LITMIR.BIZ

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by heating, seasoning, and straining the thick part of canned tomatoes and setting them with gelatine in small individual moulds, – little rings are pretty, – and when they are firm turning them out on the inner leaves of lettuce; the inside of such a circle is to be filled with mayonnaise, or, if the jelly is in mounds, the mayonnaise is to be heaped around each and the whole sprinkled with chopped parsley.

      The ice cream can be furnished by the caterer in the form of perfect snowballs, which are attractive on a winter's day, especially with the cakes, but if they are not to be had a white cream served with maraschino cherries is delicious. The cakes are made by scooping out rounded spoonfuls from a large angels' food and dipping them first in warm, boiled frosting and then rolling them in grated cocoanut. No sherbet is suggested for this luncheon, as one cold dish is enough for a January meal; still, if you wish to make it rather more elaborate you can introduce a course of orange ice or Roman punch after the quail; or you may make a formal luncheon of it by changing it in several ways.

MENUOysters on the Half-ShellGreen Pea Bisque. CroutonsLobster Cutlets. Sauce TartareSlices of Turkey-Breast. Currant JellyFrench PeasPineapple SherbetQuail on Toast. French Dressed LettuceSnowball Ices. Snowball CakesCoffee. Bonbons

      A MUSICAL LUNCHEON

      The twenty-seventh of January is Mozart's birthday, and this anniversary gives opportunity for entertaining a group of friends who have musical tastes, or possibly a musical club. The guests might be asked to come at eleven o'clock, and a musicale might precede the luncheon.

      Lay the table very much as for the New Year's day luncheon, with red flowers, candles, and other decoration, and if you wish to emphasise the national colours of Germany, Mozart's home, have red and chocolate bonbons on the table and give each guest a little knot of red and white carnations tied with black ribbons. For cards, go to the printer and have him strike off small cuts of Mozart's head on squares of cardboard; all printers have cuts of distinguished people, and they can be reproduced for about a dollar a dozen. Just under the cut draw in pen and ink a bar of music from one of the composer's works with his name attached in tiny letters.

      At each plate may be one of the ingenious favours to be had at the confectioner's in the shape of a violin, a small piano, a banjo, a harp, or a mandolin. The ices may also be in these same shapes.

MENUGrape FruitClam Broth with Strips of ToastPigs in BlanketsVeal Cutlets, BreadedSweet Potato Croquettes. Asparagus TipsHot RollsCream Cheese Salad. Nut SandwichesIce Cream in Forms. CakesCoffee. Bonbons

      The pigs in blankets are made by seasoning large oysters and folding each one in a very thin strip of bacon, pinning it with a small toothpick and browning in the frying-pan. The cutlets are to be cut in strips the size and shape of croquettes, breaded and fried. The asparagus served with this is, of course, canned. The salad is made by adding a little olive oil or cream to cream cheese, colouring it green with fruit colouring and moulding into balls the size of a hickory nut. These are to be laid on lettuce and a spoonful of mayonnaise added. A pretty change from the ordinary mayonnaise may be used with these green balls: a tablespoonful of unsweetened, condensed milk is used in place of the yolk of an egg; it is beaten, the oil and vinegar or lemon juice and seasoning added exactly in the same order and proportion as is usual; the result will be a stiff, foamy white mayonnaise. The sandwiches to serve with this salad are made of chopped English walnuts spread on bread and butter with just enough mayonnaise to moisten them.

      A JAPANESE LUNCHEON FOR CHILDREN

      Nothing could give children greater pleasure than a luncheon given for them, especially a Japanese luncheon, which affords opportunity for odd and pretty decorations. The dining-room should be darkened and wires drawn across from side to side, fastened to the picture moulding; from these may be hung a dozen or more very small paper lanterns, some over the table and others about the room. In the centre of the table may stand two good-sized Japanese dolls, back to back, with a Japanese umbrella over them. Instead of the usual doilies or table-cloth, the table may be spread with delicate white Japanese paper napkins with lace borders, and about it may be scattered small metal trays, purchased at a curio shop, filled with candied ginger, candied orange peel, Japanese nuts, and various oriental sweets. At each plate may be a little lacquer box filled with candy, and the ice cream may be either in the forms of Japanese children or else a plain cream served in small scarlet tea boxes to be had also at the Japanese stores. The china used for this luncheon might be Japanese, to keep everything in harmony.

      The menu for a children's luncheon should be a very simple one if the children are young; in this one the salad may be omitted if it is thought best.

MENUCream of Celery SoupScalloped Fish in ShellsStewed Chicken. Potatoes. PeasBread and Butter SandwichesCelery Salad. CrackersIce Cream. Cakes. CocoaJapanese Nuts

      This Japanese luncheon is quite pretty enough for children of a larger growth. With a more elaborate menu, decorations of artificial camellias or peach blossoms, and if it is desired to have it really oriental, Japanese costumes for both hostess and guests, it might be easily carried out very attractively. A menu which would suggest Japanese cooking without actually following it might be something like this: —

MENUBrown Soup with Forcemeat BallsFish, Baked in Shells with Chopped Pickle over itChicken and Rice Stewed with CurryDevilled Eggs on Lettuce. MayonnaiseIce Cream in Japanese BoxesTea. Candied Ginger. Japanese Nuts

      Another luncheon which small children would enjoy hugely would be one in which everything suggested their friend Alice of Wonderland. The table should be laid as for an ordinary luncheon, and in the centre should be a mass of green with the hero of the book, the White Rabbit himself, standing erect in the middle, dressed as in the familiar frontispiece, in a plaid coat and waistcoat, holding a watch. Each child should have a card with its name and a sketch of one of the familiar characters in the story, such as the Mock Turtle, the Dormouse, the March Hare, the White Queen or Humpty Dumpty, with one of their famous sayings written beneath. All the candies on the table should be in the shapes of animals; animal crackers should be served with the cocoa, and if possible the ice cream should be in the shape of white rabbits.

      Children's luncheons depend for their success, not so much on an elaborate menu or handsome decoration of flowers, as on small, ingenious devices which appeal to them. Anything which seems to their unsophisticated souls novel or beautiful will give infinite pleasure and will never be forgotten. Such a decoration as was used for a dinner-party at the White House not many years ago might well be reproduced for a child's luncheon with the assurance that it would be a great success.

      A long, narrow pan of water stood on an oblong table, the outside completely hidden by small, growing ferns, planted in moss. In the centre of the pan was a miniature rockery, a pile of stones the size of one's fist, with these same ferns planted in all the crevices. But the charming thing was a little flock of china ducks, geese, swans, and tiny yellow goslings which floated on the surface of this small lake, moving somewhat as the table was stirred more or less by the restless guests. This arrangement for a children's party would be irresistible.

      February

      This month brings the two most important gala days of the year, and gives therefore the best possible opportunity for entertaining at luncheon. Then, too, this is the time when every one is giving teas, dinners, and social affairs of all sorts and the sense of gaiety is inspiring to all hostesses. In cities the spring flowers, fruits, and vegetables begin to come in with this month, and there ample scope is given for a fresh and delicious menu. Of course, where one has no access to large markets she must content herself with the usual winter foods, yet with a little ingenuity she can give the impression of a spring-like meal, using the resources at her command.

      A luncheon on Valentine's Day is one of the prettiest possible, for the profusion of flowers which might be excessive

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