Chapter II: Part 2

_Scallop Patties._—Cook a pint of scallops in their own liquor for ten minutes. Take out the scallops and add to the liquor a tablespoonful of butter rubbed smooth with one of flour, and pepper and salt to taste. Return the scallops to this sauce, and let it just come to a boil. Fill scallop-shells with the mixture, sprinkle fine crumbs over them, dot with bits of butter, and brown in the oven. Pass lemon with this.

_Graham Gems._—Two cups Graham flour, two cups milk, two eggs, two teaspoonfuls butter, two teaspoonfuls sugar, pinch of salt. Melt the butter, warm the milk, and stir these into the unbeaten eggs. Add the flour and salt, and beat well before baking in heated gem-pans in a hot oven.

5.

Fruit.
Corn-meal Hasty Pudding.
Broiled Fresh Mackerel. Saratoga Potatoes.
Buttered Toast.
Tea. Coffee.

6.

Wheat-Germ Meal.
Curried Eggs. Rice Muffins.
Strawberries and Cream.
Tea. Cocoa.

_Curried Eggs._—One cup good gravy, six hard-boiled eggs, one teaspoonful curry-powder. Heat the gravy; stir into it the curry-powder wet up in a little cold gravy or water, and lay the eggs, each sliced in three, in the scalding gravy. Set the saucepan at the side of the stove where it will not boil, and let it stand ten minutes before sending to table.

_Rice Muffins._—One cup boiled rice, two eggs, two cups flour, one tablespoonful melted butter, pinch salt, three cups milk. Stir together the milk, eggs, butter, and salt; beat in the rice and flour; bake quickly.

7.

Fruit.
Graham Porridge.
Broiled Steak. Stewed Potatoes.
Omelet Bread.
Coffee. Cocoa.

_Omelet Bread._—Half-cup flour, three eggs, one tablespoonful melted butter, one teaspoonful sugar, pinch of salt, milk enough to make thick batter. Beat the whites and yolks of eggs separately, and very light; stir the butter, flour, milk, salt, sugar, and yolks together, and add the frothed whites; pour into a well-greased tin pan, and bake, covered, on the top of the stove; uncover and brown in the oven; eat immediately.

8.

Fruit.
Wheatena.
Crisped Smoked Beef. Brown Biscuit.
Chopped Potatoes.
Coffee. Chocolate.

_Crisped Smoked Beef._—Boil slices of smoked beef for five minutes; take them out, dry, and put into the frying-pan with a tablespoonful of butter; stir about until crisp, but not too dry.

_Brown Biscuit._—One cup white flour, two cups Graham flour, two tablespoonfuls lard, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, a little salt, milk enough to make a soft dough. Handle the dough as little as possible, and bake quickly.

9.

Hominy boiled in Milk.
Poached Eggs. Fried Bacon.
Raspberry Short-cake.
Tea. Cocoa.

_Raspberry Short-cake._—Four cups flour, two cups milk, two tablespoonfuls lard, or lard and butter, three teaspoonfuls baking-powder, salt, one quart raspberries. Roll out a little more than half the dough into a sheet to cover the bottom of a deep biscuit-pan. Spread the berries thickly on this, sprinkle with sugar, and of the remaining dough make a top crust. Bake in a steady oven, cut into squares, and eat hot with butter and sugar, or with sugar and cream.

10.

Oranges.
Cracked Wheat.
Broiled Chicken. Saratoga Potatoes.
Boston Brown Bread.
Coffee. Chocolate.

_Boston Brown Bread._—One cup Indian-meal, one cup rye-meal, half-cup white flour, one cup milk, half-cup molasses, pinch salt, one small teaspoonful soda. Sift the meal, flour, soda, and salt together, work in the milk and molasses, pour into a well-greased brown-bread mould, and boil two hours, taking care that the water in the outer vessel does not come to the top of the mould. Unless you have a late breakfast, it is well to cook the bread the day before, and warm it the next morning.

FAMILY BREAKFASTS FOR SUMMER

As the season advances and the warm weather becomes settled, the preference should be given to fish and egg dishes rather than to those containing meat. For a sultry morning a breakfast of which fruit makes an important part is welcome generally to both palate and digestion.

The many kinds of delicious fresh fish that may easily be procured should hold a prominent place in summer bills of fare; while eggs, usually plentiful and cheap at this season, may be prepared in various tempting fashions.

1.

Strawberries.
Moulded Cerealine.
Broiled Shad. New Potatoes.
Rye Gems.
Tea. Cocoa.

_Strawberries._—When served as a first course at breakfast, it is better to have them unhulled, and to eat them with the fingers, dipping each berry into powdered sugar.

_Moulded Cerealine._—Prepare the cerealine as usual the day before, and fill small cups with it. Turn it out the next morning, and eat cold, with cream.

_Rye Gems._—Three cups rye-flour, three cups milk, three eggs, one tablespoonful sugar, one tablespoonful butter. Beat hard and bake quickly.

2.

Red Raspberries.
Oatmeal.
Shad Roes in Ambush.
Potato Croquettes. Dry Toast.
Radishes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Shad Roes in Ambush._—Two shad roes, four hard-boiled eggs, one cup milk, one tablespoonful flour, two teaspoonfuls butter; pepper and salt to taste. Lay the roes in boiling water, and let them simmer for ten minutes. Drain this off, pour cold water upon them, and let them stand in this for ten minutes; then take them out, and set them aside until wanted. Separate the whites and yolks of the boiled eggs, chop the whites coarsely, and rub the yolks through a sieve. Make a white sauce by heating the milk and thickening it with the butter and flour rubbed together. Rub the shad roes to pieces with the back of a spoon, taking care not to crush the eggs too much. Stir them into half of the white sauce, season, let them stand on the fire long enough to be heated through, and pour into a pudding-dish. Mix the whites of the eggs with the rest of the sauce, and cover the shad roes with this; last, strew the powdered yolks over the top. Cover closely, and set in a hot oven for three minutes.

3.

Boiled Hominy.
Chicken Mince. Raw Tomatoes.
Green Corn Fritters.
Blackberries and Cream.
Tea. Cocoa.

_Chicken Mince._—From the bones of a cold roast, boiled, or fricasseed chicken cut all the meat, and mince it fine with a sharp knife, chopping with it two hard-boiled eggs. Stir this into a cup of gravy, or, if you have none, use instead a cup of white sauce made as directed in "Shad Roes in Ambush." Season to taste, fill a pudding-dish or scallop-shells with the mixture, and serve very hot.

_Green-Corn Fritters._—Two cupfuls green corn cut from the cob, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls milk, one tablespoonful melted butter, flour enough for thin batter. Whip the eggs light, beat into these the corn and the other ingredients, adding the flour last of all. Bake on a griddle.

4.

Black Raspberries.
Wheaten Grits.
Broiled Salt Mackerel, Cream Sauce.
Stewed Potatoes. Graham Pop-Overs.

_Broiled Salt Mackerel._—Soak your fish overnight in cold water, and wipe it dry before putting it on the gridiron. Broil over a clear fire, lay on a hot platter, and pour the sauce over it.

_Cream Sauce._—Make like white sauce given above, doubling the quantity of butter, seasoning to taste, and using half milk, half cream, if you have the latter.

_Graham Pop-Overs._—Three eggs, one and a half cups Graham flour, half cup white flour, two cups milk, pinch salt. Beat the eggs very light, whites and yolks together. Add the milk and salt, and sift in the flour rather slowly, to prevent lumping. Strain the batter through a sieve, and fill heated gem-pans. Bake in a quick oven, and eat immediately.

5.

Melons.
Moulded Oatmeal.
Sardines _au gratin_. Fresh Eggs, boiled.
Sally-Lunn.
Cocoa. Coffee.

_Sardines au gratin._—Open a box of sardines; take them out carefully and lay them in a small pie-plate; squeeze a few drops of a lemon on each fish, sprinkle lightly with fine crumbs, and brown in the oven.

_Sally-Lunn._—Two eggs, two tablespoonfuls melted butter, one cup milk, pinch salt, half yeast-cake, two cups flour. Beat the eggs light; stir in the butter, salt, and milk, then the flour, and last the yeast cake, dissolved. Let it rise at least six hours in a very well-greased tin; bake, turn out, and eat hot.

6.

Graham Flakes.
Baked Omelet. Parisian Potatoes.
Quick Biscuit.
Blackberries and Cream.
Coffee. Cocoa.

_Baked Omelet._—Five eggs, half cup milk, quarter cup fine bread-crumbs, tablespoonful melted butter; pepper and salt to taste. Soak the crumbs in the milk ten minutes; beat the eggs very light, the whites and yolks separately; stir the soaked crumbs, the milk, the butter, and seasoning into the yolks, and mix the whites in lightly. Pour into a well-greased pudding-dish, and bake in a quick oven.

_Parisian Potatoes._—From peeled and washed white potatoes scoop out little balls with the cutter that comes for this purpose. Boil them for five minutes, then put them in the frying-pan with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Stir them about until every ball is well coated with the butter, pour into a colander, and set them in the oven until brown. Sprinkle with salt and a little minced parsley before serving.

_Quick Biscuit._—Two cups flour, one tablespoonful mixed lard and butter, one cup milk, one heaping teaspoonful baking-powder, pinch salt. Handle little, roll out and cut quickly, and bake in a steady oven.

7.

Boiled Rice.
Fried Pickerel. Stewed Potatoes.
Cocoa. Coffee.
Peach Short-Cake.

_Peach Short-Cake._—Make a dough as for quick biscuit, doubling the materials. Roll two thirds of the dough into a sheet to fit the bottom of a baking-pan, spread thickly with sliced peaches, sprinkle with sugar, and lay over these a crust made of the remaining dough. Bake in a steady oven. Split, butter, and eat hot.

8.

Farina Porridge.
Barbecued Ham. Water-cress.
Butter Cakes.
Huckleberries.
Tea. Coffee.

_Barbecued Ham._—Slice cold boiled corned or smoked ham. Fry in its own fat, remove the slices to another dish, and keep hot while you add to the fat in the pan a teaspoonful of white sugar, three dashes of black pepper, a teaspoonful (scant) of made mustard, and three tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Boil up once, and pour over the ham.

_Butter Cakes._—Prepare a dough as for quick biscuit, roll it out quarter of an inch thick, and cut into small rounds. Roll each of these out until as thin as cookies, prick with a fork, and bake in a quick oven. When done, butter well. Leave in the oven half a minute longer, and send hot to table.

9.

Oatmeal.
Omelet with Corn. Deviled Tomatoes.
Cold Bread.
Peaches and Cream.
Iced Tea. Coffee.

_Omelet with Corn._—Prepare as you do baked omelet; but at the last, before putting into the pan, add a cupful of green corn cut from the cob. Pour the omelet into a frying-pan containing two tablespoonfuls of butter, and cook, loosening it constantly from the bottom with a knife to prevent its scorching. When done, double over and serve.

_Deviled Tomatoes._—Cut fresh tomatoes into thick slices, broil on a fine wire gridiron over a clear fire, and when done lay in a dish, and pour over them a sauce like that made for barbecued ham, substituting two tablespoonfuls of olive oil or of melted butter for the ham fat.

10.

Peaches and Pears.
Moulded Hominy.
Broiled Bluefish. Stuffed Potatoes.
Corn-meal Gems.
Tea. Coffee.

_Stuffed Potatoes._—Bake eight large, fine potatoes until soft; cut off the tops, and scoop out the contents; add to them one egg whipped light, two tablespoonfuls melted butter, half cup milk, pepper and salt. Beat all together, and return to the skins. Set in an oven, top upwards, long enough to become well heated, and serve.

_Corn-meal Gems._—Three eggs, two cups milk, two tablespoonfuls butter, two cups corn-meal, one cup flour, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder. Work the butter and milk into the meal, then add the other materials, the flour last. Have your gem-pans very hot, and bake half an hour in a hot oven.

FAMILY BREAKFASTS FOR AUTUMN

During the early part of the autumn, and indeed until late in the winter, the supply of fruit is only less abundant than in the summer. Melons and peaches go first, but their place is taken by grapes, pears, apples, bananas, and, later, mandarins, tangerines, and oranges. Meat now begins to be a more necessary article in the bill of fare. By the exercise of a little ingenuity, left-overs from the dinner of the previous day may be rendered even more appetizing than they were in their first estate.

1.

Peaches and Pears.
Oatmeal.
Veal Cutlets _à la Maître d'Hôtel_.
Potatoes hashed with Cream.
Quick Sally-Lunn.
Cocoa. Coffee.

_Veal Cutlets à la Maître d'Hôtel._—Cut veal cutlets into neat pieces, and pound each with a mallet. Broil over a clear fire, transfer to a hot dish, and lay on each cutlet a small piece of _maître d'hôtel_ butter. Set in a hot corner, covered, for five minutes before sending to table.

_Maître d'Hôtel Butter._—Into one cupful of good butter work a tablespoonful of lemon juice and two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped parsley, with a little salt and white pepper. Pack into a small jar, cover, and keep in a cool place. It is useful to put on chops, steaks, or cutlets, or to mix with potatoes.

_Potatoes hashed with Cream._—Chop cold boiled potatoes fine, and stir them into a cup of hot milk in which has been melted two tablespoonfuls of butter. Pepper and salt to taste. Let the potatoes become heated through before you serve them. If you have cream, use this and half as much butter.

_Quick Sally-Lunn._—Three eggs, half cup butter, one cup milk, three cups flour, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, half teaspoonful salt. Stir the butter, melted, into the beaten yolks; add the milk, the flour (into which the baking-powder has been sifted), and the whites last. Bake in one loaf, in a steady oven.

2.

Cracked Wheat.
Bananas.
Minced Mutton with Poached Eggs.
Buttered Toast. Baked Potatoes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Minced Mutton with Poached Eggs._—Chop cold boiled or roast mutton quite fine. Put two cupfuls of this into the frying-pan with half an onion minced, and a half-cupful of good gravy. If you have none, use instead a gill of hot water and a lump of butter the size of an egg. Just before taking the mince from the fire, stir into it a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce or two tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup. Heap the mince on small squares of buttered toast laid on a hot platter, and place a poached egg on top of each mound. Serve _very_ hot.

3.

Apples.
Wheat Granules.
Soused Mackerel. Potato Balls.
Quick Waffles.
Cocoa. Coffee.

_Soused Mackerel._—These may be purchased canned at nearly any good grocery, and make an excellent breakfast dish.

_Potato Balls._—To two cupfuls cold mashed potato add an egg, a teaspoonful of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Form with floured hands into small round or long balls, and fry in deep fat.

_Quick Waffles._—Three cups flour, one tablespoonful butter, two eggs, two cups milk, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, a little salt. Beat the eggs light, add the milk, butter, and salt. Stir in the flour with the baking-powder last. Grease your waffle-irons well with a piece of fat pork.

4.

Grapes.
Wheaten Grits.
Broiled Steak with Mushrooms.
Fried Egg-plant. Unleavened Bread.
Coffee. Chocolate.

_Broiled Steak with Mushrooms._—Broil your steak over a clear fire. Before you put it on, open a can of mushrooms, take out half of them, and cut each mushroom in two. _Sauté_ them in a frying-pan with a little butter, unless you have a cup of bouillon or clear beef soup or gravy at hand. If you have, let them simmer in this for ten minutes, and when you dish your steak, pour gravy and mushrooms over it. Leave it covered in the oven five minutes before sending to table.

_Unleavened Bread._—Two cups flour, one tablespoonful butter, a pinch salt, enough water to make a dough. Knead this well, roll out _very_ thin, cut in rounds with a biscuit cutter, prick with a fork, and bake in a hot oven.

5.

Pears.
Corn-meal Mush.
Dropped Fish-cakes. Saratoga Potatoes.
Simple Griddle Cakes.

_Dropped Fish-cakes._—One cup of salt cod picked very fine, half cup milk, one tablespoonful butter, two teaspoonfuls flour, one egg, pepper to taste. Make a white sauce of the flour, butter, and milk, stir the fish into this, add the egg, beaten light, season, and drop by the spoonful into boiling lard, as is done with fritters.

_Simple Griddle Cakes._—Four cups sour milk, one small teaspoonful baking-soda, salt, flour for batter. Stir well and bake quickly.

6.

Grapes.
Rye-meal Porridge.
Broiled Sausages. Stewed Potatoes.
Wheat-flour Gems.

_Broiled Sausages._—Make sausage-meat into quite thin cakes with the hands, lay them on a gridiron, and broil them over a hot fire.

_Wheat-flour Gems._—Two cups flour, one cup milk, one tablespoonful melted butter, two eggs, saltspoonful salt. Beat the eggs light, stir in the milk, the butter, the salt. Sift in the flour, stir briskly, and bake in gem-pans in a hot oven.

7.

Bananas.
Oatmeal.
Clam Fritters. Boiled Potatoes.
English Muffins.
Tea. Coffee.

_Clam Fritters._—Two dozen clams, one egg, one cup milk, two small cups flour, or enough for thin batter, salt and pepper. Chop the clams fine, and stir them into the batter made of the milk, clam liquor, beaten eggs, and the flour. Season to taste, and fry by the spoonful in very hot lard.

_English Muffins._—Two cups milk, one tablespoonful butter, one teaspoonful sugar, saltspoonful salt, half of a yeast-cake. Four cups flour, or enough to make a very stiff batter. Set to rise for about three hours, or until the batter is like a honeycomb, then bake on a soapstone griddle in very large muffin-rings. Make them the day before they are wanted, and, when ready to use them, split, toast lightly, butter, and eat hot.

8.

Oranges.
Large Hominy.
Fried Smelts. Moulded Potato.
Hasty Muffins.
Tea. Coffee.

_Moulded Potato._—Press cold mashed potato into small teacups; turn out, brush over with yolk of egg, put a bit of butter on top of each, and brown in the oven.

_Hasty Muffins._—Two cups flour, two eggs, one tablespoonful mixed butter and lard, two teaspoonfuls white sugar, one teaspoonful baking-powder, saltspoonful salt, one cup milk. Into the eggs, beaten very light, stir the melted shortening, the sugar, the milk, and the flour, well mixed with the salt and baking-powder. Stir well, and bake in thoroughly greased tins.

9.

Grapes.
Cerealine cooked in Milk.
Egg Timbales with Cheese. Lyonnaise Potatoes.
Wheat Puffs.

_Egg Timbales with Cheese._—Six eggs, one gill milk, salt and pepper to taste, two tablespoonfuls grated cheese. Beat the eggs well without separating the yolks and whites, add the milk and seasoning, stir in the cheese, and pour into well-greased little tin pans with straight sides; set these in a pan of hot water, and bake in the oven; when the egg is firm, turn out on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.

_Lyonnaise Potatoes._—Slice cold boiled potatoes into neat rounds; cut a medium-sized onion into thin slices, and put it with a good tablespoonful of butter or bacon dripping into the frying-pan; when the onion is colored, add the potatoes, about two cupfuls, and stir them about until they are a light brown. Strew with chopped parsley, and serve.

_Wheat Puffs._—Two cups milk, two eggs, two cups flour. Beat hard and very smooth, and bake in greased and heated gem-pans or earthenware cups. Eat at once.

FAMILY BREAKFASTS FOR WINTER

A word may be said here anent the cooking of porridges. There are as many theories about this apparently simple affair as there are denominational differences in theological circles. One housekeeper soaks the oatmeal overnight; another puts it on when the fire is made; another fifteen minutes before breakfast. Mrs. A. soaks hers in cold water, Mrs. B. uses boiling, while Mrs. C. inclines to having the water just hot. One stirs the porridge frequently; another says it is ruined if touched with a spoon.

On general principles, one may say that oatmeal is never the worse for a soaking, although some varieties need it less than others; that unless carefully and evenly cooked it is apt to become lumpy without stirring or beating; and that the degree of stiffness to which it should be brought must depend upon the taste of those who are to eat it.

1.

Oranges.
Graham Mush.
Sausage Rolls. Rye Muffins.
Baked Potatoes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Sausage Rolls._—Make a good pastry by chopping into two cups of flour four tablespoonfuls of butter, making this to a paste with half a cup of ice-water, and rolling out three times. Have the ingredients and utensils very cold, and handle the paste as little and as lightly as possible. Cut the pastry with a sharp knife into strips about three inches square. On one of these lay cooked and minced sausage-meat, and cover it with another square of the same size. Pinch the edges together, and bake in a moderate oven. Proceed thus until all the materials are used.

_Rye Muffins._—One cup white flour, two cups rye flour, two eggs, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, one tablespoonful butter, one tablespoonful sugar, saltspoonful salt, milk enough for stiff batter. Beat well, and bake in muffin-tins.

2.

Mandarins.
Boiled Hominy.
Pork Tenderloins. Apple Sauce.
Crumpets.
Coffee. Cocoa.

_Crumpets._—Two cups milk, three cups flour, three tablespoonfuls butter, saltspoonful salt, half yeast-cake dissolved in warm water. Warm the milk; beat in the salted flour, the melted butter, and the yeast. Let this sponge stand in a warm place until light. Bake in greased muffin-rings on a hot griddle, or in muffin-pans in the oven. In either case fill the pans or rings only half full, as the crumpets will rise in baking.

3.

Oatmeal.
Veal Croquettes. Stewed Potatoes.
Sour-milk Muffins.
Stewed Prunes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Veal Croquettes._—One cup cold veal, minced fine; tiny bit of onion, scalded and chopped; half teaspoonful parsley; one cup milk, or half milk, half soup stock; one tablespoonful flour; one tablespoonful butter; pepper and salt to taste; one egg. Cook the butter and flour together until they bubble; pour the milk or milk and stock on them, and stir until they thicken. Remove from the fire, and pour upon the beaten egg; then stir in the meat, seasoned with the onion, parsley, pepper, and salt. Set this aside until cold enough to handle, then form into croquettes between the floured hands. Roll in egg, and then in fine cracker crumbs, and drop into boiling lard. They are better prepared an hour before frying.

In making veal croquettes, oyster liquor may be used in place of the stock, and a few oysters chopped with the veal will improve the flavor.

_Sour-milk Muffins._—One egg, two cups sour milk, half teaspoonful salt, half teaspoonful soda dissolved in hot water; flour to make a stiff batter. Beat hard, and bake quickly.

4.

Bananas.
Wheat Flakes.
Apples and Bacon. Loaf Corn Bread.
Saratoga Potatoes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Apples and Bacon._—Fry thin slices of bacon crisp in its own fat. Take up the bacon and keep hot while you fry in the fat left in the pan apples sliced across and cored, but not peeled. Arrange the apples in the centre of the dish, the bacon around the sides.

_Loaf Corn Bread._—Two eggs, two cups milk, two cups corn meal, one cup flour, one tablespoonful lard, one tablespoonful sugar, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, saltspoonful salt. Beat the eggs light, add the melted lard, the milk, the flour, and meal, sifted with the baking-powder and salt, and beat very hard. Bake in a round tin, one with a tube in the middle, if you have it.

5.

Grapes.
Cerealine.
Broiled Salt Mackerel _à la Maître d'Hôtel_.
Stewed Potatoes. Risen Muffins.
Tea. Cocoa.

_Broiled Salt Mackerel à la Maître d'Hôtel._—Soak the mackerel overnight. In the morning wipe it dry, broil, lay on a hot dish, and anoint plentifully with _maître d'hôtel_ butter, made by directions given in the preceding chapter.

_Risen Muffins._—Two cups milk, two eggs, one tablespoonful lard, one tablespoonful sugar, saltspoonful salt, half yeast cake dissolved in a little warm water, flour enough for batter. Set a sponge of all the ingredients except the eggs to rise overnight. In the morning beat these light, add them to the batter, and bake the muffins in tins in a quick oven.

6.

Wheat Germ-Meal Porridge.
Broiled Ham. Canned Pea Pancakes.
Buttered Toast.
Baked Apples.
Cocoa. Coffee.

_Canned Pea Pancakes._—One can of green pease, one egg, one cup milk, two teaspoonfuls melted butter, half cupful flour, half teaspoonful baking-powder, salt to taste. Open the can several hours before it is to be used, and drain off the liquor. Rinse the pease in cold water. Mash them with the back of a spoon, and mix with them the butter and salt. Make a batter of the egg, the milk, and the flour, with the baking-powder. Add the pease, beat well, and bake on a griddle.

7.

Tangerines.
Rice Porridge.
Moulded Eggs. Ham Toast.
Baked Potatoes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Moulded Eggs._—On the bottom of well-buttered patty-pans with straight sides sprinkle finely minced parsley and a little pepper and salt. Break an egg into each pan, set them in a large pan filled with boiling water, and bake until set. Turn out on a flat dish, and pour a white sauce over them.

_Ham Toast._—To every cupful of chopped cold boiled ham put a half-teaspoonful of made mustard, as much butter, and a little Worcestershire sauce. Trim the crust from slices of bread, toast and butter them, and spread them with the chopped ham.

8.

Bananas.
Oatmeal.
Broiled Smoked Salmon. Breakfast Biscuit.
Savory Potatoes.
Cocoa. Coffee.

_Breakfast Biscuit._—Two cups milk, half cake yeast dissolved in warm water, two teaspoonfuls white sugar, two tablespoonfuls lard, one tablespoonful butter, saltspoonful salt, flour for soft dough. Warm the milk, melt the shortening, and set the sponge overnight. The next morning roll into a sheet, cut out with a biscuit cutter, let them rise twenty minutes in the pan, and bake.

_Savory Potatoes._—Two cupfuls cold potatoes sliced, half cup gravy, quarter of an onion sliced. Heat the gravy in a frying-pan with the onion, add the potatoes, and leave them until they are brown, stirring often. Serve potatoes and gravy together.

9.

Oranges.
Cracked Wheat.
Lyonnaise Tripe. Boiled Potatoes.
Bread-and-milk Cakes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Lyonnaise Tripe._—One pound boiled tripe, one onion, one tablespoonful butter, one cupful stewed tomatoes, pepper and salt. Brown the onion in the butter, add the tripe, cut into neat pieces, add the seasoning. Brown lightly, add the tomatoes, and, when these are hot, serve.

_Bread-and-milk Cakes._—One cup fine bread crumbs, two cups milk, one egg, two teaspoonfuls melted butter, saltspoonful salt, two tablespoonfuls flour. Soak the crumbs in the milk ten minutes; beat in the whipped egg, the butter, the salt, and the flour. Bake on a well-greased griddle.

10.

Apples.
Graham Flakes.
Fried Scallops. Light Loaf.
Hashed Potatoes.
Tea. Coffee.

_Fried Scallops._—Stew the scallops five minutes in their own liquor. Take out, drain, and roll first in egg, then in fine cracker crumbs. Fry to a light brown in deep fat, lay on a sheet of brown paper in a hot colander, and serve on a small napkin laid on a heated dish.

_Light Loaf._—One cup milk, one tablespoonful sugar, one tablespoonful butter, two eggs, two cups flour, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, saltspoonful salt. Beat the eggs light; add the butter, melted, the sugar, salt, milk, and, last, the flour sifted with the baking-powder. Bake in one loaf, and serve hot.

_Hashed Potatoes._—Chop cold potatoes fine, have ready in a pan a tablespoonful of bacon dripping made very hot, stir into this two cupfuls of the potatoes, and toss about until well browned.

AT LUNCHEON

Properly treated, luncheon may be the pleasantest meal of the day. Simple or elaborate, as the housekeeper's taste may dictate, always informal, it is more comfortable than the breakfast because less hurried, more agreeable than the dinner because less ceremonious.

The table at luncheon may either be set as for breakfast, with a pretty colored cloth to cover it; or a prettier way, if one has a table with a handsome top, is to spread on this a large luncheon napkin that only partially conceals the polished surface. One or more of these napkins may be used, according to their size and the amount of space you wish covered. A fringed doily or a crocheted or netted mat may be laid at each place to protect the table-top from the heated plate. Other mats should be laid under the hot dishes of meat, etc., while a tile or a trivet will hold the chocolate or teapot.

A writer on household decoration in a recent article in a popular magazine enlarged upon the charming effect produced by painting a table-top white, and thus producing a good background upon which to display old blue-and-white china. This would doubtless be extremely pretty, but in the practical mind the suspicion arises that, by the time the bare white table had held hot dishes during half a dozen meals, its surface would be marked with yellow rings that would leave no choice to the housewife but to conceal the whole of the defaced expanse with a table-cloth. A good furniture polish, or a simple mixture of sweet-oil and turpentine, applied with a piece of flannel, will restore the beauty of a hard-wood table-top, but it is questionable if the white paint could be so readily renovated.

The flowers that should have freshened the breakfast board must not be lacking at luncheon-time. The table may be spread with a luncheon set of china, or, if one does not own this, with the same plates, etc., that are used at breakfast and at tea. The tea-tray, with its burden of sugar-bowl, cream-pitcher, tea-caddy, and dainty cups and saucers, may stand in front of the mistress of the house, while at her elbow may be the five-o'clock-tea crane bearing its kettle of boiling water; or a smaller hot-water urn in brass, copper, or silver, with a spirit-lamp under it, may be on the table near her right hand, with the teapot beside it. If the small hot-water pot is used, and the table is bare, a tray should hold the kettle and stand, lest a drop of blazing alcohol should blister the polished surface of the wood. When cocoa or chocolate is drunk at luncheon, the paraphernalia of kettle and spirit-lamp is, of course, unnecessary.

There are some brands of cocoa for which it is claimed by the manufacturers that they are excellent when prepared for use by simply pouring the boiling water on the powder. So far as the writer's experience has gone, however, there is not one of them that is not benefited by being boiled for a few minutes before serving.

Nearly everything that is to compose the ordinary luncheon for the family may be put upon the table at one time. Of course there must be an exception to this rule when the first course consists of soup or bouillon; but even then all the cold dishes may be in place when the guests are seated. The waiting need be only of the simplest, unless formality is desired. Those about the table may help themselves and one another, while the duties of the waitress may be confined to passing the dishes that are on the sideboard, changing the plates, bringing in hot dishes, etc.

The truth, often reiterated, that women cook only for men, and that a woman would never take the trouble to prepare anything for herself beyond a cup of tea and a slice of toast, is strongly emphasized by the carelessness many of them manifest in the matter of luncheon. Of course, when there are several in the family the needs and tastes of others have to be consulted; but when the mistress of the house has to sit down to a solitary meal, or at best to one that is the nursery dinner for two or three children whose diet is of the simplest, she is apt to let her luncheon consist of little more than a "cold bite," and the—almost—invariable cup of tea. Such a course must affect the health sooner or later, and is a species of carelessness of self against which a woman must guard if she does not wish to reap its fruits in headaches, dyspepsia, and general depression of the system. Without getting up a troublesome _menu_, she may yet devise divers tempting little dishes which will coax her appetite. She will feel happier and work better for a substantial although not heavy meal in the middle of the day.

Luncheon is pre-eminently the meal at which to make use of potted meats, sardines, _pâtés_, and the like. There are many of these from which to make a choice. A luncheon is not to be despised that begins with a cup of bouillon, or with a plate of soup left over from last night's dinner, continues with fresh rolls or biscuit or muffins, or toasted crackers, or good cold bread—white or brown—cut in delicate slices, and one of the _pâtés_ put up by certain French and American companies, or a Gotha liver sausage, or a few sardines, accompanied by a cup of tea or cocoa, and concludes with some simple sweet, such as marmalade, jam, or fruit.

But luncheon need not be confined to cold delicacies that must be bought outright. It is the time for using up left-overs, for trying new recipes for side-dishes and _entrées_, for the housekeeper to learn for herself and to teach her cook the daintiest methods of utilizing those remnants which the uninitiated might stigmatize as "scraps." Great is the variety of styles in which these may be employed. That bit of cold fish from last evening's dinner may be picked to shreds, stirred into a white sauce, and baked in a scallop-shell. Or it may be mixed with half as much mashed potato, moistened with boiling water and a little melted butter, and tossed up into a dish of creamed fish.

The scraps of pastry left from pie-making and the sausage or two that were spared at breakfast may compose a sausage-roll, the cold potato and the fragment of steak may be turned into a hash, and odd slices of cold lamb, mutton, or veal are just the thing for croquettes and fritters. And of the odds and ends of poultry what delicious compounds may be made! Croquettes, scallops, minces, fritters, filling for _pâtés_, salad enough for one or two if eked out with lettuce, and a dozen other dainty _plats_. Or a tiny omelet, either baked or _sauté_, may be prepared; and when one begins to count up the appetizing dishes which may be made of eggs, the list seems without an end. Even when several people are to partake of the meal a variety of little dishes may take the place of a single large one for which new material would have to be purchased. In the cultivation or creation of a talent as a _réchauffeuse_ true economy consists.

In some homes luncheon is a quite elaborate affair, and comprises several courses, including, perhaps, a soup or bouillon, a meat course, a salad, and fruit or sweets. In the majority of establishments owned by people of moderate means, however, the meal is simpler, but need be no less delightful. Many people can eat muffins, griddle-cakes, and other hot breads at noon with less after-discomfort than at any other season, and dishes of this sort are usually acceptable on the luncheon-table. With their help the meal can hardly fail to be appetizing.

A SMALL LUNCHEON

Luncheons are among the most popular forms of entertainment that can be selected, when only a limited number are to be honored. To these affairs men are seldom invited, and there are not wanting those among the sterner sex who do not hesitate to attribute their banishment to desire on the women's part for the opportunity to chat uninterruptedly and unreservedly on those subjects presumed dear to their hearts—dress, babies, and servants. Other men go so far as to hint that gossip, and even scandal, engage the tongues of these much-maligned women, while even the most charitable husbands and brothers cannot refrain from openly expressing their pity for the unfortunate ladies debarred, for even a limited period, from the delights of the society of the lords of creation.

Casting aside the intimations respecting gossip or scandal as unworthy of notice, and tracing the animus of the other slurs to their source, in the overpowering jealousy on the part of their perpetrators that they are excluded from the select assemblages they affect to condemn, it may be said in refutation of the last charge that there are few women who do not agree in considering a luncheon among the most delightful of their social experiences. An invitation to one is usually hailed with joy, and a woman will undergo a good deal of inconvenience sooner than consent to decline it.

A luncheon is elastic in its nature, and may be of any size the hostess's fancy or judgment dictates. One woman may invite another to share the meal with her, and to help form that _solitude à deux_ so delightful to two congenial souls. In such a case a long and elaborate _menu_ is out of place, and not in the best form. What dishes there are should be wisely selected, perfectly prepared, and carefully served; but a multiplication of courses or viands is unnecessary, and savors of vulgar display. The same principle applies at any _small_ luncheon. The definition of size is a rather difficult matter, but a company of this sort of not more than five or six persons may fitly be called small. With every addition to the number the need increases for more items in the _menu_.

For a small and unpretentious luncheon the invitations should not be issued long in advance, unless the hostess finds it necessary to do so in order to secure the presence of some especial guests. In that case, if the entertainment is to be very simple, it is as well to inform the guests of the fact when writing to them. Either a written or a verbal invitation is admissible. It should always be clearly understood, however, that the engagement, when once made, is no less binding than if it were a promise to attend the largest and most ceremonious dinner. Indeed, fidelity to one's acceptance and prompt attendance are even more obligatory at a small than at a large affair, because at the latter the defection of one person is less noticeable than it would be were very few expected to be present. In either case failure to keep the engagement is a grave breach of etiquette. It may be said, in this connection, that more of a compliment is implied by the request to be one of a small and—by inference—select band than is shown when the invitations embrace a larger party.

An even number is usually better than an odd number at a luncheon, unless the table is a large round one, about which the guests can gather without leaving an awkward gap on one side.

The covering for the table may either be a very pretty luncheon cloth with a little color about it, or else of plain white. Of course, should the hostess desire to have any one tint predominate in her table appointments, it is better to have the cloth of that shade or of white. If artificial light is required, candles give a pleasanter light than anything else, and one candelabrum of several branches is generally enough for a small table. Should this not sufficiently illuminate the room, the gas may be lighted and partially turned down, or a lamp or two may be placed on a mantel-shelf or on a bracket. There should always be flowers in the centre of the table, preferably a flat or low dish or vase, for where there are few guests they should be able to see each others' faces, instead of being obliged to dodge around a tall ornament that effectually conceals those seated on one side of the board from those placed on the other. _Bouquets de corsage_, while always pretty, are not essential at a simple luncheon, nor are cards necessary.

The table should be spread with the daintiest china and silver. At each plate must be the usual articles—knife, fork, tumbler, butter-plate, and napkin. A knife and fork for each course may be laid by every plate, the knives on the right side, the forks on the left. A roll or two or three sticks of bread must lie on each napkin. The usual little dishes of olives, salted almonds, pea-nuts or pistachio-nuts, radishes, bonbons, etc., should stand here and there, and by their color or sparkle add to the beauty of the repast.

The first course may be either beef or chicken bouillon. This is served in bouillon-cups, with covers and saucers, if one has them, or, if not, in tea or after-dinner coffee-cups. The latter are a trifle small, but one need not go to the other extreme, as was done at a lunch given not long ago, where the bouillon was served in _mugs_ nearly as large as those commonly used for shaving, and quite as thick and heavy. It was impossible to help recalling the saying of the woman who declared that when she took coffee from one of the breakfast cups in use at most hotels she felt as though she were drinking it over the side of a stone wall. Bouillon is usually sipped with a spoon, however, although it is not out of the way to raise the cup to the lips.

The bouillon may either be on the table when the guests enter the room, or be brought in as soon as they are seated. It is followed by fish in some dainty form, as creamed fish, creamed or buttered lobster, croquettes of lobster, oysters, or fish; or oyster or lobster _pâtés_. These are not passed in the dish, but are brought in already served, and a plate holding a portion placed in front of each guest. Rolls, French bread, or bread and butter are then passed.

The next course in a luncheon of this size need not be an _entrée_, although one may be introduced here. Sweetbreads, chicken cutlets, _timbales_ of some sort, a _vol-au-vent_—any one of these will answer, but there is no violation of rules if it is omitted altogether at a _small_ luncheon. In that case the next course—the _pièce de résistance_—may follow the fish directly, and may consist of French chops with pease, and potatoes daintily prepared, or chicken broiled, fried, or cooked in some attractive fashion, or broiled tenderloins of beef with mushrooms, or birds.

After this the salad appears, and may be of chicken, lobster, shrimps, oysters, or tomatoes, avoiding, of course, any meat or fish that has appeared earlier in the meal, even although in another form. The olives should be passed with this, and, indeed, may have gone the rounds during and between the other course, as have the salted nuts and the radishes.

The salad eaten, the table is cleared and crumbed, and the dessert brought in—ices in some pretty form, accompanied by fancy cakes. Fruit may succeed this, or it may be omitted, and the final cup of chocolate or coffee served at once. The bonbons now receive attention, and are usually carried into the drawing-room by the guests, who, being women, seem to find almost as much enjoyment in nibbling these as men do in discussing their post-prandial cigars.

A LARGE LUNCHEON.

A much more ceremonious affair than that described in the preceding chapter is the large luncheon, where there are present anywhere from eight to twenty guests. The invitations for this are issued at least ten days, and often three weeks or more, previous to the date for which the guests are asked, and should be written, not verbal, except when given to an intimate friend. The recipient should reply at once. The hour set is usually one or half-past one, and the most punctilious promptness should always be observed. Nothing short of a serious accident or illness or a death in the family can justify any one in breaking such an engagement.

"People don't always keep that precept," says a woman, decidedly. "I can give more than one example to the contrary from my own experience. Here is an instance. I had a letter not long ago from a friend living out of town, begging me to fix a time when she could come and see me. She dreaded making the trip into town when it was doubtful if she would find me at home. I knew she had few outings, so I wrote and asked her to lunch with me upon a certain day, adding that there would be a couple of other old friends present whom she would be glad to meet again. The appointed day came, and was misty and drizzly. It never occurred to me that the weather would keep any one housed, and at the lunch hour 'the guests were met, the feast was set'—or, at least, two of the guests were there—but the one in whose honor they had been invited failed to appear. A whole mortal hour did we wait for that woman. Then in despair we sat down to a luncheon that had been in no ways improved by the delay. It was to have been a _partie carrée_, and one side of the table looked wofully blank and bare."

"But did you not get a satisfactory explanation of your friend's absence?" queries an interested listener.

"Only a note the next day, stating that as it had stormed, she had supposed I would not expect her. It never seemed to occur to her that she ought at least to have telegraphed."

"I had an experience that equals that," chimes in another. "I had promised a young girl friend a lunch party whenever she should come to the city. Just before the holidays she wrote to me that she would be in town for a week. I was run to death with Christmas preparations and social engagements, but I sent her a note at once, asking her to fix a day for her luncheon, and enclosing the list of guests—most of them old school friends—whom I would invite to meet her. She replied, setting a day. I went to no end of trouble and expense to get up the most _recherché_ luncheon I could devise. Just before the appointed hour one of the guests, who had promised to call for my young friend and bring her to my house, brought instead a verbal message that Jennie 'was not very well, and would be unable to come. She was extremely sorry,' etc. As I learned from another source that she went to the theatre that night, I concluded her indisposition, whatever it was, had not been very serious."

One marvels at the bad habits of good society in hearing such tales as these, but they are unfortunately common. Some persons appear to be deficient in a sense of good-breeding, as others are in an eye for color or an ear for music, and all the maxims in the world seem inadequate to instil what is missing.

One general principle may be laid down for the following of any woman who thinks of giving a large luncheon—_don't undertake too much_. If you cannot afford to engage the most difficult dishes from a caterer, be very sure that your cook is equal to preparing them in a satisfactory manner. Better have a few things, and have them well done, than a long _menu_ of indifferently cooked viands. A large luncheon is no light undertaking at the best, except to those who have a practised _chef_ and an expert butler, and a great deal of personal supervision is required to make it a success.

If the number of guests is larger than can be conveniently accommodated at one table, two or three smaller ones may be used. One table is rather prettier, however, as it admits of concentrating, instead of scattering, the decoration. The cloth should be white, or something very handsome in colors. A centre-piece of velvet or plush or satin, or of linen, embroidered, painted, done in cut-work or drawn-work, or something else equally elegant in material or ornament, should be laid down the middle of the table. An exquisite centre-piece may be made of bolting-cloth, hand-painted and trimmed with lace. On this a mirror is often placed, bearing the bowl, basket, or jar of flowers.

Tall candelabra should hold enough candles to light the room well, and each candle should have its tiny paper or silk shade and its glass _bobèche_. If the gas must be used, it should be shaded. The dishes containing _hors d'œuvres_—bonbons, _glacé_ fruits, etc.—must be many, and their contents of the choicest.

The arrangement of silver, glass, and china may be the same as at a small luncheon, except that the amount of silver at each place must be increased. The bread sticks on every napkin must be tied with a narrow ribbon matching the broad one that ties the _bouquet de corsage_ provided for the guest. Cards bearing the names of the guests indicate their seats, and may be either hand-painted or plain. Favors are often given, and should be placed on the table before the luncheon is announced.

Oyster or Little Neck clams compose the first course, and are followed by bouillon. Fish succeeds this; then comes one _entrée_, and sometimes two. Next is a dish of meat, with one or more vegetables, and then the Roman punch appears.

After this, game comes, and then salad. The table then being cleared, pastry in some form, or Charlottes or jellies are brought in, and this course in turn is succeeded by ices in pretty or fanciful shapes. An attractive caprice is that of ices or cream in the form of fruits heaped up in and rolling out of a basket of clear ice or spun sugar placed on a salver. Ices in small goblets or tumblers of clear ice are often served. The fruit comes next, and is accompanied by bonbons, _glacé_ fruits, _marrons_, and the like. Last are coffee and chocolate.

Of the following _menus_, either one is suitable for a large luncheon:

1.

Raw Oysters.
Chicken Bouillon.
Creamed Lobster. Crackers or Bread and Butter.
Scalloped Chicken.
Sweetbread Pâtés. Green Pease.
Maraschino Punch.
Fillet of Beef, Mushroom Sauce.
French Fried Potatoes.
Broiled Squabs on Toast. Water-cress.
Chicken Salad.
Strawberries in Wine Jelly, with Whipped Cream.
Nesselrode Pudding. Biscuit. Fancy Cakes.
Fruit. Bonbons.
Coffee. Chocolate.

2.

Clams on Ice.
Bouillon.
Halibut Steaks, Cream Sauce. Parisian Potatoes.
Ham Pâtés. Green Pease.
Stuffed Crabs.
Chicken Cutlets.
Broiled Fillet of Beef, au Maître d'Hôtel. Asparagus.
Roman Punch.
Quail on Toast. Celery Salad.
Fried Mushrooms on Toast, with Sauce à l'Espagnol.
Frozen Pudding. Whipped Cream.
Ices.
Fruit.
Coffee. Chocolate.

With either of these _menus_ wine may be served, although there is not the variety of these at a ladies' luncheon that there is at a dinner. Claret may be served with the fish or first _entrée_, and drunk during the luncheon, or brought in with the game, or with the heaviest meat course. In some cases no claret is served, and the only wine is the small glass of sherry offered late in the meal.

A STANDING LUNCH.

For a long time there was a felt need for some form of entertainment that would be more general in its character than a dinner or a lunch, less of a full-dress affair than an evening party, and more elaborate than the ordinary kettle-drum or afternoon tea. This want was finally supplied by the introduction of the standing lunch, which is in reality little more than a regular reception, such as usually takes place in the evening, held in the afternoon. To this both ladies and gentlemen are invited.

The hours for which the guests are asked—usually from four to six or seven—preclude the necessity of full dress. The men usually wear morning coats, while the women are arrayed in handsome calling costumes, and do not remove their bonnets. It may be remarked, _en passant_, that the wearing of the hat or bonnet is, or should be, a rule without exception at a ladies' lunch. Only the hostess or those of the company who are guests in the house appear with their heads uncovered. The others wear handsome dressy bonnets, such as they would assume for the theatre in the evening or for an afternoon reception.

The hostess who desires to entertain her friends or to discharge her social obligations by a standing lunch must issue her invitations some days in advance of the date fixed. They should be formal, and are usually engraved, although they may be written. The former method is preferable.

At a lunch of this kind, as the name implies, the guests are not to be seated at one large table, nor even at a number of small ones. The large dining-room table and sideboard are set out with a repast consisting of some hot and some cold dishes. The guests move about the drawing-room, seating themselves if they have the chance, as they would at an evening reception, and are served with plates containing the successive courses, either by waiters or by their escorts. Not only is there less formality in the conduct of the guests than would be observed at an ordinary luncheon, but there is also less precision in the serving of the refreshments.