should not share with the most expensive one this element of success. Care, taste, and ingenuity Avill do much to remedy the lack of money, and may change the standard of the table from coarseness to refinement. Many suggestions for decorations may be found in the show-'s^-indows of bakers, pastry- cooks, fishmongers, and of delicatessen shops. Many of the pieces displayed there may seem elaborate and difficult to the novice, but they are, in reality, simple enoiigh when the use of materials is understood. The word garnishing is used here in a broad inter- pretation of the term, meaning the general ornamen- tation of dishes, whether it be obtained by form, color, dishing, or by dressing them with those articles called garnishes. For example, beginning with breads, embellish- ment is accomplished by means of form and color. The form is gained by molding and cutting ; the color, by glazing with egg or sugar. A universal expedient, when short of bread, is the soda biscuit. These biscuits, when cut in very small rounds of uniform size, will tempt the scoffer of hot breads ; while large or small crusty rolls, all of exactly the same size, and baked a golden color, will also make him forget his prejudices and find excuse in the delicious crust for eating them. But these same biscuits carelessly cut or molded or baked would offer him no excuse for inviting dyspepsia. Toast looks more inviting when cut into strips or triangles, or with the corners neatly cut off if served in whole slices. Any little thing which indicates care on the part of the cook recommends the dish to favor and almost guarantees its excellence— on the principle that straws show which way the wind blows. 10 LUNCHEONS For soups, there is to be found, in any cooli book, a long list of garnishes which may be used. Cer- tainly a clear soup is more beautiful when a few green peas or a few bits of celery increase its bril- liancy; a cream soup is greatly improved by a few small croutons ; and so on through the various classes of dishes. The garnishes for meat dishes are so various, it may be said that their only limit is the ingenuity and resources of the cook. It should be remembered that dishes which are served hot do not permit of as much garnishing as cold ones. The first requisite in the former is heat, and this must not be lost by time given to elaborate garnishing. It does not, however, exclude them from the privilege of being embellished ; for if the gar- nishes are prepared and ready at hand, it takes but a minute to put them in place. Hot meat dishes can also rely on other things to improve their appear- ance, such as shapeliness and uniformity ; therefore, strict attention should be given to the cutting and trimming of meats, to the molding of croquettes, of meat-balls, or of anything served in pieces, and also to the di.shing of the same. After meat is well cut, if a joint, it should be di- vested of all points and irregularities, and of car- tilage which will interfere with the carving, and then should be trimmed into a well-balanced and symmetrical form, attention being given to the mat- ter of its standing squarely and solidly upon the platter. Chops and cutlets should be trimmed into uni- form size and shape. This can be done without waste, as the trimmings have their uses. Careful LUNCHEONS 11 dressing and trussing is essential for poultry, as the appearance of an untrussed fowl is enough to de- stroy the appetite and condemn the dinner. A fowl should be pressed into a rounded and smooth surface in order to dissociate the article served from the thing of life.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

should not share with the most expensive one this element of success. Care, taste, and ingenuity Avill do much to remedy the lack of money, and may change the standard of the table from coarseness to refinement. Many suggestions for decorations may be found in the show-'s^-indows of bakers, pastrycooks, fishmongers, and of delicatessen shops. Many of the pieces displayed there may seem elaborate and difficult to the novice, but they are, in reality, simple enoiigh when the use of materials is understood. The word garnishing is used here in a broad interpretation of the term, meaning the general ornamentation of dishes, whether it be obtained by form, color, dishing, or by dressing them with those articles called garnishes. For example, beginning with breads, embellishment is accomplished by means of form and color. The form is gained by molding and cutting ; the color, by glazing with egg or sugar. A universal expedient, when short of bread, is the soda biscuit. These biscuits, when cut in very small rounds of uniform size, will tempt the scoffer of hot breads ; while large or small crusty rolls, all of exactly the same size, and baked a golden color, will also make him forget his prejudices and find excuse in the delicious crust for eating them. But these same biscuits carelessly cut or molded or baked would offer him no excuse for inviting dyspepsia. Toast looks more inviting when cut into strips or triangles, or with the corners neatly cut off if served in whole slices. Any little thing which indicates care on the part of the cook recommends the dish to favor and almost guarantees its excellence— on the principle that straws show which way the wind blows. For soups, there is to be found, in any cooli book, a long list of garnishes which may be used. Certainly a clear soup is more beautiful when a few green peas or a few bits of celery increase its brilliancy; a cream soup is greatly improved by a few small croutons ; and so on through the various classes of dishes. The garnishes for meat dishes are so various, it may be said that their only limit is the ingenuity and resources of the cook. It should be remembered that dishes which are served hot do not permit of as much garnishing as cold ones. The first requisite in the former is heat, and this must not be lost by time given to elaborate garnishing. It does not, however, exclude them from the privilege of being embellished ; for if the garnishes are prepared and ready at hand, it takes but a minute to put them in place. Hot meat dishes can also rely on other things to improve their appearance, such as shapeliness and uniformity ; therefore, strict attention should be given to the cutting and trimming of meats, to the molding of croquettes, of meat-balls, or of anything served in pieces, and also to the di.shing of the same. After meat is well cut, if a joint, it should be divested of all points and irregularities, and of cartilage which will interfere with the carving, and then should be trimmed into a well-balanced and symmetrical form, attention being given to the matter of its standing squarely and solidly upon the platter. Chops and cutlets should be trimmed into uniform size and shape. This can be done without waste, as the trimmings have their uses. Careful dressing and trussing is essential for poultry, as the appearance of an untrussed fowl is enough to destroy the appetite and condemn the dinner. A fowl should be pressed into a rounded and smooth surface in order to dissociate the article served from the thing of life.

Luncheons