MAKING A TEA BASKET.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 11980, 31 January 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

MAKING A TEA BASKET.

The basket is a hkmper of stout brown wicker-work, with four short legs to keep it off the ground, the top being a single broad lid, opening backward, with a firm wicker handle by which to carry it. There ar 6 two holes in the front edge of the cover through which two cane staples are thrust by the action of closing the cover. A rattan rod slipped through these keeps the cover in place. To the inside of the basket a lining of crash is fitted, covering the bottom and four sides, and fastened in with braid, tied at the corners of the basket. It is easily removed and washed when soiled. To the inner side of the cover a lining of the same material is also fitted, across which two strips of crash are sewn and divided to make pockets for knives, forks and spoons. The furnishing of the basket consists of six cups and saucers of white enamelled ware and six plates (tea size) of the same material. Two tin cocoa boxes, with screw tops, are converted into watertight receptacles for sugar and tea, and given three coats of white enamel paint to keep them in harmony with the rest of the fittings. A glass vaseline jar, with a tin screw top, makes an excellent butter-jar. In the packets in the cover lining six plated knives, forks and spoons are carried, the pockets being large enough to hold a couple of extra forks and tablespoons for serving jellies, pickles or salad. With the exception of the teapot the tea-making apparatus is all contained in a blue enamelled quart pail. In this pail is also carried a spirit-lamp that folds into a round tin case, the flame of which is sufficient to boil the water very quickly. Packed within it are also the butter-jar, a canopener, a pair of pincers (for handling the pail when heated), a big-bladed pocketknife (for cutting bread, meat, etc.), the teastrainer, pepper and salt-shakers, and matches of the " don't-blow-out" kind.

Tea baskets usually suggest picnics, but they may be used to great advantage in any summer boarding-house. With such a basket " afternoon- tea" may be served to one's friends in the corner of a porch, and needs nothing more than some cakes from the village baker's, the use of a small table and a pail of hot water from the kitchen to make a delightful break in the afternoon.