CHAPTER V: THE INFORMAL (HOME) DINNER
The setting of the table for the home dinner follows the general rules already given. As it is a quite informal affair, however, the side dish (never seen at a formal dinner) is permissible. Dessert, too, may be served in a small dish set in a plate. A carving cloth (for paterfamilias usually carves at the home dinner) protects the tablecloth from spatters and bits of crisp fat which the most skillful carver cannot always avoid sending over the dish.
If a maid serves, she should always have an extra plate, one more than the number of individuals to be served. She will need it.
A salad served with meat, at an informal dinner, is placed on the right side, from the right, the exception to the rule of serving from the left.
Vegetables, once served, are taken back to the kitchen, to keep them warm. If a second serving is desired, the mistress rings. Suit yourself about having the serving silver placed on the table before the dish to be served is carried in. The latest wrinkle—and it is a time and step-saving one—dictates that the silver be brought in on a platter. The soup, to be served hot (it should always be served in soup plates at dinner and never in bouillon cups) must be brought in after the family have taken their places.
A family dinner may be served quite comfortably even without a maid. The table set and the service laid, the younger members of the family should attend to her duties. One may bring in the soup, hot, in individually heated plates. Another may fill the water glasses, pass butter or sauces and remove dishes between courses. The most convenient way of serving vegetables, under these circumstances, is for some member of the family next the carver to attend to it, as soon as meat has been laid on the plate. It saves extra passing. See to it that too many things—butter, salt, pepper, cream, sauces, etc.—are not traveling about the table at once. All the formal features of the more formal meals may be dropped or modified to suit individual needs or circumstances in the informal home dinner.
TWELVE MENUS FOR GOOD FAMILY DINNERS
1. Corn Mock Bisque. Roast Chicken with Bread Stuffing, Giblet Gravy. Boiled Rice. Sauté Egg Plant. Stuffed Green Peppers. Prune Pudding. Black Coffee.
2. Onion Soup. Fried Smelts, Sauce Tartare. Broiled Porterhouse Beefsteak. Maître d’Hotel Butter (1/4 cup butter, 1/2 teaspoonful salt, 1/8 teaspoonful pepper, tablespoonful lemon juice, 1 ditto parsley, fine chopped; work butter in bowl with wooden spoon till creamy, then add other ingredients slowly). Potato Strips. Creamed Turnips. Steamed Chocolate Pudding, Sterling Sauce.
3. Carrot Soup. Braised Beef. Boiled Potatoes with Butter and Parsley. Fried Parsnips. Onion Soufflé. Spiced Apples à la Lyman (6 large apples, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoonful salt, 1/4 cup water: arrange cored and pared apples in baking dish, mix sugar, salt and cinnamon and fill cavities. Add water, bake till apples are soft, basting repeatedly with syrup in dish. Remove, cool, pile meringue on top of each apple. Back to oven and bake for eight minutes. Chill and serve with sugar and cream). Black coffee.
4. Huntington Soup and Celery. Braised Leg of Mutton. Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Beets, Sauce Piquant. Stuffed Tomato Salad, Boiled Dressing. Cream Jelly.
5. Onion Soup. Beefsteak à la Henrietta Sauté Potato Balls, Mashed Turnips. Cheese Salad. Coffee Sponge.
6. Corn and Chicken Soup. Braised Fowl, Chestnut Stuffing. Duchess Potatoes, Fried Tomatoes (Parmesan). Honeycomb Pudding, Creamy Sauce. Coffee.
7. Brown Soup with Macaroni Rings. Creamed Mushrooms. Roast Leg of Veal. Mashed Potatoes. Brussels Sprouts with Celery. Asparagus Salad. Fruit Tapioca. Coffee.
8. Clam Bouillon. Boiled Leg of Mutton, Caper Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Fried Cucumbers. Peach Cabinet Pudding. Crackers and Cheese. Black Coffee.
9. Broiled Fish, Cold Slaw in Cabbage Shell. Stuffed Hearts with Vegetables. Potatoes Goldenrod, Almond Pudding, Whipped Cream. Assorted Fruit. Coffee.
These are samples of what is possible in the way of tasty combinations for the informal family dinner.