t 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 ne