CHAPTER III.
Entertaining in the Modern Apartment—A Little Sunday Night Supper—Stag Suppers—A Bachelor Supper.
There are some people to whose distorted vision the tiniest molehills are magnified into veritable chains of mountains, rugged and insurmountable; and if, in addition to their other woes, they happen to be unfortunate enough to dwell in a flat, their desolation is complete. To these women what is said on the subject of entertaining in a modern apartment will possess not one atom of interest. Before their horrified eyes will gleam a thousand unsolvable difficulties, and an attempt to successfully evade them might engulf them still further, so this appeal for the much maligned "tenement" of the day is to some bright little woman whose very touch transforms and whose ready brain devises with unerring accuracy.
First; it is not to be supposed, if you are dwelling in a modern apartment, that your wealth is unlimited, your resources illimitable and just for that very reason your fertile brain has far more opportunity to exercise its originality than if you merely telephoned "covers for twelve" to some fashionable caterer, stepped into an evening gown held by an obsequious maid, and exhibited your jewels at the head of your well appointed table, conscious (if not troubled) by the fact that this same man was turning out well-served dinners by the dozen, shaping them all (like his ice-cream) in certain fashionable moulds.
We all retain just enough of the old Adam to relish a well earned victory, and the old lady whose light hand for cake is the talk of the township, is just as much of an artist in her own way as the fashionable decorator. It is almost as impossible to set down a given rule for entertaining as it was for the old darkey to present in tangible form her famous recipe for pones. "Why, honey," said she, "it's easy enuf. I jes stir up a little cohn meal and watah, adds some salt and other truck and cooks it till it's done. Sho nuf you cud make it yousef."
It is quite as often the hand that stirs the cake as well as the ingredients themselves that makes the entertainment successful.
There are some women who have a perfectly inexplicable talent for making life livable. Under their deft fingers awkward curtains and draperies assume classic form; from their imaginations blossom forth the most marvelous devices for entertainment and comfort; their ferns never have scales and their umbrella plants do not wither at the edges. These are the women who, with studied patience and ready tact, overlook the small ills our flesh is heir to and bring forth into the bright sunshine the many opportunities which everyone's life contains.
A woman who lives in an apartment so tiny and modest it would seem at first glance almost impossible to entertain therein, can study its best effects and give as charming little dinners as were ever attended. Her dining room, small but cosy, seems made for decoration and her table may well be the delight of many a more ambitious hostess. The decorations, simple, inexpensive and artistic, are the outward and visible signs of her individual taste. No thick stalks of unbending and forbidding "bouquets" disfigure her pretty vases. Her candles gleam through dainty shades (of paper it is true) fashioned by her own deft fingers. Full-skirted and fluffy, their inexpensiveness makes it quite possible to have them of all colors and shades, and a much-prized pair of silver candelabra lend dignity to the general effect.
Quiet entertaining, preceded by gracious little notes presaging a cordial welcome, is one of her fancies, and one is quite sure that at her home the entertainment will be deprived of customary stiffness and will resolve into a merry table of congenial friends.
A short time ago an old friend of such a woman became engaged and wishing to meet his fiancee she followed her call by an invitation to supper. Appreciating the newness of the engagement and her slight acquaintance with the young lady, she wisely made it a little supper of four and decked her table with sweet simplicity.