Gala-Day Luncheons: A Little Book of Suggestions. Caroline French Benton
Jelly in Forms. Mayonnaise.
Pim-olas. Cheese Straws.
Snowball Ices. Snowball Cakes.
Coffee. Bonbons.
For the cocktail, select small oysters and pour over them a dressing made by mixing two teaspoonfuls of horse-radish with the juice of two lemons, two teaspoonfuls of tomato catsup and one of Tabasco sauce. This rule makes enough for five persons. Put eight oysters in a tall, shallow glass and cover with this dressing and put on the ice long enough to thoroughly chill them. The cocktail is also prettily served in ice-shells which are to be had of the caterer, or one can make them at home by piling up small, scalloped tins half filled with water and freezing; the tins will separate readily when they are slightly warmed.
If one lives where cucumbers are procurable in January, a delicious dish is made by cutting off a slice from each cucumber, scooping out the inside, heating them, filling with a thick creamed fish, replacing the slice and serving hot. The combination of the fish and cucumber flavours is delightful. If one is away from the city markets, however, have a course of lobster cutlets with sauce tartare in the place of this. The salad is one of the best and most attractive for a winter's day. It is made by heating, seasoning, and straining the thick part of canned tomatoes and setting them with gelatine in small individual moulds—little rings are pretty—and when they are firm turning them out on the inner leaves of lettuce; the inside of such a circle is to be filled with mayonnaise, or, if the jelly is in mounds, the mayonnaise is to be heaped around each and the whole sprinkled with chopped parsley.
The ice cream can be furnished by the caterer in the form of perfect snowballs, which are attractive on a winter's day, especially with the cakes, but if they are not to be had a white cream served with maraschino cherries is delicious. The cakes are made by scooping out rounded spoonfuls from a large angels' food and dipping them first in warm, boiled frosting and then rolling them in grated cocoanut. No sherbet is suggested for this luncheon, as one cold dish is enough for a January meal; still, if you wish to make it rather more elaborate you can introduce a course of orange ice or Roman punch after the quail; or you may make a formal luncheon of it by changing it in several ways.
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Oysters on the Half-Shell.
Green Pea Bisque. Croutons.
Lobster Cutlets. Sauce Tartare.
Slices of Turkey-Breast. Currant Jelly.
French Peas.
Pineapple Sherbet.
Quail on Toast. French Dressed Lettuce.
Snowball Ices. Snowball Cakes.
Coffee. Bonbons.
A MUSICAL LUNCHEON
The twenty-seventh of January is Mozart's birthday, and this anniversary gives opportunity for entertaining a group of friends who have musical tastes, or possibly a musical club. The guests might be asked to come at eleven o'clock, and a musicale might precede the luncheon.
Lay the table very much as for the New Year's day luncheon, with red flowers, candles, and other decoration, and if you wish to emphasise the national colours of Germany, Mozart's home, have red and chocolate bonbons on the table and give each guest a little knot of red and white carnations tied with black ribbons. For cards, go to the printer and have him strike off small cuts of Mozart's head on squares of cardboard; all printers have cuts of distinguished people, and they can be reproduced for about a dollar a dozen. Just under the cut draw in pen and ink a bar of music from one of the composer's works with his name attached in tiny letters.
At each plate may be one of the ingenious favours to be had at the confectioner's in the shape of a violin, a small piano, a banjo, a harp, or a mandolin. The ices may also be in these same shapes.
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Grape Fruit.
Clam Broth with Strips of Toast.
Pigs in Blankets.
Veal Cutlets, Breaded.
Sweet Potato Croquettes. Asparagus Tips.
Hot Rolls.
Cream Cheese Salad. Nut Sandwiches.
Ice Cream in Forms. Cakes.
Coffee. Bonbons.
The pigs in blankets are made by seasoning large oysters and folding each one in a very thin strip of bacon, pinning it with a small toothpick and browning in the frying-pan. The cutlets are to be cut in strips the size and shape of croquettes, breaded and fried. The asparagus served with this is, of course, canned. The salad is made by adding a little olive oil or cream to cream cheese, colouring it green with fruit colouring and moulding into balls the size of a hickory nut. These are to be laid on lettuce and a spoonful of mayonnaise added. A pretty change from the ordinary mayonnaise may be used with these green balls: a tablespoonful of unsweetened, condensed milk is used in place of the yolk of an egg; it is beaten, the oil and vinegar or lemon juice and seasoning added exactly in the same order and proportion as is usual; the result will be a stiff, foamy white mayonnaise. The sandwiches to serve with this salad are made of chopped English walnuts spread on bread and butter with just enough mayonnaise to moisten them.
A JAPANESE LUNCHEON FOR CHILDREN
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