A small cl.u.s.ter of grapes served on dessert plates.

SECOND COURSE.

Baked apple--(Remove the core and fill with cooked oat meal; bake and serve with whipped cream over the whole.)

THIRD COURSE.

Chicken croquettes, scalloped potatoes, b.u.t.tered rolls, celery, coffee.

FOURTH COURSE.

Fruit and nut salad, served in small cups on a bread and b.u.t.ter plate, with a wafer.

FIFTH COURSE.

Ice cream, in chocolate, pink and white layers; angel food, and pink and white layer cake.

Have a dish of salted almonds on each table.

POND LILY BREAKFAST.

White and green are the colors for a September breakfast. Have the dining room decorated with luxuriant ferns and dainty, fragrant water lilies, the fireplace banked with ferns, the lilies scattered carelessly over the mantel.

In the center of the table have a miniature rowboat heaped high with the lilies. For the souvenirs have very small oars which could afterwards be used for paper knives; besides cl.u.s.ters of lilies.

Harp music is the most in harmony with our ideas of lilies and the lily naiads, so the soft strains will form a delightful accompaniment to the breakfast.

This is the menu:

_Cream of Lettuce Soup_ _Steamed White Fish_ _Hollandaise Sauce_ _Potato b.a.l.l.s_ _Maitre de Hotel Sauce_ _Jellied Chicken_ _Cauliflower, Creamed_ _Asparagus_ _Cheese Salad_ _Metropolitan Ice Cream_ _Small Cakes_ _Niagara Grapes_ _Coffee_

CREAM OF LETTUCE SOUP.

Break the outer green leaves from two heads of lettuce. Place neatly together and with a sharp knife cut into shreds. Put them into one quart of white stock and simmer gently for half an hour. Press through a colander, return to the fire. Rub together one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and two of flour, add two tablespoonfuls of hot stock and rub smooth, add this to the soup, stirring constantly until it thickens. Add a level tablespoonful of grated onion, one cupful of cream and a seasoning of salt and white pepper.

When ready to serve, beat the yolk of one egg lightly, pour into a tureen, turn the hot soup over it and add a heaping tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley.

The fish is garnished with cress.

CHEESE SALAD.

Mash very fine the cold yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, and rub with them a coffee cupful of finely grated cheese, a teaspoonful of mustard, a saltspoonful of salt and one-half as much white pepper. When all are well mixed, add two tablespoonfuls each of oil and vinegar, alternately.

Heap this upon fresh lettuce and garnish with the whites of eggs cut into rings, and a few tips of celery. Serve with hot b.u.t.tered crackers.

The ice cream is served on lily leaves. The cakes are white, with green icing.

This is the music selected:

Solo--"To a Water Lily" _McDowell_ Old Song--"Lily Dale"

Vocal Solo--"Row Gently Here, My Gondolier" _Schumann_

A TULIP BREAKFAST.

A pretty idea is a tulip breakfast. The centerpiece is a large basket filled with tulips of different colors. A pretty course is strawberries served in real tulips lying on fancy plates with the stems tied with narrow ribbon the same shade as the tulip. The ice cream is served in shape of a tulip, and the salad is in a cup of green tissue paper imitating four tulip leaves. This is the plan for finding places. The name cards are decorated with tiny landscapes. On the back of the card is written the t.i.tle of a song and the guest finds her own name in the t.i.tle. For example a guest named Mamie will find her place by the words "Mamie, Come Kiss Your Honey Boy," one named Alice will find hers "Oh, Don't You Remember Sweet Alice, Ben Bolt;" Mollie in "Do You Love Me, Mollie Darling," etc. The menu is:

_Fruit Cup (Strawberries, Oranges, White Grapes with Whipped Cream)_ _Bouillon, Wafers, Radishes_ _Escalloped Fish, Wafers, Pickles_ _Veal Loaf, Whipped Potatoes, Green Peas_ _Hot Rolls, Pickles, Sherbet_ _Fruit Salad, Wafers_ _Ice Cream in Shape of Tulips, Strawberries Served in Real Tulips_ _White Cake, Bonbons_ _Coffee_

A GRAPE BREAKFAST.

May the juice of the grape enliven each soul, And good humor preside at the head of each bowl.

Nothing could be prettier nor more appropriate for September than a grape breakfast. If possible, have the design of the lunch cloth in grapes, and use a pyramid of purple and white grapes for the center of the table. Lay perfect bunches of grapes tied with lavender ribbon on the cloth for decoration. Serve grapes in some fashion with each course, single, in tiny bunches, or the leaves decorating the plates. Mold gelatine in a grape mold and color with grape juice. Use white grapes for the salad and grape juice to drink. Serve grape jelly with the meat course.

WOMAN'S CLUB BREAKFAST.

Have the table of honor a round table with a large round basket of white flowers and everything corresponding in white. Use roses, carnations or any white flower you choose. Have oblong tables radiating from the center table with place for four on each side and two at the outer ends.

This leaves no guest seated with her back to the honor table. Have the oblong tables decorated in pink. Have name cards with carnations thrust through the corner, at each plate. Make the breakfast a daylight affair, unless the day is a dark one.

Serve chopped fresh sweet cherries sweetened and with a little rum or white wine poured over them; let stand for several hours in the refrigerator and serve in stem gla.s.ses. Chicken croquettes molded in form of small chickens, or broiled chicken with water cress; creamed potatoes, sliced cuc.u.mbers, hot rolls, spiced peaches served in champagne gla.s.ses; whole tomatoes stuffed with cooked cauliflower and nuts set on branch of cherry or strawberry leaves; cheese sandwiches made very thin; ice cream molded in form of strawberries, small cakes frosted, (place half of a large strawberry on top of each piece of cake before serving).

BREAKFAST AL FRESCO.

A breakfast al fresco is just the thing to entertain a party of young girls. Have the tables on the porch. At each plate have a cl.u.s.ter of flowers answering a conundrum. Give each girl a card containing the conundrum and ask her to find her place at the table by the flower answering the questions. These questions will not be hard for a hostess to arrange and will of course depend on the flowers she can secure.

Here are a few sample ones given at a recent breakfast: Who will attend our next entertainment? Phlox. What happened when Gladys lost her hat in the lake? A yellow rose (a yell arose). What paper gives the most help in decoration? Justicia (just tissue). What will the Far North do for you? Freesia. For what hour were you invited? Four o'clock. What is the handsomest woman in the world? American Beauty. Use pink and green for the color scheme and add a little touch of these two colors to everything served. Tie the skewers of the chops with pink and green ribbons and have the ice cream one layer of pistachio and one of strawberry.

CHAPTER V.

THE MODERN "FIVE O'CLOCK."

"A cup she designates as mine With motion of her dainty finger; The kettle boils--oh! drink divine, In memory shall thy fragrance linger!"

Although indebted to England for the afternoon tea, it is a very informal affair across the water. It doubtless originated in suburban homes, where during the hunting and holiday seasons, large and merry house-parties are entertained for weeks together. Returning late from driving or field sports the tired guests require some light refreshment before making their toilets for the evening dinner. The English hostess very sensibly meets this claim upon her hospitality by serving tea and biscuit in library or drawing-room.