Practical home cookery

One strange thing in connection with the subject is that when the d la Russe style was first introduced into this country, nearly all those persons who may be described generally as homely people, who make a point of always keeping well in the wake of fashion rather than the van, we say those persons had an idea that the new style was very elegant, but that they could not afford it. We believe that there is still an impression abroad that a dinner d la Russe must necessarily be a very expensive affair ; we will therefore proceed to describe a cheap but nice-looking little dinner, and, if space permit, how to make the dishes. In the first place, flowers, like Mrs. Scratchit s ribbons, make a great show for sixpence. Where there is a good garden, there ought to be no difficulty in making a dinner-table look nice. All that is required is a little taste. It is well to bear in mind, however, that in selecting flowers dark-green leaves and the colour blue or violet should not be forgotten. We will suppose, therefore, the table arranged : the dessert and plenty of flowers, and nothing else, for we do not believe in the modern compromise so often seen — i.e. some dishes placed on the table, as well as the dessert. Now for the dinner. First — say the time of the year be the spring — Julienne soup, bright as sherry, with just a taste of tarragon in it ; a turbot or brill, with lobster sauce ; a dish of chicken cutlets, white as snow, with little small green and red leaves in the centre of each, about half an inch long, and a little red lobster-claw, representing the bone, served in a silver dish, with aspic jeUy piled up in the centre. Another entree of eggs and spinach — always a pretty-looking dish — some lobster cutlets, and some rissoles. Next a haunch of mutton — i.e. a small roast leg of mutton cut outside the room haunch-fashion, parallel with the bone — and red-currant jelly handed with it. In small households, where a large quantity of cold meat is undesirable, this is far preferable to a large haunch, and of course it is exactly the same thing, so far as taste and appearance are concerned, when cut. Next, by way of game, have some roast larks, served up in little paper cups containing a rich forcemeat. Only one fowl, and that a moderate-sized one, will E be necessary to make both the chicken cutlets and the rissoles. We will now calculate roughly the saving in this dinner when compared with the old-fashioned one we have mentioned. In the first place, Julienne soup can be made far cheaper than mock-turtle ; but we will leave the question of the cost of the soup out altogether. Next the fish ; here again the saving only consists in the fact that it is possible to have a small fish when it is not put on the table, but impossible to have only just enough when it is. Now, warmed-up fish is never nice, yet how often do we see a splendid turbot or cod-fish go down, not a quarter of it eaten !