A Chafing Dish Party.
Hey diddle diddle, the cat's in the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see the sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Start in with a spelling match and spell each other down in good old-fashioned style. As soon as any one misses two words he or she is dropped out. Finally when only one is left, award a prize, a little water color, painted by the hostess, and framed passe-partout, to the "unabridged dictionary" as the winner might be called. The one who fails and retires first from the field receives a toy chafing dish. In the dining room the polished table is daintily set with doilies under the olive and almond dishes, and under the plates and glasses. The supper is a very simple one. Make creamed oysters in the chafing dish and serve them in home-made pate shells. Then have celery sandwiches made of thin slices of bread rolled around tender splintered stalks of celery, and dainty lettuce sandwiches with the lettuce crisp and cold and the mayonnaise of good stiffness and small cups of coffee.
To divert the attention while the hostess is cooking the oysters put at each plate a large oyster shell with a verse painted upon it in the form of a recipe which brings out little characteristics of each one of the guests. One man who is very clever and a dabbler in verse may receive the following:
"For this wonder culinary
Take a pound of dictionary,
Philosophy, perhaps a cup—
Beat three epics, mix them up,
With a measure of blank verse
Season with oratory terse,
Sprinkle in a bunch of rue
—— looms into view."
A girl who has a record of alleged broken hearts to her account, is exploited in this style:
"Take an ounce of fickleness,
Remorse, perhaps a grain or less;
Stir this into ready wit,
A Siren's smile to leaven it;
A laugh of wondrous catchiness
This is little ——"