Breakfasts and teas

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Breakfasts and Teas (1907) is a specialized entertaining guide by Paul Pierce, editor of What to Eat magazine, aimed at hostesses planning formal and themed daytime social occasions. Rather than a general kitchen reference, it is organized around specific social events, from elaborate noon breakfasts to the fashionable Five O'Clock afternoon tea, each treated as a small production requiring coordinated decoration, table setting, menu, and etiquette. Readers will find seasonal breakfasts tied to flowers and holidays, national and regional theme parties such as a Cuban breakfast, Scotch teas, Japanese tea ceremonies, and Gypsy outdoor teas, alongside practical sections on tea brewing, sandwich making, and parlor games for guest entertainment. The book blends recipes with staging instructions, place card ideas, and color schemes, reflecting a period preoccupation with genteel domestic performance and themed hospitality. Recipes are woven into these broader entertaining scenarios rather than presented as a standalone culinary reference, so dishes often appear as part of a described menu for a particular occasion. Modern readers interested in early twentieth-century American social customs, domestic etiquette, and party planning will find this a rich period document, though it functions more as an entertaining and lifestyle manual than a comprehensive cookbook.

The book is organized by social occasion rather than by ingredient or dish type. Section 1 opens with formal noon breakfasts and their menus, decorations, and etiquette. Section 2 continues with seasonal and themed breakfasts before transitioning into the Five O'Clock tea tradition, covering tea varieties and service. Section 3 moves through a sequence of specialty teas, including fortune-telling by tea grounds, Scotch teas, a Gypsy outdoor tea, Japanese tea customs, and holiday-themed teas. Section 4 closes with further themed tea parties, parlor games for guests, and practical guidance on tea sandwiches and porch entertaining. Chapters are marked within the sections (for example Chapter I, Chapter VI, Chapter VII), and headings consistently name a specific event or theme followed by its decoration and menu details.