.
' Good drink drives out bad thoughts."
BROWN Melt one pound of sugar in one pint of
BETTY water; add while boiling a pinch of
"^* pounded cloves, a dash of cinnamon, one-
OXFORD ir r i i L i
DRINK P brandy, and one quart or good
ale. Add a little ginger and nutmeg, and
serve ice cold in summer, boiling hot in winter.
f Drink wine and let water go to the mill" Italian.
AMER- Rub the peel of six lemons on one pound
ICAN of loaf sugar; squeeze their juice and that
PUNCH o f s j x oran g es on {t, carefully removing the
seeds, add four pounds of loaf sugar, five cloves, and
two quarts of w r ater. Skim well, fill into bottles, and
keep for the punch. Then mix one and one-half pints
of green tea, a pint of brandy, a quart of rum, a quart
of champagne, and a cup of well-sweetened chartreuse
into a punch bowl, add a lump of ice, three oranges and
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a lemon cut in slices. Let stand two hours, after stirring
in the bottled mixture, stirring repeatedly that it may
be well blended.
' Only what I drink is mine" Polish.
BRAIN Squeeze into a tumbler the juice of a lime
DUSTER and add two dashes of gum, a pony of ab-
sinthe, two dashes of vino vermouth, and two dashes
of sherry. Fill up with ice, stir, strain, and serve.
' Where reason rules, appetite obeys."
CHAM- This is a ladylike beverage, indeed. To
PAGNE make it, put a large lump of sugar in a
COBBLER w ineglass nearly filled with shaved ice, and
fill the intervals with champagne. Stir slowly, adding
a little vanilla or strawberry ice cream, and serve with
a straw and a spoon. It is sure to make a hit with the
* younger sister."
' Of wine and love, the first is best."
CHAT- One bottle of Catawba wine, one and a
ARTIL- quarter bottles rum, the same quantity of
LERY whisky, one and a half pineapples, and suf-
PUNCH ficient strawberries to flavor and color.
Allow liquid to stand under seal over night. When
ready to serve add three quarts of champagne.
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f Drink nothing without seeing it! 1
CHAM- Mix one bottle of champagne, two bottles
PAGNE of soda, a glass of brandy, a glass of Cura-
gao, some slices of cucumber peel, and the
juice of a lemon. Moselle or Sauterne may be made
into cups the same way, and alluring decoctions they
are. Another " cup " is made in this fashion: a cordial
glass each of benedictine, brandy, and maraschino are
put in a quart jug. Filling it up w T ith champagne
makes a champagne cup that is not to be sneezed at.
Rhine wine, cider, or claret may be used with felicitous
result.
1 Drink upon salad costs the doctor a ducat/'
CIDER This is a favorite English beverage. Make
BOWL an extract of a spoonful of green tea in a
half-pint of boiling water, and after letting it stand a
quarter-hour, put in a punch bowl and add six ounces
of lump sugar, a bittle of cidar, two wineglasses of
brandy, half a pint of cold water, and place the bowl
on ice for further orders.
' He who likes drinking is ever talking of wine."
CLARET Into a punch bowl put half a pony each
CUP of benedictine, yellow chartreuse, maras-
chino, and Curasao, the juice of six limes, two bottles
of claret, one bottle of Moselle, one bottle of Apol-
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A Dissertation on Drinks
linaris, half a pound of sugar, a little sliced orange and
pineapple, and a few sprigs of mint. Stir thoroughly
and add some pieces of ice.
' Eat and drink measurely and defy the mediciners."
CLUB Half a glassful of ice, two dashes of gum,
COCKTAIL two-thirds of gin, one-third of vino ver-
mouth, two dashes of orange bitters, and one dash of
green chartreuse. Stir well, strain, and serve.
' Drink the wine and don't inquire of the vine."
COFFEE Break an egg into a glass and beat it well ;
AND add a spoonful of sugar and a wineglassful
RUM o rum> Mix this up well, pour into a
cup of the best Mocha coffee hot and add a small
piece of butter. This is a famous 'blue chaser."
' Bacchus loves freedom"
EARTH- In a medium wineglass put one-third each
QUAKE of benedictine, brandy, and Curacao, and
CALMER tnree dashes of Angostura.
' Conviviality reveals secrets"
EGG NOGG Beat in a bowl the yolks of four eggs with
PUNCH six ounces of powdered sugar; add gradu-
ally one pint of brandy, one-fifth of a pint of rum, a
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A Dissertation on Drinks
pony of maraschino, and two quarts of milk; beat the
whites of the eggs until they are snowy, and sweeten
with a bit of vanilla or lemon sugar. Let the whites
float on top of the punch and serve cold.
f The best brewer sometimes makes bad beer."
ENGLISH Rub the rind of two lemons on half a
PUNCH pound of sugar and put in the punch bowl,
squeezing the juice over it with a quart of boiling
water. Stir well; add three gills of rum and half a
pint of brandy; grate a little nutmeg over the top and
heat before serving.
' Esteemed without but loved within
Is London's mellow Old Tom gin."
GIN Mix one pint of sugar syrup, a glass of
SLING brandy, and the same of gin, a slice of
lemon, and a pint of soda. Serve cold.
' He that sips many arts, drinks none!'
ENGLISH Rub the peel of three lemons on one pound
of sugar and put in a bowl; squeeze the
juice of the lemons over, and grate half a
nutmeg and add with a bottle of rum. Mix thor-
oughly and let stand over night, then add one quart
each of boiling water and milk. Allow the mixture
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
A Dissertation on Drinks
to stand covered two hours. Filter through a flannel
bag until the punch is absolutely clear, and serve ice
cold.
" The beer's of your own brewing, and you must
drink it"
HOL- Into a goblet put some shaved ice, two
LANDS dashes of gum, one of absinthe, two dashes
COCKTAIL O range bitters, and a little Hollands.
Strain and serve.
' When Bacchus pokes the fire, Venus sits by the oven."
SPICED Here's a hot drink for a zero night. Have
CLARET half a dozen lumps of sugar, four whole
allspice, two whole cloves, the juice of half a lemon,
and half a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon in a saucer.
Mix well and put in the bowl and pour over half a
pint of claret and let it boil for just two minutes, stir-
ring all the while. Strain into hot glasses, and over
the top of each grate a little nutmeg before serving.
( The devil is not in the quality of wine, but in the
quantity "
DAN- Into a cocktail glass squeeze the juice of
FORTH quarter of an orange, add a wineglassful
APPETIZER O f French vermouth and fill up with selt-
zer. A good change for an avant diner from the tra-
ditional cocktail.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Dissertation on Drinks
f He earns a farthing and has a pennyworth of thirst."
WASSAIL This is a famous old English Christmastide
recipe, and dates back to the time of good Queen Bess
and earlier. To a pint of ale add one-half ounce
of grated ginger, one-half ounce of grated nutmeg, a
pinch of cinnamon, and one-half pound of brown sugar.
Heat and stir, but do not boil. Add two more pints
of ale, one-half pint of sherry or Malaga, the zest of
a lemon rubbed on a lump of sugar, and, finally, six
cored and roasted apples. In serving hot, in bowls,
serve a piece of apple to each.
' Gods! What wild folly from the goblet flows! '
Homer.
IMPERIAL Peel one pineapple and four oranges; cut
PUNCH the first in small slices and separate the
oranges into pieces, putting all in a punch bowl. Then
boil in a quart of water two sticks of cinnamon and a
stick of vanilla cut in small pieces; strain the water
through the sieve into the bowl, and then rub the rind
of a lemon on one and one-half pounds of lump sugar,
put the sugar in the water, and squeeze over the juice
of three lemons. After it cools, place on ice and add
a bottle of Rhine wine, a quart of rum, and, just be-
fore serving, a bottle of champagne and half a bottle
of seltzer.
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' A big head has a big ache."
MINT Dampen a small bunch of mint, dust with
JULEP powdered sugar, bruising slightly, and pour
over a little boiling water. Allow this to draw, then
strain into tall glasses quite filled with finely-shaved ice.
Dress the glass with sprigs of mint and pour in enough
brandy to fill. Do not stir, but set in the ice box until
thoroughly cool, and serve with straws.
Y He is an ill guest that never drinks to his host."
SHANDY Mix equal parts of ginger ale and Bass's
GAFF Pale Ale. A temperate libation approved
of by the very youthful Londoners.
f Claret for boys, port for men, and brandy for heroes"
SHERRY Into a large glass put a spoonful of sugar,
COBBLER a dash of White Rock, a wineglassful of
sherry, and a dash of port. Fill up with fine ice, orna-
ment with fruits in season, and top off with a spoonful
of ice cream of desired flavor. Serve with a straw
and spoon.
f / will drink life to the lass." Tennyson.
THE ONLY Put in a tall goblet some shaved ice, two
ONE dashes of gum, half a pony of creme de
menthe, a pony of gin, and a dash of orange bitters.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Dissertation on Drinks
Squeeze into it the juice of a lemon-peel, stir well and
serve.
f The three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops, and /
will make it felony to drink small beer." Shakespeare.
STOUT Boil a quart of stout with a quarter-pound
PUNCH of lump sugar and a stick of cinnamon;
beat four eggs to a foam and mix with a wineglassful of
rum ; take the stout from the fire and add, while contin-
ually stirring, to the egg mixture.
APPETI- Two lumps of ice, one-third vino vermouth
ZER OF (Italian), one-third of Fernet branca, and
ANGELO a s }j ce O f orange. This is served at the
North End cafe of Angelo, in Boston, and is the favor-
ite Italian aperitif.
'Twill make the widow's heart to sing,
Though the tear be in her eye." _
Burns.
AN IM- Into a goblet put the juice of a lime, a lit-
MORTAL tie seltzer, and a spoonful of sugar, half
of apple-jack, half of peach brandy, and
the white of an egg. Fill up with ice, strain and serve.
' In vino veritas * is an argument for drinking only
when you suppose all men to be liars." Dr. Johnson.
WEEPER'S To a goblet two-thirds full of fine ice add
JOY three dashes of gum, half a pony of ab-
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A Dissertation on Drinks
sinthe, half a pony of vino vermouth, half a pony of
kurnmel, and one dash of Curagao. Stir and strain
before serving.
'Never lend a man money after you've been drink-
ing; never try to borrow from one before he's had a
drink"
WHISKY Into half a glassful of shaved ice squeeze
COCKTAIL a little lemon peel, to which add three
dashes of gum, two dashes of bitters, one dash of ab-
sinthe, and a small glass of whisky. For whisky sling,
put into a goblet containing a little fine ice, two dashes
of gum and a wineglassful of good whisky. Stir and
strain.
' Come, gentlemen, drink down all unkindness"
- Shakespeare.
VELVET Half a bottle of champagne, half a bottle
of White Rock, and two ponies of brandy. Mix in a
jug, and add a lump of ice.
r Then it's always fair weather
When good fellows get together"
ROYAL Mix champagne and brandy, a quart of
SHANDY the former to a pint of the latter. An-
^ AF other recipe calls for a third the amount
of brandy, and lest it be too strong one should experi-
ment until he has it exactly to his own taste.
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A Dissertation on Drinks
f There is a devil in every berry of the grape."
The Koran.
LORD Peel one lemon fine; add some w T hite lump
SALTOUN'S sugar and pour over it a glass of sherry. '
CLARET Then add a bottle of claret even plain
CUP ,. .
vin ordinaire will answer and sugar to
taste; also a bottle of soda water and nutmeg, if liked.
Strain and ice well. If preferred mulled, strain, heat,
and serve piping hot.
' Sweet is old wine in bottles, ale in barrels"
Byron.
MISSISSIPPI One glass of brandy, half glass Jamaica
PUNCH rum, and a tablespoonful of whisky, quar-
ter of a lemon, and a tablespoonful of powdered sugar,
and water to taste. Mix well and ice with shaved ice.
For 'linked sweetness long drawn out," use a straw
in the tall glass in which it is served.
f Wine and youth are fire upon fire."
A New Yorker, Tom Lynch by name, and said to
be " one of the best," has a few w r ords to say in regard
to drinks in general and cocktails in particular. " The
only really decent drinks," he says convincingly, " can
be counted on the fingers of one hand. A good im-
ported Scotch with the peat-smoke perfume, Medford
rum and what a pity it's no longer made! a dry,
very dry, Martini cocktail, a Gordon gin rickey, and
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Dissertation on Drinks
the best Irish whisky those are the best drinks that a
man can take in this country, or the old country either.
And, as a matter of fact, it's next to impossible to get
a cocktail that is a cocktail in London or anywhere
else on the other side.
'Bottled cocktails? They are a snare and a delu-
sion. Perfect cocktails are only made with scrupulous
care in measuring the ingredients. A good many men
think after a time that they can measure drinks with
their eye; but that is what does the mischief, for no
man can do that and have his cocktails absolutely uni-
form. In mixing cocktails I always use a graduated
measuring glass which I invented myself, and in doing
that I have earned the reputation of always giving a
man the same cocktail he had yesterday, or last week,
or a year ago. The most popular drink to-day in New
York is the ' H. P. W.' cocktail, which was intro-
duced by Harry Payne Whitney at the Ardsley Club,
and later at his Adirondack camp; and the good fel-
lows who were initiated into its seductiveness agreed
then and there that it should be christened after their
popular host, so here we have it : '
f There's a drink ' on the beam * for you, lady"
Pratt.
THE "H. P. Mix carefully in a measuring glass one
W." COCK- part of Italian vermouth and one part of
TAIL fay Gordon gin. Add the peel of an orange
and frappe.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
A Dissertation on Drinks
There is a new cocktail served in New York at
Sherry's and Martin's and the Cafe des Ambassadeurs
which is appropriately known as ' the Perfect Cocktail.'
This is how it is mixed : '
PERFECT Mix one part Italian vermouth, one part
COCKTAIL French vermouth, and one part Gordon
gin. Add a slice of orange, and frappe. You will
soon see wherein lies its perfection.
148
CHAPTER XV
THE cost of wines is an important
factor in entertaining. Many a man
is forced to entertain friends of ex-
pensive tastes on the proverbial
' champagne taste and beer income '
plan. A person who wishes for any
reason to economize may substitute,
in almost every case, California or
other American wines, which cost
far less than imported. In fact, I
have known a man who called him-
self a connoisseur of wines to be de-
ceived by Cook's Imperial Extra Dry
to such an extent that he acknowl-
edged it to be quite as good as
Mumm's when told the difference.
Prices are given here by the case
of one dozen bottles, as in ordering
wines for home use most people buy
in dozen lots. The price per bottle
149
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
at a restaurant will not vary greatly from the list
prices, which are taken from one of the largest im-
porting houses in America.
CHAMPAGNES.
DOZEN
Pommery sec (dry) $31-50
London Pommery, 1893 48.00
Vin Nature, brut 3 J -5o
Veuve Cliquot dry, Gold Label 31-50
London Special, ditto 35-oo
Heidsieck Dry Monopole Extra 30.00
Pol Roger Brut Special 3 5.00
Baron R de Luze Dry Comet 25.00
Perrier Jouet dry creaming 30.00
Runiart P. et Fils 32.10
Piper Heidsieck, extra brut 36.00
G. H. Mumm 32.00
American Bee Hive dry 15.00
Cook's Imperial extra dry 13.00
Great Western extra dry 12.00
BURGUNDIES.
Pommard red burgundy (sparkling) $24.00
Leiden's medium Hock 21.00
Chauvenet's White Cap 27.00
Ditto Red Cap 27.00
Ditto White Cap 27.00
Bee Hive Burgundy 5.00
SHERRIES.
Amontillado, very pale and dry $30.00
Centennial Medal 25.00
Oloroso, many years in wood 17-50
Generoso, pale 10.00
Manzanilla Pasada 14.00
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
DOZEN
Picarillo $12.00
Bee Hive 4.50
A DE LUZE ET FILS CLARETS.
Chateau Margaux, 1877 $42.00
Chateau Lafite, 1898 17.00
Chateau Larose 1 5.00
Chateau Paveil 9.50
S. S. P. Medoc in wood 5.50
St. Julien 4.50
St. Estephe 5.00
Bee Hive Claret 5.00
Sunset Claret 4.00
SAUTERNES.
Chateau Yquem $26.00
Chateau Latour Blanche 19.00
Haute Sauterne, 1878 15-50
Barsac 8.00
Bee Hive 5.00
Sunset Sauterne 4.25
BURGUNDIES.
Clos de Vougeot, 1874 $47.00
Chambertin, 1885 27.00
Chablis (white) 1893 10.00
White Cap ultra sec sparkling 27.00
Red Cap sparkling 27.00
Pink Cap Oeil de Perdrix sparkling 27.00
Bouchard's Chambertin 26.50
Chablis, 2 doz. pints 11.50
LEIDEN'S HOCH.
Johannisberger Cabinet yellow seal $24.00
Rudesheimer 14.00
Niersteiner 10.00
Bodenheimer 8.OQ
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
DOZEN
Sparkling Hoch $21.00
Bee Hive Hoch 5.00
MOSELLE.
Berncasteler Doktor $17.00
Zeltinger 9.00
Brauneberger 7.75
Sparkling Moselle 21.00
ITALIAN.
Chianti $ 6.50
PORT WINES.
Old London Dock, 27 years in wood $25.00
Vintage 1887 30.00
"Old White" Port 12.50
Tarragona 7.50
California 4.50
MADEIRAS.
Lord Nelson $60.00
Duke of Wellington 40.00
Old South Side 1 5.00
Woodhouse Marsala 8.00
TOKAYS (HUNGARIAN).
Tokayer Imperial, 1866 $30.00
Tokayer Cabinet, 1868 20.00
Tokayer Ausbruch dry 15.00
Riesling Ausbruch, American 12.00
Bee Hive 4.50
In cordials there is great variety. These after-din-
ner liqueurs that warm our hearts, even to our enemies,
come from many lands, and are made from various
fruits of the earth.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
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Of all liqueurs, brandy or eau de vie is the founda-
tion, various ingredients coloring and flavoring it to
suit the taste. Some of the additions have the merit
of being great aids to the digestion, as well as being
pleasant to the palate. Especially is this true of creme
de menthe, which is King of the Mint family. Dr.
S , a young Professor of Pathology in the Harvard
Medical School, has a particular fondness for this cor-
dial, which several years of university life in Europe
has only served to strengthen. One day, dropping into
Martin's in New York for dinner, he ordered the usual
liqueur after his coffee. The doctor is an absent-
minded man, and was deep in a reverie when the
waiter interrupted:
' Plain or f rappee, sir? '
" Let me think," mused the doctor, resting his chin
in his hand and gazing reflectively into space.
" F rappee means with ice, sir," volunteered the
waiter kindly, thinking this silence only the result of
unfamiliarity with the French language. He had it
frappeed.
Benedictine is equally good for digestion, and Mar-
aschino is not to be despised. Do you know, by the
w r ay, that the latter is made from cherries and their
pits? The secrets of the cloisters of the Trappist,
Benedictine, and Carthusian monasteries would make
interesting reading on the question of liqueurs, the
monks possessing secrets that have been handed down
for centuries.
153
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
Kirchenwasser is made from the wild black cherry
of the Black Forest. The seductive ' Forbidden
Fruit" is nothing more than grape-fruit cordial, while
Curasao gains its taste from orange peel. From nearly
every corner of the globe are gathered flavorings for
cordials. While the formulas are unnecessary to the
knowledge of the diner-out, he must be familiar w T ith
the tastes and know just which is best to follow a cer-
tain sort of dinner. The question of color is an im-
portant one, and it is possible even to follow the color
scheme of a dinner with the various roses, violets,
greens, yello\vs, and other shades of liqueurs.
To the richness and smoothness and other engaging
qualities of the cordial, cream contributes much. It
should be rich and heavy, and the glass should be filled
to within an eighth of an inch, then topped off with
cream. Try this with eau de vie de Dantzic, creme de
cacao, or even with Benedictine. It has an elusive
charm that will make you insist upon having one, per-
haps even two to follow.
Sirop de Grenadine is made from the juice of the
pomegranate, and is used notably in the concoction of
the " Ward Eight" of Boston's Winter Palace Hotel,
perhaps better known locally as ' Frank Locke's."
Old Medford Rum will soon be but a memory, for
the manufacture of this famous old throat-tickler has
ceased after many generations, and the price is cor-
respondingly high, that of 1858 being $3.00 the bottle,
and the 1875 bottling $1.40. Jamaica rum is sub-
154
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
stituted by many, and comes at $1.50 the quart for the
best grade.
Gins run from 700. the bottle up to $1.50 for Levert
& Wildeman's best, while Booth's Old Tom gin brings
here about 700. also. Brook's London Cordial gin is
a good brand at $1.25 the bottle.
Brandies should be bought with care, and ' the
best's none too good." Columbian 1800 at $7.00 the
bottle may be a trifle high for some purses but oh!
to see it's wonderful flame dancing over your coffee is
worth sacrificing something else in favor of this. How-
ever, it may be bought from the old California at $1.00
the bottle all the way up the scale, with De Luze's
Blue Seal at $3.75 a most satisfactory medium to
strike between the two.
Whiskies? I won't presume to specify. Every man
may have his own particular brand, but I'll suggest,
for an imported Scotch, the Machrinish Niblick brand,
bottled in Glasgow. It's quite the smoothest Scotch
I ever tasted, and if ' Mountain Dew ' is anything
like that, I'd willingly slumber amid the Scottish hea-
ther of a summer's night. The Honourable Artillery
Company of London ordered White Horse in large
quantities on their homeward voyage not because one
of their number was an owner in the company, but
because they liked it best. Black & White was a close
second, though, and some affirmed that Dewar's was
the " rippingest Scotch ever poured."
For Ryes, the best old Blue Grass may be bought at
155
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
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$2.00 the bottle, with Bourbon and Gold Seal close
rivals.
When it comes to ales and beers, most men have
their tastes as well developed as in the whiskies, and
will choose their favorite brand. The imported Ger-
man beers are quite worth while, but it's hard to beat*
our own Anheuser Busch and ' the beer that made
Milwaukee famous " Schlitz.
"To drink and love," said Daphnis, " is my plan;
For life is short and I am but a man."
THE The judging of wines is an important
JUDGE'S part of every bachelor's education. To
STAND judge properly is as fine an art as painting
a picture or composing a poem. The connoisseur des
vins should be able at once to detect the faults of a
wine. Wine is like women and song it has its faults,
and is occasionally off the key. That's why the three
go together.
When a man says he is an expert judge of wines,
look out for him. The chances are that the only brands
he ever tasted are Mumm's and Grandma's Grape
Juice, claret lemonade, Near-Stein-mit-Sizzler, and
Hock, and that he wouldn't know sherry from Cheret.
Nine points for a bachelor to remember in judging
the juice of the vine are:
(i) The color. (Blue at the beginning, roseate at
the ending, and yellow in the morning.)
156
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
(2) The clearness. (" The clearness of the bub-
bling wine reflected in her eye.")
(3) The bouquet. (Forget-me-nots, Babies'
Breath, and Lady-Slippers.)
(4) The alcoholic strength. (It's strong enough
to carry you home.)
(5) The body. (Gin a body meet a body, comin'
thro' the Rye.)
(6) The quality of flavor. (The best wines taste
of the Mint.)
(7) The harmony of the different constituents.
(Ask the United States Senate.)
(8) In sparkling wines j vivacity. (All does not
glitter that sparkles.)
(9) The endurance of foam. (" When the foam is
on the schooner, Molly dear.")
In France, men are frequently educated as wine
tasters. In America, this profession is overcrowded.
The technicality of taste must not be overlooked. The
room should be of a temperature not over sixty degrees
Fahrenheit, with plenty of diffused light. The tem-
perature at which wines are tasted has a great deal to
do with bringing out their best qualities. Red wines,
as Burgundies or clarets, taste best at a temperature
of sixty to sixty-five degrees, but white, still wines, such
as Sauternes and Chablis, are best at fifty to fifty-five
degrees; sparkling wines from forty to forty-five de-
grees; and dessert wines at from sixty-five to seventy
degrees. Too often champagne is drunk ice-cold.
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
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Drinking is one thing and judging is another, and the
bouquet and other qualities of champagne are never
brought out so well at a very low temperature. Never
ice claret, or serve warm, white wines.
Proper decanting and serving of wines are the most
important functions of a host. It should be his pride^
that every wine is served in the best possible condition.
Every bottle should be " candle bright " \vhich means
that a glass of wine held up against a candle in a dark
place should be perfectly brilliant.
In removing a cork from a bottle, use a ' reverse
corkscrew " and extract the cork without the slightest
movement or shake to the bottle.
While drawing it off in the decanter, closely watch
the condition of the wine in the bottle, and stop pour-
ing as soon as the " cloud," or deposit, approaches the
neck. This rule applies to Burgundies, ports, and
clarets, which frequently show crusts or deposits in the
bottle.
Still hocks and moselles are generally served without
decanting. Colored glasses are used for these white
wines for the reason that the deposits they throw down
in each bottle are generally of such light specific gravity
that it is impossible to decant them bright and colored
glasses hide these defects.
It is no longer considered in good taste to fill a
champagne glass to the brim. Leave about a quarter-
inch free. Refill a half-emptied glass so as not to lose
the sparkle, but never overdo the filling-up.
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A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
Englishmen sometimes decant old vintage cham-
pagnes but they retain very little effervescence.
A Londoner volunteers the information that " cham-
pagne when first introduced into Great Britain was as
a substitute for brandy-and-soda; hence it was wanted
dry. In fact, the demands of the English palate may
be said to be responsible for the dry champagne."
" Champagne dinner
All take warning;
Cow und Seltzer
In the morning."
MORE Syphon bottles are as difficult to handle as
WISE women. You never know when they're
COUNSEL going to change their tactics. An inno-
cent-looking syphon has been known to explode at a
sudden change in temperature.
Syphons are generally charged at a pressure of from
130 to 150 pounds to the square inch. That means
that if a bottle so charged is allowed to slip from your
hands, if only for a few feet, the jar is liable to cause a
dangerous explosion.
Never grasp a cold syphon with the hand, as the
sudden change of temperature thus produced is even
more liable to cause an explosion than a sudden jar.
Instead of syphons, many bachelors use various car-
bonated table waters or bottled spring \vaters for use
in mixing fizzes, high balls, and the like. The benefit
to one's health derived from the use of such pure waters
159
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
What to Pay for Wines
as White Rock, Poland, Apollinaris, and Londonderry
Lithia is being realized more and more. It is a well-
known fact that such waters, used with white wines and
champagnes, enhance the bouquet, the delicate flavors,
and prevent the disagreeable effects of over-indulgence.
160
CHAPTER XVI
Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, gives
genius a better discerning." GOLDSMITH.
ALMOST every bachelor is capable of
ordering a dream of a dinner but
how many are connoisseurs of wines
to the extent of being able at once to
select the correct variety, vintage,
and "bouquet," to accompany it?
The highest authorities differ upon
the specification of any regular rou-
tine of wines for proper service at a
dinner or other function. But it
behooves every man who entertains
much to familiarize himself with the
various wines and their sequence by
courses. Many a good dinner is
spoiled by the ordering of inferior
wine or the departure from the pre-
scribed rules for serving.
One sees to-day, particularly in
America, service of champagne alone
161
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
during a dinner. The nouveau rich-e from the mining
camp or the oil districts often blows into town with
the one idea of spending money, and spending it on
champagne. Whether it is sweet or dry does not
particularly matter to him, so long as it is cham-
pagne.
Indeed, in England and in some places on the Conti-
nent one often sees champagne alone served at a dinner,
but it is better on general principles to carefully select
at least one other wine to precede the champagne in-
deed, two wines would be better.
' As a man drinks, so he is," runs an old proverb.
A discriminating taste in wines is easily acquired, and
custom has laid do\vn a few rules that are easily mas-
tered in practice. Strictly correct service is that which
offers with each course a wine which will harmonize
in flavor and strength, leading the palate gently from
course to course, and bringing out agreeably the value
of each succeeding w r ine.
' Thirst makes wine out of water"
f Run and read : '
APERITIF The cocktail is the national aperitif of
America Manhattan or Martini being most in favor.
In England one does not usually consider this com-
mencement necessary, but on the Continent old Ma-
deira, very dry sherry, vermouth, or Fernet are offered
as an " avant diner"
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
AUX Light white wines, as Rhine and Moselle,
HUITRES such as Niersteiner, Hocheimer, Rudes-
OU HORS ne { mer) Bordeaux wines such as Sauternes,
Haut Sauternes, Barsac, Graves, etc., and
white Burgundy or Chablis, are en regie.
POTAGES Sherry is the favored wine with soup the
w T orld over. Madeira is equally correct, although not
so universally used. Of sherry, Amontillado is the
most popular brand the rarest wine of Sunny Spain.
AUX White wines still but of the heavier vari-
POISSONS ety, are served with soup at large affairs,
but at small dinners it is quite correct to keep the sherry,
or even the wine that was served with the oysters.
Johannisberger Cabinet, Steinberger Cabinet, etc., are
favorite heavy white wines, but there are half a score
of other varieties quite as good.
ENTREE Claret, such as Si. Julien or Medoc, Chi-
OU anti, or one of the minor Chateau brands,
)VES as Chateau Lafitte, are the proper accom-
paniment to the entree course.
GAME With the game, Burgundy (red) such as
Pommard, Chambertin, or Barbera Spumante or Bra-
chetto Spumanti, should be served.
DESSERT While here it is scarcely customary to serve
wines with dessert, other than champagne, at a very
formal dinner one may order old red wines, such as
Chateau Larose 1874, Prt, still white wines such as
Chateau Yquem, Italian wines such as Lachrima
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
Christ!, Spanish wines such as Malaga, Swiss cham-
pagne, or the old wines of any country preferred.
CAFE With the coffee come the liqueurs, in
which there is as wide a range as in biscuits. Char-
treuse, Benedictine, Curagao, cremes of various flavors,
brandies, ' Forbidden Fruit," Amer Pigon, and two
score more may be chosen from at discretion. *In
France, Amer Pigon or plain cognac burned on sugar
are most commonly used when, of course, absinthe
is not substituted.
In smart houses the custom of serving liqueurs with
coffee in the drawing-room after dinner is almost inva-
riable, but in small establishments the coffee is often
served at table with the cognac or liqueurs. Frequently
brandy is served alone, and is passed on a silver tray
in a special decanter with silver top and a silver match-
box lying beside it.
For occasions other than dinner, the serving of wine
is entirely a matter of taste. With little suppers where
there are such dishes as terrapin, a very fine quality of
Madeira is delectable, as it is with any rich dish served
in this fashion. The finest Hungarian Tokay served
with sweet biscuit is the correct wine to serve after an
evening of cards, where it is not desirable to serve any-
thing more substantial.
It is a fad with some people to pour old wines di-
rectly from the bottle, that the guests may appreciate
what they are drinking. This is not advisable, as
wines old in bottle always form a great deal of de-
164
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
posit, and this when shaken injures both taste and ap-
pearance of wines. If a host's wine w r ill not stand de-
canting, then he would better not serve it.
When claret is the one wine at dinner, it is served
with the course after the fish, whatever it may be.
Claret is too acid a wine to go well with sea-food of
any description.
Neither claret nor Burgundy contains sufficient alco-
hol to keep its flavor more than tw T enty-four hours
after decanting.
GLASSES Fancy runs riot in the selection of wine-
glasses. From the plain crystal to the fanciful Vene-
tian or Austrian glasses, with their wondrous coloring
and shapes that an orchid might envy, there is a wide
choice. But unless a bachelor has a mint of money,
he had best eschew colored and fanciful glasses and
hold to the thin, clear glass, or perhaps finely-cut glass,
as plain as possible. He should have for water, mint
juleps, and the like, a goblet of regulation size. A
punch glass holding two to the pint comes next in
grade, and then a glass holding three to the pint for
hot whiskies, sours, etc. The saucer-shaped champagne
glass is the most artistic, although the hollow stem is
equally popular possibly more so. Cocktail glasses,
special sherry glasses, and glasses for clarets and sau-
ternes with green or red bowls as fancy dictates are
necessary to the menage, and the list ends with glasses
for pousse cafes and cordials, ' pony ' glasses for
brandy, beer goblets unless he elects to use the steins
165
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
of his college days and lemonade glasses for those
mixed " ladies' delights," etc.
The bachelor who has a menage will have his side-
board well stocked with the necessary decanters, cor-
dial sets, etc., but for the impecunious bachelor or he
who lives in his studio nothing more handy was ever
invented than the ' Bachelor's Cabinet," with its afc-
companiment of decanters, mixing glasses, tiny ice-box,
and all the requisites for a convivial evening at home.
Even when one is reduced to standing his beer bot-
tles outside on the window ledge to cool and has to
dust furtively the steins he has taken from their hooks,
he need not deplore the lack of more expensive bever-
ages or the absence of cut glass and champagne. It's
not so much what one drinks as with whom and where
he drinks it.
You look at what I drink, and not at my thirst"
ON How often does a man hasten to ' put
SERVING beer on ice " when a friend drops in of an
evening? Yet this is contrary to cus-
tom in the Old World, where one frequently sees the
German sit for a few moments with his hand about
his glass to bring the contents to the proper tempera-
ture before drinking.
Beer should not be served very cold, as excessive
chilliness destroys the fine flavor it should have and
renders it injurious. Beer should not be served di-
166
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
rectly after it has been shaken in any manner. Set it
in the ice-box, if you like, but do not, I implore you,
put it directly upon the ice. It's a fine drink, as Dan
Daly affirmed in his song:
" Beer, beer, glorious beer!
Fill yourselves right up to here (me neck)!
Down wid a pail of it!
Drink a good dale of it !
Glorious, glorious beer ! '
Let us suppose that four people are dining at a res-
taurant, and that with oysters or soup, fish, game, and
a salad and dessert, they wish wines to the number of
two, fairly good, instead of a larger number at a lower
price. The dinner will begin with four cocktails, of
course, at 25c. each in most cafes. Then to follow,
for the soup and fish, let the sherry be Amontillado old
dry at $2.00 the bottle. To follow with the game,
let Burgundy be the choice, say, * White Cap ' ultra
sec sparkling, which will be $2.50 more, although one
may substitute Romance at $1.50, if he elects. Cor-
dials or cognac may follow at 2Oc. per head and the
wine bill w y ill foot up just a trifle over or under $6.00,
as the case may be.
At the next table, suppose four people whose pocket-
books are not quite so long are dining in the same
fashion. Let them order, besides the cocktails, a pale
Generoso sherry at $1.00 the bottle, or even a good
California sherry at 75c. the bottle, to be followed by
167
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
a quart of Great Western Champagne at $1.25, or a
quart of Beehive Burgundy at 750., and cordials as
elected. The cocktails and cordials cost the same, but
for from $1.50 to $2.00 the impecunious party may
make merry over their wine in the same fashion as
their neighbors and go home with clearer heads into
the bargain. This is an important item, for poor peo-
ple generally have to show up the next morning over
a desk or behind a counter, so the condition of one's
head is of grave importance.
If three wines are wanted by the " party of the first
part," let the sherry and Burgundy be followed by a
good, dry champagne.
For sake of variety, Madeira might be substituted
for the Burgundy, especially if the third course be an
entree. But after all, if it's to be game, there's nothing
better to accompany the bird than rare old Burgundy,
with its pleasant sparkle and roseate hue.
The Californian takes great pride in the wine of his
State. In San Francisco, where were, perhaps, aside
from New York, the finest restaurants on the conti-
nent, one seldom saw imported wine drunk unless it
be sherries and champagnes, and, perhaps, Burgundies.
But after all, the native wines are tempting enough,
and the sparkling Moselle of California is excellent
indeed, and often substituted for champagne. At
Zinkand's, Tait's, the Techau Tavern, The Poodle
Dog, and the Palace Grill were the finest of cellars,
and the wines of California were served three times
1 68
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
where the imported were called for once. As for apri-
cot brandy there's no better in the world than that
of Southern California.
If one elects to serve champagne alone at his dinner
party, then let it be very dry. Some like, by way of
variety, to serve champagne-cup throughout the meal.
But tell it not in Kentucky for if anyone dares there
to prefer anything to a great glass pitcher of mint julep,
he gets himself very much disliked in the Blue Grass
country.
Nations differ in their mode of using wines.
The French take theirs at dinner, and use only
enough to make conversation sparkle like their own
wines.
The Germans sit early and late, and the Russians
are only a little more moderate. The Spanish and
Italians strike a happy medium, while the Englishman,
who formerly adopted French and German methods
combined, is more temperate; inebriety has gone out of
fashion in England, and as for Americans, they are
perhaps as a whole less addicted to the use of wines
than any other nation ; but those who do drink them,
drink heartily. They drink merrily, withal, and are
decided contrasts to the English, who, as old Froissart
was wont to declare, " do get drunk very sorrowfully."
A Frenchman will take first his oysters and a glass
of Pontac or Chablis. Then his potage is followed
by a glass of good ' vin ordinaire" such as Magon ;
and after the first course is taken away he commonly
169
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
pours a very small glass of Madeira, rum, or some-
thing similar. Whatever other wine his fancy dic-
tates follows as in France it is posible to obtain the
finest of wines by the glass.
At private dinners in Russia the wines are often
placed upon the tables, which are free from dinner
service. The guests pour their own wines, or have
them poured by the servant, according to their fancy.
The plats de jour are on side tables, and the guests are
presented with a carte du jour, so that each may order
the servant to bring whatever most pleases his fancy.
In most other European countries, in good society,
the French mode is imitated closely in variety of wines
and the mode of taking them.
In countries where ice is not easily obtainable a cu-
rious fashion of cooling white wines is followed. The
decanter is hung up in a flannel bag that has previously
been w r ell soaked in water, in the full glare of the sun's
rays where there is a strong ' courant d'air." The
consequent evaporation by keeping the bag dripping
wet cools the wine almost to freezing point. The
water of a covered well or spring, fresh drawn, in
which a pound or two of salt is thrown, will reduce
the temperature of wine to a low and agreeable point.
The Italians still hold to the old custom of lowering
the dinner wine into a well an hour or two before use,
which generally renders its temperature just right.
Where expense be no object, freezing mixtures may
be used. Eleven parts of sal ammoniac, dry and pow-
dered, ten of nitre, sixteen of Glauber salts, and thirty-
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A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
two of water, will cool wine sufficiently in any cli-
mate but the operation should be carried on in the
coolest place possible.
The effect of atmospheric cold in winter often ren-
ders a bottle of wine cloudy. This may be remedied by
placing it in a room where there is a good fire for an
hour or two before serving.
In decanting sherry or Madeira, the stoppers of the
decanters should be left out for an hour or two, but
this should never be done with light and delicate wines,
as their bouquet and freshness are visibly affected by
contact with the air.
The specific gravity of the wine and the glass should
harmonize ; therefore all delicate wines should be taken
from the thinnest of glasses. This modern preference
for thin glasses has precedent in the passion of the an-
cients for particular wine cups. The " murrhine cup '
from which emperors and kings drank their Falernian
wine is noticed in writings which remain. Often the
cups w r ere of finest glass from Egypt, or amber, flasks
made in Syria, amethystine cups, and vases of gold.
Some persons affirm that to really enjoy wine, a sip
of cold water should first be taken, after which the
taste will be at its best. One cannot but sympathize
with poor Sir Walter Scott, who, it is said, was singu-
larly insensible to tastes and odors. A perfect palate
is indeed a rare gift of nature. A healthy palate comes
from a healthy digestion, and is the best gift for judg-
ing the existing flavor of wine.
George the Fourth had so decided a preference for
171
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
sherry that in his day it was the favorite wine, and
nearly ousted Madeira from its place in English tastes.
Gypsum sprinkled over the grapes while in the vat
saturate the malic acid and give sherry its brown color.
Amontillado is the finest of sherries, and at its prime
kept in wood for sixteen years. It is too dry for the
taste of common wine drinkers, but is one of the finest
growths in the world.
The best Madeiras have no tendency to acidity, and
the finest East Indian Madeira is a wine that has
scarcely an equal.
Marsala, the favorite wine of Sicily, is excellent;
other Sicilian wines are Mazzara, Bronte, and Etna,
but Marsala is more worthy and especially well adapted
for cooking, in Italian sauces.
The Rhenish wines are the purest and most whole-
some wines, say some experts. Most of them come
from the banks of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, in
Germany, and the variety is legion. Genuine German
wines have a bouquet like the French, ,which is in itself
a mark of pure growth. The real golden Rhenish
wines, such as Niersteiner, Marcobrunner, and Riides-
heimer, are famous, while Johannisberger and Geissen-
heimer are perfect in delicacy and aroma. ' Good
hoch," the German proverb runs, ' keeps off the doc-
tor." It enlivens without inebriating, strengthens and
warms the stomach pleasantly.
Burgundies are the finest red wines in the world for
delicacy, flavor, perfume, richness, and purity. A man
172
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
of discriminating taste will pay as much for Burgundy
as for champagne, and not hesitate to announce his
preference for the former.
Bordeaux clarets, when unadulterated, are delicate,
and are consumed in great quantity. Lafitte, Latour,
Haut-Brion, and Chateau Margaux ere among the
popular brands, but there are a hundred and one varie-
ties that are passing good. Good claret has a remarkable
freshness of taste and smell. Many of them come, in
France, under the head of "vin ordinaire'' but are by
no means to be despised. Indeed, in the Quartier Latin
in Paris there are scores of restaurants where the vin
ordinaire at one or two sous a glass is drunk and en-
joyed by the students of all nations with equal jouis-
sance. Ordinarily it is mixed with water, either plain
or mineral. For twenty-five centimes, or five cents, a
pint bottle may be had, and no dejeuner or diner is
complete without this, at least, provided one's pocket-
book will not admit of a better wine.
Champagnes " king's wine " are of several varie-
ties : the still or ' non-mousseux," the effervescing or
* mousseux," and the ' grand-Mousseux ' or highly
effervescent. Champagne is an enduring wine, with
a " bouquet exquis" The creaming champagne of the
AT sends up myriad bubbles, but never froths, and is
preferred by those of discriminating taste to that which
is frothy. Cheap champagnes are most injurious to
the stomach, and have none of the qualities of the
better classes. Champagne, once received, should never
173
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
be moved until it is wanted for table use. Great heat
or cold is unfavorable in keeping it, and the tempera-
ture should be carefully attended to.
Sauternes, wines of the Gironde, are white wines
of considerable repute. They are bottled from the
wood after seven or eight years, and are excellent
dinner wines, particularly the Haut Sauterne. It js
advisable in purchasing Sauterne to get that of the
best quality.
Sweet wines or dessert wines are not so much drunk
as formerly, liqueurs being substituted for these " vins
de liqueurs'' as the French term them. The Musca-
dines, Frontignacs, and Lunals of the south of France,
Lachryma Christi of Naples, sweet Syracuse and
Cyprus, made between Paphos, Olympus, and Limasol,
where is the great wine mart, are favorite sweet wines.
It is not every bachelor who can boast a wine cellar ;
indeed, save for one possessed of more than ordinary
wealth, a cellar is an expensive luxury. The bachelor
of Gray's Inn stored his wine under his bed, " because
it would be drunk fast." A Devonshire esquire who
loved w r ine ' better than anything but his horse,"
stowed his wines in a corner cupboard near his spa-
cious fireplace, with dire result; and a Scot who pur-
chased a dozen bottles of choice vintage cellared them
in a cock-loft for a special evening at home with
friends. When evening was advanced, not dreaming
that his dozen were drunk out, he called his Jeannie
to bring " another bottle of No. 5." ' I wonder what
174
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
ye mean ! ' retorted Jeannie in surprise. ' I ha'
fetched down from the cock-loft the last bottle of the
dozen ye had, an' ye maun noo go tae the whuskey."
This is a jaunt around Robin Hood's Barn to ex-
plain the necessity of proper care and housing of wine.
If one has not the proper place to store it at the right
temperature he had best order it daily or when wanted
from his dealer's cellars. Wine is truly an expensive
taste to cultivate, and its deterioration under unfavor-
able conditions is too well known to comment upon.
In a city house, the even temperature of a brick-bound
cellar is the best one can expect. Sweet wines may be
kept at a temperature of sixty degrees.
"' A wine cellar too hot or too cold
Murders wine before it's old."
There are various peculiarities in w r ine which may be
detected by the true connoisseur. A few of the " stock
terms ' of the wine merchant may be given here by
way of explanation :
GREEN New wine.
STALKY Wine affected with the astringency of the
vine wood.
BOUQUET A peculiar odor, not of distinct char-
acter.
FRUITY Commonly sweetened port.
VELOUTE Velvety to the tongue. Smooth or soft.
FUMEAUX Wines of great strength.
MONTANT Those in which the carbonic acid gas
affects the head.
175
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Correct Wines for all Occasions
FERME Durable; unlikely to change.
EVENT In France, dead wine.
VINO MORTO In Italian, the same.
FINIR BIEN Wines past probability of a change.
Lasting.
PATEUX A thick, clammy wine.
PLAT Flat.
SEVE Applies to flavor in tasting, as bouquet to tlie
smell.
VIN BOURRU Thick, unfermented wine.
CUVEE Contents of a vat at the vintage.
VIN CUIT French ^
VINO COTTO Italian > Boiled wine.
VINO DE COLOR Spanish J
VINO SECO Dry \vine.
VINO BROZNO Harsh wine.
VINS DE LIQUEUR Sweet, luscious wines.
VINO PASSADO The best wine that has passed mus-
ter or examination.
VINOTERO A wine seller.
176
CHAPTER XVII
THERE are many occasions upon
which one does not wish to offer
alcoholic drinks, out of respect to
guests who do not indulge in them
or possibly because the host may him-
self abstain from their use.
There are many substitutes from
which delicious drinks may be mixed,
such as ginger ales, mineral waters of
various sorts, grape juices, and con-
centrated fruit syrups. One may soon
become as expert in concocting palata-
ble drinks from various combinations
as the white-coated lad behind the
soda-fountain. A quarter or a shin-
ing half dollar slipped in his hand
will often bring suggestions for
' parlor mixtures ' that will aid the
novice considerably in preparing his
menu.
Besides mineral waters, carbonated
177
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Temperance Drinks
or plain, as preferred, there are domestic and imported
ginger ales, bottled lemonades of claret, pineapple,
orange, and raspberry flavors to be bought, as well as
Green Ginger Cordial, Montserrat Lime Juice, and
raspberry vinegars, with fruit syrup of any desired
flavor. Combined with iced tea, coffee, or cocoa, some
of these fruit flavors are delicious. Root beer is a mid-
summer beverage that is not only refreshing, but pos-
sesses medicinal powers; and iced ginger ale served
with a cream rabbit makes a temperate combination
that is almost as toothsome as the ale-mixed variety.
'Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink! 1
GINGER is a mild drink that is little known; try
LEMON- it. Have in a glass a teaspoonful of pow-
^ DE dered sugar, add to it the juice of half a
lemon and fill the glass with ginger ale that is well
iced.
SODA This is a most innocent drink, despite
COCKTAIL its name, and one that a two-year-old may
not hesitate to imbibe. Fill up a long glass, then, with
lemon soda, the bottled variety, and in it dash a little
raspberry syrup, and top off with a thin slice of orange.
FARMERS Mayhap you may be going to have a real,
DELIGHT old-fashioned country picnic, at w r hich
rural dainties are served. They deserve to be washed
down with the delight of the farmer, who swallows
copious drafts of this in the hayfield on a hot July
178
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Temperance Drinks
afternoon. It's nothing less than the * sweetened
water ' with which Plupy Shute regaled his friends
up in Exeter in the days when the " Real Boy " penned
that famous diary. Water is the basis, ginger the
flavor, and molasses the sweetener. They are mixed
to taste in a great stone jug, which is corked and set
in a convenient brook to keep cool.
LEMON- " Pooh! " I hear you say in disgust. " As
ADE if any man couldn't make lemonade without
being told." But as this book may fall into the hands of
a Hottentot or Malay or some other hot-house variety
of bachelor, I will set down the proportion of the
juice of a lemon to tw r o tablespoonfuls of sugar and
one-half pint of water as being a desirable one. This
may be varied by using the juice of orange, lime, or
grape-fruit, in which case, of course, it will be the
other sort of Ade (not Hoosier).
An abuse of ice at once destroys the effect desired,
besides being dangerous. A liquid set on ice and slowly
chilled is far more to be recommended than the drink
in which ice floats, but it is not everyone who will
admit this truth. Than plain lemonade, made from
the juice of the lemon, sweetened sparsely with sugar
and diluted with w r ater, and finally cooled on ice, there
is no drink more acceptable and cooling in the heat of
the day. It ranks before the long list of acidulated
drinks and gaseous mineral waters, but it, too, falls
into disrepute when too liberally imbibed. It is said
179
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Temperance Drinks
to be lowering in its effects, but such an assertion is
nonsense, unless, as is said, it is drunk too freely.
Taking the average, it would seem the plainer drinks
have a larger share of popularity, and soda and milk
is one of the very first favorites. To be perfect it re-
quires a can of ice to be placed in the milk and that the
soda should have lain for some time on the ice blocj^.
These are the simplest, perhaps best, and certainly
cheapest of the drinks made at home by the unskilled
amateur.
1 80
CHAPTER XVIII
uu
" Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy.
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not
gaudy ;
For the apparel oft claims a man."
SHAKESPEARE.
ONCE it " took nine tailors to make
a man," and no less a person than
Byron vouched for this ancient lie.
Nowadays, it takes a Man as is a
Man to make a Tailor, and a Fat
Bank Account to pay him.
It is not the province of the writer
to presume to lay down hard and fast
rules for the dress of the bachelor.
It is granted that he knows best how
he would dress, according to his sta-
tion. As a " London tradesman in a
dress suit reminds one of a doyley on
a stove lid," clothes have un-made the
man quite as often as they've made
him. King Edward, who is taken as a
181
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Clothes
model of civilized dress from Singapore to Sitka, dis-
plays common sense and judgment that every bachelor
may do well to emulate, especially in the matter of
jewelry. ' Rarely does the king wear more than one
finger ring," says a London haberdasher's journal. A
profusion of jewelry is unequivocally vulgar in a man,
even though it may indicate wealth.
To hit the happy medium between Frenzied Fashion
and Moldy Modes, adapt the prevailing style of dress
to your bearing and manner. To do this is to be mas-
ter of one of the fine arts. Study, therefore, your
apparel that it may be fit for function and form. An
ill-fitting coat is a crime against good taste. First,
have your clothes fit you; then fit your clothes, that
they " shall not make a false report." ' Mark Twain '
has said that ' one cannot tell from the looks of a
frog how far it can jump," but more often than not a
man is judged by the clothing he wears. Whether
they are built in the Rue de la Paix, New Bond Street,
Fifth Avenue, or Sutter Street, does not particularly
matter, so long as they fit. The unskilled cloth
butchers of the West End of London have made many
a man look like a suit of pajamas on an umbrella
stand.
Togs that become one man may make another re-
semble a mongrel in a fancy blanket. As plaids were
invented for the rail-bird, stripes for the jail-bird, and
tweeds for Tammany Hall, so do various other less
182
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Clothes
pronounced styles adapt themselves to the various pur-
suits and professions. The fitness of clothes is quite
as important as the fit, and the bachelor who devotes a
little time and thought to his apparel will soon be as
fit as possible.
' Be not vain of thy covering," and remember that
' it's the man beneath the clothes ' that counts with
most people. One meets occasionally a man who, like
Adam, ' ' doesn't give a fig what he wears." But cus-
tom and climate combine to give him a certain respon-
sibility in the matter, although he's generally the sort
of fellow whose apparel doesn't concern people so long
as he wears something.
There's a happy medium between a dandy and a
' Dirty Dick," and he who strikes it is to be congratu-
lated, for none shall dare say, like Coriolanus, that
you are " a fool in good clothes."
' A smart coat is a good letter of introduction"
BUT
'A slovenly dress betokens a careless mind."
' Fashion is more powerful than any tyrant"
The Londoner has the reputation of being the best
dressed man in the world. Search for him not in the
City, where silk hats and tan shoes are at either end of
183
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Correct Clothes
the same man, with a short-tailed coat and a bulldog
pipe between. Rather in Mayfair, the Pall Mall
clubs, and the Piccadilly promenade this glass* of
fashion is to be found.
Mrs. Dr. Grundy has prescribed the following tab-
lets which are taken by the patient before each func-
tion with good result. It may be added that any at-
tempt to keep up in motoring fashions will result in^
insanity or inebriety. Fashion shows herself fickle
indeed in this raiment, and what is new to-day is old
to-morrow. For other occasions, however, the tabu-
lated form is sufficiently correct, regardless of seasons.
" They eat and drink and scheme and plod
And go to church on Sunday;
And go to church on Sunday;
But more of Mrs. Grundy."
" There is fashion in all things, as in dogs going to
church"
MOURN- A man wears mourning for a parent, sis-
ING FOR ter, or brother for six months or a year, as
MEN he prefers. The crape hatband is adopted
for this dress, but should be much narrower than that of
a widower. First mourning consists of complete suits of
black, dull black leather shoes, black gloves, and cuff-
links of black enamel. Second mourning should be
gray or black clothes, black and white silk ties, gray or
black gloves, and black and white linen. Men do not,
184
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Correct Clothes
as a rule, carry black-bordered handkerchiefs. Few
men wear mourning for grandparents or other rela-
tives. The wearing of a black band on the coat sleeve
is condemned by the best people. It is a custom bor-
rowed from England, where it was originally intro-
duced for liveried servants whom it was not thought
necessary to fit out in complete black liveries. The
worst thing about a band is that it is unclassifiable,
since a man may wear it for a near or a distant rela-
tive. If a man cannot afford or does not approve of
mourning, then he should abjure the entire livery of
grief, for the compromise of a black band betrays a
painfully economical mind.
After mourning, a man may resume his social duties
in from three \veeks to two months. While wearing
a broad band on his hat for a near relative a man should
not attend the theater, opera, or a ball.
THE The Tuxedo coat is no longer used as a
TUXEDO dinner coat except at a stag dinner, at a
club or hotel, or at an informal at-home dinner when
only the members of one's family attend, or at the
house where one boards. It may be worn at the thea-
ter or for an evening call, when women are not to be
met. In fact, it is considered a lounging jacket, only
one degree removed from a smoking jacket, and should
not be worn when women are present except at home.
The waistcoat worn with a Tuxedo should be of light
gray linen." As this is from a noted English author-
185
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Correct Clothes
ity, it may be regarded by a man who wishes to be
thoroughly English in his dress; but in America the
Tuxedo is very generally worn, especially in hotels,
informal family dinners, and to the theater in fact,
upon all occasions when the regulation clawhammer
is not strictly demanded.
1 86
HIMSELF
CHAPTER XIX
urr
first thing a poor gentleman calls
for of a morning is a needle and thread."
Scotch
"His lordship finds the valet de chambre
a necessary evil."
"As a man dresses, so is he esteemed."
HAPPY the man who, having a valet,
has no care of his clothes, and " takes
no heed to his raiment ' save to be
thoroughly up-to-date in every re-
spect.
The man who knows how to take
care of his own clothes is at an ad-
vantage; for even though it be not
necessary for him to economize, an
occasional emergency may arise in
which, if he knows just what to do,
he may rescue his apparel from cer-
tain ruin. As " a stitch in time saves
nine," so does prompt attention to a
chance stain or splash from the ink
bottle save a suit from being spoiled.
187
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
- * -
The impecunious bachelor generally cares for his
own clothing during his spare time, and often looks
quite as well groomed as the man who pays his valet
forty a month and " found." There are various handy
devices on the market to assist him, notably the " ward-
robe chair," which provides for keeping the trousers
well creased and disposing of his business suit over
night, as well as furnishing a boot-black stand.
A little care only is necessary to make a man look^
well set up. He should keep his hats in separate boxes
when not wearing them. If a coat is nicely brushed
upon being taken off, if trousers are carefully kept
creased through the medium of the wardrobe chair or
the patent hangers which may be purchased for a few
cents, if gloves are carefully smoothed when taken off,
and if a \vatchful care is lavished upon buttons and
linen to prevent the one's being lost and the other
frayed and ragged even the bachelor of the hall bed-
room may be nicely groomed and always neat.
' He who has but one coat cannot lend it," goes the
old proverb. It is for the benefit of the man with one
coat that many of the following rules for cleansing are
given, in the hope that they may aid the impecunious
bachelor in keeping himself tidy.
For a dime the bachelor may buy a box of patent
trousers buttons that are warranted not to pull off.
These are attached in various ways, but one of the best
has little prongs that push through the cloth and bend
down on the inside.
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
If one has little room, a box couch is a great conven-
ience, for clothing may be kept in it and laid flat with-
out wrinkling. It is thus better kept from dust than in a
closet, and may serve in summer as a receptacle for win-
ter clothing. It is economy in the end to have one's fur
cap or fur-lined coat stored by a furrier, who will in-
sure and protect against moths for a trifling sum. But
in case one lives miles from a furrier and is obliged to
care for it himself, directions are included for stor-
ing such clothes w 7 ith camphor. Cedar branches laid
among clothes will keep away moths, or if one has a
cedar chest, so much the better.
Men never seem to be very handy in mending their
own underclothing and linen. It is nearly always pos-
sible to arrange with one's laundress to do the weekly
mending before the laundry is put in the water. If
this is neglected, the tear generally makes great head-
way, and sometimes ruins the article beyond mend-
ing.
A couple of ticking laundry bags are great conven-
iences. One may send his laundry away in one while
the other hangs on the closet door and serves during
the w r eek as a receptacle for soiled clothes.
One of the average bachelor's greatest expenditures
is for hosiery. Have any of you ever heard a man say,
' Oh, I never bother about having stockings mended ;
when they are too bad to wear I throw 'em away " ?
Changing the hose once a day or every other day and
keeping them nicely mended means a great saving in
189
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
the end. And mending stockings isn't half so difficult
as it sounds. Try and see.
CLEANING With many a man the ' ' tyranny of lies '
TIES is so great as to be all-absorbing. Some
men hang their ties and stocks on the nickel rods that
come for the purpose all ready to screw inside the
closet door or beside the chiffonier. Others, who are
mindful of the ravages of dust, keep them laid flat in
a drawer of the chiffonier. Who has not had a favor-
ite tie which he hated for some reason, sentimental or
otherwise, to discard ? Many a worn tie may be made
almost as good as new if these directions are followed:
Take a weak solution of borax and carefully sponge the
tie with that. Sponge moderately lengthwise, with, not
against, the grain, then press out with a warm iron on
the wrong side only. White or cream silk or satin
ties that have been cleansed and are yet too good to
throw away may be dyed any desired shade at a trifling
cost. Any grease spots on silk or satin would best be
removed by benzine. Some use chloroform or ether,
but either is likely to leave a ring around the spot that
has been sponged, so benzine is, on the whole, more
satisfactory.
TO Often an overcoat, that is otherwise in
RENEW A good condition, is rendered unsightly and
VELVET shabby by its collan If it be crushed
COLLAR badly and wrinkledj heat the fl at i r on, and
put bottomside up on the table. Over it put a clean
rag wet in cold water and lay the velvet collar right
190
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
side up over this. While the steam from the wet cloth
rises through the nap of the velvet, brush with a soft
hat brush, being careful to brush the " right way of the
velvet." This restores it beautifully, and makes it
good as new.
TO Put the gloves on. Have in a saucer
CLEAN some gasolene and wash your gloved hands
in this, after which take a clean flannel
GLOVES . , . . .
rag and wipe and rub the gloves, taking care
not to do this near a fire or burning gas. When quite
dry, take off and pin to the curtain or where a current of
air may strike them and cause the gasolene to evapo-
rate quickly. This answers for white glace gloves,
but white suede are better cleansed by a professional
cleaner. Pipe-clay and an old toothbrush are com-
monly used, and white cloth used on uniforms is
cleansed in the same fashion. The clay is applied dry,
then moistened and rubbed vigorously with the tooth-
brush. It may at first look unsightly, and you may
think the goods is ruined. But rinse the brush and
scour the cloth with clean w r ater, dry, and it will look
fresh as when newly bought.
PUTTING When packing away flannels and heavy
AWAY winter clothing, camphor gum wrapped in
n ?lJ , pieces of tissue paper put among the goods
CLOTHING . , , i -H.T
is warranted to keep away moths. No
soiled clothing should be put away, as dirt attracts
moths and buffalo bugs. Even perspiration stains
under the arms will often attract them. The clothing
191
A BACHELOR'S C IT P B O A R D
HOTT a Man May Valet Himself
should, if possible, be hung out for a day in the air
and sunlight before packing away. To prevent creas-
ing and wrinkling, which is so annoying, take old news-
papers and lay them, without opening, between the
folds. If there are few things in the trunk or chest,
the remaining space should be filled with crumpled
newspapers.
TO Purchase from a druggist some soap-bark,
CLEAN and in the proportion of an ounce of bark
A COAT to a q uart O f wa ter steep the bark and let
it stand over night. Then strain and add an equal
amount of gasolene. Rub this mixture on the wrist-
bands and collar of the coat, using a new clean brush.
Go over all the grease spots, and wet the brush in the
mixture and go over the entire coat. If the goods has
any ' right way of the cloth," rub with the twill.
Stretch the sleeves and pocket holes and collar, and be
careful to keep the entire coat in proper shape. Spread
out smooth and flat on a clean cloth on the table, or, if
available, an ironing board. Lay a towel over the
coat, and with a hot iron press it carefully into the
desired shape. After it is dry, brush carefully to re-
move any lint, and hang it, buttoned, over a coat
hanger.
TO Many a good coat has been discarded be-
REMOVE cause of the persistent shine on collar, from
leaning against a chair or on elbows.
COAT Make a saturated solution of powdered
borax and water, and apply to shiny places
192
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
with a sponge. Rub on thoroughly, then wipe off with
clear water in the same manner.
TO Sponge on the wrong side with cool water
RENEW and press with a warm iron until smooth.
SILK T^s should make the silk stifrer and
MUFFLERS u . ,
brighter.
While every man, however anxious he may be to
valet himself, may balk when it comes to doing his
own boots, a few ' how to do's " along this line may
not come amiss. For there are times w r hen the ranch-
man or prospector or camper wants to ride to town
with immaculate shoe leather, or perhaps he elects to
{ go to a dance," and is fifty miles from a bootblack.
Then let him read :
A fine ointment for boots which keeps the leather
from cracking and preserves it well is made in this
fashion: Take four ounces of lard, four ounces of olive
oil, and one ounce of caoutchouc, and melt together
over a slow fire until thoroughly mixed. Moisten the
sole of the boot with w r ater and warm it before the fire.
Then smear this ointment over the sole and the top
of the boot. This, when exposed to snow or rain, will
be absolutely impervious to dampness, and makes the
life of a boot that is used in mud or snow twice as long.
To remedy tight shoes, one may adopt either of the
two following plans: After lacing the shoe, wet a
folded cloth in boiling hot water and put over the part
of the shoe that pinches. Or pour into a wash basin
water as hot as can be borne and put the foot in it,
193
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
working the toes about in the shoe and making it con-
form to the shape of the foot as the leather expands.
This will not injure patent leather, but it is a good
plan to rub over with vaseline or petroleum jelly on a
flannel rag after wetting. This nearly always gives
instantaneous relief from pinching shoes.
For tan shoes, banana peelings possess some coloring
matter and tannic acid that seems essential in polish-
ing red leather. Rub the inside of the peel on the shoe
and polish with a flannel rag. This gives the best
of results.
To dry wet shoes quickly when one is far from a shoe-
tree, put some small pebbles or gravel in a pan and heat,
not too hot, and fill the shoes with them. It may be
necessary to repeat the process.
To restore the softness of leather that has been wet,
rub the shoes with kerosene oil, pinching the leather
and working it between the fingers as you do so.
Rubber boots should be dried carefully, and when
they become wet inside they need heroic treatment.
Have a peck of oats, or, failing these, coarse sand, or
even old rags. Heat quite hot, then put inside the
boot, and repeat until the boot is quite dry.
Allow mud to dry on the shoes before brushing it
off. Then rub over with kerosene oil and glycerine
in equal parts. If glycerine is not available, the oil
alone may be used. Even tallow or melted lard may
be used in emergencies.
For creaking shoes, put in a shallow pan or pie tin
194
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How a Man May Valet Himself
some melted lard and stand the shoes in it over night.
This not only removes the creak, but makes them im-
pervious to water.
When a leather belt has been exposed to the wet
during a hard, rainy ride, or a tramp through the wet
underbrush on a hunting trip, it w T ill become hard and
easily cracked. Rub it well with kerosene or another
oil. Put the oil on a rag and draw the belt rapidly
through it a few times, then w r ipe dry with another
cloth. Tallow, lard, or even vaseline are good sub-
stitutes.
The white canvas or leather shoes so much worn now
in summer are easily cleansed, either with pipe-clay well
rubbed in and allowed to dry, or with boxes of specially
prepared paste that comes for the purpose. As most
bootblacks now make a specialty of cleansing white
shoes, the average man will find it cheaper in the end
to patronize this ' ' skilled labor ' than to do his own
shoes.
195
CHAPTER XX
"Everything is worse for wearing.'*
IT is not only the impecunious
bachelor who is reduced to cleansing
his own clothing. Emergencies are
quite likely to arise at any time, in
which prompt action may save cloth-
ing from becoming ruined. * First
aid to the injured ' is quite as nec-
essary in case of an overturned soup
plate or a carving accident as on the
battlefield or in a street brawl, and
fortunate indeed is the man who
knows just how to cope with a grease
spot or a stain.
There are many simple but effica-
cious cleansing agents that may be
employed, and every man should
familiarize himself with a few of
them to be used in case of emergency.
Grease spots are the most common
injuries to clothing, and these are
197
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How to Cleanse Clothes
sometimes removed more effectually by one applica-
tion than another. Only the most simple rules will be
given here, that may be followed by any man with a
minimum of patience and time.
A bachelor might fashion for himself a ' handy
box ' containing various emergency tools, or possibly
if he makes his wants known, some woman friend will
take pity on his helplessness and get together the
things for him. Besides the preparations mentioned
in this chapter, there should be a fine sponge for spong-
ing spots, a nail brush with fine bristles, a piece of
Ivory soap, a roll of linen or cotton rags, another of
flannel pieces, and a box of prepared French chalk, some
clean pieces of blotting paper, a bottle of oxalic acid,
one of salts of lemon, one of turpentine, and one of
ammonia.
TO In these motor-mad days, what bachelor
REMOVE has not suffered at some time from machine
WHEEL OR grease and oil, w r hile wrestling w r ith a
MACHINE sta n e d mo tor or choked carburetor? To
remove this, or wheel oil, if a washable
fabric, take cold rain water and washing or baking
soda either will do rub the soda into the spot and
wash out with cold water. Repeat the operation until
the grease is gone.
TO Frequently a man is bothered with mud
REMOVE stains on the bottoms of his trousers, even
MUD after the mud has been brushed off. In
STAINS t j ie rst pi ace> never try to brush mud while
it is wet. Allow it to dry slowly, then if a fine horse
198
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How to Cleanse Clothes
hair brush fails to remove the stain, cut a potato in
two and rub the raw surface on the spot. This will
generally remove it.
ALCOHOL One of the most effectual agents for the
AND SALT removal of grease is alcohol and salt in
the proportion of four tablespoonfuls of alcohol to
one tablespoonful of salt. Mix and shake until the
salt is dissolved and apply with a woolen rag.
IF OIL ever get on one's handkerchiefs, put them
STAINS to soak in warm water in which a spoon-
ful of ammonia has been turned. This removes the
oil, but if once washed by ordinary methods, the stain
will never come out.
TO Put powdered French chalk thickly over
REMOVE the grease spot. Cover with a sheet of
GREASE brown paper and then set smoothly on the
T ' I \ /"XA. Jf A A mf
FROM in- 11 M
CARPETS P a P er > a not " at: iron anc * let remain until
cool, when it will be found that the chalk
has absorbed all grease. The chalk is easily brushed
up. The same method may be used in removing grease
from clothing, if desired.
Many times a grease spot that is thought to have
been removed will gather dust and betray itself weeks
after the original application of cleansing agents. In
this case, the spot will generally respond to hot alum
water applied with a sponge. Heat a cup of water
and in it put sufficient powdered or lump alum to make
a strong solution and let get very hot, dissolving the
alum before applying.
199
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How to Cleanse Clothes
BENZINE, are all excellent for removing grease and
NAPHTHA other spots from clothing, but should never
usec | near a fi re> Apply any of these
'
GASOLENE . . , , . , , u 1 1
with a cotton rag, rubbing the spot briskly
until it disappears. If possible, afterward hang the
garment up in the sunlight until the gasolene, or what-
ever has been used, has evaporated.
CLEANING This cleaning mixture may be put up by
MIXTURE any druggist, if a man wishes to keep on
hand something a bit stronger than any of the above
mentioned. One-half ounce of glycerine, one-half
ounce of sulphuric ether, one-half ounce of castile soap,
and sufficient warm water to make a quart of mixture.
Scrape the soap and dissolve it in the warm water, then
let cool and add the other ingredients. Keep in a
bottle well corked and apply with a flannel rag or
sponge.
CLEANING Ivory brushes and knife handles may be
IVORY nicely cleaned by using prepared chalk
moistened with equal parts of ammonia and olive oil
made into a paste and rubbed on the ivory. Rub off
when dry. A second application may be necessary.
Piano keys may be wiped with a cloth wet in alcohol.
PAINT may generally be removed by applying
STAINS spirits of turpentine. Benzine will also
remove paint, but leaves its own stain. To remove
that, apply powdered French chalk and let stand over
night. The chalk brushes out easily from any fabric,
so do not hesitate to use it.
200
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
How to Cleanse Clothes
BLOOD one is generally most desirous of removing
STAINS quickly, and this is how they do it in
Heidelberg, where the duels are of such frequency that
it seems someone is always running for a basin of warm
water and ammonia, in which curtain, table cover, or
bedclothes are soaked. If the stains have been allowed
to dry, then procure some scales of pepsin and apply
to the stains. This will digest the blood, and it can
then be easily washed out. This they vouch for in
Berlin hospitals where the Herr Doktor is nothing if
not resourceful.
KEROSENE As soon as oil is spilled on a carpet or
STAINS table cover, sprinkle the spot thickly with
corn meal, if you have it. If not, lay several layers of
soft brown paper on the spot and press with a warm
iron. Apropos of irons, most bachelor menages now
boast an electric iron which may be attached by its
tube to the fixtures of any room. It heats quickly and
is a valuable asset, for the uses of a warm flatiron, if
a man is doing these little things for himself, are legion.
ACID In laboratory work one is apt to stain the
STAINS clothing occasionally with acids, in spite
of the care taken to prevent such a misfortune. Am-
monia will generally destroy it if applied at once.
Should the color not be restored in its original bright-
ness, apply chloroform. Ammonia should never be
used on any save fast colors. Stains mad<e by vinegar
or white wines or lemons may be removed from white
goods as follows : wash the article in clear water, then
201
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How to Cleanse Clothes
in chlorine water. If the colors are delicate, make
some prepared chalk into a thin paste with water and
apply to the spot, brushing off when dry.
VARNISH will readily respond to kerosene oil if
STAINS rubbed in until the varnish is soft. Wash,
after, w r ith soap and water. This removes varnish
from the hands very quickly.
INK An overturned ink well is a frequent mis-
STAINS hap even in the best regulated bachelor
apartments, and nothing causes his lordship so much
consternation as to see the inky fluid trickling over
his papers and running in a little rivulet over the carpet
or table cover. The handy box should contain a bottle
of salts of lemon for just such emergencies as these.
Cover the ink spots with this and let remain a few
moments, when the stain will disappear. Wash the
article with a brush and soap, rinse with clear water
and wipe dry. Dry salt may be used, in case salts of
lemon are not procurable. Apply at once, and as soon
as the salt becomes discolored, brush off and apply
fresh, wetting the salt slightly on the second applica-
tion. Continue until the spot has disappeared. In
case the ink has run on the carpet or rug, apply salt
and wet with milk. Let this remain until dry, and
then rub off. Repeat the process if any stain remains.
To remove any kind of stains from red ink, tartaric
acid is necessary. For white goods, make the spot
damp with clear water and rub the acid into it. For
woolens and colored cottons, dilute the acid and apply
it cautiously until the spots have disappeared.
2O2
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
How to Cleanse Clothes
INDELIBLE One would suppose that stains from indeli-
INK ble ink could not be removed, but they are
by no means hopeless. A saturated solution of cyanuret
of potassium and water \vill remove such stains. Apply
carefully with a camel's hair brush. The cyanuret is
a poison and should be handled with care.
INKY The toiler over the ledger is often annoyed
FINGERS by inky fingers, and if he does not keep in
the office lavatory a piece of pumice stone or hand
sapolio, he may remove all traces of his trade by simply
moistening the head of an ordinary sulphur match and
rubbing the ink spots with it. In using pumice stone
for removing stains, first rub the stone on soap, then
apply.
203
CHAPTER XXI
tJU
"Expect not at another's hand 'what you
can do hy your own."
AIRING A woman who, as the
THE BED mother of several sons,
has many young men as guests at
her large country house, says she
can invariably judge a man from
the care he takes of his room. A
young man who has been well
brought up, she says, never fails to
turn back his bedclothes upon aris-
ing in the morning. If the clothes,
sheets and all, are turned back
smoothly over the footboard and the
pillows placed near the open window
in a convenient chair, she decides
that the young man's mother instilled
into him that good breeding which
makes neatness and cleanliness and
care imperative to his comfort and
that of his hostess. She further adds
205
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Handy Hints on Housekeeping
a few remarks on the " fine husband that man is going
to make ' who remembers the little things, but they
would be out of place in a bachelor book. Many there
are, however, who never pay attention to such details,
but leave the bed rumpled and tumbled as they jump
out of it in the morning. The well-bred young man
always airs his bed with the same care in which he
takes his morning tub, putting the pillows, if possible,
where the sunlight may fall upon them. Failing this,
the air at least keeps the feathers fluffy and light and
the ticking fresh and clean.
TO CLEAN Hair brushes and clothes brushes need
BRUSHES constant care to keep them in proper con-
dition. Comb the loose hair and dust from them every
time they are used. Once a week is not too often to
clean the brushes in daily use. Pour in the wash basin
some tepid water and add ammonia to make strong.
Hold the brush in this a few moments, taking care not
to let the water go above the bristles' top, then take
a whisk broom and brush the bristles out as if dusting
them. The ammonia cuts the dirt and grease, and
makes a brush like new after such treatment. Dry in
the sun or in the open air, if possible. If not, lay on
a paper over the radiator. It should be first w T iped dry
with a clean cloth. Combs may be cleaned in the same
way. To clean sponges, squeeze the juice of a lemon
into the sponge and thoroughly work it into the fiber.
Then rinse in warm water. This makes it sweet and
206
A BACHELORS CUPBOARD
Handy Hints on Housekeeping
clean as new. Horn combs, by the way, should not be
cleaned in water, which causes them to split. One
may buy for fifteen or twenty cents at almost any
drug store small stiff brushes which come for the
purpose of cleaning combs.
TO Nowadays, with the prevailing craze for
SCOUR collecting copper and brass, most houses
contain at least a few pieces, and they re-
quire special care if they be kept bright. To scour
copper take two tablespoonfuls of bath brick dust and
one tablespoonful of baking soda and mix thoroughly.
Dampen a cloth in gasolene or coal oil, dip in the mix-
ture and polish with that. Afterward polish with
chamois skin. One young bachelor who boasts a fine
collection of copper bought most of it from Russian
Jews, and some pieces were almost hopeless at first.
But this treatment and a little patience made them
shine like new.
TO Take putty powder and add to it sufficient
BRIGHTEN sweet oil to make a paste. Rub with this
iJRASb j^e b rass or copper until all foreign matter
is removed. Then wash the article with soap and
water and rub dry with a clean cloth. Brass may also
be cleaned with lemon or orange juice thickened with
whiting. Apply with a chamois skin or a flannel rag.
To remove verdegris from brass, add to the juice of
one lemon a teaspoonful of salt, mix well and apply
with a soft flannel. Rinse and rub well with chamois
207
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Handy Hints on Housekeeping
skin. Be very careful if you have a scratch on your
hand, as verdegris is a poison. Some collectors brighten
brass without the use of paste, simply applying hot
ammonia water. Or, better still, pour the aqua am-
monia directly on the brass and scrub with a brush.
Rinse in clear water and wipe dry. The result will be
a beautiful polish.
TO Scour with powdered borax and a damp
BRIGHTEN rag, rinsing off with clear water. If dis-
N1CKEL colored, make a paste of equal parts of
PLATE
ammonia and alcohol and enough whiting
to make thin, applying with a piece of chamois skin.
Rub the nickel with a piece of clean chamois or flannel
until bright. This will keep the chafing-dish bright
and clean. The smoke from the alcohol lamp should
first be washed off in hot soap suds. If very thick,
w r ipe off first with a piece of newspaper before washing.
TO Silver flasks and other articles may be kept
bright by wrapping from the air, in blue
tissue paper. Never place near rubber,
BRIGHT
which quickly discolors it. A rubber band
or a sulphur match will work havoc with silver in no
time.
CHIFFON- that stick or "creak " when opened are an
IER OR annoyance to anyone, especially if he is
hurried. This may be easily avoided by
DRAWERS ,,. , , .
rubbing the edges or the drawer and the
part on which it slides with a piece of soap, which
makes it slide easily and noiselessly.
208
A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD
Handy Hints on Housekeeping
A FEW Pictures should never be hung so high
HINTS that it becomes necessary to mount a chair
HANCING m orc ^ er to see tnem - Hang so the center
PICTURES w ^ be on a level with the line of vision
of the person of average height, or about
five and one-half feet from the floor. Never hang from
one nail. Let the cord be carried over two nails or
picture hooks, so to come squarely down to the corners
of the frame. That gives an impression of carefulness
and completeness. Everyone must consult his own
taste as to the grouping of pictures.
In hanging pictures the stock in hand should be
looked over and a general scheme decided upon. Some
pictures ' go well together," others should be ruled
out of the companionship of the select. Every man
has some decided preference in pictures; one may elect
to have nothing but old English sporting prints, another
may have photographs of the old masters for a hobby.
Artists may pass this over, for in studio decoration
artistic license holds sway, and far be it from anyone to
suggest to the embryonic Meissonier or Gerome what to
choose or how to hang it.
Oil paintings and water colors should never be al-
lowed to become intimate companions, but the latter
may hobnob with etchings, pastels, drawings, photo-
graphs, and even engravings without losing their dig-
nity. An oil painting of exceptional excellence should
be given a special corner and preferably made still
more exclusive by being hung in a black box, with
209
A BACHELOR S CUPBOARD
Handy Hints on Housekeeping
immunity from contrast with or contact with pictures
of another order. By the same token, there should be
no indiscriminate mixing of figure pieces and land-
scapes at least, they must not be at too close quarters,
although they may appear in the same room.
Water colors and pastels in delicate tints and black
and whites and soft etchings should properly be placed
in wall spaces where the light is strongest. The darker
and more heavily shaded pictures should hang farther
away from the light. From the faintly colored pictures
in the clearest light, the glance should be involuntarily
but skilfully led to the deeper toned pictures farther
back in the room.
Sometimes, however, a dark corner that needs bright-
ening may demand a lighter picture or a spot of
brilliant coloring may be risked. A pen-and-ink sketch
with white mat,, along Gibson lines, fills in well in
such a case. Harmony must be studied and the posi-
tions of a picture well considered before its position is
decided. A picture with broad, white mat should
never be hung next to a carbon in heavy black frame.
The eye must be led, not jerked, from one picture to
another.
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