Gala-Day Luncheons: A Little Book of Suggestions

The culinary key to the luncheon is this: —

1. Oysters.

2. Tomato Soup.

3. Smelts with Sauce Tartare.

4. Almonds. Radishes. Celery.

5. Eggs in Ramekins.

6. Chicken Chartreuse and Potatoes.

7. Peach Sherbet.

8. Shredded Lettuce and Crackers.

9. Ice Cream in Forms.

10. Tea.

11. and 12. Marrons and Bonbons.

The eggs are prepared by cutting up those that have been hard boiled, seasoning them well, covering with white sauce, putting in individual baking dishes, covering with grated cheese, and browning. The chicken is minced, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little sherry or stewed tomato, and put in a melon mould which has been buttered and lined with an inch thickness of boiled rice; then the mould is steamed for three quarters of an hour, and when done the whole is turned out on a round platter, and a tomato sauce is poured around it.

The salad is made by cutting a head of lettuce across with the scissors until leaves of grass result; mayonnaise is to be passed with this.

The ice cream is to be in forms of any sort, but the figure of a man is the most appropriate.

This luncheon may be changed from a gastronomic to a literary guessing game, either by furnishing the guests with a copy of the titles of the books without the authors, making them guess both the writer and the dish which is represented, or by furnishing the actual menu and asking the guests to give a title of a book which will suitably represent the course. In order to give opportunity for some choice in this luncheon, a slightly altered menu is also given: —

MENU

Toilers of the Sea.

A Study in Scarlet.

The Water Babies.

Between Whiles.

A Dead Secret, and Plain Tales from the Hills.

The Desert of Ice.

Wing and Wing.

Leaves of Grass, and Unleavened Bread.

The Snow Image.

Over the Teacups.

All's well that Ends Well.

"Wing and Wing" is by Cooper, as doubtless your guests will know, and may be represented by a course of game, either pigeons or duckling.

November

The principal gala day of this month is toward the last, the historic gala day of our forefathers, Thanksgiving; still, it is quite proper to have a luncheon at any time during the month which shall have the characteristics of the time.

A THANKSGIVING LUNCHEON

should remind us of the dress and food of our ancestors, but all of their austerity and asceticism may go without mention; we do not take kindly to these things in our days of luxury and ease. Have your guest-cards bear a sketch of a Puritan girl, or a man in a tall pointed hat and long cloak with a gun over his shoulder, or some other suggestion of Colonial times. Have your menu made up largely of dishes said to have been used at the first Thanksgiving Day meal, judiciously combined with every-day delicacies which are more warmly approved by this generation. Let your bonbons be in the shape of candy vegetables; they are odd, and wonderfully accurate, and are to be had in the form of radishes, carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, and almost everything else; and buy favours in the shape of miniature roasted turkeys. Chrysanthemums are the flower of November, and they are beautiful in any shade, but yellow is the most brilliant, and a mass of this splendid color in the centre of the table will make it attractive. If you use candles, have them of yellow, with paper shades of chrysanthemums.

The Puritans are said to have dined on oysters, clams, turkey, succotash, and game, and all these things must be in the menu: —

MENUOysters on the Half-ShellCream of Celery SoupClams NewburghRoast Turkey Breast in SlicesCurrant Jelly. Succotash in Cases. PotatoCranberry SherbetScallop Salad. OlivesBrown Bread and ButterIndividual Mince Pies. CheeseVanilla Ice Cream with Hot Chocolate SauceCoffee

The salad is made by scalding a pint of scallops, draining them and serving on lettuce with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and a French dressing. The mince-pies may be omitted if they seem too heavy for luncheon, but if you fancy this reminder of a real Thanksgiving meal, have them made in small round tins about four inches across, and have the pie-crust as delicate as possible. The hot sauce to serve with the ice cream is made by boiling a pint of water with half a pint of sugar until it hardens in water, and then adding two tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate dissolved in three tablespoonfuls of boiling water, and boiling again until it crisps in water; add vanilla and serve at once. In the place of both the pie and this cream, you may have a sort of combination of both, which might be called mince-pie ice cream, made by adding chopped raisins, spice, and a dash of wine to a rich chocolate ice cream; the slices look and taste like fruit cake, and served with whipped cream are delicious.

A CARMEN LUNCHEON

In cities the opera season begins earlier than it did formerly, and this suggests an operatic luncheon, either one served just before a matinée, or given by way of something new, without regard to times and seasons. Almost any opera gives scope for decorations and cards in keeping with the idea of its story, but perhaps Carmen is the most distinctive. For this, your cards should bear a bar of music, – the famous and easily recognized "Toreador" song is the best, – or else a sketch of some scene from the stage. If you can find paper fans with the pictures of bull-fights, such as are to be had at times in our shops, these are certainly appropriate as souvenirs.

The decorations must be in the Spanish colours, scarlet and yellow, and carnations will give the best results; if you fancy having a corsage bouquet for each guest these may be of alternate colours, yellow tied with red and red tied with yellow, with the flowers in the centre of the table of the two. The bonbons may be of scarlet and yellow also. Here is a Spanish menu: —

MENUOrangesRed Bean SoupBroiled Fish with Tomato SauceSpaghetti with CheeseSpanish Chicken. Lyonnaise PotatoesOlive SaladStuffed CakeCoffee

The soup is made of strong stock with red beans, and seasoning in this way: a little onion and garlic are browned in a deep kettle with a spoonful of lard and a pinch of thyme; a stock is poured over this, and two cupfuls of red beans which have been cooked until they are soft are added; the whole is put through a sieve and poured over croutons just before serving.

Any fish will do for the third course, but bluefish is the best; after it is cooked it is cut in pieces ready to serve, and then a rich tomato sauce is poured over each piece. The chicken is really delicious. A tender fowl is chosen, jointed, and put on to stew. A dozen dry red peppers are cut up and boiled, after the seeds have been removed; they are then moistened with a little chicken broth and put through a sieve; one green pepper and two sliced onions are fried in a little lard, the peppers and chicken added, and the whole covered with the thickened gravy and simmered for fifteen minutes before serving.

The salad is one of the commonest Spanish dishes. To make it, take a cup of dice made of stale bread, sprinkle with bits of red peppers, add a cup of stoned olives, cut up, and half a cup of chopped cucumber pickles; mix the whole with mayonnaise and serve on lettuce cut in strips; pass a strong cheese with it. The stuffed cake is also a dish frequently seen in Spain. A large sponge cake is soaked in mild sherry, stuck full of blanched almonds and stoned raisins, and eaten with a rich boiled custard poured over it.

A HORSE-SHOW LUNCHEON

In New York the horse show is the great November event; perhaps in other cities there is something corresponding to it, and certainly in small places there is a great interest taken in the County Fair, which comes somewhat earlier in the fall. For any day when a number of friends are to visit a place where the horse is the hero, a luncheon may precede the hour. A large floral horse-shoe may be the decoration of the table, or one may be suspended over the table and the flowers may be of the same variety in the centrepiece, but arranged with more grace. The guest cards may bear a sketch of a horse, or of a horse-shoe, or a whip or some similar device, and the favours may be of the same character, in the shape of little silver pins; or, if the luncheon is sufficiently informal to warrant it, these favours may be chocolate horses, standing at each plate.

MENUClams on the Half-ShellCream of Lima Bean SoupCreamed Scallops in RamekinsChicken in Green PeppersBreaded Chops with Tomato SaucePotatoes au Gratin. Hot RollsLobster Salad. Cheese StrawsIce Cream with Maple SauceCoffee

The chicken in the peppers is to be ordinary minced white meat, with sufficient white sauce to make it palatable; if it is too wet it will not be good. It is put in raw peppers from which the ends have been cut, and the seeds removed, and the whole thoroughly heated in the oven. The potatoes are baked and served in their own shells after they have been scooped out and seasoned, and cut in half, with grated cheese over them. The ice cream is a rich French cream made with eggs, and the sauce is hot maple syrup with English walnuts broken in pieces in it; it is one of the most delicious of desserts, well worth being used in place of any of the suggested creams at any luncheon during the year.

AN INDIAN LUNCHEON

Boys are supposed to scorn luncheon as a purely feminine meal and one which is necessarily frivolous; nevertheless there are occasions when a boy is interested in entertaining his friends at luncheon, perhaps before going to see a football game, or some such athletic contest, and then a meal with Indian accessories will delight him.

The table should be laid with a cloth rather than with doilies, and the centrepiece may be a birch-bark canoe, planted with ferns. The cards may be of birch bark with quotations from Hiawatha, or of cardboard with an Indian's head in colours, or a sketch of a wigwam, or a tomahawk, or a pair of snowshoes.

The bonbons may be in pretty little bead pouches laid at each plate, or else in pairs of small moccasins around on the table, or in tiny birch-bark canoes. The luncheon should be a hearty one without those "frills" which the budding masculine intelligence refuses to admire.

The menu, like the one suggested for the Thanksgiving luncheon, may have a suggestion of Indian dishes in it.

MENUOyster BisqueCreamed Fish in ShellsSlices of Turkey Breast. PeasCreamed Potatoes. CranberriesLobster Salad. SandwichesIndividual Mince-PiesVanilla Ice Cream. Cakes

A CARD LUNCHEON

After a morning at whist, one should have an appetite for the noon meal; let it be so delicious that the anxieties and disappointments of the game may be speedily forgotten! The table may be prettily laid with the usual doilies, and the flowers chosen chrysanthemums again, unless you fancy carrying out the red and black colours of the cards, when the plan suggested for the Musical Luncheon in January may be adopted, and red carnations tied with narrow black ribbons may be laid by each plate, and dark chocolate bonbons may be in the little dishes around a centrepiece of red carnations. At each of the places may be a small box of cardboard in the shape of a heart, a club, a diamond, or a spade alternately, filled with bonbons. There are tin cutters which are in these same shapes, and the cakes and sandwiches may still further carry out the idea. The ices, too, are to be found at the caterer's in slices of white with the figures on them in colours, but you may make a white cream at home and serve it in paper boxes painted with the various figures around the edge, if you choose.

Any one of the preceding menus may be used, or one may have something different which yet reproduces the best dishes which have been suggested, especially the delightful ice cream which was mentioned for one luncheon, with the maple sauce, one of the delicious things among new dishes.

MENUOyster BisqueLobster Croquettes with Tomato SauceMushroom Omelette. Hot RollsFried Chicken in Cream Sauce. Potato Soufflé. Asparagus TipsWaldorf Salad. Cheese SandwichesFrench Vanilla Ice Cream with Maple SauceCoffee. Bonbons

The mushroom omelette is easily prepared by putting a mixture of chopped mushrooms and olives in a delicately browned omelette as it is folded over just before it is served; there is nothing better in an egg dish than this. The salad is made by cutting rather sweet apples in bits and adding as much chopped celery and a stiff mayonnaise and laying on lettuce leaves; if English walnuts are added, the salad is entirely changed from the original, but it is thought quite as good by most persons; the fact that these nuts are to be served in the dessert, however, gives reason for omitting them from the mixture of apple and celery. If it is desired to have a sherbet for this luncheon, add it after the chicken, one of canned pineapple, or grape fruit, and have the final course a cream cheese with Bar-le-Duc currants and crackers, with the coffee; the mixture of sweet and cheese seems odd to one who has not tried it, but it is warranted to give satisfaction.

December

One of the charming things about Christmas Day is the now customary late luncheon for the members of the family and the intimate friends who are afterwards expected to prolong their stay until the lighting of the tree at early candle-light. Men as well as women are invited to this holiday celebration, and the occasion is one of the happiest of the happy season. Of course the guests are chosen with an especially careful thought as to their congeniality, for Christmas is never the time for the payment of social obligations, but rather for the fulfilment of the idea of peace and good-will, and comradeship must mark the keeping of the festival.

This Christmas luncheon in no way conflicts with the family dinner which comes later in the day, but is a thing apart. The children join in this, even if they are too young to remain out of bed for the later meal, and will hugely enjoy the fun which marks it.

A CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON

The table should be arranged in scarlet, with holly to offset the more brilliant colour; in the centre should stand one of the diminutive Christmas trees, such as are to be had in the German toy shops; they are artificial, and do not take fire from the candles, and have the additional advantage of lasting for years, as they fold up like an umbrella and may be tucked out of the way from one season to another. The pot in which this little tree stands is to be surrounded with a broad wreath of holly, lying on the table. The candles on the tree are to be scarlet, and they will sufficiently light the room except for the side lights on the wall. A narrow scarlet ribbon should extend from each plate to a little parcel lying at the foot of the tree, tied up with white tissue paper and scarlet ribbons, with a spray of holly attached, and at the close of the meal these ribbons are to be pulled by each guest and the gift opened; here the fun of the Christmas luncheon begins, for these presents should in every case be some small joke on the recipient, and ingenuity and cleverness should be the price paid for them by the giver. If one has the knack of writing jingles, – and it is easily acquired, – the card bearing the verse is to accompany the gift, and the words must be read aloud for the entertainment of all.

A young man who is addicted to the bad habit of Sunday golf might have a small plaid paper golf-bag, and a card with a picture of a golfer with his sticks, – this can be cut from an advertisement or catalogue, – and a rhyme something like this: —

"Behold this young golfer so fit,Who his ball (or his caddie) doth hit,When six days in the weekAnd the seventh day eke,To the links he doth eagerly flit."

An enthusiastic young housekeeper might be given a set of small tin baking dishes with this jingle: —

"This matron can cook wondrous well;Every recipe known she can tell;She can roast, stew, and bake,Make marvellous cake,And her jelly will frequently 'jell.'"

A pretty girl might have a pasteboard heart with the words written on it, "A heart for the heartless," and this verse below: —

"This maiden's an arrant young flirt;Her ways are both subtle and pert.Every man that she spiesShe looks on as a prize,And she cares not a fig for his hurt."

A little practice will make perfect in writing similar ridiculous nonsense.

The menu for this Christmas luncheon should be a very simple one in order not to impair the appetites for the Christmas goose, which will appear before many hours.

MENUBouillonScalloped SalmonDuck Croquettes with Peas. Potato PuffCelery Salad. WafersIndividual Plum PuddingsCoffee

Of course if plum pudding is necessary to the Christmas dinner it must be dispensed with here, but if this is the one meal of the holiday when the children of the family are present, these small lighted puddings will give the greatest delight; each one is to have a little spray of holly in the top and be sent to the table on fire; as the alcohol is destroyed in the blaze, there can be no objection to its use on this occasion.

After the final course a sleigh filled with candies may be brought in, with Santa Claus driving his team of reindeer, and this may be placed in state on one end of the table, or, if the little tree is not to be had for the central decoration, this toy may take its place, and stand in the centre all through the meal.

Sometimes one wishes to give a formal luncheon for guests who are spending the Christmas holidays in the house; the ideas suggested for the tree, the presents, the nonsense jingles, and the holly may all be used with perfect appropriateness, even if this comes either before or after the twenty-fifth. A Christmas luncheon speaks for itself, whenever it is given. For this you will need a rather elaborate

MENUWhole Pineapple filled with FruitsClam Bisque. Hot CrackersWhitebait. Brown Bread and ButterBoiled Chicken. Oyster SaucePotatoes CreamedOrange Sherbet in Holly BoxesTongue Salad. Olive SandwichesIndividual Plum PuddingsCoffee. Bonbons

Pineapple is in market all the year around in our cities, and at a price which varies little from the one in summer; if, however, the fruit is not to be had, serve whole bananas chilled, each one lying on its side on a plate with a strip of skin removed, and lemon juice and powdered sugar over it; it is to be eaten as bananas usually are now, with a spoon.

The whitebait is a peculiarly delicious fish, and not an expensive one, for as it is very light, a pound will go a long way; it is sprinkled with flour and fried in a wire basket in deep fat and served with a bit of lemon and thin strips of brown bread. Smelts or small pan fish may be substituted for it, if it is not in one's market. Only the white meat of the chicken is to be used on the table in the next course, with a white sauce with oysters in it. The tongue salad is made by cutting canned lunch tongue into small pieces, covering with French dressing for an hour and laying on lettuce with mayonnaise over it; the sandwiches passed with this are made of chopped olives and a little mayonnaise on thin bread and butter. An ice cream may be used in the place of the puddings if they are not fancied, and the caterer can furnish small figures of Santa Claus in coloured creams which are very attractive.

In December there should be snow on the ground, whether there is or not; certainly except on the sea-coast there is apt to be. A luncheon all in white is appropriate in winter in any case, but if your guests can look out on a white landscape, so much the better. This meal might precede a sleighing or skating party; as one skates in the city on artificial ice oftener than on that which forms naturally, this luncheon may be served, whatever the weather, for a party of skaters.

A SNOW LUNCHEON

Lay the table all in white, with doilies and lace centrepiece, and white, unshaded candles, whose glow will save the table from looking cold. Have your flowers white carnations with just a touch of green among them, and your bonbons and crystallised fruits white also. The radishes are to be peeled, all but the least bit, and mixed with celery hearts in a long glass dish, or served by themselves, as you fancy. The mousse may be in white sugar cases, if you prefer these rather than the melon mould.

MENUCream of Chicken SoupTimbales of Cod. Oyster SauceSweetbread PattiesBeefsteak à la Stanley. Creamed PotatoesCelery Salad. White MayonnaiseCheese StrawsWhipped Cream Mousse. Snowball CakesCoffee with Whipped Cream

The beefsteak à la Stanley, said to have been invented by the African discoverer, is an odd dish for luncheon, but it is extremely good, although one who has never eaten it would not be inclined to think so; if served in small pieces is not too heavy for a winter's luncheon.

A thick, tender sirloin steak is broiled and laid on a hot platter on a bed of horse-radish sauce made with the grated root, cream, and white bread crumbs; a layer of fried bananas is put on the meat after it has been seasoned, and over all, a thin layer of the sauce; the root is then grated on top to look like long white ribbons, and the dish is served hot. Of course for a luncheon the steak must be cut in strips before the sauce is put on, or it will be a difficult matter to prevent its becoming mussy in cutting, but if the plates are prepared in the kitchen, the matter will be simple enough. To one who has never attempted this dish a suggestion might be given, – do not condemn it untried. The mousse is simply whipped cream which has been sweetened, flavoured with sherry, filled with candied fruit and nuts cut in small bits, and packed in a melon mould with ice and salt for four or five hours; it should be served on a bed of whipped cream. The snow-ball cakes have been suggested before; they are very pretty with this luncheon.

As this menu is heartier than usual, no sherbet is given, for presumably there is enough to eat without it; if, however, just because it is hearty it is thought necessary to introduce a course of ice to refresh after the meat, an apricot ice made from canned fruit may be added.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT LUNCHEON

In announcing the engagement of a friend it is customary to do so with her permission at a luncheon given to her most intimate friends; she should indeed make up the list with the hostess, limiting it to those who are entitled to hear the news directly. Of course if there are only a few, the luncheon should be an informal one, but if larger, the decorations and menu must be more elaborate.

If none of those present have been entertained at a Valentine luncheon on the order of the one already suggested, that may be followed almost exactly, as everything except the dove over the table is quite as appropriate for this meal as for that; if the guests are the same, then the decorations are to be altered more or less.

Lay the table with lace doilies over pink silk; have several vases of pink roses on the table, and have all the sandwiches, cakes, and ices in heart shapes. Use arrows of stiff silver paper in the ices. Give heart-shaped boxes filled with heart-shaped candies to the guests, unless you care to invest in pretty little stick-pins with gold or silver, or coloured enamel hearts on the end.

An appetising menu would be: —

MENUOysters on the Half-ShellBouillonFillet of Flounder. Sauce TartarePotato BallsChicken Livers on SkewersFillet of Beef, Sliced, with Mushroom SaucePotato CroquettesFrozen Fruit in Candy FlowersDevilled Eggs on Chiccory. MayonnaiseHeart SandwichesIce-Cream Hearts. CakesCoffee. Bonbons

The chicken livers are prepared by putting good-sized pieces of cooked livers on rather small wooden or silver skewers, alternating them with bits of thin bacon, putting them when ready in the frying-pan, and turning them till brown, and serving on toast with lemon. They are what is called en brochette in cook-books, a formidable name for a simple dish. Fillet of beef is really a dinner dish, yet it is seen not unfrequently at luncheons, sliced in the kitchen and put on the plates with a spoonful of mushroom sauce. The frozen fruit has been already given, – a mixture of sliced oranges and bananas with a foamy sauce poured over; it is served in sherbet cups, or in candy flowers.