The State guard., 1848-10-24
A California Dinner.

2press gives the following spirited descrp- ton of California dinner. It occurred at a place called Pisendera. a collection of five or six ranches about ten miles South of the mission of Todas' Santos. The party, of whom the correspondent formed one, took possession of the rancho for the night.
 As the old ranchero was too miserably poor 10 furnish us anything but beet, We sent messenger to some of their neigh boring farm.houses tD purchase quantity of chickens, which we turned over to the old mans daughter to be cooked fora gen eral supper. The old ranchero had five unmarried daughters from D 10 l9 years of age, and as pretty as need be looked for in California farmhouse. The good Spanish features, without a mixture of Indian blood, were added forms that Venus herself might envy, wearing dresses with out sleeves, and low m the bosoms, (like our belles at home who they wish to dis play their charms in the ball toom,) and being too pour 10 aff,rd reboses, with which ths Mexican lapies unusually con ceal their budding beauties, these simple belles of Piscadera in their calico robes. and without the aid of cotton, grass, bran or whalebone, presen ea as io.ey fgures as the eye could ever wish to give Gfon :: so that, with "beauty nnadorned" and chickens well cooked, we anticipated d very pleasant evenings entertainment. - Al length the chickens made their appear ance in the shape of a Spanish stew, well seasoned with chile and with a savory small unl,ieasant 10 tne oiiactorIes of hungry men. It came in upon an i'm mense eartherndish, and difficulty now presented itself in serving it up in proper syle for the feast. Being on tory, or nasty reconnaissance, We brought with us l no other table furniture than on clasp knives and metallic drinking cups. The latter answered well enough for our coffee in the field, and the former served Us per- fectly for cutting up our beet iuto slips sui table for roasting by our amp-fres. But now that we had laiies to entertain, the case was different. and t was nc easy mat ter to supply the deficiency, for our large dish and knife or tw, constitute the nSu- al furniture of alilornia lanchos, ard an earthen pot, witt, an iron skinner, the eatire botteri de cuisine. The house of our friends, however, was better provided than most establishments of The kind, and on examination three cracked plates were found slowed away under :he bed Those being prodeced, all old wooden trunk. which was the only thing of the sort in ihe house, was hauled ont into the mide of the room to serve as il table, and blocks of wood arranged around it for seais.- The big dish of savory meats being placed in the centre, and surrounded by the thin 7, craceed plates. each one selec,ei fair companion, who, nothing 10th, seated her self by his side, ready to do justice to her own cookery. The block of wood being rather short, it became necessary for the ! gentleman and lady to sit in rather close proximity. aud lest she might slip off the seat, it was equally necessary Tor him t. keep one arm rather tightly around her waist while the other hand did the double duty of feeding both the ente tained anu . the entertaining.
 As eHc', gentleman had but single cup of course the fair lady was obliged 10 drink from the cup win her cav alier: ard as there were but three pates for five couples, six persons helped them selves from those plates, while the other four were obliged to feed from the general reservor in the centre. It is true hat We were deficient in knives and forks, but then you know Aaonus discovered that fn- gers were made before either, and those who have nevertsied the experiment can hardly imagine what convenient things chicken legs are to hold up to the rosy ips ot your sweetheart, while she de.icately nibbs If the feshy encasement. Aier the dinner dance canc of, which was ! continued into the small house.