Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-03
The Stars Household Ex-
pert Tells of the Ideal
Hostess and Her Guests.
Some Facts About Re-
frt 'shments and Especially
Tested Recipes.

! True hospitality does not lie in
! great d. splay or in lavish expense.
| Ones pd wer as a hostess and the
suitability of her home for hospital
| ity should not be measured by an
ability to plan and give a large and
elaborate d inner or the facility with
which the hostess can seat dinner
guests in tn e dining room or dispose
of them in tl,e drawing room and mu-
sic room aN erward. True hospital
ity consists O being able to offer the
impromptu hospitality that one had
not planned ten minutes before.
There are mag. aificent houses that are
thrown wide open at stated times to
great array of guests. but the
guests arrive u1teasily and depart as
soon as courtesy permits. There are
royal banquets. where every delicacy
is lavished. but hlera is no cordially
in either giver On receiver. and the
banoueters are seated before they sit
down, and the owners of those
houses and the trainers of those
fe asts wonder why me nand women
go with such eagerness to quiet
homes and simple tables in prefer
ent.e, where there is mo luxury what
ever
One secret lies in entertaining
friends as nearly as possible after
the IA shion in which they live. Peo-
pie we nth inviting come, not to see
the no me. but to see the hostess.
For set occasions some little prepara-
ton ma, be necessary, but even that
little is often too much. What every
visitor an preciates most is seeing the
family as nearly as possible as it
lives, and being made a part of it.
y he houses that open in this way, as
II >vere, by the touch of a spring, are
:, xntAd. Til guest who is most en-
- I'D and WI , most enjoys himself is
Joy u1v the = uest who comes uneX-
ot llv. and the great hosts of the
49,, are no Ier found unprepared
for one more.
r.e Hush nnd's Friends.
rh e som. e wives who rather
hoas.. ef aha fact that their husbands
DO not bring bus ness associates 10
their homes to enh ram .h .neih, rt OF
.l,;n i 4 Iue s "a kes his business
. .snet.tes ~ his clho or the hotel.
In some cases. ne, 1a. os. Tom really
doesn't want to bring ale business ac-
quaintance home, but hsh h ehe EN-, nII
quaintance is also a fri to avtand
probably like we'll enough ID IF tho
real hospitality to him ins,A ~
mock hospitality of the eliza how ,me
hotel. There are some hostessN tvna
ever, VINO are just the opposite .s not
AS one recently remarked: Il ~ ,,an
object to having more friends t. ' =,
room 1t is usually the other way
this world"
1t is an accepted aphorism that one
should never be late at duel or a
formal dinner. Hardness is unpar-
donab1e, but the opposite is also true.
If it is an offense to be late, it is' also
to be too early. This, of !
course refers only to the dinner, since
dueIs are affairs of the past. Over
haste may be flattering, but it is also
inconsiderate. II a dinner is impor-
tant enough to be called function"
and the house in which it is given is
sion, the too early guest may find a
hostess still in her maids hands. If,
instead, a cottage and simpler repast
await one, the housewife may herself |
be putting the last necessary touches |
to the salad.
In either case the hostess feels |
warm personal approval and an ability |
for self-praise if the coming guest is |
little tardy. Should the soup be cold |
she was on time. Can anything be I
more annoying than the "you-don't-
mind-me -dear" type of woman, who al |,
ways comes half an hour early and al I
ways wants to help? A despairing !!
hostess said recently:
when I have just men coming !
spend my soul on the cooking; when |
furnishing the house; when it's both, |
1 almost kill myself, and when they |
come too early, I want to lie down |
and die"
1.-The quality of mercy Is not |
strained" it applies even to giving |