FISH WILL KEEP BETTER IN DRY SUGAR THAN IN SALT. thing unwholesome, or anything capricious. Food that is not well relished cannot be well digested; and the appetite of the over-worked man of business, or statesman, or of any dweller in towns, whose occupations are exciting and exhausting, is jaded, and requires stimulation. 850 Guests at Dinner.-Let the 141 drinking wine is from the milaest to the most foamy and most perfumed. To invite a person to your house is to take charge of his happiness so long as he is beneath your roof. The mistress of the house should always be certain that the coffee be excellent; whilst the master should be answerable for the quality of his wines and liqueurs. 853. The Decorations of the Table vary at different seasons: the vase of flowers of daily use, is on occasions replaced by plants in full bloom, or by small fruit-trees laden with their rich burden--for instance, in early spring, strawberry plants in full fruit should grace the centre of the table, cherry trees succeed, and are followed by apple, pear, peach, apricot and plum trees in succession, trained vines appear 66 midlater, and orange trees adorn the winter" mahogany. These trees are PURE HONEY WILL MAKE A NEARLY CLEAR SOLUTION IN WATER. 142 FRESH HARES AND RABBITS ARE STIFF; STALE ARE FLABBY. very pretty and fashionable, and should be placed in elegant pots. Still more à la mode is it to adorn the centre of the table with trays of varied form, the trays being concealed beneath a mass of flowers; the flowers are kept as low as possible, in imitation of parterre gardening. These trays of flowers have entirely superseded the high epergne, which is certainly very elegant, but which possesses the disadvantage of entirely shutting out those who face it from the view of their opposite neighbours. Upon the whole, the low trays are a great improvement: they are made in silver and electro-plate, and are fitted with glass; Japanese trays, which are now very reasonable in price, answer every purpose of this kind of table decoration. 854. At Dinners à la Russe, the table is extremely narrow, the ladies all walk in together and are followed by the gentlemen, who sit opposite them, the servants come and hand round every dish, the vegetables are served in separate compartments of a large round dish. When the dessert is handed round, the guests help themselves to all they are likely to require at once; the dessert is replaced upon the table and not again touched. On retiring from table, the ladies again precede the gentlemen, and all take their departure at once, unless invited especially to spend the evening: a custom that might be followed with advantage at many réunions out of Russia. 855. French Wines, etc. - In France every poor peasant can have his glass of wine at an exceedingly cheap rate; it is to him what the glass of beer is to our English labourer. Neither thinks he could do very well without the national common drink. But French wines have of late years made another broad step into our land. 856. Purchase of Wines.-When purchasing wines largely, it would be well to enlist the services of a competent wine-chooser, for there is a certain amount of educated taste required in this matter. To many persons, wine is simply wine, but we must not carry this idea with us when ordering such refreshments for our guests. To many of these this wine would be simply so much fearfully undrinkable coloured water. 857. Classes of Wine. Wines, as far as the householder is concerned, may be divided into two classes, viz., The former are wines that are allowed the light wines and the strong wines. to complete their fermentation naturally, the latter are not. The chief light wines of France are the well-known terne, and Hermitage. Then there are Champagne, Burgundy, Claret, Sausparkling Hock and sparkling Moselle from Germany, and the red and white wine of Hungary. 858. Strength of Wines.-The maximum strength of strong wines has been put at about 72 per cent., taking an average; the maximum strength of Government at 26 per cent., but it is light wines is fixed by our English usually at least 3 per cent. under this standard. COOKING FOR DINNER SHOULD COMMENCE EARLY IN THE DAY. HURRY AND GOOD COOKING CAN NEVER GO TOGETHER. of the wine-making being peculiarly adapted to the process, thus the fermentation can go on naturally without let or hindrance; and, also, a certain degree of spirit is engendered, which aids greatly in preserving the wine. 861. Acidity of Wines, Exposed to the air for a moderate length of time, light wines will become acid, and of course this destroys the wine. Strong wine does not exhibit this feature under the same circumstances. German wines do not contain more than a fair proportion of acidity. 862. Treatment of Wines. When the bottles are taken from their bins or resting-places, let it be done with the greatest care, and when decanting the wine, the sediment that may exist at the bottoms must not be allowed to ascend; for, if so, instead of presenting the guests with brilliant, limpid wine, the beverage served out to them will not give satisfaction. There is, too, the bouquet and flavour, that will suffer greatly by such a careless mode of treatment. 863. Decanting of Wines.-Decant Madeira, Ports, Sherries, and the usual table wines of Spain and Portugal, at least three hours before they are to be placed before the guests. In cold weather the mild temperature of the dining-room has a beneficial effect upon | these wines if allowed to remain there some time after being brought up from the cellar. Lighter wines must not be decanted more than hour before the period fixed for dining-wines from Italy and others, such as Burgundy and Bordeaux. 864. The Dinner Table.-A congenial idea is embodied in the poetic line of "Let us dine and never fret." 865. Good Appetite.-Dinner, it has been said, is enjoyed all the more when the breakfast has been light, and, we may presume, when no luncheon has come between to mar the arrangement of our digestive powers. But it is an error to undergo deliberate hunger with a view to be ready for dinner. If 143 such a habit is carried to excess, it will have the contrary effect. Let your 866. Dinner Time. family dinner hour be well defined, and let that hour be the dinner hour. Allow no shirking here from any one unless accident or circumstancess render such compulsory. 867. The Menu.-Always arrange your dinner, having a kind of mind'seye menu, satisfactorily beforehand, before you attempt either to give directions concerning it or to help, it may be, in its preparation. Without this, you may give your family or your guests an eatable, presentable dinner now and then, a kind of accidental good fortune, but, as a general rule, it will be a failure. 868. Experience and Inexperience. Experienced housekeepers may exclaim, "But do women ever behave so foolishly?" Yes, they do, times out of number, and to that they may attribute much of their failure in dinner-giving. When the architect has planned a house the builder may build it; when an author has planned a book he may write it with comparative ease; and when we have thoughtfully piled" our dinner, we may cook it. com 869. Hot Plates. For a "hot dinner "let the plates be hot—not warm The best dinner you merely, but hot. can give your guests will be spoiled if you serve it to them on plates in which, almost before they begin to eat, the gravy floats about in small island-like patches. 870. Dinner Courses.-Give due attention to the "order" of courses. You do not want your fish, for instance, ready before the soup, causing the former to look flabby, and most likely break and lose their trim appearance. 871. Dishing of Vegetables.Be careful in dishing vegetables, that they are perfectly drained from water. Turnips or other edibles of the kind swimming about in a sea of dingy water are enough to cause the excel VIOLENT BOILING IS INJURIOUS IN ALL COOKING PROCESSES. 144 A LITTLE CARBONATE OF SODA INCREASES THE STRENGTH OF TEA. 874. Habitual Dining. The only way to attain to perfection in dining is to let our ordinary family table arrangements differ very little-and that only in the really expensive itemsfrom those of the guest-table. A dinner, then, to one's friends, is not a very grave affair with us. It is in reality but the adding of a few more knives, forks, spoons, serviettes, etc. It does not throw us into "a state," for fear we shall make an error somewhere or somehow; nor does it worry our servants, and throw them off the usual equilibrium of work to a discomforting degree. 875. Slovenly Dining. Why should our ordinary family table differ so widely, as we confess it does too often, from the table we like our friends to see us presiding at? It is because we have let "only ourselves" take a broader, wider meaning than it should have. Only ourselves" stands too often as the apology for a dirty cloth, unpolished cutlery and silver, and smeared glass, to say nothing of perhaps negligent cookery into the bargain. 66 876. Cloth at Dessert.-It is now customary to keep the white cloth on after dinner, and to put the dessert and wines upon it, and you may, with perfect propriety, lay at the top and bottom of the table two small white cloths, of a texture equal to the large one, and as much in keeping with it as possible, in case of accidents, such as unsightly slops of gravy from the principal dishes. 877. Incidents of Carving.It is impossible for even the most skilful carver to acquit himself of his task without mischances occasionally. 878. Accidents will Happen.In anticipation of emergencies little "accident" cloths are placed convenient for removal after dinner. 879. Comfort ofGuests.-Smx!! cruet-stands, with salt-cellars, should be put close to the knives, forks, and spoon of each guest. The dinner-knife, fish-knife, and spoon on the right hand; sherry, hock, and champagne glasses. On the left hand place a large fork, fish-fork, serviette and bread. 880. Dinner Bread.-The bread should be cut about an inch thick-the round of a loaf dividing into six portions-otherwise order proper dinner rolls; this is one item of trouble less, and they look better. Put the bread under the napkins, or in one of the spaces some modes of folding leave fɔt the purpose. 881. Table Napkins or Serviettes.-The usual size of these indispensable accompaniments to the dinner table is either a square of from 28 to 30 inches, or 30 inches long by 28 broad. 882. Napkin Folding. — The accompanying engravings exhibit the napkins most in favour, and the methods It is useless to of folding them. attempt anything but the most simple forms unless the napkins have been stiffly starched, and old damask does not bear much stiffening. In every case the folding must be exact, or the result will be slovenly and unsightly. In those patterns which admit of it, as in the "Mitre,' "the Neapolitan," the " Rose," and the "Star," it is customary to place a small loaf; and, whenever it is possible to do so, the appearance of the dinner-table will be greatly improved by putting a flower or small bouquet in each napkin. 66 THE COOKING OF POTATOES DEPENDS VERY MUCH UPON THE SORT, |