Part 4

_Egg Timbales with Cheese._—Six eggs, one gill milk, salt and pepper to taste, two tablespoonfuls grated cheese. Beat the eggs well without separating the yolks and whites, add the milk and seasoning, stir in the cheese, and pour into well-greased little tin pans with straight sides; set these in a pan of hot water, and bake in the oven; when the egg is firm, turn out on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.

_Lyonnaise Potatoes._—Slice cold boiled potatoes into neat rounds; cut a medium-sized onion into thin slices, and put it with a good tablespoonful of butter or bacon dripping into the frying-pan; when the onion is colored, add the potatoes, about two cupfuls, and stir them about until they are a light brown. Strew with chopped parsley, and serve.

_Wheat Puffs._—Two cups milk, two eggs, two cups flour. Beat hard and very smooth, and bake in greased and heated gem-pans or earthenware cups. Eat at once.

FAMILY BREAKFASTS FOR WINTER

A word may be said here anent the cooking of porridges. There are as many theories about this apparently simple affair as there are denominational differences in theological circles. One housekeeper soaks the oatmeal overnight; another puts it on when the fire is made; another fifteen minutes before breakfast. Mrs. A. soaks hers in cold water, Mrs. B. uses boiling, while Mrs. C. inclines to having the water just hot. One stirs the porridge frequently; another says it is ruined if touched with a spoon.

On general principles, one may say that oatmeal is never the worse for a soaking, although some varieties need it less than others; that unless carefully and evenly cooked it is apt to become lumpy without stirring or beating; and that the degree of stiffness to which it should be brought must depend upon the taste of those who are to eat it.

1.

Oranges. Graham Mush. Sausage Rolls. Rye Muffins. Baked Potatoes. Tea. Coffee.

_Sausage Rolls._—Make a good pastry by chopping into two cups of flour four tablespoonfuls of butter, making this to a paste with half a cup of ice-water, and rolling out three times. Have the ingredients and utensils very cold, and handle the paste as little and as lightly as possible. Cut the pastry with a sharp knife into strips about three inches square. On one of these lay cooked and minced sausage-meat, and cover it with another square of the same size. Pinch the edges together, and bake in a moderate oven. Proceed thus until all the materials are used.

_Rye Muffins._—One cup white flour, two cups rye flour, two eggs, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, one tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful sugar, saltspoonful salt, milk enough for stiff batter. Beat well, and bake in muffin-tins.

2.

Mandarins. Boiled Hominy. Pork Tenderloins. Apple Sauce. Crumpets. Coffee. Cocoa.

_Crumpets._—Two cups milk, three cups flour, three tablespoonfuls butter, saltspoonful salt, half yeast-cake dissolved in warm water. Warm the milk; beat in the salted flour, the melted butter, and the yeast. Let this sponge stand in a warm place until light. Bake in greased muffin-rings on a hot griddle, or in muffin-pans in the oven. In either case fill the pans or rings only half full, as the crumpets will rise in baking.

3.

Oatmeal. Veal Croquettes. Stewed Potatoes. Sour-milk Muffins. Stewed Prunes. Tea. Coffee.

_Veal Croquettes._—One cup cold veal, minced fine; tiny bit of onion, scalded and chopped; half teaspoonful parsley; one cup milk, or half milk, half soup stock; one tablespoonful flour; one tablespoonful butter; pepper and salt to taste; one egg. Cook the butter and flour together until they bubble; pour the milk or milk and stock on them, and stir until they thicken. Remove from the fire, and pour upon the beaten egg; then stir in the meat, seasoned with the onion, parsley, pepper, and salt. Set this aside until cold enough to handle, then form into croquettes between the floured hands. Roll in egg, and then in fine cracker crumbs, and drop into boiling lard. They are better prepared an hour before frying.

In making veal croquettes, oyster liquor may be used in place of the stock, and a few oysters chopped with the veal will improve the flavor.

_Sour-milk Muffins._—One egg, two cups sour milk, half teaspoonful salt, half teaspoonful soda dissolved in hot water; flour to make a stiff batter. Beat hard, and bake quickly.

4.

Bananas. Wheat Flakes. Apples and Bacon. Loaf Corn Bread. Saratoga Potatoes. Tea. Coffee.

_Apples and Bacon._—Fry thin slices of bacon crisp in its own fat. Take up the bacon and keep hot while you fry in the fat left in the pan apples sliced across and cored, but not peeled. Arrange the apples in the centre of the dish, the bacon around the sides.

_Loaf Corn Bread._—Two eggs, two cups milk, two cups corn meal, one cup flour, one tablespoonful lard, one tablespoonful sugar, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, saltspoonful salt. Beat the eggs light, add the melted lard, the milk, the flour, and meal, sifted with the baking-powder and salt, and beat very hard. Bake in a round tin, one with a tube in the middle, if you have it.

5.

Grapes. Cerealine. Broiled Salt Mackerel _à la Maître d'Hôtel_. Stewed Potatoes. Risen Muffins. Tea. Cocoa.

_Broiled Salt Mackerel à la Maître d'Hôtel._—Soak the mackerel overnight. In the morning wipe it dry, broil, lay on a hot dish, and anoint plentifully with _maître d'hôtel_ butter, made by directions given in the preceding chapter.

_Risen Muffins._—Two cups milk, two eggs, one tablespoonful lard, one tablespoonful sugar, saltspoonful salt, half yeast cake dissolved in a little warm water, flour enough for batter. Set a sponge of all the ingredients except the eggs to rise overnight. In the morning beat these light, add them to the batter, and bake the muffins in tins in a quick oven.

6.

Wheat Germ-Meal Porridge. Broiled Ham. Canned Pea Pancakes. Buttered Toast. Baked Apples. Cocoa. Coffee.

_Canned Pea Pancakes._—One can of green pease, one egg, one cup milk, two teaspoonfuls melted butter, half cupful flour, half teaspoonful baking-powder, salt to taste. Open the can several hours before it is to be used, and drain off the liquor. Rinse the pease in cold water. Mash them with the back of a spoon, and mix with them the butter and salt. Make a batter of the egg, the milk, and the flour, with the baking-powder. Add the pease, beat well, and bake on a griddle.

7.

Tangerines. Rice Porridge. Moulded Eggs. Ham Toast. Baked Potatoes. Tea. Coffee.

_Moulded Eggs._—On the bottom of well-buttered patty-pans with straight sides sprinkle finely minced parsley and a little pepper and salt. Break an egg into each pan, set them in a large pan filled with boiling water, and bake until set. Turn out on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.

_Ham Toast._—To every cupful of chopped cold boiled ham put a half-teaspoonful of made mustard, as much butter, and a little Worcestershire sauce. Trim the crust from slices of bread, toast and butter them, and spread them with the chopped ham.

8.

Bananas. Oatmeal. Broiled Smoked Salmon. Breakfast Biscuit. Savory Potatoes. Cocoa. Coffee.

_Breakfast Biscuit._—Two cups milk, half cake yeast dissolved in warm water, two teaspoonfuls white sugar, two tablespoonfuls lard, one tablespoonful butter, saltspoonful salt, flour for soft dough. Warm the milk, melt the shortening, and set the sponge overnight. The next morning roll into a sheet, cut out with a biscuit cutter, let them rise twenty minutes in the pan, and bake.

_Savory Potatoes._—Two cupfuls cold potatoes sliced, half cup gravy, quarter of an onion sliced. Heat the gravy in a frying-pan with the onion, add the potatoes, and leave them until they are brown, stirring often. Serve potatoes and gravy together.

9.

Oranges. Cracked Wheat. Lyonnaise Tripe. Boiled Potatoes. Bread-and-milk Cakes. Tea. Coffee.

_Lyonnaise Tripe._—One pound boiled tripe, one onion, one tablespoonful butter, one cupful stewed tomatoes, pepper and salt. Brown the onion in the butter, add the tripe, cut into neat pieces, add the seasoning. Brown lightly, add the tomatoes, and, when these are hot, serve.

_Bread-and-milk Cakes._—One cup fine bread crumbs, two cups milk, one egg, two teaspoonfuls melted butter, saltspoonful salt, two tablespoonfuls flour. Soak the crumbs in the milk ten minutes; beat in the whipped egg, the butter, the salt, and the flour. Bake on a well-greased griddle.

10.

Apples. Graham Flakes. Fried Scallops. Light Loaf. Hashed Potatoes. Tea. Coffee.

_Fried Scallops._—Stew the scallops five minutes in their own liquor. Take out, drain, and roll first in egg, then in fine cracker crumbs. Fry to a light brown in deep fat, lay on a sheet of brown paper in a hot colander, and serve on a small napkin laid on a heated dish.

_Light Loaf._—One cup milk, one tablespoonful sugar, one tablespoonful butter, two eggs, two cups flour, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, saltspoonful salt. Beat the eggs light; add the butter, melted, the sugar, salt, milk, and, last, the flour sifted with the baking-powder. Bake in one loaf, and serve hot.

_Hashed Potatoes._—Chop cold potatoes fine, have ready in a pan a tablespoonful of bacon dripping made very hot, stir into this two cupfuls of the potatoes, and toss about until well browned.

AT LUNCHEON

Properly treated, luncheon may be the pleasantest meal of the day. Simple or elaborate, as the housekeeper's taste may dictate, always informal, it is more comfortable than the breakfast because less hurried, more agreeable than the dinner because less ceremonious.

The table at luncheon may either be set as for breakfast, with a pretty colored cloth to cover it; or a prettier way, if one has a table with a handsome top, is to spread on this a large luncheon napkin that only partially conceals the polished surface. One or more of these napkins may be used, according to their size and the amount of space you wish covered. A fringed doily or a crocheted or netted mat may be laid at each place to protect the table-top from the heated plate. Other mats should be laid under the hot dishes of meat, etc., while a tile or a trivet will hold the chocolate or teapot.

A writer on household decoration in a recent article in a popular magazine enlarged upon the charming effect produced by painting a table-top white, and thus producing a good background upon which to display old blue-and-white china. This would doubtless be extremely pretty, but in the practical mind the suspicion arises that, by the time the bare white table had held hot dishes during half a dozen meals, its surface would be marked with yellow rings that would leave no choice to the housewife but to conceal the whole of the defaced expanse with a table-cloth. A good furniture polish, or a simple mixture of sweet-oil and turpentine, applied with a piece of flannel, will restore the beauty of a hard-wood table-top, but it is questionable if the white paint could be so readily renovated.

The flowers that should have freshened the breakfast board must not be lacking at luncheon-time. The table may be spread with a luncheon set of china, or, if one does not own this, with the same plates, etc., that are used at breakfast and at tea. The tea-tray, with its burden of sugar-bowl, cream-pitcher, tea-caddy, and dainty cups and saucers, may stand in front of the mistress of the house, while at her elbow may be the five-o'clock-tea crane bearing its kettle of boiling water; or a smaller hot-water urn in brass, copper, or silver, with a spirit-lamp under it, may be on the table near her right hand, with the teapot beside it. If the small hot-water pot is used, and the table is bare, a tray should hold the kettle and stand, lest a drop of blazing alcohol should blister the polished surface of the wood. When cocoa or chocolate is drunk at luncheon, the paraphernalia of kettle and spirit-lamp is, of course, unnecessary.

There are some brands of cocoa for which it is claimed by the manufacturers that they are excellent when prepared for use by simply pouring the boiling water on the powder. So far as the writer's experience has gone, however, there is not one of them that is not benefited by being boiled for a few minutes before serving.

Nearly everything that is to compose the ordinary luncheon for the family may be put upon the table at one time. Of course there must be an exception to this rule when the first course consists of soup or bouillon; but even then all the cold dishes may be in place when the guests are seated. The waiting need be only of the simplest, unless formality is desired. Those about the table may help themselves and one another, while the duties of the waitress may be confined to passing the dishes that are on the sideboard, changing the plates, bringing in hot dishes, etc.

The truth, often reiterated, that women cook only for men, and that a woman would never take the trouble to prepare anything for herself beyond a cup of tea and a slice of toast, is strongly emphasized by the carelessness many of them manifest in the matter of luncheon. Of course, when there are several in the family the needs and tastes of others have to be consulted; but when the mistress of the house has to sit down to a solitary meal, or at best to one that is the nursery dinner for two or three children whose diet is of the simplest, she is apt to let her luncheon consist of little more than a "cold bite," and the—almost—invariable cup of tea. Such a course must affect the health sooner or later, and is a species of carelessness of self against which a woman must guard if she does not wish to reap its fruits in headaches, dyspepsia, and general depression of the system. Without getting up a troublesome _menu_, she may yet devise divers tempting little dishes which will coax her appetite. She will feel happier and work better for a substantial although not heavy meal in the middle of the day.

Luncheon is pre-eminently the meal at which to make use of potted meats, sardines, _pâtés_, and the like. There are many of these from which to make a choice. A luncheon is not to be despised that begins with a cup of bouillon, or with a plate of soup left over from last night's dinner, continues with fresh rolls or biscuit or muffins, or toasted crackers, or good cold bread—white or brown—cut in delicate slices, and one of the _pâtés_ put up by certain French and American companies, or a Gotha liver sausage, or a few sardines, accompanied by a cup of tea or cocoa, and concludes with some simple sweet, such as marmalade, jam, or fruit.

But luncheon need not be confined to cold delicacies that must be bought outright. It is the time for using up left-overs, for trying new recipes for side-dishes and _entrées_, for the housekeeper to learn for herself and to teach her cook the daintiest methods of utilizing those remnants which the uninitiated might stigmatize as "scraps." Great is the variety of styles in which these may be employed. That bit of cold fish from last evening's dinner may be picked to shreds, stirred into a white sauce, and baked in a scallop-shell. Or it may be mixed with half as much mashed potato, moistened with boiling water and a little melted butter, and tossed up into a dish of creamed fish.

The scraps of pastry left from pie-making and the sausage or two that were spared at breakfast may compose a sausage-roll, the cold potato and the fragment of steak may be turned into a hash, and odd slices of cold lamb, mutton, or veal are just the thing for croquettes and fritters. And of the odds and ends of poultry what delicious compounds may be made! Croquettes, scallops, minces, fritters, filling for _pâtés_, salad enough for one or two if eked out with lettuce, and a dozen other dainty _plats_. Or a tiny omelet, either baked or _sauté_, may be prepared; and when one begins to count up the appetizing dishes which may be made of eggs, the list seems without an end. Even when several people are to partake of the meal a variety of little dishes may take the place of a single large one for which new material would have to be purchased. In the cultivation or creation of a talent as a _réchauffeuse_ true economy consists.

In some homes luncheon is a quite elaborate affair, and comprises several courses, including, perhaps, a soup or bouillon, a meat course, a salad, and fruit or sweets. In the majority of establishments owned by people of moderate means, however, the meal is simpler, but need be no less delightful. Many people can eat muffins, griddle-cakes, and other hot breads at noon with less after-discomfort than at any other season, and dishes of this sort are usually acceptable on the luncheon-table. With their help the meal can hardly fail to be appetizing.

A SMALL LUNCHEON

Luncheons are among the most popular forms of entertainment that can be selected, when only a limited number are to be honored. To these affairs men are seldom invited, and there are not wanting those among the sterner sex who do not hesitate to attribute their banishment to desire on the women's part for the opportunity to chat uninterruptedly and unreservedly on those subjects presumed dear to their hearts—dress, babies, and servants. Other men go so far as to hint that gossip, and even scandal, engage the tongues of these much-maligned women, while even the most charitable husbands and brothers cannot refrain from openly expressing their pity for the unfortunate ladies debarred, for even a limited period, from the delights of the society of the lords of creation.

Casting aside the intimations respecting gossip or scandal as unworthy of notice, and tracing the animus of the other slurs to their source, in the overpowering jealousy on the part of their perpetrators that they are excluded from the select assemblages they affect to condemn, it may be said in refutation of the last charge that there are few women who do not agree in considering a luncheon among the most delightful of their social experiences. An invitation to one is usually hailed with joy, and a woman will undergo a good deal of inconvenience sooner than consent to decline it.

A luncheon is elastic in its nature, and may be of any size the hostess's fancy or judgment dictates. One woman may invite another to share the meal with her, and to help form that _solitude à deux_ so delightful to two congenial souls. In such a case a long and elaborate _menu_ is out of place, and not in the best form. What dishes there are should be wisely selected, perfectly prepared, and carefully served; but a multiplication of courses or viands is unnecessary, and savors of vulgar display. The same principle applies at any _small_ luncheon. The definition of size is a rather difficult matter, but a company of this sort of not more than five or six persons may fitly be called small. With every addition to the number the need increases for more items in the _menu_.

For a small and unpretentious luncheon the invitations should not be issued long in advance, unless the hostess finds it necessary to do so in order to secure the presence of some especial guests. In that case, if the entertainment is to be very simple, it is as well to inform the guests of the fact when writing to them. Either a written or a verbal invitation is admissible. It should always be clearly understood, however, that the engagement, when once made, is no less binding than if it were a promise to attend the largest and most ceremonious dinner. Indeed, fidelity to one's acceptance and prompt attendance are even more obligatory at a small than at a large affair, because at the latter the defection of one person is less noticeable than it would be were very few expected to be present. In either case failure to keep the engagement is a grave breach of etiquette. It may be said, in this connection, that more of a compliment is implied by the request to be one of a small and—by inference—select band than is shown when the invitations embrace a larger party.

An even number is usually better than an odd number at a luncheon, unless the table is a large round one, about which the guests can gather without leaving an awkward gap on one side.

The covering for the table may either be a very pretty luncheon cloth with a little color about it, or else of plain white. Of course, should the hostess desire to have any one tint predominate in her table appointments, it is better to have the cloth of that shade or of white. If artificial light is required, candles give a pleasanter light than anything else, and one candelabrum of several branches is generally enough for a small table. Should this not sufficiently illuminate the room, the gas may be lighted and partially turned down, or a lamp or two may be placed on a mantel-shelf or on a bracket. There should always be flowers in the centre of the table, preferably a flat or low dish or vase, for where there are few guests they should be able to see each others' faces, instead of being obliged to dodge around a tall ornament that effectually conceals those seated on one side of the board from those placed on the other. _Bouquets de corsage_, while always pretty, are not essential at a simple luncheon, nor are cards necessary.

The table should be spread with the daintiest china and silver. At each plate must be the usual articles—knife, fork, tumbler, butter-plate, and napkin. A knife and fork for each course may be laid by every plate, the knives on the right side, the forks on the left. A roll or two or three sticks of bread must lie on each napkin. The usual little dishes of olives, salted almonds, pea-nuts or pistachio-nuts, radishes, bonbons, etc., should stand here and there, and by their color or sparkle add to the beauty of the repast.

The first course may be either beef or chicken bouillon. This is served in bouillon-cups, with covers and saucers, if one has them, or, if not, in tea or after-dinner coffee-cups. The latter are a trifle small, but one need not go to the other extreme, as was done at a lunch given not long ago, where the bouillon was served in _mugs_ nearly as large as those commonly used for shaving, and quite as thick and heavy. It was impossible to help recalling the saying of the woman who declared that when she took coffee from one of the breakfast cups in use at most hotels she felt as though she were drinking it over the side of a stone wall. Bouillon is usually sipped with a spoon, however, although it is not out of the way to raise the cup to the lips.

The bouillon may either be on the table when the guests enter the room, or be brought in as soon as they are seated. It is followed by fish in some dainty form, as creamed fish, creamed or buttered lobster, croquettes of lobster, oysters, or fish; or oyster or lobster _pâtés_. These are not passed in the dish, but are brought in already served, and a plate holding a portion placed in front of each guest. Rolls, French bread, or bread and butter are then passed.

The next course in a luncheon of this size need not be an _entrée_, although one may be introduced here. Sweetbreads, chicken cutlets, _timbales_ of some sort, a _vol-au-vent_—any one of these will answer, but there is no violation of rules if it is omitted altogether at a _small_ luncheon. In that case the next course—the _pièce de résistance_—may follow the fish directly, and may consist of French chops with pease, and potatoes daintily prepared, or chicken broiled, fried, or cooked in some attractive fashion, or broiled tenderloins of beef with mushrooms, or birds.