As the days begin to grow cooler, and a suspicion of frost in the air in the early morning brings back one"s vigour, golf seems the finest game in the world, and long days are spent on the links. A luncheon for golfers will transform any day in the week into a gala day, if only it is not taken too seriously. The guests are to come in their golf suits to be in keeping; the luncheon should be bright and informal rather than stately.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FOR A GOLF LUNCHEON.]
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[Ill.u.s.tration: GOLF FAVOUR.]
If the company is a large one, seat them in fours at small tables, each of which should have a centrepiece of salvia, or Scotch heather, or--just for fun--thistles. The little souvenirs for this luncheon are of great variety, and most ingenious. There are plaid golf bags with sticks, to be filled with bonbons, or small plaid woollen caps to be presented to men afterwards for tobacco pouches, unless the men are present to receive them at the luncheon. There are plaid-covered golf score-books, which are really useful as well as pretty, and a host of other things, such as individual sticks, which are less elaborate.
Your cards may have sketches of girls in golf costume, or little cuts of such figures may be found in colours in golf catalogues, and cut out and pasted on the cards. The tables may have plaid ribbon drawn down each side, or have bows at the corners. You might have a Scotch menu for the sake of variety, although Scotch dishes do not compare with American.
SCOTCH MENU
SCOTCH BROTH.
BOILED SALMON. BOILED POTATOES.
HAGGIS.
PHEASANT. CURRANT JELLY.
SCOTCH RAREBIT ON TOAST.
PLUM TART WITH CREAM. COFFEE.
The broth is made by stewing mutton with vegetables until it is sufficiently strong; when the whole is strained and cooked, barley is added till the broth is quite thick; just before serving, a little chopped parsley is put in. Haggis is usually rather a formidable dish to undertake, as most recipes are very elaborate; this one, however, is simple and the results are good. Boil the head, heart, and liver of a sheep with one pound of bacon for an hour; then chop them, season highly, and add sufficient oatmeal to make a thick mush. Boil this in a bag for two hours, and serve it in the same bag, rolling it back to look as well as possible; this receptacle is less objectionable than that in which haggis is served in Scotland,--the stomach of the sheep.
Should you fear to venture on this dish, you might subst.i.tute for it Scotch snipe. For this make a paste of a box of sardines mixed with lemon and a little onion juice; spread on slices of bread and cut in strips half an inch thick. Put these in the oven and heat thoroughly, and then pour over them a sauce made of the beaten yolks of two eggs and six tablespoonfuls of cream, to which has been gradually added a tablespoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, and after taking from the fire, a half-teaspoonful of salt, a dash of red pepper, and a little chopped parsley. The strips of toast must be served very hot, and will be found delicious. Even if the haggis is used, this dish might be added to the bill of fare. If pheasant is not obtainable, prairie chicken is a perfect subst.i.tute for it, or woodc.o.c.k will do in the place of either.
The Scotch rarebit is quite different from the Welsh, being made by adding to half a pint of white sauce a tablespoonful of anchovy paste and a pinch of red pepper; cook this for a moment and add six hard-boiled eggs cut in rather large bits. Simmer the whole for three minutes, and serve on b.u.t.tered toast.
The plum tart is made by cooking large purple or green-gage plums in a deep baking dish with a sprinkling of flour and plenty of sugar, and a cover of pie-crust over the top. Tart is always served in what foreigners call dessert plates, but they are exactly like our soup plates, with a dessert spoon and a fork, and thick cream is pa.s.sed with the dish. Coffee is never served on a Scotch table as a final course, but is offered with tea in the drawing-room after the meal. However, in this case it may be pa.s.sed after the tart, or poured on the porch afterwards.
Should you wish a more conventional luncheon, this menu is a delicious one.
MENU
GRAPES.
CHICKEN BOUILLON.
CODFISH STEAKS. LOBSTER SAUCE.
BAKED SPAGHETTI WITH OYSTERS.
PRAIRIE CHICKEN WITH CURRANT JELLY.
BROWNED POTATOES.
TOMATO AND WALNUT SALAD. Cheese Crackers.
FROZEN WATERMELON.
COFFEE.
Although this is rather an elaborate menu, there is no sherbet in it on account of the watermelon, which is better if no other frozen dish is used with it.
The spaghetti is prepared exactly as when cooked with cheese; that is, it is stewed till tender, washed in cold water to remove the starch, and laid in a dish in layers with seasoning, oysters, and white sauce, and baked till brown. This is more easily managed if bread crumbs are put on top with b.u.t.ter, and small dishes or ramekins are used.
The watermelon is to be scooped in large spoonfuls from the rind, the seeds removed, and the melon laid in a freezer with powdered sugar and a little sherry, and the freezer put in a cool place packed with ice and salt for at least five hours.
When country houses are rather far apart, it is often convenient to go from one to another on one"s wheel, in spite of the fact that bicycling is no longer in high favour. Still, so long as wheels are so useful they will continue to be used, and just so long
A BICYCLE LUNCHEON
[Ill.u.s.tration]
will be found appropriate for some occasion.
Decorate your table with golden-rod or autumn leaves or a mixture of golden-rod and purple asters, the two flowers which are so beautiful together; do not on any account use garden or hot-house flowers for a luncheon, which on its face suggests out-of-door sport. Search the magazines for bicycle advertis.e.m.e.nts, and cut out bicyclers in all sorts of att.i.tudes and dress, and paste these on cards with a brief line commending some one make of wheel for each guest; the more extravagant the praise of each, the better. There are all sorts of pretty little favours to be had of bicycles, tricycles, and tandems, which will serve as souvenirs. This may be transformed into an automobile luncheon by the change of the two conveyances. Oysters are again in season, and will be welcomed by the hostess as a first course.
MENU
OYSTERS ON THE HALF-Sh.e.l.l.
TOMATO SOUP.
CREAMED LOBSTER IN Sh.e.l.lS.
QUAIL ON TOAST. POTATO CROQUETTES. JELLY.
HOT ROLLS.
GRAPE SHERBET.
APPLE SALAD. WATER-CRESS SANDWICHES.
FROZEN PEACHES. CAKE.
COFFEE. BONBONS.
The salad is made by scooping out the whole inside of a large red apple, after a slice has been carefully cut from the stem end with a sharp knife; this pulp is chopped, mixed with small bits of celery and English walnuts, with stiff mayonnaise, and the whole returned to the apple, the top being put on again so that the cut does not show; this is a very pretty salad, especially if care is taken to choose perfect apples.
As college opens again there are always those whose school-days are over, who are "left lamenting" somewhat because the happy days are no more. For such, a luncheon may be arranged which will have special reference to the common past of a group of cla.s.smates.
ALUMNI LUNCHEON
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Lay the table prettily with the usual doilies, bonbon dishes of almonds, radishes, candies, and crystallised fruits. Garden asters are now in full bloom and come in great variety of colour, and these will make a beautiful centrepiece, ma.s.sed in a large bowl. The combination of crimson and pink, of pink and white, or of white and purple is better than the use of one shade alone. The table should be lighted with Roman lamps or else with Jerusalem candlesticks, as suggestive of cla.s.sical studies; to be sure, September is one of the sunny months, but this luncheon may be used quite as well at some other time of the year as the fall, if that is desired, so the suggestion of the lamps may stand.
The most attractive feature of the luncheon may be the cards, which may well be preserved for years as souvenirs of college as well as of this meal; they are to be photographs of the particular place in the college grounds or dormitories or village with which each guest was most a.s.sociated. If one has a friend still in college with a kodak (and what college girl does not own one?), she can take and send them to you. The girl who was oftenest in the Dean"s office for reprimand may have a picture of that interior; the one who was champion at basket ball, a view of the gymnasium with the team at play; the girl who was the best at chemistry, a glimpse of the laboratory; the one who frequented the soda fountain down town, a picture of that. Or, if these photographs are too frivolous, pictures of beautiful views about the college grounds may be subst.i.tuted.
The luncheon may suggest in its menu the favourite dishes of some of the cla.s.s, or one course might be a reminder of something served constantly on the college table; this meal really gives unlimited opportunity for ingenuity.
If the weather does not admit of using artificial lights, and yet the table is felt to be incomplete without the small Roman lamps, they might be filled with flowers instead of oil and used as decorations, the central group of asters being kept low in a very shallow bowl.
MENU
PEACHES AND GRAPES.
CREAM OF CORN SOUP.
CREAMED OYSTERS.
JELLIED CHICKEN. PIM-OLAS.
CHOPS WITH PEAS. SWEET POTATO CROQUETTES.
LEMON SHERBET.
TOMATO AND LETTUCE SALAD. FRENCH DRESSING.
SANDWICHES.
MAPLE PARFAIT. CAKES.