AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
AHBLPS TO, hee 
HOUSEWIFE 
TABLE AND HOUSEHOLD SUGGESTIONS OF INTER- 
EST TO EVERY HOUSEKEEPER AND HOUSEWIFE 
December, 1911 
SUBSTITUTES FOR THE PLUM PUDDING 
By Mary W. Mount 
Photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals 
HEN Christmastide ushers in its joyous fes- 
tival of childhood, not one of us is proof 
against its exhilarating influences, however 
many the years that have left their frosts 
upon our heads. We forget everything ex- 
cept our youth; we revel in experiencing 
again the sensations of a care-free child; our step is buoyant, 
our feeling one of joyous goodwill towards all men. In 
heart and mind we are young once more; only our di- 
gestion reminds us, at the Christmas feast, that many 
indulgences in plum pudding and fruit cake, with all 
the other good things that make up a Christmas dinner, 
have taxed it until it refuses to be put to such test again. 
HIS condition in adults causes them to 
realize that it is not the part of wis- 
dom to allow children to gorge themselves 
with heavy desserts after a Christmas din- 
ner sufficiently heavy in itself. It is the | 
natural propensity of children to over- 
indulge in sweets, and Christmas is a sea- 
son when they are given greater—indeed, 
often unlimited—latitude in this respect. 
OOKERY has become an 
art so fine that a great 
number of desserts of deli- 
cious and digestible qualities 
may be prepared with far 
less effort and expense than 
are demanded by plum pud- 
ding and fruit cake. Seldom 
at a modern Christmas feast 
is a boar’s head, served in 
flaming spirits, borne to the 
table. If this formerly in- 
dispensable Christmas dish 
has given place to young 
roast pig with a red apple 
in its mouth upon a tastefully 
garnished platter, why, then, 
may not suet puddings find substitutes in more delicate and 
digestible, to say nothing of more decorative, dishes? 
OME of the most picturesque Christmas feasts of an- 
tiquity are associated in our minds with Viking revels 
and ceremonies. What more appropriate, then, for a mod- 
ern Christmas table than Viking foam, which is blanc mange, 
with bananas cut up in it and served in boat-like red banana 
skins? ‘These skins are stiffer and more boat-shaped than 
those of the yellow banana, and add a crimson holiday touch 
to the table, which is accentuated by a spray of holly in the 
‘lwo delicious substitutes for the Phun Puddine: 
Island served in dish of glass, and Lemon Jelly decorated with Holly 
leaves of preserved Citron and berries shaped from candied Cherries 
prow and by rings, cut from candied cherries, around the 
edge of the blanc mange. The Viking craft should be sur- 
rounded by holly leaves and berries, or it may be served 
in a billow of whipped cream. 
ELLIES make attractive and suitable desserts at Christ- 
mastide, because they lend themselves so readily to 
decorative color schemes. Lemon jelly, for instance, made 
in a round mold, glows prettily in a wreath of holly leaves 
cut from green-tinted dried citron mingled with berries 
shaped from candied cherries. A similar decoration on the 
top of the jelly emphasizes its holiday appearance, and 
daintiness is added by a circle of whipped cream around it. 
This seasonable color plan finds another expression in snowy 
angel cake, adorned with a wreath of citron holly leaves, 
brightened by crimson gumdrops or candied cherries, each 
resting in the center of a marshmallow. ‘The under part of 
the marshmallows should be warmed in order to make them 
stick firmly to the cake. Mistletoe ber- 
ries, cut out of marshmallows, contrast with 
the circle of cherries or gumdrops that rest 
upon the lace doily on the high cake dish. 
NE of the simplest and most easily 
Gre of Christmas desserts is apple 
float, the foundation of which consists of 
_ peeled stewed apples mashed through a wire 
_ strainer to free them of seed and core. 
i Sweetened gelatin is al- 
lowed to thicken and is then 
added to the stiffly-whipped 
whites of eggs. Whipped 
cream is beaten into the 
frothy mixture and then the 
apples are, in turn, beaten 
with it until the whole is like 
a whitish foam. Sometimes 
persons merely add whipped 
or plain cream when serving 
the dish. A very charming 
Christmas effect is produced 
by serving the float in hol- 
lowed-out red apples, or 
coloring the edge with cran- 
berry juice and decorating 
the service dish with scarlet berries. Another dainty des- 
sert into which gelatin and whipped cream enter is formed 
of lady-fingers stuffed with whipped cream, stiffened with 
gelatin, into which finely chopped nuts have been stirred. 
This dessert is made additionally attractive by mixing grated 
cocoanut in the filling for some lady-fingers and chocolate 
in that for others. 
ID-WINTER fruits are always appropriate on a 
Christmas table, and a very decorative dessert con- 
sists of orange ice or orange jelly served in the skin of an 
A chocolate Floating 
