Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-28

of 'little dinners"
The woman aiming
to be powerful element in the social or
diplomatic world will find that her most
trusty weapon is a reputation and faculty
Tor giving these delightful entertainments;
but they must have her personal attention
| Tor no caterer can furnish the grace of lies
petits soins."
game dinner is a feast that richly ap-
| peals to men. If your publisher hesitates
| over your latest manuscript, # your Senator
Is reluctant to throw his influence on the
side Of your rather forlorn claim, bid those
doubling souls to a game dinner, and your
| cause will be in a fair way to triumph.
With the soup serve banaras, to be eaten
| raw. with salt and pepper. Let venison fol-
| low Immediately after the soup; that to be
succeeded by an iced, but not frozen, punch,
the contents SO dsscreetly poised that in it
| there will be found mo tomorrow"-the
highest proof Of skill a mixer of punch can
snow. BY the way, toast should always be
served with punch.
Then let the small birds appear in sweet
little beds CT peas; there is no bird or ami
mai that does not feel honored by the alli-
ance OF green peas. The substantial part
OF the dinner must be concluded with a
parade of ducks. their Righteousness en-
hanced by the mellow richness Of Burgundy
Neither Long Nor Grand.
For table decoration the eyes may rest,
| from the first scene to the last, on the
goIdenlsh beauty of pines but since their
fragrance Is always SO much more de-
| licious than their taste, it would be a pity
| 10 anord the disappointment Of eating
them. OF course, there must be the
! shasse-cafe; and for this the liqueurs should
| settle or Creme de Menthe
Inc present dinner la mode Is a sensi-
bic. charming repast, quite within the
| reach OF any bright woman proudly in
| for many old stumbling blocks of elab-
| crate preparation have been removed and
| that 1t shall be neither too long nor too
grand Is the effort Of the highest fashion.
The Prince of Wales has given his ideas
| Upon the length Of a dinner In a manner
not at all vague. and his loyal entertain
| ers are very careful that he shall not he
| compelled to dawdle over banquet longer
than an hour at the outside and a limit
| of forty-five minutes pleases him better
| still.
Whoever wishes to give successful din
ners should not attempt much, but she
should attempt often. If the servants are
| accustomed to hospitality, If the dinner
| party is simply the family dinner, sin
! large type" there will be- no confusion.
Moreover, the hostess will not be so keenly
| on the watch for domestic blunders or so
| excited over the fate Of some unusual dish
that she will be unable to keep the con-
| HE, from edge to edge of the small dining
circle.
| In asking friends to dinner, she should re-
member that their happiness will not con-
siSt in seeing her attempt to entertain on a
scale quite beyond her means. She is re-
sponsible for their comfort and pleasure
while under her roof. and they can have
| little of either If she is so anxiously appre-
hensive about her household arrangements
as to be utterly helpless conversationally.
| Selecting the Guests.
A small, simple dinner well within the
ability of the cook. served to a congenial
| company, will score a triumph when the
| lor g-drawn-out menu of an extensively
elaborate feast, designed merely to clear
off outstanding social claims, will be an
affair to be endured rather than enjoyed
| In fact, the superiority which, in the days
| when Thackeray turned his discerning
| sNile upon elegant glutto1y," was an inn
ptrtant feature of social compliments. has
| passed into the outer region of bad FORM.
| Any tendency toward prodigality in q menu
| must now be severely Stunned.
| The first consideration in arranging din
| ner should be an effective selection OF
| guests, combination that shall be con-
versationally electric. The ambitious host
ed will come up for review far more fire.
! quently-the world of society is paved with
| them-than desirable ones. She should
avoid the weil-informed person; that is, If
|
| he is sure to monopolize the conversation;
| the men of anecdote and travel, for they,
too, are a tedious sort; the stiff, fromal
| people should be left out also, because they
| will cast a gloom over the brightest hoSpi-
| tality-human refrigerators and hopelessly
moral fat irons freeze all the bubble and
crush all the lightness of any dinner.
| PrOpea Number to Invite.
There can never be a universal rule for
| the desirable number of guests at dinner.
A famous French criterion, regardless of
| the muses. and graces that have influenced
another noted opinion, has declared au-
thoritatively that six should not be ex-
| ceeded. Another asserts that there should
be eight guests-sx takers and two listen
| ers. Still another gastronomic savant, more
| elastic in his ideas, imposes but this limit
upon the hostess-that she shall not put
| more people at her table than Providence
| and the cabinet maker intended should sit
| at it. Assuredly, those of us that have suf-
| fered the torture of being as tightly packed
| at a dinner table as the boxed sardines of
the hors-d'ceuvre, simply because the host
ess wished to rid herself of all the obliga-
| tons possible with the one fell effort, will
warmly approve Of this opinion. No one
| has ever given sounder dinner advice than
| Brillat-Savarin. He does not harp upon the
number Of guests as the greatest ingredient
| Of success, but he i. draws their desirable
characteristics with answering distinction.
Dinner party men, he wrote, should be
|
| amiable without coQuetry.'
A few dinner suggestions may be of ser
| vice to the hostess of the coming winter.
| The paper frills that were once consider
| ed an ornamental finish around the long
| points Of chops or hams are quite out of
| favor. They were memorial of the olden
| times, prior to the introduction Of the
| carving fork. when joints were dressed for
| the dainty lady carver, who had to grasp a
| roast chicken or a leg of mutton with the
| hand while cutting it. They are no longer
| useful and are rarely seen on fashionable
| tables.
| Floral decoration will not end its mission
with the table, but will extend to the food.
| Flowers will serve as a garnfsh for soups,
| two or three blossoms floating on the sur
| face in rivalry to the crcutons; the top of
| the vol-au-vent will be scattered with rose
| leaves; and, following the recent example
of the German emperor who has set the
| fashion for the court of Berlin, We shall
throw violet petals into the champagne.
About Fruit Soups.
Another innovation, though Of less poetic
attraction, will be fruit soups made of
prunes, apples, raisins-the combination can
| be varied-simmered in water, with French
sage, until the sage is invisible and the
soup of broth consistency. The cafe noir
will be served in long, narrow glass tum-
blers, accompanied with a tiny decanter of