SANDWICHES

Bread for sandwiches should be of fine even grain and twenty-four hours old, except for rolled sandwiches, then it must be moist enough to be pliable.

Sometimes it is well to wrap the loaves to be used for sandwiches in damp cloths for three or four hours before preparing.

Dip the knife into hot water for slicing moist bread.

Thin, fresh crisped crackers or wafers are nice for sandwiches when they are to be served right away, so they will not lose their crispness. Wafers of pastry are suitable for some sandwiches.

Small round tins, like baking powder cans, are nice to bake bread in for sandwiches. Be careful not to bake it too hard.

Do not cut the crust from the bread as a rule; it is the sweetest and most wholesome part of the bread and the slices look so “naked” without it.

Unless the loaf is of the regular sandwich style, cut it in two in the middle, spread each cut surface, if butter is to be used, and cut off a thin slice from each half loaf. Cover one slice with the sandwich filling and lay the other on top of that, pressing well together. Cut into triangles, squares or strips. Continue cutting slices from each half loaf, then they will fit.

Cream (not melt) the butter before spreading; it may have chopped parsley, onion or lemon juice or other flavorings worked into it.

For rolled sandwiches, the crust will have to be cut off unless it is very pliable. Cut slices thin, spread with the desired filling and roll as close as possible. If they should not stay together well, fasten with sharp pointed Japanese toothpicks.

Steam figs, seeded raisins and dates and grind in food cutter for sweet sandwiches.

Scrambled eggs are better in sandwiches than hard boiled. Hard boiled eggs may be rubbed to a paste in a mortar, with butter and salt.

When mayonnaise dressing is used, put sandwiches together just before serving.

Onion sandwiches, when carried, must be packed in a close covered box by themselves.

To keep moist, cover plate with lettuce leaves, lay sandwiches on and cover with dampened lettuce leaves. Or, cover plate of sandwiches with a towel wrung out of cold water and set in cool place. Or, wrap sandwiches in a damp napkin or waxed paper and place in close covered tin box or stone jar and set in cool place. It is better to have everything ready and put the sandwiches together just before serving.

Garnishing—Sandwiches are much more attractive if a few sprays of parsley are placed around the edges before the second slice of bread is laid on. Sprigs of celery or small spinach leaves may be used, or a narrow strip of lettuce may be laid around the edges, so that it will look like a dainty ruffle of green.

Sweet sandwiches may be served with cereal coffee, tea-hygiene, egg drinks or egg creams.

Plates of sandwiches may be garnished with chervil, parsley, lettuce, celery or carrot tops, ferns, leaves or flowers.

FILLINGS FOR SANDWICHES

Salt understood

Eggs—Scrambled without liquid, rather soft, served hot or cold. Hard boiled, while warm minced with fork and mixed with butter and salt. Hard boiled, sliced, between slices of bread spread with thick, rich cream sauce; chopped parsley, with or without celery or onion. Scrambled or hard boiled (if hard boiled, rubbed through wire strainer), mixed with improved mayonnaise dressing.

Nuts—Chopped black walnut meats mixed with peanut butter which has been blended with a little water or tomato. Almond butter on bread, minced tarragon, drained red raspberry and ripe red currant pulp sweetened, between. Chopped almonds, basil, sliced or chopped peaches, sugar. Butternuts or pine nuts, rolled; bread, crackers or Boston brown bread. ★ Nut butter, roasted or steamed, blended with water and mixed with chopped ripe olives, no salt. Nut butter blended with strained tomato and mixed with sliced ripe olives. ★ Nut butter, roasted or steamed, water, chopped soaked dried olives, on crackers. Nut butter, and tomato pulp. ★ Pine nuts, butter or rolled; tomato pulp, with or without chopped soaked dried olives, on crackers.

Trumese—Trumese ⅔, nutmese ⅓, mince together with fork, add a little pdrd. leaf sage or fine sliced celery sometimes. Minced, between slices of bread spread with tart jelly. Sage sometimes. And celery salad, trumese minced and celery cut very fine. Minced and mixed with thick, rich cream sauce. Olive oil and lemon juice.

Nutmese—or steamed nut butter, and cream (sweet or sour); mix to paste, add onion juice, and if desired, lemon juice; celery sometimes without lemon juice. Bread or crackers. Or unroasted nut butter, chopped or sliced onions and improved mayonnaise dressing. Minced, on bread, stewed green peas between. Sliced, on one slice of bread and tart jelly on the other, press together.

Ripe Olives—Sliced, between slices of bread spread with improved mayonnaise dressing. Also ripe olives and tomato, chopped, mixed with cracker dust.

Legumes—Lima beans, mashed with butter. Peas, green, mashed very dry with celery or celery salt and cream. Beans, crushed or mashed, sliced cucumbers, oil; lemon juice sometimes. Chick peas or lentils, mashed, dry; mushrooms dried or fresh, cooked in a little water with butter, chopped, added with liquid to peas.

Cottage Cheese—Soft, creamy, with or without chopped or sliced ripe olives; white, whole wheat or Boston brown bread or crackers. Spread on slices of rye bread (made with or without caraway), with pecan meats between, with or without celery.

Boston Brown Bread—Whipped cream, butter or oil (not forgetting salt); sliced cucumbers. Brazil nut, almond or pine nut butter may be used. Roasted peanut butter and sliced figs or dates.

Spinach—Tender fresh leaves, cut fine, a few delicate whole ones around edge, with any preferred dressing.

Celery—Brazil nut butter on bread or crackers; sliced, crisp celery between.

Tomato—Thin slices of tomato between slices of bread spread with improved mayonnaise dressing. A little chopped onion sometimes.

Cucumber—Substitute cucumber for tomato in above.

Mayonnaise—Improved—Flavor with onion, chives, parsley, fresh thyme or tarragon, or combinations of same and spread on bread or crackers.

Onion—Slice fine, let stand in ice water ½ hour or more, changing water 2 or 3 times. Drain and dry in clean towel and place with parsley leaves between slices of bread spread with mayonnaise dressing, or nut or dairy butter or salted oil.

Carrot and Celery, or Onion—Grated raw carrot and fine sliced celery or onion, French or mayonnaise dressing.

Scented—Clover—Place blossoms in bottom of tureen, lay on loaf of bread from which the crusts have been trimmed and cover with blossoms. Cover and set in cool place for 12 hours or longer. Wrap butter in cheese cloth and put into another dish the same way. These sandwiches are simply bread and butter. Mignonnette, violets, nasturtiums, rose leaves or any highly scented flowers or leaves may be used.

Brown and White—Lay together three slices of buttered white bread and two of graham or rye, alternating. Set in cold place with gentle pressure for an hour or more. Slice to serve.

Sweet—Better than Cake—Spread crackers or thin universal biscuit with butter and honey. English walnuts, raisins, sugar, white of egg, vanilla; put between crackers and heat in oven. Brazil nuts, pecans or almonds, with figs or dates. Orange pulp, shredded mint, sugar, sweet dressing or whipped cream. Grated or desiccated cocoanut, moistened with cream, with sliced or ground dates, figs or raisins and vanilla. Equal quantities chopped dates and raisins; grape juice to moisten. Almond butter, sugar or not, vanilla, ground or fine sliced citron. Butternuts or nut butter, date, fig or raisin pulp, crackers or pastry wafers. Thin slices of banana between slices of bread spread with cream and honey mixed, with or without a few chopped nuts. Sponge cake instead of bread, sometimes. Quince jelly, chopped hickory or pecan nut meats. Boston brown bread, raisins or dates, English walnuts or pecans, cocoanut cream or Brazil nut butter, or no butter. Pastry crust, prick with fork, cut in any desired shape, bake; spread with chopped almonds mixed with peach marmalade or any desired sweet or jelly and put two pieces together.

Rolled—Plain or scented bread and butter. Figs steamed, ground, cream and vanilla. Roll buttered bread from corner over slender stalks of crisp celery. The small inside stalks are preferable. Turn the leaf ends of the stalks so that they will show at each end of the roll. A lengthwise strip of cucumber may be substituted for the celery, and parsley used for garnish.

OPEN SANDWICHES—CANAPES

These are daintily arranged bits of bread cut into rounds, ovals or any fancy shape; sometimes toasted on one side; served most suitably at a luncheon or supper and eaten with a fork. Crackers are more suitable for some coverings. Much taste may be displayed in the arrangement of canapes.

Mushroom Canapes

Toast rounds of bread on one side, lay toasted side down on individual plates and cover the other side with chopped mushrooms cooked in a small quantity of water with butter, and lay one small broiled mushroom (or one that has been cooked the same as the chopped), cup side up, in the center. Garnish with lettuce, chervil, spinach or parsley.

Trumese and Egg Canape

Moisten hashed trumese with a little rich cream or brown sauce. Toast diamonds of bread on one side and dip the other side in melted butter. Scramble eggs soft and fine and place in center of toast, diamond shape, then cover the remainder of the toast with the trumese, making a diamond shaped border of it. Lay a piece of green string bean cut in diamond shape in the center; set in the oven a moment, serve on individual plates.

Indian Canapes

Mince trumese salad entrée fine and rub hard boiled yolks of eggs with some of the dressing; spread on untoasted side of strips of bread or thin wafers. Garnish plate with slices of lemon and tomato sprinkled with chopped parsley or with a leaf of parsley or spinach on each.

Russian Canapes

Drain Chili sauce and rub through strainer, place pulp in center of large wafer, surround with salted, riced yolk of hard boiled egg, finishing with a wreath of the riced white of egg sprinkled with chopped parsley. A leaf of green may be laid in the center of the Chili sauce. Toasted bread may be used.

Cottage Cheese Canapes

Cover crackers or circles of toast with creamy cottage cheese. Make a border on cheese of small leaves of parsley and place a star or other shape of boiled red beet or carrot in the center. Serve with lettuce salad.

Ripe olives may be combined with cheese for canapes. Pastry wafers may be used.

An oxeye daisy, p. 31, may be placed in center of canape, in the wreath of parsley.

Sweet canapes may be prepared in great variety. The sandwich filling of cocoanut moistened with cream, with dates, figs or raisins would be very pretty if wafer were spread with the sweet pulp, then covered with cocoanut decorated with citron or angelica and candied cherries in fancy shapes or chopped. Pastry wafers would be especially suitable for some of the sweet canapes.

Sandwich à la Salade

Roll strips of trumese salad entrée in crisp lettuce leaves, fasten with Japanese toothpicks and serve on crackers or strips of zwieback or with crescent sandwiches of bread and butter; or the salad without the toothpick may be snugly rolled in a bread and butter or bread and oil sandwich.

Sister Starr’s Tomato Sandwich

Chop together scrambled egg, oil and drained tomato (raw or canned), not forgetting the salt, add cracker crumbs to make of the right consistency and serve between crackers or slices of bread.

Variegated Sandwiches

Make three equal sized loaves of universal crust, one tinted a delicate pink with fruit color, one left white, and the third made of part graham flour with a little dark brown flour in the sponge.

When old enough, cut in slices, butter, pack together—brown, pink and white—and set in refrigerator with weight on top.

To serve, cut in slices, then in any desired shape.

English Bread and Butter Sandwiches

Spread butter on loaf and cut in just as thin slices as possible roll, fold, or place slices together.

★ Trumese Sandwiches—non-starch

Broil thin slices of trumese and place between them, scrambled eggs, or fine sliced onions or celery; garnish.