Luncheons

yolk placed in the center. The white is cut lengthwise of the egg, the strips pointed at the ends and sliced so they will lie flat. A small slice is taken off the yolk to make it stand firm. Cranberries. 9. Slices of celery that are crescent shaped. 10. Sliced pickled beet stamped into various shapes. 11. A gherkin sliced nearly to the end, the slices then spread out to resemble a leaf. 12. Chopped pickled beet. 13. A bottle of capers. 14. Aspic jelly cut into triangular, square, and diamond shaped pieces and into small dice. On the front edge of the board are three pieces of chicken aspic which is so transparent that the pattern of the paper shows thi-ough it. giving buttons of color. Capers and olives complete the list of condiment garnishes, though any pickle may be used M-itli propriety on cold meat dishes. Illustration No. 3 shows various garnishes as explained in legend. Croutons are an indispensable part of hot minced meat dishes, creamed mixtures, and eggs cooked in various ways. They serve also to ornament these dishes, which especially require garnishing to make them presentable. Croutons are pieces of bread browned in butter in a saute-pan, or moistened with butter and browned in the oven. Care should be taken to cut them exactly, the shape depending on the dish with which they are to be used. For soups they should be quarter-inch cubes ; for minced meats, triangles more or less acute. Circles, squares, and strips also have their places. The color should be light golden, not dark brown ; the latter color betrays inexperience or carelessness. Fontage cups holding vegetables are useful foi' garnishing. The articles in the following list are used for garnishing meats : Parsley Fancy skewers Lettuce Paper frills "Watercress Vegetables Chicory Mushrooms Hard-boiled eggs Macaroni Lemons Spaghetti Pickles Rice Capers Potato or puree forms Olives Sauces Beets Sausages Croutons Bacon 2 2 A cook who lias a desire to ornament her dishes can make an infinite variety of garnishings by combining various things, or hy changing the form and arrangement of any one of them. Most of the articles used are within the reach of all. It is even not necessary to buy ai-ticles especially for this purpose, for odds and ends left over, or those standard stores always in the larder, will afford enough material tastefully to ornament the dishes. It must be borne in mind that decorations should not be such as will embarrass the carver. VEGETABLES With very few exceptions, vegetables should be served au naturel. ]\Ieats require all the aids of skilful handling and tasteful adornment. Vegetables, on the contrary, have great beauty in themselves, and the art of the cook cannot rival that of nature. Therefore a few sprigs of parslej' so arranged as to give a finish to the dish are ordinarily sufficient garnishing. In those cases, however, where the vegetables lose form and color in cooking, the skill of the cook may be employed to restore these qualities as far as possible. The more a cabbage can be made to look like itself, the more attractive it will be. This, at first thought, may seem a difficult thing to do, but the boiled vegetable can easily be placed in a cup made of the outside green leaves of the cabbage, and so, in a measure, present its own beautiful form and color. Illustration No. 4 shows a plain boiled cabbage mixed with a white sauce and so arranged. The color of this vegetable in its natural state appeals to the esthetic sense of every artist, and many [illustration: NO. 4. SAVOY CABBAGE LEAVES HOLDING CREAMED BOILED CABBAGE.] [illustration: NO. 5. SPINACH GARNISHED WITH WHITE OF HARD BOILED EGG AND CROUTONS.] m s m "^ [illustration: NO. 6. ASPIC OF GREEN PEAS.]