Kitchen Essential

Barbecues Parties

These are the ideal occasions for using some of the extremely attractive disposable tableware now available — plates, napkins, throw-away glasses or cups and even brightly-coloured plastic cutlery. A barbecue is by nature an informal, family affair, where children can help cook and serve the food, so don’t use precious dishes or plates that might get broken. Stick to very practical, hard-wearing dishes and kitchen utensils. For a large number of guests arrange chairs and small tables around the garden and cover with very brightly coloured paper table-cloths, and use plates, napkins, cutlery, cups or plastic glasses in the same bright colours. For evening barbecues, place garden flares around the garden to give plenty of light. Set up a sturdy table near the barbecue where sauces, mustards, dips, bread and suitable drinks for both adults and children can be placed. Have a pile of plates ready so that food can be served as soon as it is ready. Continue Reading »

Cocktail parties usually take place in the evening before dinner, from 6 p.m. until 8 or 8.30 p.m. Invitations can be as formal or informal and as original as you like, and the party may be as simple or elaborate as you wish to make it. You may choose to serve one alcoholic drink only, for example, sherry or champagne, or wine, or you may decide to serve a variety of cocktails (be sure that you are well versed in making them), spirits or aperitifs. Soft drinks should also be available. Whatever the drinks you offer, have glasses the right shape to serve them in. Continue Reading »

The most important aspect of a wedding reception is that it should be very enjoyable. Whether the meal is a formal seated affair or a buffet, everything should run calmly and smoothly and everybody should be very relaxed. This is why most people put the whole affair into the hands of outside caterers who will do all the worrying and wedding hard work for them. However, it is not impossible to organize a wedding reception yourself and still be a relaxed guest or member of the family party. Do get as much help as you can, however —wedding waiters, wine waiters and kitchen help are almost essential.

The first consideration when planning the wedding table layout is the colour scheme. The colour of wedding table decorations, the wedding cake and any wedding flowers on the cake must tone with the bride’s dress and bouquet and the bridesmaids’ dresses. Continue Reading »

To celebrate a wedding anniversary in style it is a fun idea to take as the theme the symbol that represents the particular number of years a couple has been married. The first few are a bit of a joke but as the number of years of marriage increases so the anniversary symbol becomes more valuable and romantic. They are:

• One year Wedding Anniversary: Cotton.
• Two years Wedding Anniversary: Paper.
• Three years Wedding Anniversary: Leather.
• Four years Wedding Anniversary: Fruit and flowers.
• Five _.years Wedding Anniversary: Wood.

Continue Reading »

Children’s parties should be fun and lively and very much geared to the particular likes of the child whose birthday it is. One of the best ways of creating an entertaining, lively atmosphere is to choose a theme which follows through from the invitations to the table decorations, food, drinks and even all the party games.

Decide first on a theme by discussing with the birthday boy or girl what they would like. They may have an interest or hobby that is the obvious topic; otherwise try and choose something that will give plenty of scope for games, fancy dress, a novelty cake, table decorations etc. Here are a few ideas: outer space; ghosts and monsters; castles and dungeons; a favourite television character; the circus; a Disney character; a visit to the Zoo. Continue Reading »

Some of the most successful parties that are fun to organize are theme parties. These are variations on the fancy dress party. The idea is to choose a theme, for example: black and white; red and gold; hats; characters from musical shows; a desert island. Send out appropriate invitations in plenty of time so that your guests have the opportunity to dream up a costume, and then plan the decorations, food and drink so that the entire event follows the theme through.

Invitations can be home-made or, if commercially produced ones fit the theme, use them. For a stylish black and white party, all sorts of design ideas are possible: a silhouette cut-out of Fred Astaire in Top Hat and Tails; a chessboard with the words written in the white squares; two masks cut out side by side, one black, one white, with the details of the party on the back. Do state clearly whether the event is to be a dinner party or a larger, informal gathering, and insist on fancy dress. Continue Reading »

For a dinner party, set a festive scene by choosing a colour scheme that has a special, celebratory feel, for example: black, gold, and purple; red, white and gold; silver and pink. Gift-wrap ribbon is always ideal for creating festive, table-centre decorations as it can be curled into streamers, and trailed over or around table decorations. As it is shiny it reflects candle-light very effectively. Choose real or artificial flowers to fit your chosen theme; arrange candles and ribbons with the flowers to form the decorations for the table. Tie curled strands of ribbon around paper or linen napkins to add to the decorative effect. Continue Reading »

For a bright festive tea party for children on Bonfire Night, choose colours that reflect the bursts from the firework sparks, gold, pink, green, red, blue, etc. Buy or make shiny hats with streamers on the top and place these at each child’s place. The table-cloth should be dark to represent the sky at night, and use bright paper napkins. In the middle, have the Bonfire Night Cake . Continue Reading »

Canework and rush

Canework should be vacuum-dusted using a rubber upholstery nozzle. Old and grubby cane can be cleaned using a soft brush and a minimum of warm, slightly soapy water. Do small sections at a time; wipe away any soap traces with a clean damp cloth and pat dry with a colourfast towel. Rush seating should be similarly vacuumed. Avoid using water unless advised otherwise when purchasing.

Most modern bamboo, cane and rushwork is `sealed’ during manufacturing stages with chemical agents. Be extra careful to make a permanent note of the furniture maker’s cleaning instructions. Continue Reading »

Care of table linens will depend on the materials from which they are made. By and large, synthetics require less attention than most pure cottons and linens, or mixtures of natural and man-made fibres. But the beauty of starched cloths and napkins is often well worth the effort involved in laundering and ironing them.

Synthetic fabrics should be washed in accordance with maker’s directions but as a general rule they may be either machine-washed on the appropriate programme or hand-washed in warm water. Hand-washed articles may be pre-soaked but should not be wrung out, simply drip-dried. Usually ironing is not necessary, although some fibres can be lightly pressed with a warm iron if liked. Synthetic fabrics should not be starched. Continue Reading »

Basic Needs

Now for the stores required:

Flour—plain is essential; self-raising highly desirable; wholemeal a slight “extra,” but it makes wonderful scones. Baking powder and cornflour, which is used in many cake and biscuit recipes and also for fillings.

Bicarbonate of soda has its place in many scone and other recipes, and cream of tartar is often wanted for scones, too, and also for some toffees and sweets. Continue Reading »

Herbs, spices, flavourings, colourings and decorations are just as important
to good cookery as the basic ingredients

THERE are a number of things, apart I from basics- like tea and flour, which everyone ought to keep in their kitchen. They crop up, as apparently minor ingredients, in countless recipes, but they are important. They are as vital, in their way, as the contents of a sewing basket, and a cook will need them to work on the basic materials. If you have not got them at hand, you must either forgo the dish you intended to make, or make it imperfectly. Continue Reading »

The traditional Scottish recipe for this, the largest of the British and Scandinavian game birds, states that as soon as possible after the bird has been killed, the crop should be removed, the feet cut off and the bird then buried for a fortnight, by which time one should have forgotten where the bird has been buried. This implies that the caper is pretty ghastly fare, but this is an exaggeration, and similar defamatory statements are often made about the black grouse and its female counterpart, the grey hen, which I and many others consider excellent eating. Continue Reading »

Your choice of colour will determine the style and ambience of a table, so don’t rely on a quick decision. Colours can be used quite consciously to achieve precisely the effect you are hoping for.

It may help you to run through the colour palette, starting with the colour which appears on almost every table — green.

Green for freshness

For nature lovers, the fresh green of flowers and leaves brings life into the house, especially during the winter months. Therefore green is a welcome addition to the table, because besides its fresh appearance, it has another quality. Green lifts and emphasises other colours, especially its complementary colour, red. You can exploit this characteristic if you place big green leaves on the table and then lay a single, or just a few, brightly coloured blossoms on top (for example, rhododendrons orhydrangeas). Continue Reading »

Thoughts of an attractive table setting usually start with a freshly laundered tablecloth which is carefully spread over the table. Sometimes that’s as far as the table decorations get — which is a shame, because with a few tucks and a bit of imagination, just a tablecloth on its own can provide your table with an effective “outfit”.

There are a few basic rules which will help you to make the most of your tablecloth.

The tablecloth must fit the table.

This makes sense, because nothing is more detrimental to the effect of a table than a cloth which is too small. On the other hand, your guests won’t enjoy fighting to disentangle their legs from acres of cloth hanging down from the table. It should still be possible to sit comfortably at a fully clothed table. Continue Reading »

The table illustrated here is not just a still life; it is a compilation of a small selection of things which are used as decorations for various tables in this book. This should give you a fewideas about the many accessories whichsurround you in your house.

Every container, every sculpture, pretty stones or shells, decorative ribbons or marbles can provide you with ideas for table decorations. Don’t be afraid to use simple, everyday items from house and garden, or even foodstuffs. What about wire, pieces of cloth, sand, old pots or flasks, balls, candles, mirrors or even toy cars? What is wrong with a large cabbage or asparagus as a replacement for, or addition to, flowers? Why not use fifty sharpened pencils for an accountant’s fiftieth birthday party table? Or why not put brown leaves on the table, when we enjoy them so much outdoors in autumn? Continue Reading »

The history of crockery is a chequered one. There were times when nobles and merchants tried to outdo each other with beautiful china. In fact the splendour on the table was more important than the food on the plates. The finest porcelain (known as white gold) was painted with in several layers and decorated with gold leaf. Simplicity was the last thing anyone had in mind.

More recent times have provided us with cheap paper and plastic crockery. It didn’t matter whether it looked good or not — the most important thing was that it was practical. Decorated and disposable items are all crockery, but there is a world of difference between them. Continue Reading »

Holiday atmosphere. Are you one of those people who go for long walks along the beach when on holiday, collecting shells, stones and driftwood as little treasures and mementoes of your holiday to take home? Then in principle you already have theessential ingredients for this table decoration.

What to do:

Arrange a small beach scene in the middle of your table. To avoid damage to your table, place newspaper under the sand. If you don’t have a glasstable top, a blue tablecloth will do just as well to represent the colour of the sea.

If you don’t want to raid your child’s sandpit, you can buy fine white sand cheaply from craft shops. Continue Reading »

An invitation to breakfast on a sunny summer morning is simply wonderful. The guest is met by the aroma of freshbread and coffee. That’s the most attractive thing about breakfasting together: you have more time to spend with each other, you have the whole day before you, and breakfast can easily turn into brunch, if liked, or even an afternoon get-together over coffee. The things that you enjoy as the guest of other people can also be enjoyed when you are the hostess, as there is even pleasure to be gained from the preparations involved. A summer breakfast with lots of fresh fruit can be something special and exciting for you and your guests, and the table can be made to look very inviting with very little effort.

What to do:

If you restrict the table linen and crockery to white and shades of green, you already have the basis for a fresh effect. Of course, you can use other colours in combination with white, but the green and white combination sprites to mind first because of the natural green of fruit and leaves. Continue Reading »

Whether you are hot on the trail of Don Quixote or Velasquez, or simply spending relaxing days in the warm Spanish sun, it can still be exciting to act as a hostess on a small scale when you’re staying in foreign lands.

Native specialities, exotic flowers and leaves can be combined by simple means to produce unusual arrangements. The lifestyle and culinary specialities which you see on holiday can be reflected in your decorations.

What to do:

The table impresses with its simplicity, it radiates atmosphere without too many frills, and the charm of the Mediterranean is typified by the rich colors of the flowers, framed in elegant white. As a final touch the napkins are held together with a strip of palm leaf. Continue Reading »