Gala-Day Luncheons: A Little Book of Suggestions

Part 5

Chapter 54,097 wordsPublic domain

Use a table-cloth for the time, and omit any central decoration whatever, even the customary piece of lace. Arrange a small fleet of sail-boats all over the table, fastening them to each other by a couple of strands of narrow ribbon, drawn loosely and tied to each central mast. Heap the decks with some small flower which will look well with the colour of the ribbon. If buttercups are to be had, they are pretty, with yellow ribbons; or small pansies are lovely, with purple and yellow; or the deck can be heaped with bonbons, and the ribbons used as with the flowers, if this is preferred. It is necessary to cut off the keels of the little boats in order to have them stand securely, and the small unpainted boats which children use will do, and they can easily be painted white if they are unfinished.

Your cards may be adorned with bits of pressed seaweed, if you are at the seashore, or with little sketches of sail-boats, row-boats, oars, or marine views. A meal of sea food might be fancied for variety.

CREAM OF CLAM SOUP WITH WHIPPED CREAM. SCALLOPED LOBSTER. BROILED BLUEFISH. POTATO BALLS. ROLLS. SHRIMP SALAD. SANDWICHES. ICES IN FISH FORMS. CAKES. COFFEE. BONBONS.

The boiled lobster is removed from the shell, seasoned, and mixed with bread crumbs, returned to the shell of the backs and tails, and browned in the oven. The shells may be saved when lobster is used for some time previous to the luncheon, if it is difficult to obtain a number at once.

The salad is made by cutting canned shrimps into halves, and after putting them into small individual moulds, pouring over them a lemon jelly made without sweetening, and well seasoned. These moulds are to be turned out on lettuce leaves, and one or two small shrimps placed by each, and stiff mayonnaise passed with them. The ices may be had from the caterer in the form of shells, or fishes, or boats. If these are not to be had, a home-made cream may be served in the large scallop shells which are to be purchased very cheaply. If you are too far inland to obtain sea food, or if you do not fancy it for a whole luncheon, your decoration will sufficiently suggest the idea of the meal, and another menu can be substituted.

RED RASPBERRIES. CREAM OF GREEN PEA SOUP. FISH CUTLETS. SAUCE TARTARE. FRIED CHICKEN. POTATO CROQUETTES. PEAS. ICED TEA (OR TEA SHERBET). WHOLE CUCUMBER SALAD. ALMONDS. PIM-OLAS. CARAMEL ICE CREAM. BONBONS.

The cutlets, which are simply croquettes moulded into cutlet form, may be made either from any fresh fish, or from canned salmon, or from well-freshened salt codfish; and these last are really delicious. The tea is best made with boiling lemonade instead of boiling water; it is to be served in tall glasses, either as a separate course, or all through the meal as one prefers; in case a sherbet is wished, this iced tea may be frozen with a flavour of rum in addition to the lemon, if one uses it, and served in sherbet cups; and cafe frappe may be used as a final course if the day is warm, or the coffee may be simply hot and black as usual.

The whole cucumber salad is very pretty. Rather large and very smooth ones are chosen, a slice is cut from the side lengthwise, the pulp is scooped out, mixed with bits of tomato and French dressing, and the whole put back with the slice put on again so that the cut is concealed. These are served on lettuce leaves with two small cheese balls by the side of each, made by grating American cheese, mixing with a little chopped parsley, salt, red pepper, and enough melted butter to make it moist, and rolling between the hands until you have balls the size of marbles; they are to be dusted with chopped parsley before serving.

A TRAVELLER'S LUNCHEON

As so many go abroad as the hot weather begins, a luncheon may be arranged in honour of some friend who is about to sail. The centrepiece may be a large toy steamer with the decks filled with flowers, or a floral piece may be obtained from the florists, who now construct extremely realistic steamers with flowers, green, and moss; but flowers are never at their best under such circumstances, and the toy steamer is to be preferred. Very pretty and inexpensive bonbon boxes are to be had in the shapes of steamer trunks, dress-suit cases, travelling bags, trunks ready labelled with the names of foreign cities, and dainty little lunch baskets tied up with ribbon, as well as the more expensive but useful favours made to resemble rugs in shawl straps which are to be used as penwipers after the day is over. The cards may bear the picture of a steamer disappearing in the distance with its trail of smoke curving back to form the name of the guest, or the words "Bon Voyage."

The menu could, of course, consist of foreign dishes such as the traveller is presumably to eat during her absence; but as few of them are as good as our own luncheon dishes this is not altogether to be commended. An attractive menu would be:--

CLAMS COCKTAIL IN TOMATO BASKETS. CONSOMME WITH HOT CRACKERS. DEVILLED CRABS. CHICKEN LIVERS ON SKEWERS. ROAST DUCKLINGS. JELLY. MASHED POTATO. CAULIFLOWER SALAD. NESSELRODE PUDDING. CAKES. COFFEE. BONBONS.

The tomatoes are to be cut into baskets with handles and filled with the clam cocktail just before serving. The crabs are to be boiled, removed from their shells, well seasoned, and wet with a little cream, put back into the shells with bread crumbs and bits of butter over them and browned in the oven. The chicken livers are to be stewed, cut in halves, and put on the small skewers with bits of bacon between the pieces and turned in the frying-pan until they brown in the bacon fat; they are to be sent to the table on strips of toast. The ducklings should be young, and a thick slice of breast or the second joint served to each person before the plates are sent to the table; the potato should be browned in the oven and passed.

The salad is made by cooking cauliflower, breaking it into bits, and serving on lettuce with mayonnaise. The Nesselrode pudding is made in various ways, most of them very elaborate; probably the simplest is a caramel cream with preserved figs and marrons cut up fine in it, with a flavouring of wine. It is also made by putting marrons into a plain rich white cream, flavouring it with the wine and serving it on whipped cream; in any form it is always a delicious dessert.

This menu omits the sherbet and gives a rather solid meat course; it may be varied by substituting chops for the duckling and adding a course of frozen oranges and bananas in lemon ice.

August

Luncheons in this hot month should be served as in July, on the porch or out of doors if possible; if that is out of the question, at least the dining-room should be rather dark, and there should be some suggestion of coolness in the luncheon, either in the decoration or in the menu. During this month, when students are at home for their vacations, one may wish to give a college luncheon. Of course, if the guests are all of one mind and can unite in lauding the same Alma Mater, it is an easy thing to so decorate the table as to give unalloyed pleasure, but where two or more colleges are represented it is not so simple. To take some of the most prominent ones, let us have first

A YALE LUNCHEON

Have a large bowl of cornflowers in the centre of the table, and smaller bowls at either end, if the table is oblong; if round or square, have four of the smaller bowls around the central one. If the college men who are present are especially interested in athletics, or if there has been any important victory over some rival, it will be a delicate attention which will be appreciated by the guests if such a fact is remembered. If, for instance, Yale has just been victorious in baseball, decorate with bats, stacking them at intervals on the table; they may be purchased at toy shops in any desired size; those about four or five inches high are most easily grouped. The sandwiches may be tied with blue ribbons and the cards can have sketches of caps and gowns, or pipes, or trophies of some sort. The ices may be served in round boxes with covers on which is the college seal, and the outside may be covered with wide blue satin ribbon which will completely hide the cardboard. These can be either purchased or made at home, and they will serve as souvenirs. As the appetites of college men are proverbially vigorous, it will be wise to provide a substantial meal.

ICED MUSKMELON. CREAM OF CARROT SOUP. WHIPPED CREAM. COLD LOBSTER HALVED. MAYONNAISE. SPANISH OMELETTE. FRIED CHICKEN. CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN. POTATO CROQUETTES. GRAPE SHERBET. BANANA SALAD. NASTURTIUM SANDWICHES. MOUSSE. CAKES. COFFEE.

The Spanish omelette is made by stewing tomatoes, green peppers, and onion, all cut in bits, until they are quite thick; then an omelette is made and this mixture is folded in; it is very appetising, and men are sure to like it. The cauliflower is cooked, broken into small pieces, put in paper cases or in one large dish, seasoned well, and grated cheese and cream sauce are put in layers through it, the cheese on top, and the whole is browned in the oven. The sherbet may be made of the juice of any grape that is obtainable, but it is very pretty to use Catawbas, and colour the ice slightly green; if it is desired that the sherbet should be darker, use bottled grape juice, adding a little lemon to bring out the flavour. It should be served in sherbet cups with a spray of grape leaves under each on the plate.

The salad is made by removing a strip of skin from each banana, scooping out the fruit, cutting it in pieces, adding as much celery or apple and half as much of cut up English walnut meats which have been blanched, and covering the whole with French dressing, and returning to the skins, heaping it a little in them. Put one of these on a leaf of lettuce for each person; nasturtium sandwiches are pretty on a plate decorated with their own blossoms.

If the boxes are used for the cream it must not be coloured, and a plain mousse may be better than anything else; if the boxes are not used, the mousse may be flavoured with pistache, coloured green and served on a bed of whipped cream, with chopped angelia or pistache nuts scattered over it. For a

HARVARD LUNCHEON

lay broad crimson satin ribbons across the table at right angles, and then lay the table with doilies over the ribbon as if there were none there. Have a bowl of American Beauty roses in the centre, or put the flowers in a fancy basket. Or, if it should happen that the men present are especially happy over some rowing victory, put the roses in a long narrow boat in the centre, and have oars stacked at intervals on the table. Use the same menu as for the Yale luncheon. For a

PRINCETON LUNCHEON

use quantities of the yellow, black-eyed daisies which are common in our fields. A large football might stand in the centre of the table, open at the top, with the daisies filling it, and shallow bowls of them may stand on the table. The bonbon dishes may be filled with yellow and chocolate bonbons, and the same sort of cards used as were suggested for the Yale luncheon, unless sketches of Princeton buildings are preferred.

If the guests are from several colleges, the best plan is to have no distinctively college colours on the table, but to confine one's self to the use of athletic symbols for decoration which are common to all. Golden-rod might be in a row-boat, for instance, and oars, base balls, bats, and footballs used as favours. For a hot-weather luncheon, nothing makes a prettier table than a quantity of pond lilies, used in some simple way. As they are common in August, you might give

A POND-LILY LUNCHEON

Fill a shallow dish with water, and put several lilies with their leaves on top, but not so closely but that the water will show between them. Hide the outside of the dish with an arrangement of the lilies and their leaves, being careful not to have it look stiff. Cut your guest-cards in the shape of open lilies, and paint them, writing the name of the guest across their face. Have your bonbons all green and white, and use plain white, or green and white china for serving the meal as far as you can, for the sake of preserving the cool look of the table. The ice cream may be in the pond-lily flowers, prepared as were the peonies in the June luncheon. If the lilies are plenty, use them in bowls about the parlours and halls, to carry out the idea of the day.

CLAMS ON THE HALF-SHELL. CREAM OF SPINACH SOUP. CROUTONS. DEVILLED CRABS. MUSHROOM PATTIES. BRAISED TONGUE. POTATOES AU GRATIN. FROZEN TOMATO SALAD. MAYONNAISE. ICE CREAM IN WATER LILIES. CAKES. CAFE FRAPPE OR ICED TEA.

The braised tongue is prepared as before, stewed with herbs and seasoning in a baking-pan in the oven, but in this case it is served hot, with a spoonful of its gravy, strained, on each slice.

There is no sherbet in this menu, as the frozen salad takes its place. This is made by cutting fresh tomatoes into bits, mashing them, seasoning and freezing them, stirring occasionally to make them smooth; after they are stiff they must be scraped from the dasher, pressed down, and allowed to stand for an hour. They are to be cut in round spoonfuls, laid on a few lettuce leaves, and mayonnaise passed with them.

The ice cream may be either a white or a pistache cream, and the water lilies should be treated as were the peonies, the heart of the flower removed and a piece of waxed paper laid in the centre with the cream on it.

This same idea of coolness may be also well carried out in a luncheon in which ferns are made to play their part.

A FERN LUNCHEON

The house should be filled with ferns, in the fireplaces, in the window seats, in the parlours, and in the halls. In the dining-room the table may be laid either or without a cloth, and a large shallow pan or tray put in the centre; if a tray is used, it should have a layer of absorbent cotton on it. The edge of this dish must be concealed by tiny growing ferns; in the dish should be large pieces of ice, piled in an irregular mound, and very small ferns put in the crevices. The ice will give out enough coolness to perceptibly affect the atmosphere of the room, and the combination of the ice and ferns is a pretty one. A few days before the luncheon some ferns may be pressed, and these may be laid on the table if it is so large as to admit of more decoration; the cards may also have a little fern pasted on each.

An appetising menu might be:--

ICED PEACHES. CREAM OF CORN SOUP. FILETS OF FLOUNDER. SAUCE TARTARE. CLAMS A LA NEWBURGH. CHOPS. STUFFED TOMATOES. ICED TEA. RED RASPBERRY SHERBET. ALMOND ASPIC SALAD. BROWN BREAD AND BUTTER. ICE CREAM IN MELONS.

The peaches are not to be frozen, but kept on the ice after they are halved, peeled, and sprinkled with sugar, until they are thoroughly chilled. They may have a small spoonful of whipped cream served with them, if that combination is liked. The clams are prepared exactly as is lobster, except that they must be kept for a little longer in the sauce in order to just cook them through. They are to be served in ramekins. The tomatoes are to have the inside removed without breaking the skin, and this is mixed with bread crumbs and seasoning, returned to the tomatoes, and baked.

The salad is made by filling small individual moulds with almonds and bouillon jelly made of melted extract of beef, seasoning, and dissolved gelatine; the nuts should be cut into strips and arranged in a pattern with a little of the aspic before the moulds are filled. A stiff mayonnaise is to be served with this.

The ice cream is particularly delicious, though it seems very odd to one who is not familiar with it. A very rich cream is made with the yolks of five eggs added to a quart of cream, and when done it is put in large spoonfuls in halved, small, and spicy muskmelons. The two eaten together are a decided improvement on either alone.

There is really no reason for having sherbet with such a menu as this, for two cold dishes are already on the bill of fare, but if the day is extremely warm, it may be thought best to have it, even if it is acknowledged to be quite unnecessary.

A POVERTY LUNCHEON

Poverty luncheons are usually arranged in a series, every one of eight or ten hostesses giving in turn a meal to the rest which must cost exactly a specified price, the smaller the better. Usually two dollars and a half is selected as the proper amount for ten persons, and the rivalry between the luncheon-givers as to which one shall have the most elaborate meal for the price makes these luncheons very entertaining. Of course, by keeping everything down to the lowest possible sum, one can have any number of courses, but it is better to have less and have it fairly substantial. The prices of all the food, even to the butter, must be written on a card at each plate, and the flowers or other decorations are extras.

BOUILLON $0.10 BROILED SARDINES .20 CHICKEN PATTIES .70 CHOPS .40 POTATOES, PEAS .15 ROLLS AND BUTTER .20 TOMATO AND LETTUCE SALAD .15 VANILLA MOUSSE WITH CANDIED FRUIT .35 COFFEE, ALMONDS, PEPPERMINT WAFERS .25 ----- $2.50

September

As the days begin to grow cooler, and a suspicion of frost in the air in the early morning brings back one's vigour, golf seems the finest game in the world, and long days are spent on the links. A luncheon for golfers will transform any day in the week into a gala day, if only it is not taken too seriously. The guests are to come in their golf suits to be in keeping; the luncheon should be bright and informal rather than stately.

If the company is a large one, seat them in fours at small tables, each of which should have a centrepiece of salvia, or Scotch heather, or--just for fun--thistles. The little souvenirs for this luncheon are of great variety, and most ingenious. There are plaid golf bags with sticks, to be filled with bonbons, or small plaid woollen caps to be presented to men afterwards for tobacco pouches, unless the men are present to receive them at the luncheon. There are plaid-covered golf score-books, which are really useful as well as pretty, and a host of other things, such as individual sticks, which are less elaborate.

Your cards may have sketches of girls in golf costume, or little cuts of such figures may be found in colours in golf catalogues, and cut out and pasted on the cards. The tables may have plaid ribbon drawn down each side, or have bows at the corners. You might have a Scotch menu for the sake of variety, although Scotch dishes do not compare with American.

SCOTCH MENU

SCOTCH BROTH. BOILED SALMON. BOILED POTATOES. HAGGIS. PHEASANT. CURRANT JELLY. SCOTCH RAREBIT ON TOAST. PLUM TART WITH CREAM. COFFEE.

The broth is made by stewing mutton with vegetables until it is sufficiently strong; when the whole is strained and cooked, barley is added till the broth is quite thick; just before serving, a little chopped parsley is put in. Haggis is usually rather a formidable dish to undertake, as most recipes are very elaborate; this one, however, is simple and the results are good. Boil the head, heart, and liver of a sheep with one pound of bacon for an hour; then chop them, season highly, and add sufficient oatmeal to make a thick mush. Boil this in a bag for two hours, and serve it in the same bag, rolling it back to look as well as possible; this receptacle is less objectionable than that in which haggis is served in Scotland,--the stomach of the sheep.

Should you fear to venture on this dish, you might substitute for it Scotch snipe. For this make a paste of a box of sardines mixed with lemon and a little onion juice; spread on slices of bread and cut in strips half an inch thick. Put these in the oven and heat thoroughly, and then pour over them a sauce made of the beaten yolks of two eggs and six tablespoonfuls of cream, to which has been gradually added a tablespoonful of melted butter, and after taking from the fire, a half-teaspoonful of salt, a dash of red pepper, and a little chopped parsley. The strips of toast must be served very hot, and will be found delicious. Even if the haggis is used, this dish might be added to the bill of fare. If pheasant is not obtainable, prairie chicken is a perfect substitute for it, or woodcock will do in the place of either.

The Scotch rarebit is quite different from the Welsh, being made by adding to half a pint of white sauce a tablespoonful of anchovy paste and a pinch of red pepper; cook this for a moment and add six hard-boiled eggs cut in rather large bits. Simmer the whole for three minutes, and serve on buttered toast.

The plum tart is made by cooking large purple or green-gage plums in a deep baking dish with a sprinkling of flour and plenty of sugar, and a cover of pie-crust over the top. Tart is always served in what foreigners call dessert plates, but they are exactly like our soup plates, with a dessert spoon and a fork, and thick cream is passed with the dish. Coffee is never served on a Scotch table as a final course, but is offered with tea in the drawing-room after the meal. However, in this case it may be passed after the tart, or poured on the porch afterwards.

Should you wish a more conventional luncheon, this menu is a delicious one.

GRAPES. CHICKEN BOUILLON. CODFISH STEAKS. LOBSTER SAUCE. BAKED SPAGHETTI WITH OYSTERS. PRAIRIE CHICKEN WITH CURRANT JELLY. BROWNED POTATOES. TOMATO AND WALNUT SALAD. Cheese Crackers. FROZEN WATERMELON. COFFEE.

Although this is rather an elaborate menu, there is no sherbet in it on account of the watermelon, which is better if no other frozen dish is used with it.

The spaghetti is prepared exactly as when cooked with cheese; that is, it is stewed till tender, washed in cold water to remove the starch, and laid in a dish in layers with seasoning, oysters, and white sauce, and baked till brown. This is more easily managed if bread crumbs are put on top with butter, and small dishes or ramekins are used.

The watermelon is to be scooped in large spoonfuls from the rind, the seeds removed, and the melon laid in a freezer with powdered sugar and a little sherry, and the freezer put in a cool place packed with ice and salt for at least five hours.

When country houses are rather far apart, it is often convenient to go from one to another on one's wheel, in spite of the fact that bicycling is no longer in high favour. Still, so long as wheels are so useful they will continue to be used, and just so long

A BICYCLE LUNCHEON

will be found appropriate for some occasion.