1.Who was the lover?2.Who was his sweetheart?3.In what country were they born?4.On what river was his home?5.What was his favorite state?6.Where did he first meet her?7.What part of the day was it?8.How was her hair arranged?9.What flower did he offer her?10.When did he propose to her?11.What did he say to her?12.What was her reply?13.When were they married?14.Her maid of honor was from Scotland; what was her name?15.The best man was a soldier; who was he?16.When in the civil war did the groom and best man become acquainted?17.A little sister of the bride was flower girl; what was her name?18.In what church was the ceremony solemnized?19.In the thoroughfares of what foreign city did they spend their honeymoon?20.What motto greeted them as they entered their new dwelling?21.Who did the bridegroom finally turn out to be?
1.Ben Bolt.2.Sweet Marie.3.America.4.Suanne River.5.Maryland, My Maryland.6.Comin' Through the Rye.7.In the Gloaming.8.Her Golden Hair was Hanging Down her Back.9.Sweet Violets.10.After the Ball.11.Won't You Be My Sweetheart?12.If you Ain't Got No Money You Needn't Come Around.13.In Springtime, Gentle Anne.14.Annie Laurie.15.Warrior Bold.16.While We Were Marching Through Georgia.17.Marguerite.18.Church Across The Way.19.Streets of Cairo.20.Home, Sweet Home.21.The Man That Broke The Bank at Monte Carlo.
The answers to the above should not be arbitrary. There are many songs that afford quite as good answers as those given above, and the score should credit anyone that makes a reply which fits the question.
"I find earth not gray, but rosy,Heaven not grim, but fair of hue."
Here is a pretty breakfast for the month of June.
Have for the centerpiece a huge bowl of jacque-minot roses. Use long sprays of the leaves and arrange the flowers very loosely in the bowl.
Have for the boutonnieres at each cover a bunch of red rose buds tied with scarlet ribbon.
The place cards are also red roses cut to the required shape from rough drawing paper and appropriately colored.
Of course the red touch will be introduced as frequently as possible into the menu. Serve tomato soup, salmon salad and claret water ice. Cakes must be glazed in red, and the ice cream, served in artistic little baskets of spun sugar, to take the form of red roses.
Have side dishes filled with pink coated almonds and candied rose petals.
Then, during the dessert course, introduce what is called a Rose Shower.
This will be on the order of the literary salads that were so popular some time ago, but it is newer.
The idea is this: Cut from red tissue paper a couple of dozen little leaf shaped pieces to be crimped and creased and coaxed into representing rose petals. On each petal write a familiar quotation relating to the rose.
These leaves are to be passed around the table, each guest taking one, and when done with it, passing it on.
Prizes will be offered to the guests who are able to name the authors of the largest number of quotations.
Here are some of the verses:
That which we call a rose,By any other name would smell as sweet.—Shakespeare.But earthlier happy is the rose distilledThan that which, withering on the virgin thornGrows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.—Shakespeare.The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new;And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears.The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew,And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears.—Scott.'Tis the last rose of summerLeft blooming alone.—Moore.You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will,But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.—Moore.He wears the roseOf youth upon him.—Shakespeare.As though a rose should shut and be a bud again.—Keats.She wore a wreath of roses,That night when first we met.—T. H. Bayley.The rose that all are praisingIs not the rose for me.—T. H. Bayley.Loveliest of lovely things are theyOn earth that soonest pass away.The rose that lives his little hourIs prized beyond the sculptured flower.—Bryant.Flowers of all hue and without thorn the rose.—Milton.A rosebud set with little wilful thorns,And sweet as English air could make her, she.—Tennyson.Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they be withered.—Bible.Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,Old time is still a flying;And this same flower that smiles today,Tomorrow wille be dying.—Herrick.Their lips were four red roses on a stalk.—Shakespeare.And I will make thee beds of rosesAnd a thousand fragrant posies.—Marlowe.
These, of course, will be only about half enough, but the hostess can add others to them.
The prize for the best list of answers should suggest roses in some way.
The time ten o'clock. Invitations, to be on a large sized visiting card, this wise:
Mrs. ——
At Home,
Wednesday morning, November Seventh,
Nineteen — ——
ten o'clock,
340 —— Street,
Please reply.
Breakfast.
Enclose card in envelope to match.
Have three schemes of color for decorations—white chrysanthemums for parlor, pink for library, and yellow for dining-room.
Serve at small tables, with rich floral center pieces, and handsomely draped with Battenburg, or linen center piece and plate tumbler doylies.
Place cards, two and one-half inches by six in size, should be decorated with a spray of chrysanthemums on a shaded background in water colors, leaving sufficient blank for a name and outlining the top card with cut edges of leaves.
A small cluster of grapes served on dessert plates.
Baked apple—(Remove the core and fill with cooked oat meal; bake and serve with whipped cream over the whole.)
Chicken croquettes, scalloped potatoes, buttered rolls, celery, coffee.
Fruit and nut salad, served in small cups on a bread and butter plate, with a wafer.
Ice cream, in chocolate, pink and white layers; angel food, and pink and white layer cake.
Have a dish of salted almonds on each table.
White and green are the colors for a September breakfast. Have the dining room decorated with luxuriant ferns and dainty, fragrant water lilies, the fireplace banked with ferns, the lilies scattered carelessly over the mantel.
In the center of the table have a miniature rowboat heaped high with the lilies. For the souvenirs have very small oars which could afterwards be used for paper knives; besides clusters of lilies.
Harp music is the most in harmony with our ideas of lilies and the lily naiads, so the soft strains will form a delightful accompaniment to the breakfast.
This is the menu:
Cream of Lettuce Soup
Steamed White Fish
Hollandaise Sauce
Potato Balls
Maitre de Hotel Sauce
Jellied Chicken
Cauliflower, Creamed
Asparagus
Cheese Salad
Metropolitan Ice Cream
Small Cakes
Niagara Grapes
Coffee
Break the outer green leaves from two heads of lettuce. Place neatly together and with a sharp knife cut into shreds. Put them into one quart of white stock and simmer gently for half an hour. Press through a colander, return to the fire. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter and two of flour, add two tablespoonfuls of hot stock and rub smooth, add this to the soup, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add a level tablespoonful of grated onion, one cupful of cream and a seasoning of salt and white pepper.
When ready to serve, beat the yolk of one egg lightly, pour into a tureen, turn the hot soup over it and add a heaping tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley.
The fish is garnished with cress.
Mash very fine the cold yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, and rub with them a coffee cupful of finelygrated cheese, a teaspoonful of mustard, a saltspoonful of salt and one-half as much white pepper. When all are well mixed, add two tablespoonfuls each of oil and vinegar, alternately. Heap this upon fresh lettuce and garnish with the whites of eggs cut into rings, and a few tips of celery. Serve with hot buttered crackers.
The ice cream is served on lily leaves. The cakes are white, with green icing.
This is the music selected:
Solo—"To a Water Lily"McDowellOld Song—"Lily Dale"Vocal Solo—"Row Gently Here, My Gondolier"Schumann
A pretty idea is a tulip breakfast. The centerpiece is a large basket filled with tulips of different colors. A pretty course is strawberries served in real tulips lying on fancy plates with the stems tied with narrow ribbon the same shade as the tulip. The ice cream is served in shape of a tulip, and the salad is in a cup of green tissue paper imitating four tulip leaves. This is the plan for finding places. The name cards are decorated with tiny landscapes. On the back of the card is written the title of a song and the guest finds her own name in the title. For example a guest named Mamie will find her place by the words "Mamie, Come Kiss Your Honey Boy," one named Alice will find hers "Oh, Don't You Remember Sweet Alice, Ben Bolt;" Mollie in "Do You Love Me, Mollie Darling," etc. The menu is:
Fruit Cup (Strawberries, Oranges, White Grapes with Whipped Cream)
Bouillon, Wafers, Radishes
Escalloped Fish, Wafers, Pickles
Veal Loaf, Whipped Potatoes, Green Peas
Hot Rolls, Pickles, Sherbet
Fruit Salad, Wafers
Ice Cream in Shape of Tulips, Strawberries Served in Real Tulips
White Cake, Bonbons
Coffee
May the juice of the grape enliven each soul,And good humor preside at the head of each bowl.
Nothing could be prettier nor more appropriate for September than a grape breakfast. If possible, have the design of the lunch cloth in grapes, and use a pyramid of purple and white grapes for the center of the table. Lay perfect bunches of grapes tied with lavender ribbon on the cloth for decoration. Serve grapes in some fashion with each course, single, in tiny bunches, or the leaves decorating the plates. Mold gelatine in a grape mold and color with grape juice. Use white grapes for the salad and grape juice to drink. Serve grape jelly with the meat course.
Have the table of honor a round table with a large round basket of white flowers and everything corresponding in white. Use roses, carnations or any whiteflower you choose. Have oblong tables radiating from the center table with place for four on each side and two at the outer ends. This leaves no guest seated with her back to the honor table. Have the oblong tables decorated in pink. Have name cards with carnations thrust through the corner, at each plate. Make the breakfast a daylight affair, unless the day is a dark one.
Serve chopped fresh sweet cherries sweetened and with a little rum or white wine poured over them; let stand for several hours in the refrigerator and serve in stem glasses. Chicken croquettes molded in form of small chickens, or broiled chicken with water cress; creamed potatoes, sliced cucumbers, hot rolls, spiced peaches served in champagne glasses; whole tomatoes stuffed with cooked cauliflower and nuts set on branch of cherry or strawberry leaves; cheese sandwiches made very thin; ice cream molded in form of strawberries, small cakes frosted, (place half of a large strawberry on top of each piece of cake before serving).
A breakfast al fresco is just the thing to entertain a party of young girls. Have the tables on the porch. At each plate have a cluster of flowers answering a conundrum. Give each girl a card containing the conundrum and ask her to find her place at the table by the flower answering the questions. These questions will not be hard for a hostess to arrange and will of course depend on the flowers she can secure.Here are a few sample ones given at a recent breakfast: Who will attend our next entertainment? Phlox. What happened when Gladys lost her hat in the lake? A yellow rose (a yell arose). What paper gives the most help in decoration? Justicia (just tissue). What will the Far North do for you? Freesia. For what hour were you invited? Four o'clock. What is the handsomest woman in the world? American Beauty. Use pink and green for the color scheme and add a little touch of these two colors to everything served. Tie the skewers of the chops with pink and green ribbons and have the ice cream one layer of pistachio and one of strawberry.
"A cup she designates as mineWith motion of her dainty finger;The kettle boils—oh! drink divine,In memory shall thy fragrance linger!"
Although indebted to England for the afternoon tea, it is a very informal affair across the water. It doubtless originated in suburban homes, where during the hunting and holiday seasons, large and merry house-parties are entertained for weeks together. Returning late from driving or field sports the tired guests require some light refreshment before making their toilets for the evening dinner. The English hostess very sensibly meets this claim upon her hospitality by serving tea and biscuit in library or drawing-room.
From this small beginning comes the American "Five O'Clock," one of the prettiest of all social functions, and still smiled upon by Dame Fashion as a favorite method of entertaining. Decorative in character, it gives opportunity to display the treasures of porcelain, glass, silver, embroidered napery and all the lovely table-appointments that everywhere delight the heart of woman. More exquisite than ever before are the little tea-tables—a succession of crescent shaped shelves, rising one above the other, two, three or four in number, as the taste inclines. Upon these, resting on cobwebs of linen or lace, are placed thepriceless cups, tiny spoons, graceful caddy and all other articles necessary to the service. The silver caddy is now a thing of sentiment as well as use—one recently bestowed as a bridal gift bearing engraved upon it this little verse:
"We sit and sip—the time flies fast,My cup needs filling,—project clever!She comes and I grown bold at lastSay 'Darling, make my tea forever!'"
In the future of married life, how sweet this reminder of the past, when all the days were golden in the light of love, youth and hope! Another couplet pretty and suggestive is found in
"A cup and a welcome for everyone,And a corner for you and me."
Amid flowers and softly shaded lights sits the gracious woman who pours the liquid gold into the fragile cups, dispensing meanwhile, smiles and the bright charming small talk that is so necessary to the success of these occasions. A wise hostess selects for this important position the most brilliant, tactful woman within her circle of friends. The menu, although by no means regulated on the English house-party plan, should consist of trifles—sandwiches, wafers, fancy cakes, ices, and possibly a salad. Foreigners understand the value of the simple feast which makes frequent entertaining possible and a delight rather than a burden. In America the menu, decorations, etc., grow more and more elaborate fromthe ambition of each successive hostess to out-do her neighbor, until the economy and beauty of simplicity is irretrievably lost in the greater expense, fatigue and crush of a more pretentious function.
At the afternoon tea guests may come and go in street toilet, with or without a carriage in accordance with preference and pocketbook. However elegant the appointments and surroundings of this special function, the progressive hostess must remember that her culture will be judged by the quality of the beverage she serves. It is an age of luxury and refined taste in palate, as in other things, andteais no longertea, unless of a high grade and properly brewed. The woman who trusts her domestic affairs to a housekeeper, or in the event of attending to them herself, depends wholly for the excellence of an article upon the price she pays, is a very mistaken one. Without informing herself she may very naturally conclude that Russian or Caravan tea is cultivated, buds and blossoms in the land of the Czar, until later on, when her ignorance meets a downfall in some very embarrassing way.
The high-class, fancy teas of China are prepared by special manipulation and for the use of wealthy families in the Celestial Empire and are therefore never exported to other countries. Russian tea-merchants, recognizing this, send shrewd buyers across the desert into China just at the season to secure the choicest pickings for future consumption by the nobility of their own country. Of late years the "FiveO'Clocks" and consequent craze for fine teas in America has tempted them to obtain a small quantity above the requirements of their titled patrons in Russia and this they export to the United States. If genuine, the name Russia or Caravan tea signifies the choicest and most expensive grade procurable the world over. It will be remembered that among the many gifts bestowed when in this country by its recent guest, Li Hung Chang, were beautifully ornamented boxes and packages of this delicately flavored and fragrant tea. The high class grades from India and Ceylon, although not as costly as the Russian, may be used by the hostess of the modern "Five O'Clock" without risk to her reputation as a woman of culture. She will consent, however,
"That tea boiled,Is tea spoiled,"
and avail herself of the pretty and convenient silver-ball, or the closely covered pot or cups in which these rare teas should never brew over three minutes. For the famous tea service of China and Japan, tiny covered cups are always presented.
The American hostess will regret when too late, the many advantages of the afternoon tea, alas! foolishly sacrificed upon the altar of her vanity to excel in the extravagance of hospitality. Even now experience teaches that "a tea" means anything from its original intention of informal, pleasant social intercourse with light refreshments, to the function which includes hundreds of guests, who are entertained ata banquet presenting the most expensive achievements of florist and caterer. In repudiation of this is the strict code of etiquette requiring that "an invitation be worded to indicate truthfully the exact character of the hospitality it extends. Courtesy to guests compels this, that they may be able to conform in toilet to the occasion and thus avoid the mortification of being under or over-dressed, thelatterto be counted as much the greater misfortune." This from a very ancient book, it is true, but its lesson in good manners is none the less pertinent now than when written in the dead past.
It remains with the hostess, whether one shall enjoy the pleasures and privileges of the pretty Five O'Clock. Whether in the line of elegance or simplicity, the tea Russian or Ceylon, it can be dainty, well served, and lovely with flowers of sweet graciousness and cordial welcome. These united may be depended upon to make it the social success coveted by every woman who poses as a hostess, whether in cottage or palace!
Nowhere are the artistic instincts of a modern hostess more charmingly brought to bear than in the appointments of her tea-table. To show individuality in this cosy afternoon ceremony, is an aim not difficult to reach.
The Russian table should have a cloth with insertion bands of the strong Muscovite peasant lace that is brightened by red and blue threads in the pattern; a tea caddy of niello work; and a brass samovar, of course.
Facilities for fitting out a Japanese tea-table can be found almost everywhere. The "correct" outfit consistsof a low lacquered table, lotus-blossom cups—with covers and without handles—and a plump little teapot heated over anhibachiof glowing charcoal. It is not a Japanese custom to have the tea-table covered, but the famous embroiderers of Yokohama, having learned to cater to foreign tastes, now send out tea-cloths of the sheerest linen lawn, with the national bamboo richly worked in white linen floss above the broad hem-stitched hem. These are exquisitely dainty in appearance, but can be easily and successfully laundered—a very important consideration.
But the quaintest of all is the Dutch table, where the sugar basin is supported over the heads of chased silver female figures; the cream jug is in the form of a silver cow, and the beguiling Jamaica shows richly dark through a Black Forest spirit bottle.
Cakes and wafers have lost favor at tea-tables. They have been replaced by little savories, which harmonize with the popular antique silver and china, by passing under their old-fashioned name of "whets;" for the afternoon tea, originally intended to be a light refreshment, had become a detriment to the dinner. Savories, on the contrary, are a whet to the appetite and clear the palate for the due appreciation of the dinner. Two or three different kinds are usually served. Anybody possessed of a little cooking knowledge can arrange a variety of them at a minimum of trouble and expense, and in their variety lies half their charm.
There are many kinds of fish, both preserved in oil and smoked, that may be used. These should besprinkled with choppedfines herbes, placed upon thin slices of fresh bread—from which the crust has been carefully cut—rolled and served "en pyramide."
Toasted crumpets, heavily buttered, spread withcaviarupon which a little lemon juice has been squeezed and served hot, are considered a great delicacy at English tea-tables. Another way of servingcaviaris to spread it on thin bread and butter, which is then rolled up like tiny cigars. Russians declare, however, that the less done tocaviarthe better it will be, and to send it to the tea-table in its original jar, with an accompaniment of fresh dry toast and quartered lemon, is the fashion preferred by connoisseurs.
It takes a grand dame, so to speak, to give a tea. The vulgarian almost always overdoes it. She gets things to eat, while the woman who knows gets people, and doesn't care what they have to eat. There is nothing about a whole shop of provisions, while people who dress well, look well, talk well and behave well, make up that charming circle called Society.
The tea table may be green and white. Palms, ferns, mignonette, mosses and clusters of leaves lend themselves to the nicest effects against the whites of the table-cloth and china. If color is preferred, there are tulips and daffodils of gorgeous beauty, and good for a week's wear.
Nothing but white damask is used by gentlewomen. The woman who gives a tea never pours it. There are other things she can do to please her callers. Tea is usually served with candlelight, and to be a successneed cost next to nothing, for nothing need be served that is substantial enough to dislocate the appetite for dinner. Some women serve an old fashioned beat biscuit, about the size of an English walnut, with the cup of tea. These biscuits are awfully good, but only the old mammies who have survived the War know how to make them, and there is where the old families have the advantage of the new people. Others serve brown sandwiches made of Boston brown bread and butter.
More slices of lemon than cream jugs are used. Cream is something of a nuisance, and if people don't take lemon they can take tea as Li Hung Chang does. For a guest to have a preference and emphasize it, is downright rude. To be asked to a lady's house is glory enough for any one. The grumbler can go to a restaurant and take a cup and drink it up for a dime.
Send out the invitation for an afternoon tea a week or ten days or even two weeks beforehand. Use visiting cards and below the name or in the lower left corner, the hours: 2 to 6, or any hours one chooses. On the top of the card or below the name write the name of the guest for whom the tea is given, if it is an affair in honor of some guest.
Decorate the rooms simply or elaborately as one chooses. For a small tea simply fill the vases with flowers, and make a special feature of the tea table in the dining room. Have a center basket of flowers and ferns tied with satin ribbons on the handle, or have cut glass vases at the corners. Use lightedcandles, white, or the color of your flowers, if carrying out a certain color scheme in the dining-room. Pink, red or yellow are liked for this room as they are warm, bright colors. If the tea is given in spring or summer, green and white are liked. Have candles and shades match the color scheme and place silk or satin of the color used under the mats and doilies. On the table have cut glass or fine china dishes filled with candies, chocolates, salted nuts and candied fruits. Tea may be served from one end of the table and an ice from the other. Have a friend pour tea. Place before her the small cups, saucers, spoons. She fills the cups and hands them to the guests or to those assisting in the dining-room. The cream, sugar or slices of lemon are passed by assistants. Piles of plates are on the table by the one serving ice. The ice is served into a cut glass cup and placed on the plate with a spoon. Cakes are passed; so are the bonbons. Serve tea and chocolate or coffee. If one wish a more elaborate collation, pass assorted sandwiches, which are on plates on the table, or have a plate containing chicken salad on a lettuce leaf, olives and wafers. Waiters are best when the refreshments include two or three courses. The ices may be brought in or served from the table and the coffee and tea served from the table.
Ask from five to ten friends to assist in the parlors, to see that guests go to the dining-room and that strangers are introduced. Stand at the entrance or before a bank of palms in a window or corner andgreet the guests. The guest or guests of honor stand with the hostess and she introduces them. A great many ladies do not wear gloves when receiving, but it is proper to wear them. It would seem that the hands would keep in better condition to shake hands with guests, if gloves were worn.
Bank the mantels with ferns and flowers and cover the lights with pretty shades of tissue paper. Use pink or green and white in the parlors and red, yellow or pink in the dining-room. Serve a fruit punch from a table covered with a white cloth and trimmed with smilax, ferns and flowers. Use a large punch bowl and glass cups. Have a square block of ice in the bowl. If a cut-glass punch bowl is used, care should be used lest the ice crack it. Temper the bowl by putting in cold water and adding a few bits of ice at a time until it is chilled. Do not put ice into a warm bowl or one that has not been thus tempered.
If there is music have a string orchestra concealed behind palms in a corner of the hall or dining-room.
First, the one whose fortune is to be told should drink a little of the tea while it is hot, and then turn out the rest, being careful not to turn out the grounds in doing so, and also not to look at them, as it is bad luck.
Then she must turn the cup over, so that no water remains, for drops of water in the teagrounds signify tears.
Next, she must turn the cup around slowly toward her three times, wishing the wish of her heart as she turns it.
After this she must rest it a minute against the edge of a saucer—to court luck.
Then the fortune-teller takes it and reads the fortune.
Three small dots in a row stand for the wish. If near the top it will soon be realized. If at the bottom some time will elapse.
If the grounds are bunched together it signifies that all will be well with the fortune-seeker, but if they are scattered it means much the reverse.
A small speck near the top is a letter. A large speck, a photograph, or present of some kind, either one depending on the shape of the speck.
The sticks are people—light or dark, short or tall, according to their color and length. A small one means a child. A thick one, a woman.
If they lie crosswise they are enemies. If straight up, intimate friends, or pleasant acquaintances to be made.
If a large speck is near them, it means they are coming for a visit, bringing a valise or trunk.
If there is a bottle shape near a stick it means a physician. If a book shape, a minister or lawyer. If many fine specks, a married man.
The sticks with a bunch of grounds on their backs are bearers of bad news, or they will "say things" about you.
A long line of grounds with no openings betweenforetells a journey by water. If openings, by rail.
A large ring, closed, means an offer of marriage to an unmarried woman. To a married one, it means a fortunate undertaking. To a man, success in business.
A small ring is an invitation.
Dust-like grounds bunched together at the bottom or side are a sum of money.
A triangle signifies good luck, so does an anchor or a horseshoe.
A half moon or star to married people means a paying investment. To unmarried, a new lover or sweetheart.
A pyramid is extremely lucky.
A square or oblong, new lands.
Flowers, a present.
Leaves, sickness and death.
Fruit of any kind, health.
A hand, warning, if the fingers are spread. If closed, an offer of friendship or marriage.
A cross signifies trouble. Any musical instrument, a wedding. Bird, suit at law. Cat, deception. Dog, faithful friend. Horse, important news. Snake, an enemy. Turtle, long life. Rabbit, luck. House, offer of marriage, or a removal. Flag, some surprise or a journey to another country.
A heart is the most propitious sign of all, as it means happiness, fidelity, long life, health and wealth.
To give an odd function that is not a complete fizzle is a fine art. Easy enough it is for the hostess to plan an out-of-the-ordinary affair, but to have the party turn out a success is, as the Kiplingites are eternally quoted as saying, "quite another story."
For music have the Highlander's bag-pipe, the door opened by a man in the striking garb of Scotland. For decoration use white heather and primroses.
In the dining-room have the words "We'll take a cup o' kindness yet" in large letters and conspicuously framed in pine. Presiding at the table have young girls in Scottish costume who dispense the "cup o' kindness" from a silver teapot nestling-in a "cosey"; (a padded cloth cover) to keep hot the favorite feminine beverage.
The delectable dishes dear to the Highlander's heart are passed for the approval of feminine palates. These viands include scones, a sort of muffin made with flour, soda, sugar and water. These are split and filled with orange marmalade straight from Dundee and, as everybody knows, the best in the whole culinary world. Scones are baked on griddles, and are especially popular in the country houses of Scotland.
Then there is a rich pastry called shortbread, made of butter, sugar and flour—no water—and beaten up; rolled out about an inch thick and baked in sheets.Shortbread is a great delicacy in Scotland. There are oat cakes also, a biscuit made of oatmeal, shortening and water. Two kinds of cake—black fruit cake and sultana cake, which is a pound cake containing sultana raisins—complete the course of Highland dainties.
On the walls drape the striking plaids of Scotland, worked with the names of the different clans.
In the reception-room have the words, "a wee drappie," framed in pine. The inscription should be over a table on which is served mulled wine from a silver pitcher kept in hot water. Even a white-ribboner would call mulled claret delicious or get a black mark from the recording angel for prevarication.
"Better lo'ed ye canna be,Will ye no come back again."
makes a last pleasing inscription over the entrance for the departing guest.
A Scotch day, modeled after a genuine party in "Bonnie Scotland," is a pleasing idea for the entertainment of a Lenten house party. From twelve to twenty-four guests are entertained, the ladies being asked to come at three o'clock and the gentlemen at half past six. As every woman, no matter what her condition in life, works industriously knitting or crocheting lace or embroidering, each guest brings her bit of handwork and the afternoon is spent in chatting while fair fingers ply the needles. At five o'clock the guests are invited to the dining-room where they are seated at a large table.
At a typical Scotch tea the centerpiece is an oblong piece of satin in any preferred color edged with a ruffle of white lace. In the center of this is a tall vase holding a miscellaneous bouquet, and at the corners of the centerpiece are small vases of similar design holding similar bouquets. All edibles are on the table at once, there is no removing of courses. The teacups, silver teapot with satin cosey, silver or china hot water pitcher and sugar and cream are placed in front of the hostess. The hostess asks the taste of the guest as to sugar and cream and fixes the tea herself. The maid passes the tea and then retires, and the service becomes informal, the guests assisting. At each place is a small tea plate, knife and spoon, but no napkins and none of the numberless dishes generally seen on American tables. No water glasses are placed on the table. Instead there is a pitcher, carafe or siphon on the side-board or serving table, which is passed to the guest should he ask for water. The table is nicely balanced by dishes in pairs, there are two plates of butter, one fresh and one salted at either end of the table, two plates of bread, two plates of fancy cakes, two dishes of of bread, two plates of fancy cakes, two dishes of jelly, etc. The menu for the tea is white and graham bread and fresh and salted butter, tea, scones, strawberry jam, orange marmalade, fancy cakes, including macaroons, jelly cake made in two layers and called jelly sandwiches and sometimes tiny cold pancakes. The last course is fresh strawberries served on the stem with powdered sugar.
The men arrive at half past six o'clock and are served tea in the library, smoking room or den. Preceding the supper which is served at half past nine o'clock, the guests talk, play cards or have music. The supper table is arranged much as the tea-table save between the small vases are small candleholders with lighted candles. The host and hostess are at either end of the table and each serves a meat, the plates being passed by a maid and by the guests. There is a vegetable dish at each end of the table. The meats and vegetables are served on one plate, the only extra plate being the small bread and butter plate with the bread and butter knife laid across it.
The maid removes the first course dishes and places a large bowl of strawberries and dessert saucers before the hostess who serves strawberries, the maid and the guests passing the saucers. The guests hand the nuts, cheese, fresh fruits and other edibles about, doing away with the services of the maid.
The supper menu includes a hot beef-steak and onion or other meat pie, cut by the hostess, hot fish, Finnan Haddie being a great favorite, cold tongue, mashed potatoes, cauliflower, celery, cheese, bottled pop, lemonade, white bread, graham bread, scones, fresh and salted butter, jellies and jams, marmalade. The second course is fresh strawberries, oranges, bananas, English walnuts.
After supper cards, music and chatting fill in the hours until midnight and sometimes longer for the bonnie Scots are typical night owls.
A Gypsy tea is the occasion of entertainment of young men by young women, wherein the young men have nothing to do but come and be treated just as hospitably and courteously as is possible. The girls must do all the hard work, all the planning, all the inviting and bear all the responsibilities of every kind. Twelve or more girls meet and appoint committees to attend to the necessary arrangements—one committee to select a picnic ground, another to invite the young gentlemen whom they desire to attend, another to arrange for the music, and another to get the refreshments. All the other committees work under the directions of the committee on arrangements. A Gypsy tea always begins at twilight. The girls who are to select the picnic ground must exercise much judgment in deciding on a convenient and picturesque location, and as dancing is always an attractive feature of such an outing, they should see that there is a suitable pavilion nearby. Then there must be a spot well adapted for a campfire, for a Gypsy tea would never be a success without a campfire burning in the twilight. Other essentials are a kettle and tripod. Three rough poles are made to form a tripod and the kettle is suspended from the vertex of the angles or the crossing point of the poles. Music, in which string instruments figure most conspicuously, should be selected, as this lends itself best to the weird effect which should be sought. Three or four pieces will generally be sufficient and they may consist of a violin, guitar, banjoand snare drum or the drum may be omitted if not convenient. The committee appointed to gather the refreshments must have the assistance of all the other women of the club, for its work is very arduous and necessitates great care and precaution and good judgment. Each girl must subscribe something to eat, and care should be taken that all the girls do not contribute cakes, pies and pickles. Get plenty of cold meats, sandwiches and you might have some nuts of some kind or sweet potatoes or raw eggs or something to roast in the campfire. In a Gypsy tea the young women must all go to the grounds by themselves, unattended by the men and the men are to arrive in a body later; they have previously been informed of the exact location and hour when they will be expected. The young women should all wear Gypsy costumes and one must be a fortune teller or good at pretending that she can tell fortunes. If suitable arrangements can be made for their reaching the grounds without appearing too conspicuous they may wear the Gypsy costumes as outer garments en route. Otherwise each girl can slip on something easily divested, over the Gypsy dress and remove it at the picnic grounds before the young men arrive, donning it again before time to start home.
Arrangements should be made for a vehicle to make the round of all the girl's homes on the day of the Gypsy tea to gather up the refreshments and take them to the picnic ground previously selected.
On the day of the outing all the girls gather at an appointed place and go together to the grounds by suchmeans of transportation as they deem best suited to the conditions. The vehicle containing the refreshments and other needful appendages may follow.
On reaching the grounds the girls all get busy making the preparations and getting everything in excellent condition for the arrival of the boys. The tripods are arranged, the kettle is hung, the campfire is built, and the grounds are made to look artistic.
When the men arrive just at the hour of sundown, everything is in readiness. The fire is burning brightly, the fortune teller is at her post, the kettle is steaming and the refreshments are spread on table cloths laid on the grass. Then the tea is made and each man enjoys a dainty but toothsome repast.
After tea the baskets and equipments are replaced in the wagon and the grounds cleared. The remainder of the evening may be spent in dancing, fortune telling and the like.
In Japan the hostess serves the tea from the table. There is a charcoal burner over which the water is kept lukewarm, not hot. The tea is powdered very fine. It is in the teapot or cups as the hostess chooses. The water is poured over it and off quickly for the tea in the cup is very weak and only straw-colored, not dark as we make it. It is drunk without cream or sugar. With it are served tiny wafer-like sweet cakes and dishes of bonbons are on the table, no nuts, just bonbons. Nothing is on the table save the tea equipment, tiny cups and saucers and dishes of sweets. As the water is only lukewarm one can easily have the five o'clock teakettle on the table (though that is not Japanese). As fast as the water boils pour into a pitcher and keep the kettle replenished, pouring into the cups from the pitcher. Or have the maids bring the water from the kitchen. In Japan the geisha girls are employed in the public teahouses to entertain men visitors so "maids" will be a better term by which to call the young girls who help you. If one wishes to make their room Japanese, fill the vases with imitation peach or cherry blossoms, hang Japanese lanterns in doorways and Japanese banners, which can be made from paper napkins and bright red paper for a background. The incense sticks are very inexpensive and any large department store which deals in Japanese goods including the five and ten cent stores, keep them.
Serve date sandwiches cut in shape of dominoes and dotted with currants, or nut or any sandwiches desired cut in this shape and so decorated, chocolate with whipped cream, strawberries arranged around a mound of powdered sugar, a spray of strawberry leaves and blossoms laid on the plate, or any fresh berries. Serve small cakes domino shape covered with white icing, dotted with tiny chocolate candies representing the domino spots. Or if one wishes to serve ice cream with the berries have it moulded in a two quart can, then turned out on a round platter, making a column of ice cream. Surround with fresh berries at the base with a few large perfect berries on top.
Instead of using the orthodox square at home cards, write the invitations on long, thin, narrow slips of paper, the lettering running from the bottom to the top and from right to left; a few queer birds, the suggestion of a lantern and a falling chrysanthemum splashed in carelessly in sepia, are very effective touches. The cherry-blossoms are used in decorating, which are simply little, round, white paper petals with the edges dipped in red dye, fastened to boughs and put up everywhere, as are also the fluffy chrysanthemums, dainty butterflies, and a profusion of cheap little fans.
A huge Japanese umbrella hangs over the tea-table, at which four girls dressed in kimonas preside, while two others are in the drawing room.
The kimonas, which are very easily made, are all different in color, although a two-color scheme would,perhaps, be prettier—say white and yellow, or white and mauve, with chrysanthemums to correspond.
The refreshments are, perhaps, the most novel part of the whole idea. Instead of the conventional salads, ices, cakes, etc., the guests are served with delicious tea, in the daintiest of Japanese cups, and hot buttered baps. During the afternoon have selections from "The Geisha," "The Mandarin," "The Little Tycoon," and "The Mikado."
At a Japanese Tea, several small tables are used, set at intervals in the room; these are generally presided over by the hostess and the ladies who receive with her, each being furnished with a tea service. They are laid in white damask or linen embroidered in a Japanese design, the center is occupied by a circular mound of red blossoms which symbolize the emblem of the Flowery Kingdom's flag, combining the national colors also red and white.
In the middle of the mound, slightly elevated, there is placed a "Jinriki-sha," which is the riding vehicle of Japan, a two-wheeled affair resembling our modern dog-cart; it is drawn by a man in costume and seated in it is a woman, also in costume, holding above her and large enough to extend over the table, one of those grotesque paper umbrellas, which are as much a part of that country as its rice and tea. The edges of these are festooned with red and white flowers and hung with the smaller sized, globe shaped lanterns that are used profusely about the room also, for decorating and lights.
Candelabra likewise is used, and it should be of that quaint looking black material that is decidedly Oriental in appearance and is the latest thing in such bric-a-brac. White tapers with red shades show off to advantage above this dark fancifully wrought metal, shedding a softly subdued radiance, at once pretty and restful to the eye.
The chrysanthemum, while not the national flower, is the imperial favorite and best beloved bloom of the people, therefore it is the proper one for decoration, united with potted plants, palms, vines, etc. All hues and kinds may be combined in the general adornment of room or rooms (the red and white being confined to the tables alone), for twining, banking or bouquets, just as fancy dictates, and the furnishings admit. The chrysanthemum, gorgeous in itself and lavishly employed, makes a superb decoration, and if, for a background, the walls, doors, windows, etc., are draped in Japanese tapestry goods, with friezes of the flowers, the result will prove singularly striking and beautiful.
Of course, Japanese china is used, and as to the things to eat there can be offered thin sardine sandwiches, delicate wafers, fruits, confections. This is merely a suggestion; individuals use their own ideas, and at different places customs change. Ices served should be in oblong squares with round red centers to represent the flag of Japan. Souvenirs for guests, if any are given, ought to be small cups and saucers of the genuine ware or fac-simile in candy, tied with red and white ribbons.
Here's to a cup of tea. It holds intoxication great for me.I find it makes me want to dareDo bold things right then and there;To steal a kiss from Phyllis fair, as she pours tea.
Pink is the color scheme; the invitations are written on rose-tinted cardboard, cut heart-shape and adorned with floral love-knots. The hostess can wear a pink gown and the rosy-hue effect is also carried out in the dining-room decorations. On a blank space of the wall have two hearts formed of pink carnations and smilax, and pierced by a gilded arrow. Beneath, on a pink cardboard, lettered in gold, have this verse:
"Love always looks for love again;If ever single it is twain,And till it finds its counterpartIt bears about an aching heart."
The long table, covered with snowy cloth, has the valentine idea in heart design used as much as possible in the decorations. The candles are pink and the paper shades in the shape of roses; pink bonbons bearing appropriate mottoes and tiny cakes covered with pink frosting, are in heart-shaped dishes; around the dishes are garlands of green, caught in a bow-knot with a narrow pink satin ribbon. In the center of the table is a large heart-shaped cake, fringed with smilax and pink roses, and on the top, pink figures numbered from oneto sixteen. Before the cake is cut, a silver tray holding corresponding numbers is passed, with the explanation that one of the pieces contains a tiny gold heart, and that the finder will surely succumb to Cupid's darts before another year. In another piece is a dime which will bring the lucky possessor success, wealth and happiness.
The place-cards consist of heart shaped booklets with the name of the guest in gold, and an artistic sketch of Cupid equipped with bow and arrow. On the leaves are the following conundrums: