Strawberries are taken by the stem, dipped in sugar and cream, and carried to the lips with the fingers.
If the fruit has been picked free of husks and stem, it may be bruised on the plate with sugar and cream, and eaten with a spoon. Preserved ginger is eaten with the knife and fork.
Pines and melons.
A spoon is necessary with pines, melons, and very juicy strawberries, after they have been prepared with the knife and fork.
Nuts.
Nuts are cracked with the nutcrackers, and then extracted by the fingers. With filberts and Brazil nuts the knife and fork are called into requisition in order to free them from skin, but walnuts are too intricate for anything less wonderful in mechanism than the human hand. In view of this, they are sometimes prepared before being sent to table, and of late years they have been sold ready cracked and peeled for this purpose.
Almonds.
Almonds are never sent to table in their shells, so that they present no difficulties to the novice. At dessert they are usually accompanied by raisins, which, like the almonds, are carried to the mouth in the fingers.
Crystallised fruits.
Crystallised fruits are cut with the knife and fork, unless they happen to be of a small size, such as cherries. In that case they are eaten whole, being carried to the lips on the fork.