Gala Day Luncheons Part 6

STRAWBERRIES.

CREAM OF BEET SOUP.

FROGS' LEGS. POTATO b.a.l.l.s.

CHICKEN CROQUETTES WITH ASPARAGUS TIPS.

CHERRY SALAD. SANDWICHES.

ICE CREAM IN ANGELS' FOOD.

CHOCOLATE. BONBONS.

Memorial Day is anything but an occasion for festivities, but the fact that it is one of our holidays suggests that somewhere about that time one might have

A MILITARY LUNCHEON

[Ill.u.s.tration: CANDY BASKET.]

Or one with both military and naval accompaniments. There are so many pretty little decorations nowadays for such a meal that the table may be very pretty. One of the guests may happen to have some special interest in the protectors of our country, and she will especially appreciate a table set with a small encampment of tents made of small napkins folded into the desired shape, or little battalions of toy soldiers presenting arms in companies around the central point of interest, which in this case might be a larger tent, draped with vines. The sherbet or ices might be served in military hats of felt or paper, and the favours might be knapsacks filled with candies. One course should be coffee and hard-tack, suggestive of the frugal fare of the soldier on duty.

Otherwise the menu would better take its regular course, since bacon and beans and other army rations are not especially appetising.

MENU

MOCK BISQUE SOUP.

SHAD WITH ROE. Potato b.a.l.l.s. CUc.u.mBERS.

CHICKEN TIMBALES. PEAS.

KIDNEYS AND MUSHROOMS IN CASES.

POTATO PUFF.

STRING BEAN SALAD WITH MAYONNAISE.

NEAPOLITAN ICE CREAM. CAKES.

COFFEE WITH HARD-TACK.

As the course of shad with roe is rather a solid one, the meat course is lighter than usual. The kidneys are cleaned, cut in pieces and stewed until tender, when they are browned in b.u.t.ter to which seasoning and a dash of sherry have been added and mixed with the mushrooms; after a thorough heating they are served in cases either of paste or of paper. A few olives cut into small pieces may be mixed with the whole, if one likes the several flavours.

The string bean salad is simply made of cold boiled string beans, young and tender, which have lain in French dressing for a half hour before they are put on lettuce and mayonnaise added; one who has not tried this has no idea how good a salad it is. The Neapolitan ice cream is made of alternate layers of cream and ice in contrasting colours; it is too much trouble to make this at home, but another cream can be subst.i.tuted if desired, such as a rich vanilla with a hot chocolate sauce, or a white cream in which chopped candied fruit has been mixed.

The hard-tack is of course a very large thin cracker, perhaps six inches in diameter; it is much better heated in the oven before serving, and if it is wished a cheese, either a cream, or one of the imported ones, such as Camembert, may be pa.s.sed with it.

A DELFT LUNCHEON

This is a pretty luncheon to give in a country dining-room furnished in dull blue and white. Plaques of real or imitation Delft may hang on the walls of the room, and bowls of blue cornflowers and white carnations may stand in window-seats and on shelves as well as on the dining-table.

The china should be blue and white or plain white, and the cards squares of pasteboard with sketches of Dutch scenes, or blue prints of some native spot of interest. The souvenirs may be small Delft plaques, or toy windmills; or they may be little Dutch maidens in quaint dresses, which will serve as penwipers after the day of the luncheon. The bonbons may be white ones in little wooden shoes placed in pairs around the table. The small cakes served with the ice cream may each have a tiny windmill cut from white paper standing in the white icing on top, and the cream itself may be a white one in meringue sh.e.l.ls tied with blue ribbon. Any one of the menus suggested will do to serve, as Dutch food alone would hardly seem attractive; however, a course of doughnuts and coffee may take the place of ice cream and cake, if you fancy the idea.

June

With this month of roses come many gala days; it is the favourite month for weddings, and weddings always bring other festivities in their train. Perhaps the bride gives a luncheon for her bridesmaids, or one of the bridal party gives a luncheon for the rest. Besides these days of rejoicing, there are those other days when the graduates give parting entertainments of various sorts to each other; and since this is the month of Commencements, it is also the time for fraternity meetings and all those delightful reminders of school-days. June luncheons with such backgrounds of interest as these may well be memorable.

A BRIDAL LUNCHEON

On the wedding-day itself, white should be the colour of the decorations, especially if the day is a warm one, for nothing gives such a sense of coolness as a roomful of white flowers and ferns. Even if pink roses are used in the drawing-room and the halls, the dining-room is most attractive all in white. A beautiful background for the table is made by removing all the pictures and hangings, and covering the walls with asparagus fern hung lightly from the ceiling to the floor; where the lines are broken at door and window the vines are to be drawn back and tied at the side with white satin ribbon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FOR A JUNE BRIDAL LUNCHEON.]

The table should be covered with a white cloth, as elaborate as one possesses, and the centrepiece should be of lace. On this should be a large mound of white roses and asparagus fern; and if you choose, a canopy of vines from the centre of the ceiling to the edges of the table, fastened wherever they touch the cloth with a white rose. If candles are used they should be white with shades of white rose petals, or else silver openwork. The table should be set with silver and gla.s.s as far as possible, and the small dishes which ornament it should be filled with small cakes with white icing, white candies, strawberries covered with white icing, white candied rose petals, and all the other pretty things to be found, such as large white candy baskets filled with crystallised fruits,--those made to represent broad-brimmed hats, bent into odd shapes, are very graceful,--or the simpler mounds of charlotte russe, tied with wide white ribbon.

At a wedding luncheon or breakfast the guests of course sit around the room, not at the table, which is used simply to serve from, and the menu is simpler than for a regular meal.

MENU

CREAM OF CLAM SOUP.

CRABS NEWBURGH IN CASES.

SWEETBREAD CROQUETTES WITH PEAS. ROLLS.

CHICKEN SALAD.

ICE CREAM IN WHITE ROSE FORMS. ANGELS' FOOD.

CAFe FRAPPe.

This is a suitable menu for a large and formal wedding; for a smaller and simpler one the crabs may be omitted, and the frappe be replaced by hot coffee; indeed, in any case, hot coffee may be served as well as that which is iced.

The crabs are prepared by boiling, removing from their sh.e.l.ls, and heating in cream mixed with the yolks of three eggs, seasoning, and a dash of sherry; they are more delicate than the lobster prepared in the same way, but unless one has ample time and a number of workers, it is better to have the lobster, as picking the meat from crab sh.e.l.ls is no light undertaking: still, the dish is so delicious it well repays some effort in preparing.

If the ice cream cannot be obtained in rose forms, any rich white cream will do, or a mousse, made by whipping stiff cream until solid, sweetening, flavouring, and packing in ice and salt for four or five hours.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

If instead of a wedding breakfast or luncheon one desires a more informal meal to be given a day or two before the wedding itself, the menu may be altered to suit the occasion. The prettiest possible cards may be prepared for this by painting the head of the bride in her veil with the date beneath the guest's name.

MENU

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

CREAM OF CORN SOUP.

HALIBUT TIMBALES. LOBSTER SAUCE.

BROILED SQUABS ON TOAST. CURRANT JELLY.

CREAMED POTATOES.

STRAWBERRY SHERBET.

TOMATO AND NUT SALAD.

BROWN BREAD AND b.u.t.tER.

ICE CREAM IN WHITE ROSE FORMS. CAKES.

CAFe FRAPPe, OR BLACK COFFEE.

The sherbet is made by pressing the juice from two quarts of berries, adding a cup of water and the juice of half a lemon with sugar; this is boiled for a few moments, strained, and frozen. The salad is made by blanching English walnuts and adding them to mayonnaise, serving with sliced tomatoes. The ice cream if in rose forms should be pa.s.sed on a large silver tray with asparagus fern among the ices. The frappe should be in small gla.s.s cups, if it is served at all, but unless the weather is very warm, have the coffee hot as usual.

A GRADUATES' LUNCHEON

[Ill.u.s.tration]