384 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



lar trifle. Whatever is used, let but one be put 

 on each plate, and before the plates are handed. 



III. If you have more than one meat, let 

 the first be relatively substantial, and the sec- 

 ond of a lighter character. For instance a 

 fillet of beef might be followed by chicken cro- 

 quettes, or a boiled turkey (which is never 

 really good without oyster sauce) by mutton 

 chops with almond paste. Other things even, 

 let a roast precede a boil, but put the heavier 

 thing first. 



IV. After meats, entries, such as croquettes, 

 calves' brains, deviled kidneys, oysters fried 

 or broiled, etc. 



V. Before game, a small glass of sorbet to 

 each, to be brought in in the glasses. 



VI. With game, jelly ; though true epicures 

 don't take it. The salad is frequently served 

 with the game, though, for those who wish 

 both jelly and salad, this is awkward if jelly 

 be served. 



VII. After salad, cheese, either one of me- 

 dium strength, or two kinds one pungent, 

 one mild. The waiter had best hand both 

 kinds together (previously cut up) for the 

 company to choose. With this, hard crackers: 



VIII. If you elaborate your dessert, let the 

 order be : pastry or pudding, ices, fruits, nuts, 

 and raisins, bonbons. 



IX. Black coffee in small cups. Sugar (in 

 lumps) to be passed separately. This is quite 

 frequently reserved till the ladies have left the 

 table and served to them in the parlor, and to 

 the gentlemen in the dining room. 



BILL, OF FARE. 



Raw oysters or clams. 

 SOUP. 

 Olives. 

 FISH. 



Olives, Dressed cucum- 

 bers, etc. 



Either Bouchtes d. la 

 Heine, Mushrooms on 

 toast, or something sim- 

 ilar. 

 MEAT. 



If more than one, roast 

 first, or the heavier first. 

 Entries (any light made 

 dishes not sweet). 

 Sorbet. 

 GAME. 

 SALAD. 



Olives, Pickles, etc. 

 Cheese, Crackers. 



DESSERT. 



Pastry. Ices. Fruit. 



Nuts and Raisins. 



Bonbons. 

 Black Coffee. 



The fundamentals (in the various courses) 

 are printed in capitals. Of course no list 

 could include everything. This one merely 

 attempts to give what can frequently be real- 



ized. If you care for anything more, you 

 have probably already so far studied the sub- 

 ject as to be beyond the need of any aid. 



If you omit any of the courses indicated by 

 capitals, let them be game first, then fish, then 

 salad, last soup. 



Setting the Table. To raise feeding 

 from the grade of an animal function into 

 that of a fine art is worth anybody's while, 

 and almost anybody can do it. It need cost 

 but a little polishing of glass and metal, and 

 a handful of flowers, to make a very plain 

 table pleasing to even the critical eye. 



Have a thick, soft blanket under the table- 

 cloth. It prevents noise from laying things 

 down, and gives a pleasant feeling to the hand 

 resting on the table. 



Decoration. The first rule for setting a 

 table well is not to put on it anything to eat. 

 Exception may be made in favor of a few or- 

 namental plates containing bright colored 

 pickles, olives, fruits, and confectionery. 

 These are admissible only in so far as they are 

 decorative. Let each course be brought on 

 and removed separately after the guests are 

 seated. 



Now here is a very important matter, which 

 even good dinner-givers sometimes neglect. 

 Do not let the ornament in the center be so 

 high as to prevent people naturally seeing each 

 other across the table. If you do, it \wll con- 

 fine the talk to people sitting next each other, 

 and seriously impede general and lively con- 

 versation. There is no denying that a high 

 center ornament is decorative and excellent for 

 a supper where people stand. But a little taste 

 and ingenuity will devise low ones suitable for 

 dinners, that will not interfere with the dis- 

 tinctively human enjoyment conversation. 

 Flowers, of course, are generally the most 

 available material. They should not be gath- 

 ered, however, into a single flat mass, but 

 should be placed at a height of two or three 

 inches on small plates or the narrow troughs 

 now to be found at the crockery stores, and 

 grouped around some object not much over a 

 foot high in the center. This central object 

 can be a bouquet, a stand of fruit, or any other 

 tasteful thing that ingenuity may suggest. In 

 warm weather ice, either in a large, clear 

 block, or several pieces too large to melt out 

 of proportion during the meal, combined with 

 ferns or flowers, is suggestive, and may be 

 made very beautiful. The writer wishes to 

 state, most emphatically, that, generally, on 

 noticing that dinner is passing off with pecul- 

 iar spirit, he has also noticed that the orna- 

 ments are so disposed as not to impede 

 intercourse. 



A small bouquet de corsage at each lady's 



