For a little dinner of eight we might suggest that the hostess write:—
Dear Mrs. Sullivan,—Will you and Mr. Sullivan dine with us on Thursday at half-past seven to meet Mr. and Mrs. Evarts, quite informally?
Ever yours truly,
Mary Montgomery.
This accepted, which it should be in the first person, cordially, as it is written, let us see what we would have for dinner—
| Sherry. | Soup. | Sorrel, à l'essence de veau. | ||
| Lobsters, sauté à la Bonnefoy. | Chablis. | |||
| Veal Cutlets, à la Zingara. | ||||
| Fried sweet potatoes. | Champagne. | |||
| Roast Red-Head Ducks. | Currant jelly. | |||
| Claret. | Curled Celery in glasses. | Olives. | ||
| Cheese. | Salad. | |||
| Frozen Pudding. | ||||
| Grapes. | ||||
| Coffee. | Liqueurs. | |||
Or, if you please, a brown soup, a white fish or bass, boiled, a saddle of mutton, a pair of prairie chickens and salad, a plate of broiled mushrooms, a sorbet of Maraschino, cheese, ice-cream, fruit. It is not a bad "look-out," is it?
How well the Italians understand the little dinner! They are frugal but conscientious diners until they get to the dessert.
Their dishes have a relish of the forest and the field. First comes wild boar, stewed in a delicious condiment called sour-sweet sauce, composed of almonds, pistachio nuts, and plums. Quails, with a twang of aromatic herbs, are followed by macaroni flavoured with spiced livers, cocks' combs, and eggs called risotto, then golden fritto, cooked in the purest cru of olive oil, and quocchi cakes, of newly ground Indian corn, which is all that our roasted green corn is, without the trouble of gnawing it off the cob,—a process abhorrent to the conscientious diner unless he is alone. One should first take monastic vows of extreme austerity before he eats the forbidden fruit, onion, or the delicious corn. But when we can conquer Italian cooking, we can eat these two delicious things, nor fear to whisper to our best friend, nor fear to be seen eating.
The triumphs of the dolce belong also to the Italians. Their sugared fruits, ices, and pastry are all matchless; and their wines, Chianti, Broglio, and Vino Santo, a kind of Malaga, as "frankly luscious as the first grape can make it," are all delicious.