A small dinner should not last much more than an hour and a half. It is readily disposed of in that length of time if the cook has the courses ready promptly, and if the waitress understands her business. All the carving should be done off the table. The plates should be put in front of the guests from the right side, and removed from the left. Of course, whatever dish is passed must be offered from the left side. To prevent mistakes the hostess should write out a full list of all the courses, what dishes each comprises, and from what china they are to be served, noting, too, when there is a change of silver. A copy of this schedule should be in the hands of the cook, while the butler or waitress should have a duplicate pinned up in a convenient place in the butler's pantry, to serve as a reference in case the memory of one of them should play false.
While caterers can be found who will supply almost any dish which may be suggested, a graceful touch of individuality is imparted to a dinner if certain plats are prepared at home. Only, they must be well done, or they were better omitted altogether. The ices, biscuit, and Charlottes usually come from outside, but the entrées and salads, as well as soup, and the fish, meat, and game, may be prepared in the house, and be none the worse on that account.
Coffee is sometimes served in the dining-room, but quite as often passed in the parlor. It is never in good taste to have a large assortment of wines at a small dinner. Claret and champagne are quite enough, or even claret alone is sufficient.
When the hostess is ordering her dinner, she should bear in mind who her guests are to be, and arrange her bill of fare in accordance with her bill of company. The advisability of this is illustrated in the anecdote told of an English restaurateur who, on being ordered to prepare a dinner for twelve clergymen, begged respectfully to know if they were High-Church or Broad-Church, "for hif 'Igh-Church, they wants more wine; hif Broad-Church, more wittles."
It is not worth while to prepare highly spiced entremets and dishes of mushrooms and terrapin for guests who would be better suited with plainer viands; while, on the other hand, a very simple dinner is not the thing to set before a company of epicures.
A LARGE DINNER
THUS far the descriptions of breakfasts, luncheons, and dinners have been given from the standpoint of the housekeeper. The outline of this, a more ceremonious meal than any before described, will be from the point of view of the guest, who regards everything as a mere spectator, and not with the eyes of the hostess, who has studied every step of the repast from its inception to its completion.