A Maypole Breakfast.
This breakfast is given the last week in May and can be copied by the summer hostess substituting different flowers in season. The guests are seated at small tables, each table being decorated with a different kind of flower—the iris, marguerites, sweet peas, roses, mignonette, etc. Before each plate stands a tiny Maypole about the size of a lead pencil, wound with baby ribbon of different colors. These are souvenirs for each guest. For the first course have fresh strawberries served with their leaves and blossoms. Then a cream of celery soup served in cups. Croutons are served with this. The soft shell crabs are served on a bed of water cress and radishes cut in fancy shapes. With them is served a thick mayonnaise on half a lemon; and cucumbers with French dressing. The brown and white bread sandwiches are cut in the shape of palm leaves. Delicious orange sherbet is served in champagne glasses. Then comes broiled chicken with new potatoes, French peas and hot rolls. The fruit salad is served in head lettuce with square wafers accompanying. The ice cream is molded in the form of red and white apples, with a cluster of real apple blossoms laid on each plate. With this is served a white cake with whipped cream and French coffee.
May Breakfast.
Carry out the May basket idea for a breakfast. By searching the ten-cent stores one can find little imitation cut glass baskets with handles. Use a large cut glass basket or bowl with wire handle over the top for the center of the table and one of the smaller baskets filled with pansies, valley lilies or May flowers at each place. Or make a pretty crystal wreath a short distance from the center by using crystal candlesticks with white candles and shades of glass beads, alternated by the little glass baskets filled with dainty flowers or maidenhair fern. Or use these baskets for green, white or pink bonbons. Another pretty May basket idea is to suspend little baskets of flowers from the back of each chair and use an immense basket of flowers for the center of the table. Suitable toasts for the name cards, which should be little flower baskets cut out of water color paper and decorated, would be sentences describing Mayday in various countries. Or, use sentiments of flowers. Here are some:
The red rose: "I love you." The daisy: "There is no hope." Lily of the valley: "My heart withers in secret." The lilac: "You are my first love." Violets: "I am faithful." You will enjoy hunting for flower sentiments.
For the menu serve: Tomato bisque, wafers; sweetbread croquettes, peas, new potatoes, creamed asparagus, lemon sherbet; spring salad (radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, with French dressing on lettuce leaf), strawberries, served with hulls on and around a paper cup or mound of fine sugar; white cake with chocolate icing.
An Autumn Breakfast.
If one loves the reigning color, brown, give a brown breakfast in which all shades from seal to orange are used in pretty combination. A flat wreath of brown foliage extends inside the plate line. In the center of the table is a pyramid made of the tiny artificial oranges, buds and blossoms that are shown in the milliners' windows. From this pyramid radiate streamers of light brown tulle in wavy lines across the table to the wreath at the edge. Yellow candles with autumn leaf shades in yellows and browns are placed inside the space between the center and the wreath. The name cards are placed inside little boxes decorated with pyrographic work and suitable for jewel boxes. The creamed lobster is served in cups covered with brown tissue paper, the browned chops, browned fried potatoes, and browned rice croquettes are served on plates decorated with a design of brown oak leaves and acorns. The ice cream is chocolate frozen in shape of large English walnuts and the little squares of white cake bear the design of a leaf in tiny chocolate candies.
A Musical Romance.
Have it for entertainment at breakfast with prizes for the one who answers best. Each question is answered by the name of a song.