Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume V Part 43

DECORATIONS--Seasonal Flowers

Crabflake c.o.c.ktail Consomme Julienne Celery Olives Radishes Roast Young Duck Mashed Potatoes Green Lima Beans Creamed Cauliflower Rolls b.u.t.ter Waldorf Salad Vanilla Ice Cream Chocolate Sauce Cake Candies Coffee

BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOR CHILDREN

BIRTHDAY DINNER

DECORATIONS--Kewpies with Large Bows of Ribbon To be Used as Favors

Fruit c.o.c.ktail in Orange Basket Creamed Sweetbreads on Toast Mashed Potatoes Asparagus Souffle Peach-and-Cream-Cheese Salad Vanilla Ice Cream with Maple Sirup Birthday Cakes Candies Nuts

BIRTHDAY LUNCHEON

DECORATIONS--Pink Sweet Peas, Maiden-Hair Fern, Pink Favors Filled with Candy

Fruit Salad Wafers Punch Chocolate Ice Cream with Marshmallow Birthday Cake Stuffed Dates

BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOR ADULTS

BIRTHDAY DINNER

DECORATIONS--Pink Roses, Pink Candle Shades

Fruit c.o.c.ktail Cream-of-Pea Soup Radishes Olives Wafers Chicken Croquettes Stuffed Potatoes Asparagus Tips Pineapple-and-Cream-Cheese Salad Meringue Glace Birthday Cake Coffee

BIRTHDAY LUNCHEON

DECORATIONS--Seasonal Flowers, Candle Shades, and Favors to Match

Lobster c.o.c.ktail Clear Soup Wafers Stuffed Olives Chicken a la King Julienne Potatoes Stuffed-Tomato Salad Chocolate Parfait Birthday Cake Candies Nuts Coffee

AFTERNOON TEAS

No. 1

Ribbon Sandwiches Date-and-Nut Sandwiches Toasted Pound Cake Salted Nuts Tea

No. 2

Apricot Sandwiches Cream-Cheese-and-Peanut Sandwiches Marguerites Candied Orange Peel Tea

SUPPER PARTIES

No. 1

Welsh Rarebit Tomato Sandwiches Chocolate eclairs Coffee

No. 2

Club Sandwiches Bisque Ice Cream Cakes Coffee

TABLE SERVICE

73. ESSENTIALS OF GOOD TABLE SERVICE.--Too much cannot be said of the importance of attractive table service. The simplest kind of meal served attractively never fails to please, while the most elaborate meal served in an uninviting way will not appeal to the appet.i.te. Therefore, a housewife should try never to neglect the little points that count so much in making her meals pleasing and inviting. It is not at all necessary that she have expensive dishes and linen, nor, in fact, anything out of the ordinary, in order to serve meals in a dainty, attractive way. Some points, however, are really essential and should receive consideration.

74. In the first place, there should be absolute cleanliness in everything used. To make this possible, the dishes should be properly washed and dried. The gla.s.ses should be polished so that they are not cloudy nor covered with lint. The silver should be kept polished brightly. The linen, no matter what kind, should be nicely laundered.

Attention given to these matters forms the basis of good table service.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9]

Close in hand with these points comes a well-arranged and neatly set table. To this may be added some attractive touches in the way of flowers or other simple decoration. These need cost little or nothing, especially in the spring and summer seasons, for then the fields and woods are filled with flowers and foliage that make most artistic table decorations. Often, too, one's own garden offers a nice selection of flowers that may be used for table decoration if a little time and thought are given to their arrangement. In the winter, a small fern or some other growing plant will answer.

75. BREAKFAST, LUNCHEON, AND DINNER SERVICE.--To give an idea of proper table service for the three meals, breakfast, luncheon, and dinner, Figs. 9, 10, and 11 are offered. Attention should be given to the details of each of these, for they show how to arrange meals that are intended to be served tastily and invitingly.

76. In Fig. 9 is shown a breakfast cover for one. By a _cover_ is meant the silver and dishes placed on the table for one person. In a simple meal, this might consist of a knife, a fork, spoons, a plate, a gla.s.s, a cup and saucer, and a bread-and-b.u.t.ter plate. Here the cover has been arranged on a breakfast tray for service at a bedside. This meal is not in the least unusual, but it is very dainty and pleasing. It consists of strawberries with the stems left on so that they may be dipped into sugar and eaten, a cereal, a roll with b.u.t.ter, a hot dish of some kind, such as eggs, and a hot beverage.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10]

77. A luncheon table with covers for six is shown in Fig. 10. The first course consists of a fruit c.o.c.ktail, which is placed on the table before the persons to be served are seated. The silver required up to the dessert course is also laid beforehand. Just before the dessert is served, the entire table should be cleared and the silver necessary for this course laid at each place.

A point to be remembered in the placing of silver is that the various pieces should always be placed on the table in the order in which they are to be used. Here the first spoon is for the c.o.c.ktail, which is already on the table, while the second spoon is for the soup, the next course. The knife, which is the third piece of silver, with the two forks on the opposite side will be required for the dinner course, while the third fork is a fork for the salad course.

As will be noted, doilies have been used in place of a table cloth for this luncheon. These, which may be as simple or as elaborate as desired, save laundering and, if they are inexpensive, they are an economy as well as a convenience. Since they also make a luncheon table very attractive, they are strongly recommended for meals of this kind. The luncheon napkin, which is smaller than that used for dinner service, should always be placed where it is shown here, that is, at the left of the forks. If only one beverage is to be served, as is usually the case, the gla.s.s is placed at the tip of the knife.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11]

78. An example of a correctly set dinner table is shown in Fig. 11. A table cloth, as will be noted, is used, for a cloth is always preferable to doilies for dinner. At this meal, the first course is soup. This, with anything that is to be eaten with the soup, such as the wafers used here, or a relish, should be placed before the guests are seated. The bread-and-b.u.t.ter plate, which is placed just at the top of the fork, should also be on the table. Between each two persons, it is well to have a set of salt-and-pepper shakers.

THE PLANNING OF MEALS

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS

(1) What knowledge is necessary for the planning of economical and well-balanced meals?

(2) Discuss a systematic plan for the purchasing of foods.

(3) Compare the advantages of buying foods at a cash store and a credit store.

(4) Mention the advantages of keeping an account of household expenditures.