MENU
California Cherries.
Clam Bouillon. Hot Crackers.
Salmon Croquettes. Sauce Tartare.
Crown Roast of Lamb. Mashed Potatoes.
Peas. Hot Rolls.
Mint Sherbet.
Asparagus Salad. Cheese Crackers. Pim-olas.
Strawberry Ice Cream. Cakes.
Coffee. Bonbons.
BASKET OF CHERRIES.
The first course of cherries may be made very pretty by arranging the fruit in clusters of red and white with a few leaves and fastening them with invisible wire to bits of stem, and arranging them in baskets of rough green straw tied with green ribbons.
Crown roast of lamb is a rather unusual dish at a luncheon, but it is an attractive one and not too heavy for the meal. It is the whole saddle of lamb, cut down the back, with the two sides carefully trimmed of the meat until the chop bones stand up alone as in French chops. The sides are then put together, bent in a circle, and fastened with skewers to form a crown with the bones standing up. The centre is filled either with mashed potato or with peas before it is served; it should be carved on the table, on a round platter, or, if it is carefully cut between the chops before it is brought in, it may be passed to the guests for each to cut for herself.
The sherbet to follow this course is made by adding a handful of crushed mint to boiling hot lemonade, letting it stand till cool, straining, adding a little sherry or rum if you use them, and freezing. A few drops of green colouring improve its appearance. Sometimes a sprig of mint is put in the sherbet glass with the ice, a very pretty idea.
The salad is made by cooking asparagus until it is tender, and when cold sprinkling with French dressing and allowing it to stand an hour before serving on lettuce with mayonnaise.
With this luncheon the ices may be served in beautiful little ships of silver paper with delicate paper sails, or the ingenious caterer has a form for reproducing Plymouth Rock in caramel cream, so lifelike that even the fissure in the side appears. Either of these shapes are certainly delightfully appropriate for a May-Day luncheon if they are attainable. If not, the cream may be served in little fluted paper cases decorated with the arbutus, tied on in small bunches with narrow ribbon.
AN APPLE-BLOSSOM LUNCHEON
FILLED WITH CANDIED FRUITS.
A hostess living in the country may offer a group of city guests a real delight in May-time by inviting them to luncheon when the orchards are all in bloom. The invitations should bear the word "Apple-Blossoms" in one corner, and the implied promise should be fulfilled by having the flowers in evidence everywhere in the house and out of it. The rooms should be decorated with bowls of the flowers on the mantels and on the top of the book-cases and on the tables in the halls. The luncheon table should have a bowl of the blossoms in the centre, and the cloth, or rather the table itself, should be strewn with the flowers picked from the stems and showered over it. The same small ribbons suggested for the May-Day luncheon may also be used for this one, as the colour should again be pale. The bonbons used might be tiny candy apples.