Gala-Day Luncheons: A Little Book of Suggestions

September

As the days begin to grow cooler, and a suspicion of frost in the air in the early morning brings back one's vigour, golf seems the finest game in the world, and long days are spent on the links. A luncheon for golfers will transform any day in the week into a gala day, if only it is not taken too seriously. The guests are to come in their golf suits to be in keeping; the luncheon should be bright and informal rather than stately.

FOR A GOLF LUNCHEON. FOR A GOLF LUNCHEON.

If the company is a large one, seat them in fours at small tables, each of which should have a centrepiece of salvia, or Scotch heather, or—just for fun—thistles. The little souvenirs for this luncheon are of great variety, and most ingenious. There are plaid golf bags with sticks, to be filled with bonbons, or small plaid woollen caps to be presented to men afterwards for tobacco pouches, unless the men are present to receive them at the luncheon. There are plaid-covered golf score-books, which are really useful as well as pretty, and a host of other things, such as individual sticks, which are less elaborate.

GOLF FAVOUR. GOLF FAVOUR.

Your cards may have sketches of girls in golf costume, or little cuts of such figures may be found in colours in golf catalogues, and cut out and pasted on the cards. The tables may have plaid ribbon drawn down each side, or have bows at the corners. You might have a Scotch menu for the sake of variety, although Scotch dishes do not compare with American.

SCOTCH MENU

Scotch Broth.

Boiled Salmon. Boiled Potatoes.

Haggis.

Pheasant. Currant Jelly.

Scotch Rarebit on Toast.

Plum Tart with Cream. Coffee.

The broth is made by stewing mutton with vegetables until it is sufficiently strong; when the whole is strained and cooked, barley is added till the broth is quite thick; just before serving, a little chopped parsley is put in. Haggis is usually rather a formidable dish to undertake, as most recipes are very elaborate; this one, however, is simple and the results are good. Boil the head, heart, and liver of a sheep with one pound of bacon for an hour; then chop them, season highly, and add sufficient oatmeal to make a thick mush. Boil this in a bag for two hours, and serve it in the same bag, rolling it back to look as well as possible; this receptacle is less objectionable than that in which haggis is served in Scotland,—the stomach of the sheep.

Should you fear to venture on this dish, you might substitute for it Scotch snipe. For this make a paste of a box of sardines mixed with lemon and a little onion juice; spread on slices of bread and cut in strips half an inch thick. Put these in the oven and heat thoroughly, and then pour over them a sauce made of the beaten yolks of two eggs and six tablespoonfuls of cream, to which has been gradually added a tablespoonful of melted butter, and after taking from the fire, a half-teaspoonful of salt, a dash of red pepper, and a little chopped parsley. The strips of toast must be served very hot, and will be found delicious. Even if the haggis is used, this dish might be added to the bill of fare. If pheasant is not obtainable, prairie chicken is a perfect substitute for it, or woodcock will do in the place of either.

The Scotch rarebit is quite different from the Welsh, being made by adding to half a pint of white sauce a tablespoonful of anchovy paste and a pinch of red pepper; cook this for a moment and add six hard-boiled eggs cut in rather large bits. Simmer the whole for three minutes, and serve on buttered toast.

The plum tart is made by cooking large purple or green-gage plums in a deep baking dish with a sprinkling of flour and plenty of sugar, and a cover of pie-crust over the top. Tart is always served in what foreigners call dessert plates, but they are exactly like our soup plates, with a dessert spoon and a fork, and thick cream is passed with the dish. Coffee is never served on a Scotch table as a final course, but is offered with tea in the drawing-room after the meal. However, in this case it may be passed after the tart, or poured on the porch afterwards.

Should you wish a more conventional luncheon, this menu is a delicious one.

The spaghetti is prepared exactly as when cooked with cheese; that is, it is stewed till tender, washed in cold water to remove the starch, and laid in a dish in layers with seasoning, oysters, and white sauce, and baked till brown. This is more easily managed if bread crumbs are put on top with butter, and small dishes or ramekins are used.

The watermelon is to be scooped in large spoonfuls from the rind, the seeds removed, and the melon laid in a freezer with powdered sugar and a little sherry, and the freezer put in a cool place packed with ice and salt for at least five hours.

When country houses are rather far apart, it is often convenient to go from one to another on one's wheel, in spite of the fact that bicycling is no longer in high favour. Still, so long as wheels are so useful they will continue to be used, and just so long

A BICYCLE LUNCHEON

will be found appropriate for some occasion.

Decorate your table with golden-rod or autumn leaves or a mixture of golden-rod and purple asters, the two flowers which are so beautiful together; do not on any account use garden or hot-house flowers for a luncheon, which on its face suggests out-of-door sport. Search the magazines for bicycle advertisements, and cut out bicyclers in all sorts of attitudes and dress, and paste these on cards with a brief line commending some one make of wheel for each guest; the more extravagant the praise of each, the better. There are all sorts of pretty little favours to be had of bicycles, tricycles, and tandems, which will serve as souvenirs. This may be transformed into an automobile luncheon by the change of the two conveyances. Oysters are again in season, and will be welcomed by the hostess as a first course.

The salad is made by scooping out the whole inside of a large red apple, after a slice has been carefully cut from the stem end with a sharp knife; this pulp is chopped, mixed with small bits of celery and English walnuts, with stiff mayonnaise, and the whole returned to the apple, the top being put on again so that the cut does not show; this is a very pretty salad, especially if care is taken to choose perfect apples.

As college opens again there are always those whose school-days are over, who are "left lamenting" somewhat because the happy days are no more. For such, a luncheon may be arranged which will have special reference to the common past of a group of classmates.

ALUMNI LUNCHEON

Lay the table prettily with the usual doilies, bonbon dishes of almonds, radishes, candies, and crystallised fruits. Garden asters are now in full bloom and come in great variety of colour, and these will make a beautiful centrepiece, massed in a large bowl. The combination of crimson and pink, of pink and white, or of white and purple is better than the use of one shade alone. The table should be lighted with Roman lamps or else with Jerusalem candlesticks, as suggestive of classical studies; to be sure, September is one of the sunny months, but this luncheon may be used quite as well at some other time of the year as the fall, if that is desired, so the suggestion of the lamps may stand.

The most attractive feature of the luncheon may be the cards, which may well be preserved for years as souvenirs of college as well as of this meal; they are to be photographs of the particular place in the college grounds or dormitories or village with which each guest was most associated. If one has a friend still in college with a kodak (and what college girl does not own one?), she can take and send them to you. The girl who was oftenest in the Dean's office for reprimand may have a picture of that interior; the one who was champion at basket ball, a view of the gymnasium with the team at play; the girl who was the best at chemistry, a glimpse of the laboratory; the one who frequented the soda fountain down town, a picture of that. Or, if these photographs are too frivolous, pictures of beautiful views about the college grounds may be substituted.

The luncheon may suggest in its menu the favourite dishes of some of the class, or one course might be a reminder of something served constantly on the college table; this meal really gives unlimited opportunity for ingenuity.

If the weather does not admit of using artificial lights, and yet the table is felt to be incomplete without the small Roman lamps, they might be filled with flowers instead of oil and used as decorations, the central group of asters being kept low in a very shallow bowl.

The maple parfait is one of the most delicious of desserts, and one easily prepared as well. The yolks of eight eggs are beaten stiff, a cupful of maple syrup is added, and the whole is heated until it makes a thick coating on the spoon, when it is taken from the fire and beaten until it is cold; a pint of thick cream is then beaten stiff and mixed lightly with the eggs and syrup, and the whole is put in a melon mould and packed in ice and salt for five hours. The bonbons served with the coffee should be those especially fancied by the girls of the college; if there is a fudge named for the institution, that is the sweet to choose.

A LABOUR DAY LUNCHEON

As Labour Day is a national holiday, it must be regarded as a gala day. A luncheon which is in keeping with the occasion must not be elaborate, but, on the contrary, as simple as may be without actually serving the labourer's bill of fare. A good deal may be done to divert the guests without giving a suspicion of making fun of the occasion, which is not in the least contemplated. The table should be laid with a cloth, plain white china used, and the decorations should be wild flowers. The cards should bear a sketch of a labourer, and the favours should be small picks, shovels, spades, and hoes, such as children play with. Have a course of cold meat, and one of baked beans, as well as one in which crackers, cheese, and coffee are served at the same time.