Gala Day Luncheons Part 12

1. Toilers of the Sea. (VICTOR HUGO.) 2. A Study in Scarlet. (DOYLE.) 3. The Water Babies. (Kingsley.) 4. Between Whiles. (HELEN HUNT JACKSON.) 5. The Lay of the Last Minstrel. (SCOTT.) 6. A Dead Secret (WILKIE COLLINS); and Plain Tales from the Hills.

(KIPLING.) 7. The Desert of Ice. (JULES VERNE.) 8. Leaves of Gra.s.s (WALT WHITMAN); and Unleavened Bread. (GRANT.) 9. The Snow Image. (HAWTHORNE.) 10. Over the Teacups. (HOLMES.) 11. Opening of a Chestnut Burr. (ROE.) 12. All's Well that Ends Well. (SHAKESPEARE.)

The culinary key to the luncheon is this:--

1. OYSTERS.

2. TOMATO SOUP.

3. SMELTS WITH SAUCE TARTARE.

4. ALMONDS. RADISHES. CELERY.

5. EGGS IN RAMEKINS.

6. CHICKEN CHARTREUSE AND POTATOES.

7. PEACH SHERBET.

8. SHREDDED LETTUCE AND CRACKERS.

9. ICE CREAM IN FORMS.

10. TEA.

11. and 12. MARRONS AND BONBONS.

The eggs are prepared by cutting up those that have been hard boiled, seasoning them well, covering with white sauce, putting in individual baking dishes, covering with grated cheese, and browning. The chicken is minced, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little sherry or stewed tomato, and put in a melon mould which has been b.u.t.tered and lined with an inch thickness of boiled rice; then the mould is steamed for three quarters of an hour, and when done the whole is turned out on a round platter, and a tomato sauce is poured around it.

The salad is made by cutting a head of lettuce across with the scissors until leaves of gra.s.s result; mayonnaise is to be pa.s.sed with this.

The ice cream is to be in forms of any sort, but the figure of a man is the most appropriate.

This luncheon may be changed from a gastronomic to a literary guessing game, either by furnishing the guests with a copy of the t.i.tles of the books without the authors, making them guess both the writer and the dish which is represented, or by furnishing the actual menu and asking the guests to give a t.i.tle of a book which will suitably represent the course. In order to give opportunity for some choice in this luncheon, a slightly altered menu is also given:--

MENU

Toilers of the Sea.

A Study in Scarlet.

The Water Babies.

Between Whiles.

A Dead Secret, and Plain Tales from the Hills.

The Desert of Ice.

Wing and Wing.

Leaves of Gra.s.s, and Unleavened Bread.

The Snow Image.

Over the Teacups.

All's well that Ends Well.

"Wing and Wing" is by Cooper, as doubtless your guests will know, and may be represented by a course of game, either pigeons or duckling.

November

The princ.i.p.al gala day of this month is toward the last, the historic gala day of our forefathers, Thanksgiving; still, it is quite proper to have a luncheon at any time during the month which shall have the characteristics of the time.

A THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOR A THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON.]

should remind us of the dress and food of our ancestors, but all of their austerity and asceticism may go without mention; we do not take kindly to these things in our days of luxury and ease. Have your guest-cards bear a sketch of a Puritan girl, or a man in a tall pointed hat and long cloak with a gun over his shoulder, or some other suggestion of Colonial times. Have your menu made up largely of dishes said to have been used at the first Thanksgiving Day meal, judiciously combined with every-day delicacies which are more warmly approved by this generation. Let your bonbons be in the shape of candy vegetables; they are odd, and wonderfully accurate, and are to be had in the form of radishes, carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, and almost everything else; and buy favours in the shape of miniature roasted turkeys.

Chrysanthemums are the flower of November, and they are beautiful in any shade, but yellow is the most brilliant, and a ma.s.s of this splendid color in the centre of the table will make it attractive. If you use candles, have them of yellow, with paper shades of chrysanthemums.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The Puritans are said to have dined on oysters, clams, turkey, succotash, and game, and all these things must be in the menu:--

MENU

OYSTERS ON THE HALF-Sh.e.l.l.

CREAM OF CELERY SOUP.

CLAMS NEWBURGH.

ROAST TURKEY BREAST IN SLICES.

CURRANT JELLY. SUCCOTASH IN CASES. POTATO.

CRANBERRY SHERBET.

SCALLOP SALAD. OLIVES.

BROWN BREAD AND b.u.t.tER.

INDIVIDUAL MINCE PIES. CHEESE.

VANILLA ICE CREAM WITH HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE.

COFFEE.

The salad is made by scalding a pint of scallops, draining them and serving on lettuce with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and a French dressing. The mince-pies may be omitted if they seem too heavy for luncheon, but if you fancy this reminder of a real Thanksgiving meal, have them made in small round tins about four inches across, and have the pie-crust as delicate as possible. The hot sauce to serve with the ice cream is made by boiling a pint of water with half a pint of sugar until it hardens in water, and then adding two tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate dissolved in three tablespoonfuls of boiling water, and boiling again until it crisps in water; add vanilla and serve at once.

In the place of both the pie and this cream, you may have a sort of combination of both, which might be called mince-pie ice cream, made by adding chopped raisins, spice, and a dash of wine to a rich chocolate ice cream; the slices look and taste like fruit cake, and served with whipped cream are delicious.

A CARMEN LUNCHEON

In cities the opera season begins earlier than it did formerly, and this suggests an operatic luncheon, either one served just before a matinee, or given by way of something new, without regard to times and seasons.

Almost any opera gives scope for decorations and cards in keeping with the idea of its story, but perhaps Carmen is the most distinctive. For this, your cards should bear a bar of music,--the famous and easily recognized "Toreador" song is the best,--or else a sketch of some scene from the stage. If you can find paper fans with the pictures of bull-fights, such as are to be had at times in our shops, these are certainly appropriate as souvenirs.

The decorations must be in the Spanish colours, scarlet and yellow, and carnations will give the best results; if you fancy having a corsage bouquet for each guest these may be of alternate colours, yellow tied with red and red tied with yellow, with the flowers in the centre of the table of the two. The bonbons may be of scarlet and yellow also. Here is a Spanish menu:--

MENU

ORANGES.

RED BEAN SOUP.

BROILED FISH WITH TOMATO SAUCE.

SPAGHETTI WITH CHEESE.

SPANISH CHICKEN. LYONNAISE POTATOES.

OLIVE SALAD.

STUFFED CAKE.

COFFEE.

The soup is made of strong stock with red beans, and seasoning in this way: a little onion and garlic are browned in a deep kettle with a spoonful of lard and a pinch of thyme; a stock is poured over this, and two cupfuls of red beans which have been cooked until they are soft are added; the whole is put through a sieve and poured over croutons just before serving.

Any fish will do for the third course, but bluefish is the best; after it is cooked it is cut in pieces ready to serve, and then a rich tomato sauce is poured over each piece. The chicken is really delicious. A tender fowl is chosen, jointed, and put on to stew. A dozen dry red peppers are cut up and boiled, after the seeds have been removed; they are then moistened with a little chicken broth and put through a sieve; one green pepper and two sliced onions are fried in a little lard, the peppers and chicken added, and the whole covered with the thickened gravy and simmered for fifteen minutes before serving.