Evening star., 1901-12-21
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OF all Christmas dinners the dinner of
ones childhood. the dinner mother used to
get up stands facile princeps Nearly
every country has its own national menu
for this festal day.
The Russian would not think the day
properly celebrated unless a small roasted
pig was served upon his dinner table with
a dressing compounded from the heart and
| liver, garnished with boiled buckwheat. The
Italian feasts upon stewed eels, rolled in
laurel leaves and macaroni. The Armenian
household revel in delicious meat rolls, en-
veloped in water cress, curious dolmas Of
rolled cabbage leaves stuffed with force
meat, thin sheets of gul-laj, rolled and
twisted, covered with syrup and buffalo
butter and crowned with crlspy walnut
meats. Pilaff, specially prepared for this
occasion with raisins and beechnuts. is the
piece-de-resistance, while the dessert is the
popular mahalebei, made of flour, sugar
and milk favored with rose water and
served with clotted cream.
Hans Brinker looks forward for weeks to
the Christmas goose stuffed with chest
nuts, the raised rolls plump with raisins and
the traditional St. Nicholas cakes. 1Ae
exile from Erin, however low his fortunes
may have ebbed, calls with insistence for
his fat goose, and the swarthy Spaniard
| forgets for the while the bitterness of de-
feat while dining on almond soup and gold
fish smothered in chopped garlic and oil.
The English housewife holds fast to ira
dition, and her board is crowned with
great sirloin Of beef and the rich plum pud-
ding Of ancient and honorable lineage In
the American household the national bird,
or a fine roast Of beef, holds the honored
place, although green" goose neatly
| trussed and roasted or plump sucking pig,
| crisp and brown and fragrant, is not to be
| despised.
An elaborate menu is not essential nor
| yet appropriate to the Christmas dinner
| a soup, the turkey other roast with its
usual concomitants, light salad and the
substantial pudding with bon bons and
fruit being quite sufficient. But there must
| be an abundance of holly and evergreen
| bright lights, happy faces and good cheer.
Appropriate decorations red
and green, the glossy holly leaves. with
the bright red berries. candles with red
shades and Jellies, ices and bonbons Of the
| same rich color. If there are children. the
center decoration may be miniature
Christmas tree. Select small but SYM
| metrical pine, place it in a jardiniere and
| band with ropes of smilax and holly. Dust
the tree with Jack Frost powder and hang
with light and sparkling trinkets. Another
pretty decoration is made by cutting a five
| pointed star out of white sheet wadding.
| Place the smooth side down in the center
of the table. dust with powder Of isnglass,
define its edges with small twigs of greens
or holly and place in the middle Of the
| mat glass or silver bowl filled with holly.
In decorating, the only flower that is per-
missible with the green is the poinsetta or
Mexican Christmas flower.
Oyster cocktails. said to be an American
| invention, are prepared as follows: Into
deep glasses which have been well chilled.
| or in ice-shells made for this purpose, put
| five small oysters. For one dozen covers
allow seven teaspoonfuls each Of prepared
| horse radish, tomato catsup and vinegar,
ten teaspoonfuls of lemon juice and one
| of tabasco sauce. Mix thoroughly and
pour an equal quantity into each glass.
The cream of tomato soup, frequently
| known as tomato bisque, is made fol-
| lows: Put pint of canned tomatoes in an
| agate stewpan with tiny bit of bay leaf
| and Sprig of parsley and let 1t simmer for
| fifteen minutes. Put quart of milk in
| double boiler over the fire. Melt two table
| spoonfuls Of butter in little saucepan, add
| to it two tablespoonfuls Of -four stir until
bubbly and pour half cupful of warm
| milk over 1t. Stir until smooth and creamy,
| then add to the milk in the double boiler.
Stir and cook until 1t thickens. Rub the
| tomatoes through a Sieve and when just
| ready to serve the soup add a quarter
| teaspoonful of soda to the tomatoes. Have
] the soup tureen well heated. and pour the
| hot milk and tomato into the tureen and
| serve at once.
The soup must not stand after being
| mixed, especially IL the tomato is at all
acid A teaspoonful Of sugar may be added
| II desired.
To make the chestnut Stuff1ng for the
| turkey, shell and cook one quart of large
French chestnuts in boiling water until
| their skins are loosened. Blanch and again
| put In boiling water and cook until tender.
| While still hot rub through a course sieve
| or colander. Mix with the sifted nuts a
| few bread crumbs and two tablespoonfuls
| of melted butter and season with salt and
pepper. Moisten with a little sweet cream
and fill the turkey, but do not press the
stuffing in too closely.
To prepare the cranberry jelly wash and
| pick over the berries and place sver the
| as there is fruit. Cook until the berries are
| soft. Press through fine sieve. and to
each pint of the juice allow three-quarters
| of a pound of granulated sugar. Place on
| the fire. cook just twenty minutes after
| coming to the boiling point, and turn into
molds to harden.
That there are mashed potatoes and
! mashed potatoes all the world knows. To
prepare them just they should be.
| creamy, light, white and ready to melt in
your mouth, allow to each pint Of hot,
| boiled potatoes one tablespoonful OF but
| ter, half teaspoonful of salt, a quarter
| of teaspoonful Of pepper and hot milk
| or cream to moisten. Mash In the kettle
| in which they were boiled and beat with
| fork until light and creamy. If not quite
| ready to serve set the kettle in pan OF
| hot water and leave on the back of the
on a hot dish, but never, never smooth It
| over (this at variance with our grand
| mothers method) as that makes the potato
heavy and compact.
In creamlng the onions. cook In boiling