WASHINGTON"S BIRTHDAY LUNCHEON
The twenty-second of February suggests that an almost unlimited amount of ingenuity may be spent in preparing a meal in honour of the Father of our Country. There is opportunity for decoration such as few gala days offer, and this may easily be the prettiest luncheon of the year.
If the meal is an informal one a centrepiece may be arranged which will amuse the guests. Get at the florist"s a small dead plant, such as an azalea, and pick off some of the twigs, making a symmetrical tree of diminutive size. At a j.a.panese shop you can buy the pretty artificial cherry blossoms used to set off the bric-a-brac in the windows, and these can be fastened to the twigs with invisible wire, the little tree may stand in a low pot filled with moss, and at its base may be a small hatchet. With this, your candle-shades should be a sort of rosy white.
You might use in preference to this a bunch of the cherry branches in a vase in the centre.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Or, if you prefer to have the Colonial colours, choose a large dark-blue bowl and fill it with yellow tulips, and have all the dishes, or at least several sets of plates, of dark-blue ware; if one does not own Staffordshire of her grandmother"s or the beautiful Chinese Canton china, still she need not despair, for the shops are full of a cheap and pretty imitation of the latter which gives an admirable effect. The candle-shades should be yellow, in tulip pattern preferably, and the candlesticks of old-fashioned silver.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A WASHINGTON"S BIRTHDAY FAVOUR.]
At each plate lay a bonbon box in the form of a paper hatchet with the handle filled with red and white candies, and tie a bunch of artificial cherries to it with narrow ribbon. You can get at the printer"s cards with the head of Washington which a line of gold paint and a bowknot will transform into a miniature. Fold your napkins into little c.o.c.ked hats, and stand small silk flags in your dishes of almonds and olives.
In addition to all this, you can send to Mount Vernon for small souvenirs in the shape of hatchets, supposably made of the actual historic cherry-tree, which may take the place of the paper hatchets at the plates.
Should your luncheon be given for the members of some patriotic a.s.sociation, you might add the name of some famous Revolutionary battle to your guest cards, or possibly a quotation from some well-known novel which has historic characters, such as "Richard Carvel" or "The Virginians."
MENU
GRAPE FRUIT WITH BRANDIED CHERRIES.
CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP.
SMELTS WITH SAUCE TARTARE.
FRIED SWEETBREADS. MUSHROOM SAUCE.
CARROTS IN CASES. BERMUDA POTATOES.
CELERY AND CABBAGE SALAD IN PEPPERS.
ICE CREAM HATCHETS. CAKES.
COFFEE. BONBONS.
Cut the grape fruit in half and remove the seeds and core, loosen the pulp around the sides and put in the cavity in the middle a couple of preserved or brandied cherries, with a little of their juice. The soup is a strong chicken stock to which cream has been added; a spoonful of whipped cream is put on top of each cup as it is served, and hot crackers are pa.s.sed with it.
Put a little water-cress on the plate with the smelts as well as the sauce.
Sweetbreads are especially good with both mushrooms and carrots, though one does not often see the latter vegetable with them, but creamed, in small paper or paste cases, they are by no means to be despised, above all, if they are the new ones which have just come to market.
The salad is made by cutting off the tops of green peppers, removing the seeds and filling them with shredded celery and cabbage with stiff mayonnaise, and serving on lettuce; if the peppers are not to be had, the salad may be put directly on the lettuce. The cheese straws are made by sprinkling thin strips of pie-crust with red pepper and grated cheese, twisting a little and browning in the oven.
The ice cream hatchets must come from the caterer; they are extremely realistic with the initials Gr. W. on their handles, and add greatly to the gaiety of the occasion; but if they are not to be had, the hostess can serve in their place a plain cream in little c.o.c.ked hats, or have it sliced with a few preserved or brandied cherries on each slice. The bonbons pa.s.sed with the coffee may be one or more kinds of candied cherries to be found in great variety at the confectioner"s.
A still more elaborate menu might be this one:--
MENU
GRAPE FRUIT WITH CHERRIES.
CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP.
FRIED OYSTERS WITH SAUCE TARTARE.
CHICKEN CROQUETTES WITH PEAS.
SWEETBREADS, MUSHROOM SAUCE.
CARROTS IN CASES. BERMUDA POTATOES.
CHERRY SHERBET.
CELERY AND CABBAGE SALAD IN GREEN PEPPERS.
ICE CREAM HATCHETS. CAKES.
COFFEE. BONBONS.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ALSO FOR A FEBRUARY 22 LUNCHEON.]
The sherbet course is exceedingly pretty. The ice is made from home-made candied cherries and put in gla.s.s sherbet cups with a little bunch of artificial cherries tied to the handle with green ribbon the colour of the leaves.
A SHROVE TUESDAY LUNCHEON
Shrove Tuesday comes the day before Lent begins, and there is always much gaiety on hand by way of a temporary farewell to festivities. The old custom of serving pancakes on this day should not be forgotten in planning one"s menu for the gala day meal; true, they are certainly an unusual dish for luncheon, but they should by no means be omitted.
There is a very beautiful and odd decoration to be made with delicate white flowers and tiny white candles, which can be arranged with little trouble. Have a low mound of moss for a foundation with a border of maiden-hair fern; stand Roman hyacinths or lilies of the valley in this, not too near together, with the candles between, having first inserted a toothpick in the bottom of each and had them on the ice over night to prevent them from melting too soon. Keep all the colour on the table green and white,--the candles, the china, if possible, and the ice cream. The pancakes should be made very large, one covering the whole griddle, spread with jelly, rolled, and sprinkled with sugar. One, or at most two, should serve a tableful of guests.
MENU
BOUILLON.
OYSTERS ON SKEWERS.
CHOPS AND PEAS. FRENCH FRIED POTATOES.
ASPARAGUS TIPS WITH MAYONNAISE.
FRENCH PANCAKES.
PISTACHE ICE CREAM. CAKES.
COFFEE. BONBONS.
The oysters are to be rather small, and put on skewers with bits of thin bacon alternating, and fried quickly till crisp; serve on toast with lemon. This is an easily prepared and delicious dish and one which makes a good subst.i.tute for any other suggested in any winter luncheon which is not within reach. Serve the ice cream in cases of white candy, or white cream in green cases, or use whipped cream as a bed around either ice cream if cases are not to be had.
Lincoln"s birthday comes early in February, and a patriotic luncheon can easily be arranged for that from the suggestions already given for Washington"s birthday. Patriotic affairs admit little variation; red, white, and blue ribbons and flowers, ice cream in paper boxes with red and white stripes, and cards with suitable inscriptions are about all one can have by way of appropriate decoration.
March
With March comes a lull in the social world. Lent holds sway, whether one professes to observe it or not. Dinners, receptions, dances, are all postponed for a time, and quiet teas and luncheons are the accepted forms of entertaining. A Lenten luncheon gives opportunity for a meal without meat, one which may be a pleasant change from the usual menu, and still will not suggest a fast.
A LENTEN LUNCHEON
For this no colour is so appropriate as violet, and luckily this is the month when the flower itself appears most plentifully in market. In arranging the table it may be well to depart for once from the rule of having all the linen in white, and use any violet-embroidered pieces you happen to have. Such a centrepiece is especially pretty, under the real flowers, and violet and white china, if you have it, will make an attractive table. In the centre have a basket of rough green straw tied with ribbons of violet, and filled with a ma.s.s of the flowers arranged to look like one large, loose bunch, but really in a quant.i.ty of small bunches which are to be given to the guests as they leave the table at the close of the meal, unless you prefer to have a knot of the flowers at each place, tied with narrow ribbons. This giving of individual bunches of flowers at the beginning of the meal, although always a graceful and pretty custom, is not seen just now as much as formerly.
If you use candles, have them of violet, with plain violet shades edged with the flowers sewed to the paper or silk foundation; or else have plain shades of heavy paper painted with wreaths of the flowers. Your cards may match these, being squares of cardboard almost covered with a wreath of violets, with a bowknot painted on it, and the name of the guest written across the flowers. Your bonbon dishes may be filled with candied violets and other violet-tinted sweets.
MENU
OYSTERS ON THE HALF-Sh.e.l.l.