Olive Salad.
Stuffed Cake.
Coffee.
The soup is made of strong stock with red beans, and seasoning in this way: a little onion and garlic are browned in a deep kettle with a spoonful of lard and a pinch of thyme; a stock is poured over this, and two cupfuls of red beans which have been cooked until they are soft are added; the whole is put through a sieve and poured over croutons just before serving.
Any fish will do for the third course, but bluefish is the best; after it is cooked it is cut in pieces ready to serve, and then a rich tomato sauce is poured over each piece. The chicken is really delicious. A tender fowl is chosen, jointed, and put on to stew. A dozen dry red peppers are cut up and boiled, after the seeds have been removed; they are then moistened with a little chicken broth and put through a sieve; one green pepper and two sliced onions are fried in a little lard, the peppers and chicken added, and the whole covered with the thickened gravy and simmered for fifteen minutes before serving.
The salad is one of the commonest Spanish dishes. To make it, take a cup of dice made of stale bread, sprinkle with bits of red peppers, add a cup of stoned olives, cut up, and half a cup of chopped cucumber pickles; mix the whole with mayonnaise and serve on lettuce cut in strips; pass a strong cheese with it. The stuffed cake is also a dish frequently seen in Spain. A large sponge cake is soaked in mild sherry, stuck full of blanched almonds and stoned raisins, and eaten with a rich boiled custard poured over it.
A HORSE-SHOW LUNCHEON
In New York the horse show is the great November event; perhaps in other cities there is something corresponding to it, and certainly in small places there is a great interest taken in the County Fair, which comes somewhat earlier in the fall. For any day when a number of friends are to visit a place where the horse is the hero, a luncheon may precede the hour. A large floral horse-shoe may be the decoration of the table, or one may be suspended over the table and the flowers may be of the same variety in the centrepiece, but arranged with more grace. The guest cards may bear a sketch of a horse, or of a horse-shoe, or a whip or some similar device, and the favours may be of the same character, in the shape of little silver pins; or, if the luncheon is sufficiently informal to warrant it, these favours may be chocolate horses, standing at each plate.