Thecustom of serving dinnerà la Russe(dishes passed) has supplanted the form known as the English style, where the joints are carved on the table. This is for good reason, as the host cannot well fulfil his social part if he has to do the carving; therefore, unless on very informal occasions, when the number of servants may be insufficient, the carving is done on the side-table, or the garnished dishes are cut in the kitchen. The portions, whether carved or otherwise, are placed on dishes to be passed, and should be so arranged that each guest may remove a part easily and without destroying the symmetry of the whole. This need not preclude attractive garnishing, but such complicated constructions as are sometimes seen, which embarrass one to find how to break them, should be avoided.Sometimes a dish is placed on the table to be shown, and then removed to be served.The dishes are presented on the left side.Passing the Dishes.Those of the first course are passed first to the lady sitting on the right of the host, and then in regular order to the right around the table. The dishes of each following course are started at some distance from the place where the preceding one was presented. In this way the same person is not left always to be served last.Number of Servants.At least one servant is needed for every six persons, otherwise the service will be slow and tedious, and the portion placed on one’s plate becomes cold before the accompaniments of sauce or vegetable can be passed.Many dishes may be garnished with the vegetableor sauce, thus obviating in a measure this difficulty. For large dinners two or more dishes should be arranged to pass on opposite sides of the table, so that every one may be served at about the same time. Plates, vegetable, and other large dishes are held in the hand of the servant. Small dishes, like hors d'œuvres, bonbon dishes, etc., are passed on a tray.Wines.When the wines are served, the servant should name the wine offered, so that it may be refused if not wanted; the glasses should not be filled entirely full.Plates.When a plate is removed it should be immediately replaced by another one holding a fork or any piece of silver or cutlery which is needed for the next course.Plates should be removed with the left and replaced with the right hand.Care should be taken that plates for the hot dishes are warm, but not hot, and that for the cold dishes they are not lukewarm.The plate holding the shell-fish is placed upon the one already on the table; this under plate is used also to hold the soup plate, but double plates are not again used until the end of the dinner, when the dessert plate holding the finger-bowl plate is put on. In case a hot sweet dish is served, the double plates, being intended for ices, fruits, and bonbons, are not put on until after that course. Silver serving-dishes are much used; lacking these, all the china used in the same course should match when possible.A different set of plates may be used with each course.China.In the matter of china the greatest latitude of taste and expense is possible, some china being more valuable than its weight in silver. When handsome china is being used, which demands great care in handling, it is well to have a table in the pantry reserved for its use, where it can be carefully piled and left until the following morning to bewashed.Care of China.With daylight and ample time, it can be given the care it might not receive if washed after the fatigue and late hours of a long dinner. This need not necessarily mean leaving a disordered pantry for the night, although that would be of less consequence than the extra risk of having valuable china nicked or broken. The same care is recommended for handsome glass.Clearing the Table.Before the dessert is served, all the plates, the small silver, the salt- and pepper-boxes, the hors d'œuvres, and such glasses as will not be again used are removed; the crumbs are then taken off, a silver crumb knife and a plate being used for this purpose. The dessert and finger-bowl plates are then put on. Under the finger-bowl is placed a small fancy doily, and beside it on the same plate such small silver as will be needed. If peaches, or any fruit which will stain, are to be served, a fruit doily should also be given at this time and laid beside the place. The finger-bowl should be filled one third with water, and have a thin slice of lemon, a scented leaf, or a flower floating in it.The Service.The service should be entirely noiseless, and the machinery of the household as invisible as possible. There should be no rattling of china or silver, no creaking boots, or heavy tread, or audible speech among the servants.Ordering the Dinner.When entertaining one should not attempt more than one is sure of being able to attain, bearing in mind the capabilities of the cook and the range, and remembering that the quality of the dishes rather than the number of them is what pleases. Experiments should be made at times when failure is of less consequence. In arranging the menu, each course should be in pleasing contrast to the preceding one, and in the same course only such dishes should be served as go well together. Butter is not served at dinner.
Thecustom of serving dinnerà la Russe(dishes passed) has supplanted the form known as the English style, where the joints are carved on the table. This is for good reason, as the host cannot well fulfil his social part if he has to do the carving; therefore, unless on very informal occasions, when the number of servants may be insufficient, the carving is done on the side-table, or the garnished dishes are cut in the kitchen. The portions, whether carved or otherwise, are placed on dishes to be passed, and should be so arranged that each guest may remove a part easily and without destroying the symmetry of the whole. This need not preclude attractive garnishing, but such complicated constructions as are sometimes seen, which embarrass one to find how to break them, should be avoided.
Sometimes a dish is placed on the table to be shown, and then removed to be served.
The dishes are presented on the left side.Passing the Dishes.Those of the first course are passed first to the lady sitting on the right of the host, and then in regular order to the right around the table. The dishes of each following course are started at some distance from the place where the preceding one was presented. In this way the same person is not left always to be served last.
Number of Servants.At least one servant is needed for every six persons, otherwise the service will be slow and tedious, and the portion placed on one’s plate becomes cold before the accompaniments of sauce or vegetable can be passed.
Many dishes may be garnished with the vegetableor sauce, thus obviating in a measure this difficulty. For large dinners two or more dishes should be arranged to pass on opposite sides of the table, so that every one may be served at about the same time. Plates, vegetable, and other large dishes are held in the hand of the servant. Small dishes, like hors d'œuvres, bonbon dishes, etc., are passed on a tray.
Wines.When the wines are served, the servant should name the wine offered, so that it may be refused if not wanted; the glasses should not be filled entirely full.
Plates.When a plate is removed it should be immediately replaced by another one holding a fork or any piece of silver or cutlery which is needed for the next course.
Plates should be removed with the left and replaced with the right hand.
Care should be taken that plates for the hot dishes are warm, but not hot, and that for the cold dishes they are not lukewarm.
The plate holding the shell-fish is placed upon the one already on the table; this under plate is used also to hold the soup plate, but double plates are not again used until the end of the dinner, when the dessert plate holding the finger-bowl plate is put on. In case a hot sweet dish is served, the double plates, being intended for ices, fruits, and bonbons, are not put on until after that course. Silver serving-dishes are much used; lacking these, all the china used in the same course should match when possible.
A different set of plates may be used with each course.China.In the matter of china the greatest latitude of taste and expense is possible, some china being more valuable than its weight in silver. When handsome china is being used, which demands great care in handling, it is well to have a table in the pantry reserved for its use, where it can be carefully piled and left until the following morning to bewashed.Care of China.With daylight and ample time, it can be given the care it might not receive if washed after the fatigue and late hours of a long dinner. This need not necessarily mean leaving a disordered pantry for the night, although that would be of less consequence than the extra risk of having valuable china nicked or broken. The same care is recommended for handsome glass.
Clearing the Table.Before the dessert is served, all the plates, the small silver, the salt- and pepper-boxes, the hors d'œuvres, and such glasses as will not be again used are removed; the crumbs are then taken off, a silver crumb knife and a plate being used for this purpose. The dessert and finger-bowl plates are then put on. Under the finger-bowl is placed a small fancy doily, and beside it on the same plate such small silver as will be needed. If peaches, or any fruit which will stain, are to be served, a fruit doily should also be given at this time and laid beside the place. The finger-bowl should be filled one third with water, and have a thin slice of lemon, a scented leaf, or a flower floating in it.
The Service.The service should be entirely noiseless, and the machinery of the household as invisible as possible. There should be no rattling of china or silver, no creaking boots, or heavy tread, or audible speech among the servants.
Ordering the Dinner.When entertaining one should not attempt more than one is sure of being able to attain, bearing in mind the capabilities of the cook and the range, and remembering that the quality of the dishes rather than the number of them is what pleases. Experiments should be made at times when failure is of less consequence. In arranging the menu, each course should be in pleasing contrast to the preceding one, and in the same course only such dishes should be served as go well together. Butter is not served at dinner.
The Table.A roundor square table five feet across is a convenient size for ordinary use, giving ample room for six people, and leaving space for decoration. Large round tops are made to fit over extension-tables, which will seat from twelve to twenty or more people; and when the size of the room will permit, this is the pleasantest form of table for entertainments, and best lends itself to decorative effects, giving to each person a complete picture of the table and of the company assembled.The Linen.A thick cotton material, which is made for the purpose, for interlining between table and cloth, is the first requisite in laying the table, and should always be used. It protects the polished surface of the table from injury, gives a more brilliant whiteness to the cloth, and prevents any noise when placing the china and silver upon the table. The linen should be as fine as the purse will allow. Handsome linen will give elegance to a table where ornamentation is very simple. It should be ironed without starch, or with a very little if it is not sufficiently heavy to take polish without it. It should be folded perfectly square, so that the lines will be straight, and should be of spotless and dazzling whiteness. With this as a basis, there will be no difficulty in making an attractive table.In the way of linen, much taste may be shown in the ornamental pieces used in the center of the table. These may be of any shape or size desired, from a small square to a long scarf. They may be ofembroidered linen, drawn-work, lace, plain silk or satin; but wash materials are preferable, and effects of color, when desired, can be obtained in the embroidery or linings. The attractiveness of these pieces depends on their daintiness. The fashion of a center-piece of linen is, however, a passing one, as they are not at present so generally used.The order of laying the Table.After the interlining has been spread, the cloth should be laid with great care, making the center fold run perfectly straight with the room, and the cross fold again exactly divide the table at right angles to the other crease. By these straight lines, everything else is gaged. The fancy linen piece is next laid, and its center must coincide with that of the cloth. If the piece is square, it sometimes has better effect to place the points on the long lines of the cloth, giving it a diamond shape; this, however, is a matter of fancy. The center ornament is then placed on the exact point where the folds of the cloth cross in the middle of the table. The plates are next put in position, attention being given to the decoration on the china, if it be a monogram that it is right side up, if flowers that they are in natural position, etc. Where there are an uneven number of covers it is better to place the plates at equal distances around the table, without regard to the place of the hostess being opposite to that of the host. In other cases, the plates at the head and foot of the table, and those on the sides, should be directly opposite each other. Under no circumstances must the plates be omitted. On the left of the plates place the forks; three or four may be put on and laid in the order in which they will be used. Three knives (one of them being a silver knife for the fish course) and the oyster fork are placed on the right of the plate; the soup spoon may go in front of the plate or with the knives on the right; the bowlsof the forks and spoons should be right side up, the edges of the knives turned toward the plate.DIAGRAM OF TABLE.DIAGRAM OF TABLE.A. Plates.B. Plant, Flowers, Fruit, Lamp, or ornamental piece of silver.C. Compotiers, holding cakes, fruit, or flowers.D. Candlesticks or Candelabra.E. Salt and Pepper Boxes.F. Water and Wine Glasses.G. Bonbons, or Hors d'œuvres, or Carafes.H. Bonbons, or Hors d'œuvres.Position of plates and glassesDETAIL OF ONE COVER.The Decoration.After the plates and small silver and cutlery are in position, the decorating of the table should proceed as far as possible. The position for everything can be best determined after the plates are laid. The perishable articles, that cannot be put on until the last moment, can usually have their position located by the compotiers or the bonbon dishes which will hold them. Uniformity is not required in having two or four of these dishes to match, but such ornamental holders as are used must be placed in uniform positions, so as to balance and harmonize. Any deviation from this rule, or neglect of the small details in placing the table furniture, will give the effect of a disordered table.Lights.The candlesticks, or candelabra, as the case may be, should be so placed as not to obstruct the views across the table. This may be determined by two persons taking seats on opposite sides of the table, viewing each other from different places, and moving the candelabra until the right position is found, which usually will not be more than an inch or two either way. It is well to give attention to this matter, as comfort is much disturbed and conversation interrupted from shutting out by this kind of screen the different persons at the table. Before being placed on the table candles should be fitted firmly and straight in their sockets, be lighted for a few minutes, and then the wicks should be cut and the shades fitted squarely upon the holders. This will prevent smoking, dripping and other annoyances that may occur if it is not done. Shade-holders that fit the top of the candle are very objectionable and dangerous, but those that clasp the candle below the heated part give little trouble.Salt- and pepper-boxes are placed at the corners of the table, or within easy reach of every two people if more than four are used. If carafes are used the same rule is observed. After the decoration of the table is completed as far as possible, the glasses are put on. There is danger of their being broken if put on before. They are placed in uniform groups at the right of the plates: the water glass nearest the plate, and the wine-glass to be first used nearest the edge of the table. Port and Madeira glasses are not put on until the time for serving those wines, which is at the end of the dinner.The napkin, folded in triangular shape, the embroidered monogram on top, is laid on the plate, and a piece of bread cut two inches long and one and a half inches thick, or more generally a dinner roll, is laid in the fold, but left in full sight, so that it will not be shaken on to the floor when the napkin is lifted.Everything that will be needed in serving the dinner should be convenient to hand.The Sideboard.The plates to be warmed should be in the hot closet; those for the cold courses, the finger-bowls, extra small silver and cutlery, extra rolls and cracked ice, should be on the sideboard, so that there will be no delay in getting them when needed.Foot-stools placed under the table for the ladies add much to their comfort.
The Table.A roundor square table five feet across is a convenient size for ordinary use, giving ample room for six people, and leaving space for decoration. Large round tops are made to fit over extension-tables, which will seat from twelve to twenty or more people; and when the size of the room will permit, this is the pleasantest form of table for entertainments, and best lends itself to decorative effects, giving to each person a complete picture of the table and of the company assembled.
The Linen.A thick cotton material, which is made for the purpose, for interlining between table and cloth, is the first requisite in laying the table, and should always be used. It protects the polished surface of the table from injury, gives a more brilliant whiteness to the cloth, and prevents any noise when placing the china and silver upon the table. The linen should be as fine as the purse will allow. Handsome linen will give elegance to a table where ornamentation is very simple. It should be ironed without starch, or with a very little if it is not sufficiently heavy to take polish without it. It should be folded perfectly square, so that the lines will be straight, and should be of spotless and dazzling whiteness. With this as a basis, there will be no difficulty in making an attractive table.
In the way of linen, much taste may be shown in the ornamental pieces used in the center of the table. These may be of any shape or size desired, from a small square to a long scarf. They may be ofembroidered linen, drawn-work, lace, plain silk or satin; but wash materials are preferable, and effects of color, when desired, can be obtained in the embroidery or linings. The attractiveness of these pieces depends on their daintiness. The fashion of a center-piece of linen is, however, a passing one, as they are not at present so generally used.
The order of laying the Table.After the interlining has been spread, the cloth should be laid with great care, making the center fold run perfectly straight with the room, and the cross fold again exactly divide the table at right angles to the other crease. By these straight lines, everything else is gaged. The fancy linen piece is next laid, and its center must coincide with that of the cloth. If the piece is square, it sometimes has better effect to place the points on the long lines of the cloth, giving it a diamond shape; this, however, is a matter of fancy. The center ornament is then placed on the exact point where the folds of the cloth cross in the middle of the table. The plates are next put in position, attention being given to the decoration on the china, if it be a monogram that it is right side up, if flowers that they are in natural position, etc. Where there are an uneven number of covers it is better to place the plates at equal distances around the table, without regard to the place of the hostess being opposite to that of the host. In other cases, the plates at the head and foot of the table, and those on the sides, should be directly opposite each other. Under no circumstances must the plates be omitted. On the left of the plates place the forks; three or four may be put on and laid in the order in which they will be used. Three knives (one of them being a silver knife for the fish course) and the oyster fork are placed on the right of the plate; the soup spoon may go in front of the plate or with the knives on the right; the bowlsof the forks and spoons should be right side up, the edges of the knives turned toward the plate.
DIAGRAM OF TABLE.DIAGRAM OF TABLE.A. Plates.B. Plant, Flowers, Fruit, Lamp, or ornamental piece of silver.C. Compotiers, holding cakes, fruit, or flowers.D. Candlesticks or Candelabra.E. Salt and Pepper Boxes.F. Water and Wine Glasses.G. Bonbons, or Hors d'œuvres, or Carafes.H. Bonbons, or Hors d'œuvres.
Position of plates and glassesDETAIL OF ONE COVER.
The Decoration.After the plates and small silver and cutlery are in position, the decorating of the table should proceed as far as possible. The position for everything can be best determined after the plates are laid. The perishable articles, that cannot be put on until the last moment, can usually have their position located by the compotiers or the bonbon dishes which will hold them. Uniformity is not required in having two or four of these dishes to match, but such ornamental holders as are used must be placed in uniform positions, so as to balance and harmonize. Any deviation from this rule, or neglect of the small details in placing the table furniture, will give the effect of a disordered table.
Lights.The candlesticks, or candelabra, as the case may be, should be so placed as not to obstruct the views across the table. This may be determined by two persons taking seats on opposite sides of the table, viewing each other from different places, and moving the candelabra until the right position is found, which usually will not be more than an inch or two either way. It is well to give attention to this matter, as comfort is much disturbed and conversation interrupted from shutting out by this kind of screen the different persons at the table. Before being placed on the table candles should be fitted firmly and straight in their sockets, be lighted for a few minutes, and then the wicks should be cut and the shades fitted squarely upon the holders. This will prevent smoking, dripping and other annoyances that may occur if it is not done. Shade-holders that fit the top of the candle are very objectionable and dangerous, but those that clasp the candle below the heated part give little trouble.
Salt- and pepper-boxes are placed at the corners of the table, or within easy reach of every two people if more than four are used. If carafes are used the same rule is observed. After the decoration of the table is completed as far as possible, the glasses are put on. There is danger of their being broken if put on before. They are placed in uniform groups at the right of the plates: the water glass nearest the plate, and the wine-glass to be first used nearest the edge of the table. Port and Madeira glasses are not put on until the time for serving those wines, which is at the end of the dinner.
The napkin, folded in triangular shape, the embroidered monogram on top, is laid on the plate, and a piece of bread cut two inches long and one and a half inches thick, or more generally a dinner roll, is laid in the fold, but left in full sight, so that it will not be shaken on to the floor when the napkin is lifted.
Everything that will be needed in serving the dinner should be convenient to hand.The Sideboard.The plates to be warmed should be in the hot closet; those for the cold courses, the finger-bowls, extra small silver and cutlery, extra rolls and cracked ice, should be on the sideboard, so that there will be no delay in getting them when needed.
Foot-stools placed under the table for the ladies add much to their comfort.
Thereis wide range for individual taste and artistic arrangement in table decoration, which is limited only by the resources at one’s command.Pleasing effects of color are perhaps the first consideration. Of late it has been a fashion to have one prevailing color. In many cases this is very suitable as well as complimentary to the guests entertained. For instance, a white dinner to a bride, pink to young people, red to a Harvard company, or yellow to those with Princeton affiliations.The scheme of color is often carried through the menu as far as possible; the dishes served corresponding in color to the table decorations. Where this is done the colors should be light and delicate. Dark shades are not pleasing, and suggest the name “painted foods,” which has been scornfully given to them.Of all colors green is the easiest to carry out, and perhaps the most pleasing. The many shades of green give variety and contrasts. Ferns make a light and dainty centerpiece, and rival flowers in beauty. For the menu spinach gives a soup, vegetable, and coloring for sauces. Green salads are numerous. Angelica makes a decoration for desserts. Pistachio nuts give flavor and color to ice-cream, icings, and bonbons. A very beautiful and elaborate dinner on this scheme is described below, which was called in the invitation “Al Fresco,” and in its design and execution well simulated an out-door entertainment. Green is a soft, reposeful color; red, pink,and yellow are gayer, and give a more festive aspect. Yellow is sunny in effect, and for a yellow dinner the color scheme may be obtained with yellow flowers, oranges, silver-gilt compotiers, gilded china, and with light diffused through yellow shades. For the culinary part the yolks of eggs render important service for coloring, covering, and garnishing, and oranges furnish many delicious dishes.White dinners are also easy to arrange with white flowers, silver, a profusion of cut-glass, lace shades, white grapes, spun sugar, whipped cream, white sauces, celery, whites of eggs, white meats, etc.A white dinner is likely to be too severe, however, unless carefully managed. Delicate ferns can be mixed with white flowers without changing the effect, and a warm glow may be thrown on the table from a center light in the chandelier, screened with thin pink or yellow silk, and raised high, so as not to appear as a part of the decoration. The most beautiful pictures of snow scenes are not a dead white, but reflect the color of the sunset or atmosphere.Fruits and flowers typical of the season are in good taste, and usually more pleasing than hot-house products. In the spring, tulips, daffodils, lilies of the valley, or any wild flowers. Goldenrod, chrysanthemums, and asters in their times. Autumn leaves and berries later, holly and mistletoe at Christmas, and lilies at Easter, while in the summer the fields and lanes afford a wealth of material. At other times, and where the purse does not permit indulgence in roses and forced flowers, the resources lie in potted plants and fruits. Any plant not too large, which looks fresh and healthy, will make a pleasing centerpiece. The crotons and dracænas give beautiful colors. A dish of growing ferns makes an attractive, satisfactory and enduring center ornament. With care the ferns willlast a long time, and at small expense can be renewed. Double silver-plated boxes, both square and oval, are made for this use.Fruits are always pleasing and give good color effects.The success of any decoration depends largely upon the proper lighting of the table; lacking this, beautiful arrangements may appear commonplace or wholly lose their effect.Thedecorated dinner-table should be the especial picture of the room, the conspicuous object of interest and beauty for the time; therefore the light should be centered upon it and the rest of the room form but the shadowy background. The pleasantest light is from shaded single candles, placed at intervals around the table, and a more brilliant light thrown on the center of the table from the shaded drop-light of a chandelier, or from large candelabra holding groups of candles.Small lamps which fit candlesticks are much used, and when there are open windows and drafts they give much less trouble than candles. Effects of color are largely obtained from the use of shades. These vary in size and shape to suit the fancy or fashion of the moment, and are made of silk, lace, or paper; for the latter, crape papers are much used. Shades recently brought from Paris were of translucent paper painted by hand to imitate china. Making shades is pleasant fancy work, and the materials are so inexpensive that one can easily indulge in a variety of them. With a centerpiece of polished red apples and candles with red shades, or a potted plant and green shades, quite a definite and pleasing character may be given to a simple dinner. High ornaments should be avoided except they be candelabra or lamps which do not obstruct the view across the table. It is veryannoying to be forced to look around ornaments when trying to talk to a person seated opposite at table; such a screen effectually debars general conversation. On large or long tables, large ornamental pieces should be used. Those appropriate to a small table often appear scanty and insufficient on a large one. Masses of one color are more effective than mixtures, and a display of abundance may be made on large tables while on small ones daintiness is more pleasing.Confectioner’s pieces are again being used for dinner decorations. Baskets and horns of plenty made of nougat or pulled sugar, holding glacé fruits, and forms made of spun sugar are in good taste, but imitations of art objects and high pyramids, such as are used on supper tables, should be excluded.A pleasing decoration for a hot day may be made of a block of ice set in a pan deep enough to hold the drippings, but placed on something to raise it above the sides of the pan. The pan should be concealed with moss and ferns, or flowers, arranged around it loosely so as to partly conceal the ice also. A hole cut through the center of the block of ice, and a flat candle, such as are used in night lamps, placed within it, gives a brilliant and lovely effect. The block of ice should be cut square and weigh at least ten pounds. This decoration is easily managed in the country, where ferns are readily obtainable.See captionROUND DINNER-TABLE WITH EIGHTEEN COVERS—CLOTH OF PINK INDIA SILK COVERED WITH LACE—CENTER ORNAMENT OF FERNS—BUNCH OF PINK ROSES IN FRONT OF EACH COVER.A pan filled with floating water-lilies, together with their buds and leaves, the pan being concealed in a bed of moss and ferns, makes also a pretty decoration for a luncheon table. These flowers close at night, and so are only suitable for daylight service. A table may be made beautiful by entirely covering it with a mass of the same kind of flowers, leaving only enough space around the edge to hold the plates and glasses. The flowers may or may not be raised in the center of thetable, or may in any way simulate a garden-bed. When daisies are used they should be plentifully mixed with grasses as they are in the field. Care must be used not to make the decoration high, or the effect will be lost; and to avoid this the stems of the flowers, cut the desired length, can be stuck into wet sand or moss, held in flat tins. This will hold them firmly in place, as well as keep them fresh. An English fashion is to have a piece of silver ornament the table, without accessories of fruits or flowers. This severe but elegant simplicity is perhaps a reaction from the overloading of tables which has long prevailed.A pink dinner given in Washington was arranged as follows: The table was round and large enough to seat eighteen persons. A covering of thin ivory-colored India silk over pink was cut round to fit the table, and a frill of lace ten inches deep fell over a ruffle of pink silk on the edge. A large square of silk gauze embroidered in pink covered the center of the table. A mound of maiden-hair ferns formed the centerpiece. Around this were placed pink candles in Venetian-glass candlesticks and shaded with full frills of lace over pink. The bonbon dishes and all the glasses were of Venetian and Bohemian glass. Four ornamental candy pieces were used: two were garden hats holding glazed cherries, and a pink ribbon tied around each hat held a large bunch of pink roses. The other two were baskets, and held frosted grapes which were half hidden under spun sugar. Ornamental silver was omitted, as being out of harmony with the other decorations.A dinner unique in its character was given a few years ago by Lord Dufferin, the English ambassador to France. The centerpiece was flowers, and candelabra lighted the table; but in place of the dessert dishes which ordinarily do ornamental service werechoice bits of bric-à-brac collected by the ambassador in various parts of the world. The curios served as an interesting novelty, and became the subject of conversation. A dinner given in Jamaica is described, where orchids in profusion were suspended over the table, some on climbing vines, and others, of such delicate form and texture as made it seem not unnatural, appeared as though floating in the air.The “Al Fresco” dinner referred to above was in imitation of a woodland scene. It was served in a dining-room the walls of which were hung with tapestries. The ceiling decoration was blue sky with white clouds. A profusion of palms, bay-trees, and rubber-plants were placed about the room and screened the side-boards. The dining-table was a mass of verdure. It was round, seating eighteen persons. The whole center of the table was depressed eight inches, leaving an outside rim fourteen inches wide for the plates and glasses. The center space was filled with growing plants, the top of the pots being on a level with the outside rim. The pots were concealed by mosses and loose ferns making a solid mass of green. Four tall slender plants rose from the center, the rest was of ferns and lycopodium with here and there a few primroses. Green candles with fluffy green shades in glass candlesticks were so distributed as to give sufficient light. The space left for the dinner service was covered with light-green India silk over canton flannel. On the back of the menu cards were water-color sketches of forest scenes. The menu was largely composed of products of the forest. The aspect of this dinner was really sylvan, and the idea so well carried out that the elaboration of it was artistically hidden. From the time of Lucullus, dinner-givers have been striving for novelties, but as a rule any radical departure from conventional forms is a failure.MENU OF THE “AL FRESCO” DINNERSoupCream of Celery (colored green).FishBrook Trout, Butter Sauce.EntréeMushrooms on Crusts.RoastSaddle of Venison. Wild plum sauce. Saratoga potatoes. Green peas served in fontage cups.Salpicon of Fruits au Rhum.Game and SaladQuails in nests of Purée of Chestnuts. English Walnuts and Celery mixed with green Mayonnaise in cups of molded tomato jelly.CheeseSmall balls of Cream-cheese, colored green to imitate bird’s eggs, in nests of shredded Lettuce.Hot EntremetIndividual Nut Puddings (burning).DessertPistache Ice Cream Pralinée, molded in a ring, the center filled with whipped cream. White cakes with green icing. Fruits. Coffee.
Thereis wide range for individual taste and artistic arrangement in table decoration, which is limited only by the resources at one’s command.
Pleasing effects of color are perhaps the first consideration. Of late it has been a fashion to have one prevailing color. In many cases this is very suitable as well as complimentary to the guests entertained. For instance, a white dinner to a bride, pink to young people, red to a Harvard company, or yellow to those with Princeton affiliations.
The scheme of color is often carried through the menu as far as possible; the dishes served corresponding in color to the table decorations. Where this is done the colors should be light and delicate. Dark shades are not pleasing, and suggest the name “painted foods,” which has been scornfully given to them.
Of all colors green is the easiest to carry out, and perhaps the most pleasing. The many shades of green give variety and contrasts. Ferns make a light and dainty centerpiece, and rival flowers in beauty. For the menu spinach gives a soup, vegetable, and coloring for sauces. Green salads are numerous. Angelica makes a decoration for desserts. Pistachio nuts give flavor and color to ice-cream, icings, and bonbons. A very beautiful and elaborate dinner on this scheme is described below, which was called in the invitation “Al Fresco,” and in its design and execution well simulated an out-door entertainment. Green is a soft, reposeful color; red, pink,and yellow are gayer, and give a more festive aspect. Yellow is sunny in effect, and for a yellow dinner the color scheme may be obtained with yellow flowers, oranges, silver-gilt compotiers, gilded china, and with light diffused through yellow shades. For the culinary part the yolks of eggs render important service for coloring, covering, and garnishing, and oranges furnish many delicious dishes.
White dinners are also easy to arrange with white flowers, silver, a profusion of cut-glass, lace shades, white grapes, spun sugar, whipped cream, white sauces, celery, whites of eggs, white meats, etc.
A white dinner is likely to be too severe, however, unless carefully managed. Delicate ferns can be mixed with white flowers without changing the effect, and a warm glow may be thrown on the table from a center light in the chandelier, screened with thin pink or yellow silk, and raised high, so as not to appear as a part of the decoration. The most beautiful pictures of snow scenes are not a dead white, but reflect the color of the sunset or atmosphere.
Fruits and flowers typical of the season are in good taste, and usually more pleasing than hot-house products. In the spring, tulips, daffodils, lilies of the valley, or any wild flowers. Goldenrod, chrysanthemums, and asters in their times. Autumn leaves and berries later, holly and mistletoe at Christmas, and lilies at Easter, while in the summer the fields and lanes afford a wealth of material. At other times, and where the purse does not permit indulgence in roses and forced flowers, the resources lie in potted plants and fruits. Any plant not too large, which looks fresh and healthy, will make a pleasing centerpiece. The crotons and dracænas give beautiful colors. A dish of growing ferns makes an attractive, satisfactory and enduring center ornament. With care the ferns willlast a long time, and at small expense can be renewed. Double silver-plated boxes, both square and oval, are made for this use.
Fruits are always pleasing and give good color effects.
The success of any decoration depends largely upon the proper lighting of the table; lacking this, beautiful arrangements may appear commonplace or wholly lose their effect.
Thedecorated dinner-table should be the especial picture of the room, the conspicuous object of interest and beauty for the time; therefore the light should be centered upon it and the rest of the room form but the shadowy background. The pleasantest light is from shaded single candles, placed at intervals around the table, and a more brilliant light thrown on the center of the table from the shaded drop-light of a chandelier, or from large candelabra holding groups of candles.
Small lamps which fit candlesticks are much used, and when there are open windows and drafts they give much less trouble than candles. Effects of color are largely obtained from the use of shades. These vary in size and shape to suit the fancy or fashion of the moment, and are made of silk, lace, or paper; for the latter, crape papers are much used. Shades recently brought from Paris were of translucent paper painted by hand to imitate china. Making shades is pleasant fancy work, and the materials are so inexpensive that one can easily indulge in a variety of them. With a centerpiece of polished red apples and candles with red shades, or a potted plant and green shades, quite a definite and pleasing character may be given to a simple dinner. High ornaments should be avoided except they be candelabra or lamps which do not obstruct the view across the table. It is veryannoying to be forced to look around ornaments when trying to talk to a person seated opposite at table; such a screen effectually debars general conversation. On large or long tables, large ornamental pieces should be used. Those appropriate to a small table often appear scanty and insufficient on a large one. Masses of one color are more effective than mixtures, and a display of abundance may be made on large tables while on small ones daintiness is more pleasing.
Confectioner’s pieces are again being used for dinner decorations. Baskets and horns of plenty made of nougat or pulled sugar, holding glacé fruits, and forms made of spun sugar are in good taste, but imitations of art objects and high pyramids, such as are used on supper tables, should be excluded.
A pleasing decoration for a hot day may be made of a block of ice set in a pan deep enough to hold the drippings, but placed on something to raise it above the sides of the pan. The pan should be concealed with moss and ferns, or flowers, arranged around it loosely so as to partly conceal the ice also. A hole cut through the center of the block of ice, and a flat candle, such as are used in night lamps, placed within it, gives a brilliant and lovely effect. The block of ice should be cut square and weigh at least ten pounds. This decoration is easily managed in the country, where ferns are readily obtainable.
See captionROUND DINNER-TABLE WITH EIGHTEEN COVERS—CLOTH OF PINK INDIA SILK COVERED WITH LACE—CENTER ORNAMENT OF FERNS—BUNCH OF PINK ROSES IN FRONT OF EACH COVER.
A pan filled with floating water-lilies, together with their buds and leaves, the pan being concealed in a bed of moss and ferns, makes also a pretty decoration for a luncheon table. These flowers close at night, and so are only suitable for daylight service. A table may be made beautiful by entirely covering it with a mass of the same kind of flowers, leaving only enough space around the edge to hold the plates and glasses. The flowers may or may not be raised in the center of thetable, or may in any way simulate a garden-bed. When daisies are used they should be plentifully mixed with grasses as they are in the field. Care must be used not to make the decoration high, or the effect will be lost; and to avoid this the stems of the flowers, cut the desired length, can be stuck into wet sand or moss, held in flat tins. This will hold them firmly in place, as well as keep them fresh. An English fashion is to have a piece of silver ornament the table, without accessories of fruits or flowers. This severe but elegant simplicity is perhaps a reaction from the overloading of tables which has long prevailed.
A pink dinner given in Washington was arranged as follows: The table was round and large enough to seat eighteen persons. A covering of thin ivory-colored India silk over pink was cut round to fit the table, and a frill of lace ten inches deep fell over a ruffle of pink silk on the edge. A large square of silk gauze embroidered in pink covered the center of the table. A mound of maiden-hair ferns formed the centerpiece. Around this were placed pink candles in Venetian-glass candlesticks and shaded with full frills of lace over pink. The bonbon dishes and all the glasses were of Venetian and Bohemian glass. Four ornamental candy pieces were used: two were garden hats holding glazed cherries, and a pink ribbon tied around each hat held a large bunch of pink roses. The other two were baskets, and held frosted grapes which were half hidden under spun sugar. Ornamental silver was omitted, as being out of harmony with the other decorations.
A dinner unique in its character was given a few years ago by Lord Dufferin, the English ambassador to France. The centerpiece was flowers, and candelabra lighted the table; but in place of the dessert dishes which ordinarily do ornamental service werechoice bits of bric-à-brac collected by the ambassador in various parts of the world. The curios served as an interesting novelty, and became the subject of conversation. A dinner given in Jamaica is described, where orchids in profusion were suspended over the table, some on climbing vines, and others, of such delicate form and texture as made it seem not unnatural, appeared as though floating in the air.
The “Al Fresco” dinner referred to above was in imitation of a woodland scene. It was served in a dining-room the walls of which were hung with tapestries. The ceiling decoration was blue sky with white clouds. A profusion of palms, bay-trees, and rubber-plants were placed about the room and screened the side-boards. The dining-table was a mass of verdure. It was round, seating eighteen persons. The whole center of the table was depressed eight inches, leaving an outside rim fourteen inches wide for the plates and glasses. The center space was filled with growing plants, the top of the pots being on a level with the outside rim. The pots were concealed by mosses and loose ferns making a solid mass of green. Four tall slender plants rose from the center, the rest was of ferns and lycopodium with here and there a few primroses. Green candles with fluffy green shades in glass candlesticks were so distributed as to give sufficient light. The space left for the dinner service was covered with light-green India silk over canton flannel. On the back of the menu cards were water-color sketches of forest scenes. The menu was largely composed of products of the forest. The aspect of this dinner was really sylvan, and the idea so well carried out that the elaboration of it was artistically hidden. From the time of Lucullus, dinner-givers have been striving for novelties, but as a rule any radical departure from conventional forms is a failure.
SoupCream of Celery (colored green).FishBrook Trout, Butter Sauce.EntréeMushrooms on Crusts.RoastSaddle of Venison. Wild plum sauce. Saratoga potatoes. Green peas served in fontage cups.Salpicon of Fruits au Rhum.Game and SaladQuails in nests of Purée of Chestnuts. English Walnuts and Celery mixed with green Mayonnaise in cups of molded tomato jelly.CheeseSmall balls of Cream-cheese, colored green to imitate bird’s eggs, in nests of shredded Lettuce.Hot EntremetIndividual Nut Puddings (burning).DessertPistache Ice Cream Pralinée, molded in a ring, the center filled with whipped cream. White cakes with green icing. Fruits. Coffee.
Soup
Cream of Celery (colored green).
Fish
Brook Trout, Butter Sauce.
Entrée
Mushrooms on Crusts.
Roast
Saddle of Venison. Wild plum sauce. Saratoga potatoes. Green peas served in fontage cups.
Salpicon of Fruits au Rhum.
Game and Salad
Quails in nests of Purée of Chestnuts. English Walnuts and Celery mixed with green Mayonnaise in cups of molded tomato jelly.
Cheese
Small balls of Cream-cheese, colored green to imitate bird’s eggs, in nests of shredded Lettuce.
Hot Entremet
Individual Nut Puddings (burning).
Dessert
Pistache Ice Cream Pralinée, molded in a ring, the center filled with whipped cream. White cakes with green icing. Fruits. Coffee.
Theorder of the dinner service is soup, fish, flesh, fowl. These may be supplemented to any extent with entremets and entrées. Mets are the principal dishes. Entremets, the dishes served between the mets. Entrées, dishes which are served between any of the courses.First Course.I.Course.Canapés of caviare, small bits of anchovy toast, or in their season muskmelons, are sometimes served as the first course, but ordinarily oysters or clams on the half shell is the first dish presented. The smallest-sized shell-fish are preferable to the large ones. One half dozen are served on each plate and placed symmetrically on or around a bed of cracked ice; a quarter of a lemon cut lengthwise is placed in the center. Cayenne pepper and grated horse-radish are passed with this course, also very thin slices of brown bread buttered and folded together, then cut into small squares or triangular-shaped pieces. The plates holding the shell-fish may be placed on the table before dinner is announced; but as there is no place to conveniently lay the folded napkin except on the plate, it is as well not to serve the mollusks until the guests are seated.Second Course: Soup.II.Course: Soup.It is better to serve a clear soup when the dinner is to be of many courses, as heavy soups are too hearty. The choice of two kinds of soup may be offered. Grated Parmesan cheese may be passed with clear soups, dice of fried bread with cream soups, and toasted cracker biscuits with anykind of soup. One ladleful of soup is sufficient for each person, and a second portion is not offered. An anecdote is told of a punctilious person who, being asked if he would be helped again to soup, answered, “Thanks, not to-day.”Hors d'œuvres, which are radishes, celery, olives, etc., are passed after the soup. Salted almonds are taken at any time through the dinner.Third Course: Fish.III.Course: Fish.Fish, if boiled or fried, is served upon a napkin. If baked no napkin is used, and a little sauce is spread on the dish. Boiled potatoes are served with boiled fish, and are more attractive when cut with a potato-scoop into small balls. Cucumbers dressed with oil and vinegar are also served with fish.Fourth Course: Entrées.IV.Course: Entrées.Entrées can be served between any of the courses, or they may be omitted altogether; but a variety of attractive dishes come under this head, and usually one is served after the fish.Fifth Course: Vegetables.V.Course: Vegetables.A vegetable, such as asparagus, artichokes, cauliflower, is served at this time, although the French reserve the vegetable until after the joint. Only one vegetable besides potato is permitted with a meat course, and if more are wanted they are served as a separate course.Sixth Course.VI.Course.The joint with one green vegetable and potato.Seventh Course.VII.Course.Frozen punch, when served, comes between the meat and game courses. It is not passed, but a glassful standing on a plate, with a coffee spoon beside it, is placed before each person.If preferred, a cheese omelet or soufflé may be used instead of punch for this course.Eighth Course.VIII.Course: Game and Salad, or Poultry and Salad.Game is usually not passed, but the portions are laid on the individual plates by the butler. This is done in order to serve it as hot as possible. A small cold plateis sometimes given for the salad; crescent-shaped plates are made for this use. With ducks, celery and small squares of fried hominy are served. When game or poultry is not used, cheese may be served with the salad, or cheese-straws instead of cheese. When salad is served with game or poultry, cheese and crackers may be served immediately afterward as a separate course, or they may be passed after the dessert.Ninth Course.IX.Course.Sweet puddings, soufflés, Bavarian cream, etc.Tenth Course.X.Course.Ice-cream or any frozen dessert. Cakes and brandied peaches, preserved ginger, or wine-jellies may be passed with ice-cream.Eleventh Course.XI.Course.Fruit, fresh or glacé, and bonbons.Twelfth Course.XII.Course.Coffee, liqueurs.Of the courses given above, the first, fourth, fifth, and seventh, and a choice of either the ninth or tenth, may all, or any one of them, be omitted.Black coffee in small cups is passed on a tray, with cream and sugar, in the drawing- and smoking-rooms after the guests have left the table.Apollinaris or other sparkling water is passed later, and is usually welcomed.
Theorder of the dinner service is soup, fish, flesh, fowl. These may be supplemented to any extent with entremets and entrées. Mets are the principal dishes. Entremets, the dishes served between the mets. Entrées, dishes which are served between any of the courses.
First Course.I.Course.Canapés of caviare, small bits of anchovy toast, or in their season muskmelons, are sometimes served as the first course, but ordinarily oysters or clams on the half shell is the first dish presented. The smallest-sized shell-fish are preferable to the large ones. One half dozen are served on each plate and placed symmetrically on or around a bed of cracked ice; a quarter of a lemon cut lengthwise is placed in the center. Cayenne pepper and grated horse-radish are passed with this course, also very thin slices of brown bread buttered and folded together, then cut into small squares or triangular-shaped pieces. The plates holding the shell-fish may be placed on the table before dinner is announced; but as there is no place to conveniently lay the folded napkin except on the plate, it is as well not to serve the mollusks until the guests are seated.
Second Course: Soup.II.Course: Soup.It is better to serve a clear soup when the dinner is to be of many courses, as heavy soups are too hearty. The choice of two kinds of soup may be offered. Grated Parmesan cheese may be passed with clear soups, dice of fried bread with cream soups, and toasted cracker biscuits with anykind of soup. One ladleful of soup is sufficient for each person, and a second portion is not offered. An anecdote is told of a punctilious person who, being asked if he would be helped again to soup, answered, “Thanks, not to-day.”
Hors d'œuvres, which are radishes, celery, olives, etc., are passed after the soup. Salted almonds are taken at any time through the dinner.
Third Course: Fish.III.Course: Fish.Fish, if boiled or fried, is served upon a napkin. If baked no napkin is used, and a little sauce is spread on the dish. Boiled potatoes are served with boiled fish, and are more attractive when cut with a potato-scoop into small balls. Cucumbers dressed with oil and vinegar are also served with fish.
Fourth Course: Entrées.IV.Course: Entrées.Entrées can be served between any of the courses, or they may be omitted altogether; but a variety of attractive dishes come under this head, and usually one is served after the fish.
Fifth Course: Vegetables.V.Course: Vegetables.A vegetable, such as asparagus, artichokes, cauliflower, is served at this time, although the French reserve the vegetable until after the joint. Only one vegetable besides potato is permitted with a meat course, and if more are wanted they are served as a separate course.
Sixth Course.VI.Course.The joint with one green vegetable and potato.
Seventh Course.VII.Course.Frozen punch, when served, comes between the meat and game courses. It is not passed, but a glassful standing on a plate, with a coffee spoon beside it, is placed before each person.
If preferred, a cheese omelet or soufflé may be used instead of punch for this course.
Eighth Course.VIII.Course: Game and Salad, or Poultry and Salad.Game is usually not passed, but the portions are laid on the individual plates by the butler. This is done in order to serve it as hot as possible. A small cold plateis sometimes given for the salad; crescent-shaped plates are made for this use. With ducks, celery and small squares of fried hominy are served. When game or poultry is not used, cheese may be served with the salad, or cheese-straws instead of cheese. When salad is served with game or poultry, cheese and crackers may be served immediately afterward as a separate course, or they may be passed after the dessert.
Ninth Course.IX.Course.Sweet puddings, soufflés, Bavarian cream, etc.
Tenth Course.X.Course.Ice-cream or any frozen dessert. Cakes and brandied peaches, preserved ginger, or wine-jellies may be passed with ice-cream.
Eleventh Course.XI.Course.Fruit, fresh or glacé, and bonbons.
Twelfth Course.XII.Course.Coffee, liqueurs.
Of the courses given above, the first, fourth, fifth, and seventh, and a choice of either the ninth or tenth, may all, or any one of them, be omitted.
Black coffee in small cups is passed on a tray, with cream and sugar, in the drawing- and smoking-rooms after the guests have left the table.
Apollinaris or other sparkling water is passed later, and is usually welcomed.
Atthe every-day or family dinner there will naturally be less elaboration in the decoration of the table, and fewer courses, than when the dinner is an occasion of entertainment, but so far as the appointments reach they should be observed with the same precision and care. The dinner has always something of a ceremonious character, being the time when the family all meet with the leisure to enjoy one another’s society after the labors of the day are done. It is well, therefore, to attend to the few material details which aid in making the occasion an agreeable one. Refinements are more clearly shown at table than elsewhere, and the influences of decorum at dinner are more subtle than are always recognized. Let the linen be as spotless and white, the silver and glass as polished, and the dishes, however few, be as carefully prepared as though guests were present. The simplest dinner so ordered willgive pleasure and satisfaction. When attention to details is practised every day, company will cause no agitation in the household. The refinements of the table are within the means of the humblest. A word may also be said for manners at the home table. The habit of fault-finding, commenting upon the dishes and wines, correcting the mistakes of servants while at the table, making apologies, etc., is reprehensible, inefficacious and vulgar, and not only interrupts conversation, but spoils the pleasure of the dinner hour. It is always difficult, and often impossible, to improve a dish after it is served; therefore, it is better to accept it without remark. If the housekeeper, who is always the first to observe faults in the service, can conceal her discomfiture, it is but right for the others to be considerate. Faults often pass unnoticed if attention is not called to them. Dr. Johnson, it is said, always complained of his dinners, but never omitted to say grace. Upon one such occasion his wife interrupted him, saying, “Nay, hold, Mr. Johnson! Do not make a farce of thanking God for a dinner which in a few minutes you will pronounce uneatable.”The home table, with its every-day appointments, causing one to blush in the event of a friend’s unexpected arrival, is not to be excused in this day of advanced women in the nineteenth century, when higher education has at least taught them to regard their domestic duties in the light of a science and an art.There are many simple dishes that can be quickly prepared which will give the dinner a little more complimentary character, and supply the little extra that may be needed when more are present than were originally provided for. A beefsteak can be virtually enlarged by serving with it a mushroom sauce, for the mushrooms, having the same elements of nutrition as the meat, permit the latter to be served in smaller portions. A simple entrée, such as a dish of macaroni, a scallop dish, a mince, with good sauce (which is easily made where the stock pot is ever ready), a cheese omelet, a vegetable salad, etc., etc., are suggested as a few of the dishes, which are called by the Frenchplats d’amitié, and should enable any woman to enjoy the pleasure of entertaining unexpected guests in a hospitable manner.
Atthe every-day or family dinner there will naturally be less elaboration in the decoration of the table, and fewer courses, than when the dinner is an occasion of entertainment, but so far as the appointments reach they should be observed with the same precision and care. The dinner has always something of a ceremonious character, being the time when the family all meet with the leisure to enjoy one another’s society after the labors of the day are done. It is well, therefore, to attend to the few material details which aid in making the occasion an agreeable one. Refinements are more clearly shown at table than elsewhere, and the influences of decorum at dinner are more subtle than are always recognized. Let the linen be as spotless and white, the silver and glass as polished, and the dishes, however few, be as carefully prepared as though guests were present. The simplest dinner so ordered willgive pleasure and satisfaction. When attention to details is practised every day, company will cause no agitation in the household. The refinements of the table are within the means of the humblest. A word may also be said for manners at the home table. The habit of fault-finding, commenting upon the dishes and wines, correcting the mistakes of servants while at the table, making apologies, etc., is reprehensible, inefficacious and vulgar, and not only interrupts conversation, but spoils the pleasure of the dinner hour. It is always difficult, and often impossible, to improve a dish after it is served; therefore, it is better to accept it without remark. If the housekeeper, who is always the first to observe faults in the service, can conceal her discomfiture, it is but right for the others to be considerate. Faults often pass unnoticed if attention is not called to them. Dr. Johnson, it is said, always complained of his dinners, but never omitted to say grace. Upon one such occasion his wife interrupted him, saying, “Nay, hold, Mr. Johnson! Do not make a farce of thanking God for a dinner which in a few minutes you will pronounce uneatable.”
The home table, with its every-day appointments, causing one to blush in the event of a friend’s unexpected arrival, is not to be excused in this day of advanced women in the nineteenth century, when higher education has at least taught them to regard their domestic duties in the light of a science and an art.
There are many simple dishes that can be quickly prepared which will give the dinner a little more complimentary character, and supply the little extra that may be needed when more are present than were originally provided for. A beefsteak can be virtually enlarged by serving with it a mushroom sauce, for the mushrooms, having the same elements of nutrition as the meat, permit the latter to be served in smaller portions. A simple entrée, such as a dish of macaroni, a scallop dish, a mince, with good sauce (which is easily made where the stock pot is ever ready), a cheese omelet, a vegetable salad, etc., etc., are suggested as a few of the dishes, which are called by the Frenchplats d’amitié, and should enable any woman to enjoy the pleasure of entertaining unexpected guests in a hospitable manner.
Inlaying the table for an informal dinner, where the carving is to be done on the table, a napkin to protect the cloth is spread at the carver’s place. Very pretty fancy pieces are made for this use, but an ordinary dinner napkin will do. This is not removed until the table is cleared for the dessert. When the carving is done on the table, the soup and dessert are usually served by the lady of the house, and the salad is also dressed on the table, and then passed. So far as the service will allow, however, it is pleasanter to have everything passed that does not need cutting.The vegetable dishes should never be placed on the table. When the joint is put on the table, warm plates in a pile are set at the left of, or before the carver, and when a portion is served, the plate is lifted by the servant and placed before the person for whom it is intended, without the use of a tray. The plates placed on the table when it is laid are used for holding the soup plates, and are not removed until the ones holding the portions of the next course are exchanged for them; if the succeeding course is to be passed, warm or cold plates, as the course requires, are in turn exchanged for them; but if the course is to be served from the table, the places are meanwhile left without covers. There should always be a plate before each person except in this instance, and when the table is cleared for dessert. Sharpening the carving-knife is a trial to the nerves of many, and this infliction can be easily avoided by having it done before dinner is announced.Many good carvers, however, seem to delight in this preliminary operation and are unconscious of committing an act of impoliteness. The attractiveness of a dish may be wholly lost by unskilful carving, and the appetite may be destroyed by an overloaded plate. Where but one substantial dish is served, it is permissible to be helped a second time. The dish can be removed to the side-table, and the second portions helped by the servant, if the carver does not care to be interrupted in his own dinner after he has performed the office of cutting the joint.The sense of sight should always be considered, even though it cost the trouble of replenishing a dish. No more than can be used on one plate is served at the same time at any well appointed table. One vegetable only, besides potatoes, is served with the roast; if more are used, they are served as courses separately.
Inlaying the table for an informal dinner, where the carving is to be done on the table, a napkin to protect the cloth is spread at the carver’s place. Very pretty fancy pieces are made for this use, but an ordinary dinner napkin will do. This is not removed until the table is cleared for the dessert. When the carving is done on the table, the soup and dessert are usually served by the lady of the house, and the salad is also dressed on the table, and then passed. So far as the service will allow, however, it is pleasanter to have everything passed that does not need cutting.
The vegetable dishes should never be placed on the table. When the joint is put on the table, warm plates in a pile are set at the left of, or before the carver, and when a portion is served, the plate is lifted by the servant and placed before the person for whom it is intended, without the use of a tray. The plates placed on the table when it is laid are used for holding the soup plates, and are not removed until the ones holding the portions of the next course are exchanged for them; if the succeeding course is to be passed, warm or cold plates, as the course requires, are in turn exchanged for them; but if the course is to be served from the table, the places are meanwhile left without covers. There should always be a plate before each person except in this instance, and when the table is cleared for dessert. Sharpening the carving-knife is a trial to the nerves of many, and this infliction can be easily avoided by having it done before dinner is announced.Many good carvers, however, seem to delight in this preliminary operation and are unconscious of committing an act of impoliteness. The attractiveness of a dish may be wholly lost by unskilful carving, and the appetite may be destroyed by an overloaded plate. Where but one substantial dish is served, it is permissible to be helped a second time. The dish can be removed to the side-table, and the second portions helped by the servant, if the carver does not care to be interrupted in his own dinner after he has performed the office of cutting the joint.
The sense of sight should always be considered, even though it cost the trouble of replenishing a dish. No more than can be used on one plate is served at the same time at any well appointed table. One vegetable only, besides potatoes, is served with the roast; if more are used, they are served as courses separately.
Theluncheon service does not differ materially from that of dinner. Lighter dishes are usually served, entrées taking the place of joints and roasts, and the soup or bouillon is served in cups instead of soup plates. Grape fruit, or a fruit salad, is often an acceptable first course.When the table has a handsome and polished surface the cloth may be left off if desired and a fancy square take its place. In this case small squares may also be used under the plates to protect the table and in such other places as needed. Drawn-work linen squares over mahogany make an attractive luncheon table.When a large number of guests are being entertained at luncheon, small tables placed in the different rooms (and on the piazzas, if in the country) are often used, and these do not admit of more than the slight decoration of a few flowers. Luncheons of this kind are usually of an informal character and secondary to some entertainment which has preceded them. A few simple menus for luncheons are given below.MENUS FOR LUNCHEONNo. 1.Grape Fruit.Bouillon.Oyster Patties.Chops and Peas.Quail, Lettuce Salad.Ice-Cream.Cake.Tea.No. 2.Melon.Clams on Half-shell.Cold Salmon, Sauce Tartare.Filets Mignons, Sauce Béarnaise.Omelet Soufflé.Cheese.Coffee.No. 3.Grape Fruit.Bouillon.Shad Roe.{Broiled Chicken.Green Peas.Russian Salad.{Ice-Cream and Jelly.Angel Cake.Tea.No. 4.Bouillon.Lobster à la Newburg.Eggs Villeroi.Sweetbreads and Peas.French Chops, Potato Straws.Russian Salad of Chicken Aspic, Celery and Walnuts (seereceipt).Plum-Pudding Glacé.Coffee.No. 5.Chicken Consommé.Lobster Chops.Mushrooms on Toast.Sweetbreads and Peas.Frozen Punch.Quails on Toast.{Pâté deFoie Gras en Bellevue.Lettuce.Charlotte Russe.No. 6.Clams.Eggs à la Reine.{Planked Shad.Cucumbers.{Broiled Squabs.Vegetable Salad.Ice-Cream.Cheese.Fruit.No. 7.Salpicon of Fruit.Cream of Clams.Salmon Cutlets, Cucumbers.Curried Eggs.Chicken à la Poulette.Asparagus, Sauce Hollandaise.Fruit Tart.ChocolatePralinée.No. 8.Little Neck Clams.Bouillon.Vol-au-Vent.Broiled Chicken, Peas.Mushrooms.Lobster Salad.Gâteau St. Honoré.Strawberries.At a luncheon, given in a country house to a large party of golfers, all the edibles, consisting of cold meats, game, aspics, salads, and mince-pie, were placed on the side-table, and the gentlemen served the ladies before taking their own places at the table. The servants came into the room only to remove the plates. This gave a very social and lively character to the meal, which all enjoyed for its informality.Entertainments of this kind may often be practicable, as the question of service sometimes debars one from entertaining many guests at a time.
Theluncheon service does not differ materially from that of dinner. Lighter dishes are usually served, entrées taking the place of joints and roasts, and the soup or bouillon is served in cups instead of soup plates. Grape fruit, or a fruit salad, is often an acceptable first course.
When the table has a handsome and polished surface the cloth may be left off if desired and a fancy square take its place. In this case small squares may also be used under the plates to protect the table and in such other places as needed. Drawn-work linen squares over mahogany make an attractive luncheon table.
When a large number of guests are being entertained at luncheon, small tables placed in the different rooms (and on the piazzas, if in the country) are often used, and these do not admit of more than the slight decoration of a few flowers. Luncheons of this kind are usually of an informal character and secondary to some entertainment which has preceded them. A few simple menus for luncheons are given below.
No. 1.Grape Fruit.Bouillon.Oyster Patties.Chops and Peas.Quail, Lettuce Salad.Ice-Cream.Cake.Tea.No. 2.Melon.Clams on Half-shell.Cold Salmon, Sauce Tartare.Filets Mignons, Sauce Béarnaise.Omelet Soufflé.Cheese.Coffee.No. 3.Grape Fruit.Bouillon.Shad Roe.{Broiled Chicken.Green Peas.Russian Salad.{Ice-Cream and Jelly.Angel Cake.Tea.No. 4.Bouillon.Lobster à la Newburg.Eggs Villeroi.Sweetbreads and Peas.French Chops, Potato Straws.Russian Salad of Chicken Aspic, Celery and Walnuts (seereceipt).Plum-Pudding Glacé.Coffee.No. 5.Chicken Consommé.Lobster Chops.Mushrooms on Toast.Sweetbreads and Peas.Frozen Punch.Quails on Toast.{Pâté deFoie Gras en Bellevue.Lettuce.Charlotte Russe.No. 6.Clams.Eggs à la Reine.{Planked Shad.Cucumbers.{Broiled Squabs.Vegetable Salad.Ice-Cream.Cheese.Fruit.No. 7.Salpicon of Fruit.Cream of Clams.Salmon Cutlets, Cucumbers.Curried Eggs.Chicken à la Poulette.Asparagus, Sauce Hollandaise.Fruit Tart.ChocolatePralinée.No. 8.Little Neck Clams.Bouillon.Vol-au-Vent.Broiled Chicken, Peas.Mushrooms.Lobster Salad.Gâteau St. Honoré.Strawberries.
At a luncheon, given in a country house to a large party of golfers, all the edibles, consisting of cold meats, game, aspics, salads, and mince-pie, were placed on the side-table, and the gentlemen served the ladies before taking their own places at the table. The servants came into the room only to remove the plates. This gave a very social and lively character to the meal, which all enjoyed for its informality.
Entertainments of this kind may often be practicable, as the question of service sometimes debars one from entertaining many guests at a time.
A cupof tea at this time of the afternoon is usually gratefully accepted, and one is disappointed if it is made so badly that it is not drinkable. The young lady who presides at the tea table at an afternoon reception has sometimes a difficult task if the tea is not prepared with a bag (as directed on page550), but for the unceremonious social cup of tea with the friend who drops in at this hour it is easy to have it just right. After the proper preparation of the tea (as directed on page549), the attractiveness of the table and the delicacy of the china are the next things to be desired. Tea does not taste as well taken from a coarse, large, or heavy cup. The taste and refinement of the hostess are easily recognized in this very unceremonious, but very social, function. The cloth may be as elaborate as one wishes, but it must above all be spotless, unwrinkled and dainty. The cups may all differ from one another, but each one should be small and thin, and the steaming kettle, which lends cheerfulness to the occasion, should be highly polished, whether it be silver, brass, or copper. A dry biscuit or a thin piece of bread andbutter is usually offered with the tea. Fresh unsalted butter is preferable, but any of the fine butters may be used. The butter is spread very evenly on the loaf; the bread sliced very thin and doubled like a sandwich. It may be cut into any shape desired, such as strips, diamonds, or triangles. It is attractive stamped into circles with a biscuit-cutter of about the size of a silver dollar.Three kinds of bread may be used—white, graham, and Boston brown bread, and all may be served on the same plate.This simple dish is carried into the esthetics in some English houses, where the bread and butter is described as tasting of roses, violets, clover, or nasturtiums. The flavor is obtained by shutting the fresh butter in a tight jar with the blossoms for several hours. Butter very readily absorbs flavors and odors, indeed it is the medium used for extracting perfumes in the manufacture of those articles. The flavored butter is spread in the ordinary way on the bread, which has been treated also to a bath of flowers. Butter sandwiches must be exceedingly thin and shapely, and have no suggestion of mussiness. They should be laid in a folded napkin to keep them fresh. Any sweet wafers may also be used, but as this is not a meal, nothing should be offered which will take away the appetite for dinner, which follows shortly afterward.
A cupof tea at this time of the afternoon is usually gratefully accepted, and one is disappointed if it is made so badly that it is not drinkable. The young lady who presides at the tea table at an afternoon reception has sometimes a difficult task if the tea is not prepared with a bag (as directed on page550), but for the unceremonious social cup of tea with the friend who drops in at this hour it is easy to have it just right. After the proper preparation of the tea (as directed on page549), the attractiveness of the table and the delicacy of the china are the next things to be desired. Tea does not taste as well taken from a coarse, large, or heavy cup. The taste and refinement of the hostess are easily recognized in this very unceremonious, but very social, function. The cloth may be as elaborate as one wishes, but it must above all be spotless, unwrinkled and dainty. The cups may all differ from one another, but each one should be small and thin, and the steaming kettle, which lends cheerfulness to the occasion, should be highly polished, whether it be silver, brass, or copper. A dry biscuit or a thin piece of bread andbutter is usually offered with the tea. Fresh unsalted butter is preferable, but any of the fine butters may be used. The butter is spread very evenly on the loaf; the bread sliced very thin and doubled like a sandwich. It may be cut into any shape desired, such as strips, diamonds, or triangles. It is attractive stamped into circles with a biscuit-cutter of about the size of a silver dollar.Three kinds of bread may be used—white, graham, and Boston brown bread, and all may be served on the same plate.This simple dish is carried into the esthetics in some English houses, where the bread and butter is described as tasting of roses, violets, clover, or nasturtiums. The flavor is obtained by shutting the fresh butter in a tight jar with the blossoms for several hours. Butter very readily absorbs flavors and odors, indeed it is the medium used for extracting perfumes in the manufacture of those articles. The flavored butter is spread in the ordinary way on the bread, which has been treated also to a bath of flowers. Butter sandwiches must be exceedingly thin and shapely, and have no suggestion of mussiness. They should be laid in a folded napkin to keep them fresh. Any sweet wafers may also be used, but as this is not a meal, nothing should be offered which will take away the appetite for dinner, which follows shortly afterward.
Itis a trite saying that a thing worth doing at all is worth doing well, but, from the inefficiency of the large number of domestics who hold the office of cook, and from the acceptance of careless work by so many families, it would seem that the truism is not regarded in reference to cooking. Since it is upon the kitchen that the health and comfort of the family so greatly depend, is it not a duty, and would it not be a pleasure, for the mistress of every house to understand the science of cooking as well as the arts which give other attractions to the house? A knowledge of its fundamental principles would give her a sense of independence and power, which knowledge is proverbially said to do. If she were familiar with the nature of the yeast plant, and the action of heat as applied in boiling, broiling, and frying, if she could make a sauce and clear a soup, her family would be relieved from the affliction of sour bread, burned meats, and muddy soup. An ordinary kitchen servant can do these simple things well, if she is once told how, and this basis would be a guide in other work, and a safeguard against many failures. There is no such thing as luck in cooking. Laws govern the chemical changes which take place, and can always be relied upon. Water will boil at 212°, and cannot be made hotter by violent boiling in an open vessel. Frying can be properly done only when the fat is smoking hot. Broiling can be properly done only over, or under, hot and bright coals. For baking,the oven must be of the right temperature. The same thing cooked in the same way will always be the same, and failure comes simply from neglect of the rules. It is as easy to have good cooking as bad; the former requires only the elements of care and intelligence. With very little trouble, dishes may be made to please the sight as well as the taste. The difference between the elegance and refinement of one table and the vulgarity of another often lies merely in the manner of dishing and serving. Again, the step from plain to fancy cooking is very short. A simple and tasteful arrangement, or combination, of materials prepared in the ordinary way will make an ornamental dish. Minced chicken pressed into a ring mold to give it shape, and the center filled with a mushroom sauce, will make a more appetizing dish than if placed carelessly together with no regard to symmetry. Potatoes pressed into a fancy mold, a part of the center removed, and the space filled with chopped seasoned meat, will give a chartreuse, and no thought of hash suggested. A jelly with a flower in the top, or of two colors, will make a decorative piece for the table. Uniformity in size and shape of potatoes, chops, pancakes, slices of bread or anything that is served on the same dish, gives a pleasing sense of order and care, which is as marked as the proper arrangement of the table furniture. It is in little things only that fancy differs from plain cooking, but as soon as a cook comprehends the value of the appearance of dishes she is sure to think of their perfection in every other way.There is a popular prejudice against fried foods, and a belief that abstaining from them will cure us of our dyspepsia, but if articles are properly fried they should contain no more grease than the boiled one does of water. Smoking fat has such a highdegree of heat, that certain articles are better cooked by frying than by any other method. Minced meat, rolled into the form of croquettes and fried, assumes a different character both in taste and rank from the minced meat heated in other ways. If the croquettes are coated with egg and crumbs and immersed in smoking hot fat, as the rule directs, the egg is instantly hardened, and no fat can be absorbed through it. That which covers the outside is evaporated by draining and drying in a hot place. The napkin on which the croquettes are served will not be stained if they are rightly fried. Saratoga chips can be handled with a glove without soiling it. We need not be a nation of dyspeptics from eating pie when the French are not from eating puff-paste, or from hot breads when the English are not from plum pudding and pork pies. It is from the manner of preparing our foods that we suffer. Cooking has not been one of the virtues of our new country, as we have been satisfied to get our cooks from France and Ireland, but if intelligent American housewives will take interest and pleasure in this important department, which is delegated to their care, some of the serious trials of life will be overcome, and emancipation from many petty cares and annoyances will follow.
Itis a trite saying that a thing worth doing at all is worth doing well, but, from the inefficiency of the large number of domestics who hold the office of cook, and from the acceptance of careless work by so many families, it would seem that the truism is not regarded in reference to cooking. Since it is upon the kitchen that the health and comfort of the family so greatly depend, is it not a duty, and would it not be a pleasure, for the mistress of every house to understand the science of cooking as well as the arts which give other attractions to the house? A knowledge of its fundamental principles would give her a sense of independence and power, which knowledge is proverbially said to do. If she were familiar with the nature of the yeast plant, and the action of heat as applied in boiling, broiling, and frying, if she could make a sauce and clear a soup, her family would be relieved from the affliction of sour bread, burned meats, and muddy soup. An ordinary kitchen servant can do these simple things well, if she is once told how, and this basis would be a guide in other work, and a safeguard against many failures. There is no such thing as luck in cooking. Laws govern the chemical changes which take place, and can always be relied upon. Water will boil at 212°, and cannot be made hotter by violent boiling in an open vessel. Frying can be properly done only when the fat is smoking hot. Broiling can be properly done only over, or under, hot and bright coals. For baking,the oven must be of the right temperature. The same thing cooked in the same way will always be the same, and failure comes simply from neglect of the rules. It is as easy to have good cooking as bad; the former requires only the elements of care and intelligence. With very little trouble, dishes may be made to please the sight as well as the taste. The difference between the elegance and refinement of one table and the vulgarity of another often lies merely in the manner of dishing and serving. Again, the step from plain to fancy cooking is very short. A simple and tasteful arrangement, or combination, of materials prepared in the ordinary way will make an ornamental dish. Minced chicken pressed into a ring mold to give it shape, and the center filled with a mushroom sauce, will make a more appetizing dish than if placed carelessly together with no regard to symmetry. Potatoes pressed into a fancy mold, a part of the center removed, and the space filled with chopped seasoned meat, will give a chartreuse, and no thought of hash suggested. A jelly with a flower in the top, or of two colors, will make a decorative piece for the table. Uniformity in size and shape of potatoes, chops, pancakes, slices of bread or anything that is served on the same dish, gives a pleasing sense of order and care, which is as marked as the proper arrangement of the table furniture. It is in little things only that fancy differs from plain cooking, but as soon as a cook comprehends the value of the appearance of dishes she is sure to think of their perfection in every other way.
There is a popular prejudice against fried foods, and a belief that abstaining from them will cure us of our dyspepsia, but if articles are properly fried they should contain no more grease than the boiled one does of water. Smoking fat has such a highdegree of heat, that certain articles are better cooked by frying than by any other method. Minced meat, rolled into the form of croquettes and fried, assumes a different character both in taste and rank from the minced meat heated in other ways. If the croquettes are coated with egg and crumbs and immersed in smoking hot fat, as the rule directs, the egg is instantly hardened, and no fat can be absorbed through it. That which covers the outside is evaporated by draining and drying in a hot place. The napkin on which the croquettes are served will not be stained if they are rightly fried. Saratoga chips can be handled with a glove without soiling it. We need not be a nation of dyspeptics from eating pie when the French are not from eating puff-paste, or from hot breads when the English are not from plum pudding and pork pies. It is from the manner of preparing our foods that we suffer. Cooking has not been one of the virtues of our new country, as we have been satisfied to get our cooks from France and Ireland, but if intelligent American housewives will take interest and pleasure in this important department, which is delegated to their care, some of the serious trials of life will be overcome, and emancipation from many petty cares and annoyances will follow.