A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

When plates are changed, be careful not to drop knives or forks. Brush off crumbs, with a crumb-brush, into a small waiter. When there is no domestic waiter, a light table should be set at the left side of the mistress of the house, on which the bread, water, and other articles not in immediate use, can be placed. _On Carving and Helping at Table._ It is considered an accomplishment for a lady to know how to carve well, at her own table. It is not proper to stand in carving. The carving-knife should be sharp and thin. To carve fowls, (which should always be laid with the breast uppermost,) place the fork in the breast, and take off the wings and legs without turning the fowl; then cut out the merry thought, cut slices from the breast, take out the collar bone, cut off the side pieces, and then cut the carcass in two. Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey. In helping the guests, when no choice is expressed, give a piece of both the white and dark meat, with some of the stuffing. Inquire whether the guest will be helped to each kind of vegetable, and put the gravy on the plate, and not on any article of food. In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to you, (it must be put on the dish with the tenderloin underneath;) then turn it, and cut from the tenderloin Help the guest to both kinds. In carving a leg of mutton, or a ham, begin by cutting across the middle, to the bone. Cut a tongue across, and not lengthwise, and help from the middle part. Carve a forequarter of lamb, by separating the shoulder from the ribs, and then dividing the ribs. To carve a loin of veal, begin at the smaller end and separate the ribs. Help each one to a piece of the kidney and its fat. Carve pork and mutton in the same way. To carve a fillet of veal, begin at the top, and help to the stuffing