Gala-Day Luncheons: A Little Book of Suggestions

>May

The first of May is not always a gala day; to many it means the coming and going of moving vans, and meals eaten in cold comfort from the traditional window-sill. But where one has a permanent home, especially in the country, no day is pleasanter on which to give a luncheon than on May Day, with its charming associations of Spring. There are several fancies which may serve for suggestions; one of these is the use of the "Mayflower" of our early history, and the flowers which bear the same name as the ship, the trailing arbutus of our Northern States. The two have no connection, really, but one suggests the other.

A MAY-DAY LUNCHEON

FOR A MAYFLOWER LUNCHEON. FOR A MAYFLOWER LUNCHEON.

The table may be laid with a cloth, by way of a change, one with an open border preferably. The centrepiece may be of lace over pale pink silk, and rows of baby ribbon may be drawn across the table, three or four strands each way, with a bunch of the ribbon where they cross. In the centre may be a large toy ship, all in white, with the word "Mayflower" in gilt on the prow. The deck should be heaped with mayflowers, if this loveliest of our spring blossoms is to be had, and around the table at irregular intervals may be shallow bowls of the same flower. The cards may have the monogram of the hostess at the top, and a cluster of the arbutus painted below, if that is fancied. Care should be taken to keep all the decorations of the table in a very pale shade of pink, or the effect of the flowers will be spoiled.

Crown roast of lamb is a rather unusual dish at a luncheon, but it is an attractive one and not too heavy for the meal. It is the whole saddle of lamb, cut down the back, with the two sides carefully trimmed of the meat until the chop bones stand up alone as in French chops. The sides are then put together, bent in a circle, and fastened with skewers to form a crown with the bones standing up. The centre is filled either with mashed potato or with peas before it is served; it should be carved on the table, on a round platter, or, if it is carefully cut between the chops before it is brought in, it may be passed to the guests for each to cut for herself.

The sherbet to follow this course is made by adding a handful of crushed mint to boiling hot lemonade, letting it stand till cool, straining, adding a little sherry or rum if you use them, and freezing. A few drops of green colouring improve its appearance. Sometimes a sprig of mint is put in the sherbet glass with the ice, a very pretty idea.

The salad is made by cooking asparagus until it is tender, and when cold sprinkling with French dressing and allowing it to stand an hour before serving on lettuce with mayonnaise.

With this luncheon the ices may be served in beautiful little ships of silver paper with delicate paper sails, or the ingenious caterer has a form for reproducing Plymouth Rock in caramel cream, so lifelike that even the fissure in the side appears. Either of these shapes are certainly delightfully appropriate for a May-Day luncheon if they are attainable. If not, the cream may be served in little fluted paper cases decorated with the arbutus, tied on in small bunches with narrow ribbon.

AN APPLE-BLOSSOM LUNCHEON

FILLED WITH CANDIED FRUITS. FILLED WITH CANDIED FRUITS.

A hostess living in the country may offer a group of city guests a real delight in May-time by inviting them to luncheon when the orchards are all in bloom. The invitations should bear the word "Apple-Blossoms" in one corner, and the implied promise should be fulfilled by having the flowers in evidence everywhere in the house and out of it. The rooms should be decorated with bowls of the flowers on the mantels and on the top of the book-cases and on the tables in the halls. The luncheon table should have a bowl of the blossoms in the centre, and the cloth, or rather the table itself, should be strewn with the flowers picked from the stems and showered over it. The same small ribbons suggested for the May-Day luncheon may also be used for this one, as the colour should again be pale. The bonbons used might be tiny candy apples.

The soup is made by stewing chopped beets until they are tender and adding them to hot cream, seasoning, thickening, and straining, and pouring into the bouillon cups onto a spoonful of whipped cream. The beets should be the dark red ones, and only enough should be used to give a pretty pink colour to the soup. Frogs' legs, fried and served with a bit of lemon make a very good course for luncheon, and one liked by almost every one. The salad is made by stoning California cherries and covering them with French dressing to which a little chopped parsley has been added, and laying them on a leaf of lettuce.

The sherbet is a lemon ice flavoured with the syrup of preserved ginger, with a few bits of the root added. The cheese soufflÉ, which may be placed before the sherbet, if desired, is made by grating a quarter of a pound of cheese and mixing it with two tablespoonfuls of flour, butter the size of a walnut, salt, and a little red pepper, and the beaten yolks of three eggs. Just before putting in the oven add the stiff whites of two eggs, and bake in buttered paper cases, or in small tin moulds. They must be eaten as soon as they are taken from the fire or they will fall.

The ice cream is a plain white one, served in a large cake of angels' food which has had the top carefully cut off, the inside scooped out, and the cream packed firmly in. The cover is then put back and the whole iced, or covered with powdered sugar, and decorated on top with candied cherries. It is to be cut exactly as though it were simply an ordinary cake, and served in slices.

A SCHOOL-GIRL LUNCHEON

A luncheon for a young girl should be of the simplest character, both in decorations and menu, but there is no reason why it should not be pretty. The most appropriate flower to use is the primrose; pots of these may stand on the table, one in front of each guest, tied up with crÊpe paper and ribbons. If these are of two or more shades of pink, the effect will be more elaborate than if they are all of the same shade. In the centre may be a large pot with a number of the plants closely planted in it. If candles are used, the shades may be of plain cardboard with a wreath of the same flowers on the edge, either artificial ones sewed on, or painted in a simple pattern. Or, hyacinths may be used for the flowers, either pink ones or pink and white alternating. If the school-girls are beyond the time when the gift of a pot of flowers gives pleasure,—and there is a period when they would scorn such an offering as undignified,—let the decoration be a long, narrow box of the growing hyacinths in the centre of the table, which will make a beautiful window-box after the luncheon is past. The menu given above might be modified for this meal, as it is unnecessarily elaborate.

A MILITARY LUNCHEON

CANDY BASKET. CANDY BASKET.

Or one with both military and naval accompaniments. There are so many pretty little decorations nowadays for such a meal that the table may be very pretty. One of the guests may happen to have some special interest in the protectors of our country, and she will especially appreciate a table set with a small encampment of tents made of small napkins folded into the desired shape, or little battalions of toy soldiers presenting arms in companies around the central point of interest, which in this case might be a larger tent, draped with vines. The sherbet or ices might be served in military hats of felt or paper, and the favours might be knapsacks filled with candies. One course should be coffee and hard-tack, suggestive of the frugal fare of the soldier on duty. Otherwise the menu would better take its regular course, since bacon and beans and other army rations are not especially appetising.

As the course of shad with roe is rather a solid one, the meat course is lighter than usual. The kidneys are cleaned, cut in pieces and stewed until tender, when they are browned in butter to which seasoning and a dash of sherry have been added and mixed with the mushrooms; after a thorough heating they are served in cases either of paste or of paper. A few olives cut into small pieces may be mixed with the whole, if one likes the several flavours.

The string bean salad is simply made of cold boiled string beans, young and tender, which have lain in French dressing for a half hour before they are put on lettuce and mayonnaise added; one who has not tried this has no idea how good a salad it is. The Neapolitan ice cream is made of alternate layers of cream and ice in contrasting colours; it is too much trouble to make this at home, but another cream can be substituted if desired, such as a rich vanilla with a hot chocolate sauce, or a white cream in which chopped candied fruit has been mixed.

The hard-tack is of course a very large thin cracker, perhaps six inches in diameter; it is much better heated in the oven before serving, and if it is wished a cheese, either a cream, or one of the imported ones, such as Camembert, may be passed with it.

A DELFT LUNCHEON

This is a pretty luncheon to give in a country dining-room furnished in dull blue and white. Plaques of real or imitation Delft may hang on the walls of the room, and bowls of blue cornflowers and white carnations may stand in window-seats and on shelves as well as on the dining-table. The china should be blue and white or plain white, and the cards squares of pasteboard with sketches of Dutch scenes, or blue prints of some native spot of interest. The souvenirs may be small Delft plaques, or toy windmills; or they may be little Dutch maidens in quaint dresses, which will serve as penwipers after the day of the luncheon. The bonbons may be white ones in little wooden shoes placed in pairs around the table. The small cakes served with the ice cream may each have a tiny windmill cut from white paper standing in the white icing on top, and the cream itself may be a white one in meringue shells tied with blue ribbon. Any one of the menus suggested will do to serve, as Dutch food alone would hardly seem attractive; however, a course of doughnuts and coffee may take the place of ice cream and cake, if you fancy the idea.

Clyx.com

A MAY-DAY LUNCHEON

MENU

AN APPLE-BLOSSOM LUNCHEON

MENU

A SCHOOL-GIRL LUNCHEON

MENU

A MILITARY LUNCHEON

MENU

A DELFT LUNCHEON