139. If sandwiches that are entirely different and at the same time
attractive are desired for an afternoon tea or to serve with a salad,
open sandwiches will undoubtedly find favor. Fig. 27 illustrates several
varieties of such sandwiches and shows how artistically they can be
made. These are merely submitted as suggestions, but with a little
ingenuity, the housewife may work out in designs any ideas she may have.
To make such sandwiches attractive, fancy cutters of various shapes will
be found helpful. As here shown, round, diamond-shaped, crescent-shaped,
triangular, and star-shaped cutters have been used.
140. The most suitable materials for open sandwiches include cream
cheese, jam, stuffed olives, chopped parsley, hard-cooked eggs with the
yolks or whites forced through a ricer, pimiento cut into attractive
shapes, and any other material that will add either flavor or color.
Either white or brown bread may be used. After cutting the bread in the
preferred shapes, spread first with butter, if desired, and then with
cream cheese, jam, or jelly. With this done, decorate the sandwiches in
any desired way. Slices of stuffed olives are placed in the center of
several here shown and strips or small pieces of pimiento are used for
much of the decoration. On those that have jam or jelly for their
foundation, cream cheese put through a pastry tube forms the decoration.
[Illustration: FIG. 27, Plate of decorative open-faced sandwiches.]
141. If an accompaniment for a salad is desired and time will not permit
the making of open sandwiches, small crisp crackers, decorated with
cream cheese, as shown in Fig. 28, will be a very good substitute. These
are excellent with a vegetable or a fruit salad; also, when served after
the dessert they make a good final course to a meal.
[Illustration: FIG. 28, Plate of crackers decorated with cream cheese.]
To prepare them, add cream to cream cheese until it is thin enough to be
forced through a pastry bag. Using the rosette tube in the bag, make a
single rosette in the center of each wafer. Dust with paprika and serve.
142. CANAPES.--Although differing somewhat from the open sandwiches that
have been described, canapes are usually placed under this head.
_Canapes_ are small pieces of bread toasted or sautéd in butter and then
spread with some highly seasoned material, such as caviar, anchovy
paste, well-seasoned smoked or canned salmon, or a vegetable mixture.
They are served either hot or cold as an appetizer or as a first course
for lunch or dinner.
To make canapes, toast or sauté slices of bread and cut them into any
shape desired. Cover each piece with a thin layer of the material to be
used and then decorate in any of the ways shown in Fig. 27 or in any
other manner. Sometimes a thin layer of tomato is used, but often just a
border of some material of contrasting color, such as the yolk of egg
forced through a ricer, finely chopped parsley, a thin strip of
pimiento, etc., is placed around the edge.
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