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, 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 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 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, 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 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 |