shaddock pulp, flavored with Maraschino, is an excellent introduction to creamed chicken. Egg lemonade, clam cocktail, raw oysters with stuffed mangoes, or some such light course can all be easily prepared beforehand, and should be served most daintily, individually, in order that no rapacious collegiate may inadvertently regale himself with a second helping, and thereby too early spring the epicurean trap so adroitly set for later refections.

The lamp lighted and this first course passed, the hostess may at least be sure of a short interval in which to make her preparations. Have everything ready beforehand—the rest is easy. Why there should be so much excitement over the cooking of an ordinary rarebit, a creamed chicken, a souffle of oysters or all this terrible excitement about a lobster Newberg or a simple cheese fondue is beyond comprehension.

The first ambition of the young hostess seems to be a rarebit, possibly because its frequent introduction at stag suppers makes it a great favorite with her men friends. Rarebits are avowedly hard to make, and the recipes are legion, but whatever formula you use, whether you use cream, ale, beer, curry or Tobasco, never fail to add two half-beaten eggs for each pound of cheese, and serve the minute it reaches a creamy consistency. This principle followed, your rarebit woes will vanish, and the fame of your chafing dish will be heralded abroad.

Unless you are really an experienced cook, it is unwise to attempt too complicated a dish, but a little practice will soon put you quite at ease, and a little thought will enable you to serve your Sunday-night supper or a midnight lunch quite as easily this way as any other.

We are most of us familiar enough with simple cooking to prepare any ordinary dish, and without entering into a list of formulæ, the following suggestions will be found all sufficient:

Ham, oyster, bacon, cheese, potato, jelly, celery or preserved fruit omelets; scrambled eggs; curried oysters or chicken; minced ham or minced tongue souffle; fried shad roe, calves brains, chops, sausages or sardines; creamed chicken with mushrooms, creamed sweetbreads, liver, bacon, lobster, oysters, cold boiled fish of all kinds; fried oyster, clam, corn, pineapple, peach, orange or banana fritters (fried in butter); cheese fondue, Welsh rarebit, sardines in cheese sauce, or any other simple little dish your fancy may dictate. With such an array as this to choose from, and a hundred other equally simple dishes in reserve, is it possible for any one to despair over the impossibilities of the chafing dish and its limited qualifications for a quick, hot supper?

Chafing Dish Chat.

While recipes for chafing dish cookery abound, the little hints which make all the difference between success and failure in the concoction of any given dish are usually omitted.

The chafing dish novice is usually obliged to learn them by that hardest of all teachers, experience.

To ameliorate this difficulty, the following suggestions are given:

Have plenty of alcohol on hand to avoid the possibility of the lamp's going out just before some dish is completed, otherwise, if you are a man, you may be tempted to use language almost warm enough to cook the ingredients.

If your chafing dish lamp has not been used for some time, pour only a little alcohol into it at first, let it stand, and then fill it up.

If obliged to refill the lamp in the process of cooking, do not do it while the lamp is very hot, as the igniting point of alcohol is low.

Do not fill up your lamp until ready to use it, as alcohol evaporates very rapidly.

Have a metallic tray underneath the chafing dish.

Do not blow the flame to extinguish it, or it may fly back at you and scorch your eyebrows and lashes. Put it out with a little extinguisher that comes with the lamp.

Almost everything can be cooked without the hot water pan, and thus one-half the time can be saved in making your dish.

Raise the pan from the flame if it becomes too strong.

Never leave the alcohol bottle uncorked, on account of the odor of the alcohol and also to avoid the possibility of its catching fire.

Should the contents of the bottle ignite, clap your hand over its mouth. This will extinguish the fire at once.

Use wooden spoons for stirring, as they do not scratch the dish.

Almost anything that can be cooked in a sauce pan on the stove can be cooked in the chafing dish.

Have everything you need for your dish on the table before you begin to cook, and if possible have every ingredient, except the seasonings, measured.

One level tablespoonful of butter when melted is usually enough to cover the bottom of the chafing dish.

Do not use too much sherry in making Lobster Newberg, for alcohol, when used in cooking, tends to make fish or flesh tough.

Remember in measuring out the sherry that you are preparing a dish, not concocting a drink.

The sherry should not be instantly recognized; there should be just a hint of its flavor.

When your dish is completed, serve it from the chafing dish. If, however, you prefer turning it out on a platter, garnish the edges of the same with watercress or parsley.

Last, but not least, save the best and brightest story you have heard during the week, to relate at the chafing dish supper.

A Chafing Dish Supper.

A chafing dish supper menu must necessarily be confined to those dishes which are the hosts' or hostess' specialty—Welsh rarebit, panned or creamed oysters, shellfish, eggs or meats. The very informality of a chafing dish supper is its charm, the guests sitting at the table while the dishes are prepared. Decide upon the chief dish and have everything possible prepared in the kitchen and ready to use at the table, the cheese or meat cut into dice, the bread or crackers toasted, the ingredients measured and in glasses or cups and all utensils ready to use. Decorate the table with centerpiece and plate mats or large white cloth with bowl of flowers or fruits in the center. Do not have many candles or decorations on the table as these will interfere with the preparation of dishes. Have the chafing dish or dishes at one end of the table and some hostesses have a higher chair in which to sit while they preside over the chafing dish. Have the salad, trays or platters with sandwiches and coffee machine if you make coffee at the table, placed conveniently by those who prepare these articles of food. Suppose you are to serve panned oysters, on squares of toast, lettuce salad, bread and butter sandwiches and coffee, or Welsh rarebit, potato salad and coffee and sandwiches. Any of these is a good menu as you will not want sweets or ice cream at such a supper.

For safety place your chafing dishes on metal trays and do not fill the lamp too full. Many hostesses prefer to have their ingredients on the table in bowls which will not break and on Japanese trays and use wooden spoons for stirring as they do not become hot, and do not scratch the dishes. As food is served directly from the chafing dish to the plates and the object is to have everything very hot, garnishings are not necessary. The water pan placed under the cooking pan will keep things hot after the flame is extinguished. Two chafing dishes come in very handy in keeping the toast and hot water hot while the main dish is being prepared.

Have a pile of hot plates at hand and have someone place the toast on the plate and hand it to the hostess who serves from the chafing dish. While she is doing this, have someone at the other end of the table mix a plain French dressing and toss the