Practical Cooking And Dinner Giving - free ebook by Mary F. (Mary Foote) Henderson

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Practical Cooking And Dinner Giving

Mary F. (Mary Foote) Henderson

55 chapters

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PREFACE.

PREFACE.

The aim of this book is to indicate how to serve dishes, and to entertain company at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as to give cooking receipts. Too many receipts are avoided, although quite enough are furnished for any practical cook-book. There are generally only two or three really good modes of cooking a material, and one becomes bewildered and discouraged in trying to select and practice from books which contain often from a thousand to three thousand receipts. No claim is laid to or

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SETTING THE TABLE AND SERVING THE DINNER.

SETTING THE TABLE AND SERVING THE DINNER.

An animated controversy for a long time existed as to the best mode of serving a dinner. Two distinct and clearly defined styles, known as the English and Russian, each having its advantages and disadvantages, were the subject of contention. It is perhaps fortunate that a compromise between them has been so generally adopted by the fashionable classes in England, France, and America as to constitute a new style, which supersedes, in a measure, the other two. In serving a dinner à la Russe , the

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THE DINNER PARTY.

THE DINNER PARTY.

It is very essential, in giving a dinner party, to know precisely how many guests one is to entertain. It is a serious inconvenience to have any doubt on this subject. Consequently, it is well to send an invitation, which may be in the following form: Mrs. Smith requests the pleasure of Mr. Jones’s company at dinner, on Thursday, January 5th, at seven o’clock. R. S. V. P. 12 New York Avenue, January 2d, 1875. The capital letters constitute the initials of four French words, meaning, “Answer, if

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COOKING AS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

COOKING AS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

The reason why cooking in America is, as a rule, so inferior is not because American women are less able and apt than the women of France, and not because the American men do not discuss and appreciate the merits of good cooking and the pleasure of entertaining friends at their own table; it is merely because American women seem possessed with the idea that it is not the fashion to know how to cook; that, as an accomplishment, the art of cooking is not as ornamental as that of needle-work or pia

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BREAKFAST.

BREAKFAST.

After a fast of twelve or thirteen hours, the system requires something substantial as preparation for the labors of the day; consequently, I consider the American breakfasts more desirable for an active people than those of France or England. In France, the first breakfast consists merely of a cup of coffee and a roll. A second breakfast, at eleven o’clock, is more substantial, dishes being served which may be eaten with a fork ( déjeuner à la fourchette ), as a chop with a potato soufflé . No

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LUNCH.

LUNCH.

This is more especially a ladies’ meal. If one gives a lunch party, ladies alone are generally invited. It is an informal meal on ordinary occasions, when every thing is placed upon the ta ble at once. A servant remains in the room only long enough to serve the first round of dishes, then leaves, supposing that confidential conversation may be desired. Familiar friends often “happen in” to lunch, and are always to be expected. Some fashionable ladies have the reputation of having very fine lunch

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GENTLEMEN’S SUPPERS.

GENTLEMEN’S SUPPERS.

As ladies have exclusive lunches, gentlemen have exclusive suppers. Nearly the same dishes are served for suppers as for lunches, although gentlemen generally prefer more game and wine. Sometimes they like fish suppers, with two or three or more varieties of fish, when nightmare might be written at the end of the bill of fare. If one has not a reliable cook, it is very convenient to give these entertainments, as the hostess has a chance to station herself in the cuisine , and personally superint

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EVENING PARTIES.

EVENING PARTIES.

If people can afford to give large evening parties, it is less trouble and more satisfactory to place the supper in the hands of the confectioner. For card parties or small companies of thirty or forty persons, to meet some particular stranger, or for literary reunions, the trouble need not be great. People would entertain more if the trouble were less. If one has a regular reception-evening, ices, cake, and chocolate are quite enough; or for chocolate might be substituted sherry or a bowl of pu

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SOMETHING ABOUT ECONOMY.

SOMETHING ABOUT ECONOMY.

I am indebted to a French girl living in our family for the substance of this chapter. Her parents being obliged to live in a most economical way in St. Louis, still had an uncommonly good table. One resource was a little garden, in which small compass were raised enough onions, tomatoes, carrots, and a few other vegetables, to nearly supply the family. A small bed of four feet square, surrounded by a pretty border of lettuce, was large enough for raising all necessary herbs, such as sage, summe

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DIRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS.

DIRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS.

Fowls or joints should be tied or well skewered into shape before boiling. Every thing should be gently simmered, rather than fast boiled, in order to be tender. The water should never be allowed to stop simmering before the article is quite done. A pudding is thus entirely ruined. The kettle should be kept covered, merely raising the cover at times to remove the scum. Boiled fowl, with a white sauce, is a favorite English dish, and very nice it is if properly prepared. Frying means cooking by i

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COOKING UTENSILS.

COOKING UTENSILS.

The Bain Marie. —This is an open vessel, to be kept at the back of the range or in some warm place, to be filled with hot (not boiling ) water. Several stew-pans, or large tin cups with covers and handles, are fitted in, which are intended to hold all those cooked dishes desired to be kept hot. If there are delays in serving the dinner, there is no better means of preserving the flavor of dishes. The bain marie is especially convenient at any time for keeping sauces, or vegetables for garnish, w

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BREAD, AND BREAKFAST CAKES.

BREAD, AND BREAKFAST CAKES.

It requires experience to make good bread. One must know, first, how long to let the bread rise, as it takes a longer time in cold than in warm weather; second, when the oven is just of proper temperature to bake it. Bread should be put in a rather hot oven. It is nearly light enough to bake when put in; so the rule for baking bread differs from that of baking cake, which should be put into a moderate oven at first, to become equally heated through before rising. As bread requires a brisk heat,

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TEA.

TEA.

Two things are necessary to insure good tea: first, that the water should be at the boiling-point when poured on the leaves, water simply hot not answering the purpose at all; and, second, that it should be served freshly made. Tea should never be boiled. So particular are the English to preserve its first aroma, that it is sometimes made on the table two or three times during a meal. In France, little silver canisters of tea are placed on the table, where it is invariably made. One tea-spoonful

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COFFEE.

COFFEE.

The best coffee is made by mixing two-thirds Java and one-third Mocha. The Java gives strength, the Mocha flavor and aroma. Coffee should be evenly and carefully roasted. Much depends upon this. If even a few of the berries are burned, the coffee will taste burned and bitter, instead of being fine-flavored and aromatic. To have the perfection of coffee, it should be fresh-roasted each day. Few, however, will take that trouble. As soon as it is roasted, and while still hot, stir into it one or tw

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CHOCOLATE (Miss Sallie Schenck).

CHOCOLATE (Miss Sallie Schenck).

Allow two sticks of chocolate to one pint of new milk. After the chocolate is scraped, either let it soak an hour or so, with a table-spoonful of milk to soften it, or boil it a few moments in two or three table-spoonfuls of water. Then, in either case, mash it to a smooth paste. When the milk, sweetened to taste with loaf-sugar, is boiling, stir in the chocolate-paste, adding a little of the boiling milk to it first, to dilute it evenly. Let it boil half a minute. Stir it well, or mill it, and

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COCOA.

COCOA.

Many use cocoa rather than chocolate. It has the same flavor, but it has more body, and is richer and more oily. It is made in the same way as chocolate, but a few drops of the essence of vanilla should be invariably added....

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SOUP.

SOUP.

The meat should be fresh, lean (all fat possible being removed), and juicy to make the best soup. It is put into cold, clear water, which should be heated only moderately for the first half-hour. The object is to extract the juices of the meat, and if it be boiled too soon, the surface will become coagulated, thereby imprisoning the juice within. After the first half-hour the pot should be placed at the back of the stove, allowing the soup to simmer for four or five hours. Nothing is more disagr

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FISH.

FISH.

If a fish is not perfectly fresh, perfectly cleaned, and thoroughly cooked, it is not eatable. It should be cleaned or drawn as soon as it comes from market, then put on the ice until the time of cooking. It should not be soaked, for it impairs the flavor, unless it is frozen, when it should be put into ice-cold water to thaw; or unless it is a salted fish, when it may be soaked overnight. The greatest merit of a fish is freshness. The secret of the excellence of the fish at the Saratoga Lake Ho

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SHELL-FISH.

SHELL-FISH.

OYSTERS. Drain them well in a colander, marinate them, i. e. , sprinkle over plenty of pepper and salt, and let them remain in a cold place for at least half an hour before serving. This makes a great difference in their flavor. They may be served in the half-shell with quarters or halves of lemons in the same dish. I think a prettier arrangement is to serve them in a block of ice. Select a ten-pound block; melt with a hot flat-iron a symmetrical-shaped cavity in the top to hold the oysters; chi

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SAUCES.

SAUCES.

The French say the English only know how to make one kind of sauce, and a poor one at that. Notwithstanding the French understand the sauce question, it is very convenient to make the drawn butter, and, by adding different flavorings, make just so many kinds of sauce. For instance, by adding capers, shrimps, chopped pickles, anchovy paste, chopped boiled eggs, lobster, oysters, parsley, cauliflower, etc., one has caper, shrimp, pickle, anchovy, egg, and the other sauces. The drawn-butter sauce i

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BEEF.

BEEF.

For a roast of beef, the sirloin and tenderloin cuts are considered the best. They are more expensive, and are no better than the best cuts of a rib roast: the sixth, seventh, and eighth ribs are the choicest cuts. The latter roasts are served to better advantage by requesting the butcher to remove the bones and roll the meat. Always have him send the bones also, as they are a valuable acquisition to the soup-pot. As the rolled rib roasts are shaved evenly off and across the top when carved (the

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VEAL.

VEAL.

The best pieces of veal are the loin and the fillet. A variety of dishes can be made with veal cutlets and their different accompaniments. Veal is always better cooked with pork or ham. Professional cooks generally trim and lard their veal cutlets, serving them with tomato-sauce, pease, beans, breakfast bacon, lemon-slices, cucumbers, etc. For a cheap dish, one of the most satisfactory is a knuckle of veal made into a ragout, or pot-pie. Any of the inferior cuts may be made into a blanquette . A

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SWEET-BREADS.

SWEET-BREADS.

Veal sweet-breads are best. They spoil very soon. The moment they come from market, they should be put into cold water, to soak for about an hour; lard them, or rather draw a lardoon of pork through the centre of each sweet-bread, and put them into salted boiling water, or, better, stock, and let them boil about twenty minutes, or until they are thoroughly done; throw them then into cold water for only a few moments. They will now be firm and white. Remove carefully the skin and little pipes, an

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MUTTON.

MUTTON.

The best roasts are the leg, the saddle, and the shoulder of mutton. They are all roasted according to the regular rules for roasting. In England, mutton is hung some time before cooking. There must be something in the air of England quite different from that of America in reference to the hanging of meats and game; there, it is to be confessed, the mutton, after having hung a certain length of time, certainly is most delicious; here it would be unwholesome, simply not fit to eat. These joints o

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LAMB.

LAMB.

The best roasts are the fore and hind quarters. Professional cooks serve a roast or baked hind quarter of lamb rather rare, or well done on the outside and pink within. It is really better, although it must be served steaming hot. Serve a caper, pickle, or mint sauce with it. If it is neatly carved through the centre, it will present a good appearance served again the next day, by stuffing the cut-out space with boiled mashed potatoes, smoothing it evenly around, and placing it long enough in th

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PORK.

PORK.

A little salted pork or bacon should always be kept in the house. I confess to having a decided prejudice against this meat, considering it unwholesome and dangerous, especially in cities, unless used in the smallest quantities. Yet pork makes a delicious flavoring for cooking other meats, and thin, small slices of breakfast bacon are a relishing garnish for beefsteak, veal cutlets, liver, etc. In the country, perhaps, there is less cause for doubt about its use, where the animal is raised with

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POULTRY.

POULTRY.

If care is taken in picking and dressing fowls or birds, there is no need of washing them. In France it is never done, unless there is absolutely something to wash off; then it is done as delicately as possible. In expostulating once with an old negro auntie for soaking all the blood and flavor out of a fowl, she quickly replied, “Bless my soul, child! haven’t I cooked chickens for fifty years?” When you buy a goose or a duck, be sure that it is young. Never buy an old duck. The first I ever bou

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GEESE, DUCKS, AND GAME.

GEESE, DUCKS, AND GAME.

The goose should be absolutely young. Green geese are best, i. e. , when they are about four months old. In trussing, cut the neck close to the back, leaving the skin long enough to turn over the back; beat the breast-bone flat with the rolling-pin; tie or skewer the legs and wings securely. Stuff the goose with the following mixture: Four large onions (chopped), ten sage leaves, quarter of a pound of bread-crumbs, one and a half ounces of butter, salt and pepper, one egg, a slice of pork (chopp

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VEGETABLES.

VEGETABLES.

The French cooks very generally use carbonate of ammonia to preserve the color of vegetables. What would lay on the point of a penknife is mixed in the water in which the vegetables (such as pease, spinach, string-beans, and asparagus) are boiled. The ammonia all evaporates in boiling, leaving no ill effects. They say also that it prevents the odor of boiling cabbage. It may be obtained at the drug-stores. Choose those of equal size. They look better when thinly peeled before they are boiled; bu

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SHELLS, OR COQUILLES.

SHELLS, OR COQUILLES.

A tasteful variety at table is a course of something served in shells ( en coquille ). The natural shells (except oyster-shells) are not as pretty as silver shells. Plated silver scallop-shells are not expensive, and are always ready. You can always serve oysters in their shells, by once purchasing fine large ones; then, by cleaning them carefully every time they are used, they will be ready to be filled for the next occasion with suitable oysters from the can. Oysters, lobsters, shrimps, or col

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POTTING.

POTTING.

In England, potting is an every-day affair for the cook. If there be ham, game, tongue, beef, or fish on the table one day, you are quite sure to see it potted on the next day at lunch or breakfast. It is a very good way of managing left-over food, instead of invariably making it into hashes, stews, etc. These potted meats will keep a long time. They are not good unless thoroughly pounded, reduced to the smoothest possible paste, and free from any unbroken fibre. Mince some cold cooked ham, mixi

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MACARONI.

MACARONI.

Do not wash the macaroni. Throw it, broken into convenient pieces, into boiling water which is well salted; stir or shake it frequently, to prevent its adhering to the bottom of the stew-pan. The moment it is quite tender (no longer), pour it into a colander, and shake off all the water. In the mean time, melt a lump of butter the size of a large egg (two ounces) to half a pound of macaroni, in a cup on the fire, and grate a handful (four ounces) of cheese. Now, when the macaroni is well drain e

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EGGS.

EGGS.

should all be placed in a wire-basket, and put into boiling water. Boil them two minutes and three-quarters precisely. Lord Chesterfield said it was only necessary for him to see a person at table to tell if he were a gentleman. He must have had a fine opportunity for observation when boiled eggs were served. It seems nonsense (and it is nonsense) when I say that the fashionable world abroad and their imitators here consider it insufferably gauche to serve a boiled egg but in one stereotyped way

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SALADS.

SALADS.

In an English book is told a story of a famous French salad-dresser who began very poor, and made a fortune by dressing salad for dinners in London. He would go from one place to another in his carriage, with a liveried servant, and his mahogony case. This case contained all the necessaries for his business, such as differently perfumed vinegars, oils with or without the taste of fruit, soy, caviar, truffles, anchovies, catchup, gravy, some yolks of eggs, etc. I confess to a lively curiosity as

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FRITTERS.

FRITTERS.

French Fritter Batter ( French Cook ), No. 1. Put a heaping cupful of flour into a bowl; add two yolks of eggs, a table-spoonful of olive oil, which is better than melted butter, and one or two table-spoonfuls of brandy, wine, or lemon-juice. [E] Stir it well, adding, little by little, water enough to give it the thickness of ordinary batter. This may be used at once; but it is better to put it away for a day, or even for a week. At the moment of cooking, stir in well the whites of two eggs beat

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PASTRY.

PASTRY.

Professional cooks use butter for pastry. Puff paste should never be attempted with lard or a half mixture of it. If lard or clarified beef suet is used, the pastry of an indifferent cook will be improved by adding a little baking-powder to the flour and rolling the paste very thin. It is not difficult to make puff paste. In winter, when it is freezing outdoors, or in summer, when a refrigerator with ice in it is at hand, it is very little more trouble to make puff paste than any other kind. The

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CANNING.

CANNING.

This is a most valuable manner of preserving vegetables and fruits. In cities where vegetables, fruits, or berries are bought at high prices, and perhaps not entirely fresh at that, my experience has taught me that it is cheaper to buy the canned fruits than to have them put up in the house. In the country the expense is very little, as the cans may be purchased in quantities very cheap; and, with proper care in cleaning and drying them, they can be used several times. The manner of canning one

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PRESERVES.

PRESERVES.

To make clear, good preserves requires: 1st. No economy of trouble; 2d. That the fruit be perfectly fresh, alive from the tree or bush, or, as a friend says, “tasting of the sun.” The French make the clearest, best preserves, because they spare no pains. They first prepare their sirup or clarified sugar; then, after neatly and carefully paring or dressing their fruit, cook a few pieces at a time, or only as many as they can oversee, carefully lifting each piece out of the sirup the moment it is

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PICKLES AND CATCHUPS.

PICKLES AND CATCHUPS.

Make a brine strong enough to bear the weight of an egg. Into this put cucumbers fresh from the garden. They will keep in this brine indefinitely. Whenever fresh pickles are wanted, take out as many as are desired from the brine, and let them soak in fresh water two days, changing the water once. Now put two quarts of the best cider vinegar (to fifty cucumbers) on the fire in a porcelain kettle, with one ounce of whole pepper, half an ounce of mustard-seed, one ounce of ginger sliced, half an ou

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CHEESE.

CHEESE.

In England, and at almost every well-appointed table in America, cheese is a positive necessity to a good table. Brillat Savarin, in his “Physiologie du Gout,” says, “Un beau dîner sans vieux fromage est une jolie femme à qui il manque un œil.” Among the best cheeses of England are the Stilton and Cheshire; of France, are those of Neufchatel, Brie ( fromage de Brie ), and the fromage de Roquefort . The fromage de Roquefort is, perhaps, one of the most popular of all cheeses. The Gruyère cheese o

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SWEET SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.

SWEET SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.

Ingredients: Three-quarters of a cupful of butter, one and a half cupfuls of powdered sugar, four table-spoonfuls of boiling-hot starch, made of flour or corn starch, with either brandy, maraschino, wine, lemon-juice and zest, vanilla, or other flavoring preferred. Stir the butter with a fork to a light cream; add the sugar, and continue to beat it for one or two minutes. Just before serving, stir in with an egg-whisk the boiling starch and the flavoring. Boil two cupfuls of sugar with two or th

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PUDDINGS AND CUSTARDS.

PUDDINGS AND CUSTARDS.

Take three-quarters of a pound of chopped suet, three-quarters of a pound of stoned raisins, three-quarters of a pound of currants, quarter of a pound of citron, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, three-quarters of a pound of bread-crumbs, two apples cut into small dice, and the grated peel of a lemon; mix the whole in a basin, with three pounded cloves, a pinch of salt, six eggs, and half a gill of rum or brandy. Butter a pudding-mold, fill it with the mixture, and tie a cloth over the top. Pl

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BAVARIAN CREAMS.

BAVARIAN CREAMS.

There is not a more delicious dessert than that of Bavarian cream. These creams are exceedingly easy to make, and, as they are prepared some time before dinner, they have the advantage of being out of the way when cooking this meal. They are a cheap country dessert, where one has plenty of cream, yet are not so very expensive in the city, as it only requires a pint of common cream to make a quart and a half of Bavarian cream. When cream is thoroughly chilled, it is much more readily whipped. A p

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DESSERTS OF RICE.

DESSERTS OF RICE.

Always cook rice with plenty of salt; it is insipid without it. It is sometimes cooked in a steamer, with milk, without stirring it; although it is more quickly cooked by soaking it an hour or two, and then throwing it into salted boiling water in the brightest of saucepans. To half a pound of the rice use about five pints of water. Let it simmer about twenty minutes. Handle it carefully, not to break the kernels. This receipt makes one of the plainest and best puddings ever eaten. It is a succe

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WINE JELLIES.

WINE JELLIES.

Ingredients: One box of gelatine soaked in one pint of clear cold water, one pint of wine, the juice and the thin cuts of rinds of three lemons, one and three-quarter pounds of loaf-sugar, one quart of clear boiling water, the whites of two eggs (well beaten) and the shells, with a small stick of cinnamon. Soak the gelatine in the pint of cold water an hour, then pour over it the quart of boiling water, stirring it well; now add the wine, sugar, eggs, lemon-juice (strained in a fine strainer), a

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CAKE.

CAKE.

Rules for Cake. —Have every thing ready before mixing the material— i. e. , the ingredients all measured and prepared, and the tins buttered. The sooner the cake is mixed (after the ingredients are ready) and put into the oven, the better. Sift the flour, and have it dry. Mix baking-powder or cream of tartar, if used, well into the flour, passing it through the sieve several times, if particular. Roll the sugar; mix sugar and butter together to a cream. The eggs must then be very, very well beat

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CANDIES.

CANDIES.

Ingredients: One cupful of best sirup, one cupful of brown sugar, one cupful of white sugar, two cupfuls of grated chocolate, two cupfuls of cream, vanilla, one tea-spoonful of flour mixed with the cream. Rub the chocolate to a smooth paste with a little of the cream; boil all together half an hour, and pour it into flat dishes to cool; mark it with a knife into little squares when it is cool enough. Ingredients: Four pounds of sugar, one pint of water, four table-spoonfuls of cream, four table-

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ICES.

ICES.

With a patent five-minute freezer (it really takes, however, from fifteen minutes to half an hour to freeze any thing), it is as cheap and easy to make ices in summer as almost any other kind of dessert. If one has cream, the expense is very little, as a cream-whipper costs but twenty-five cents. A simple cream, sweetened, flavored, whipped, and then frozen, is one of the most delicious of ice-creams. By having the cream quite cold, a pint can be whipped, with this cream-whipper, in five or ten

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COOKERY FOR THE SICK.

COOKERY FOR THE SICK.

I believe it is the general practice now to give a patient, in almost every kind of illness, food that is very nourishing, yet very digestible, that the system may become strengthened to throw off its disease. I devote a chapter to “cookery for the sick,” as it is such a useful and delightful accomplishment to know just how to prepare the few available dishes for invalids, so that while they may be most suitable food for the recovery of the patient, they may at the same time be most agreeable to

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SOME DISHES FOR “BABY.”

SOME DISHES FOR “BABY.”

No particular diet can be recommended for the infant that is so unfortunate as to be deprived of its natural nourishment. What agrees with one is quite unsuccessful with another. Different kinds of diet can only be tested. Children’s little illnesses are often the result of food which, in their case, is unassimilating and indigestible; and it is often better to attempt a change of food than to resort to medicines. City babies generally thrive poorly with cow’s milk. Some can stand it, however, d

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HOW TO SERVE FRUITS.

HOW TO SERVE FRUITS.

The French deserve much praise for their taste in arranging fruits for the table. They almost invariably serve them with leaves, even resorting to artificial ones in winter. In the following arrangements, I have some of their dainty dishes in mind. The French serve large fine strawberries without being hulled. Pulverized sugar is passed, the strawberry is taken by the thumb and finger by the hull, dipped into the sugar, and eaten. The Wilson strawberry, however, which seems to be our principal m

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BEVERAGES.

BEVERAGES.

Rub loaf-sugar over the peels of six lemons to break the little vessels and absorb the ambrosial oil of the lemons. Then squeeze out all the juice possible from six oranges and six lemons, removing the seeds; add to it five pounds of loaf-sugar (including the sugar rubbed over the peels) and two quarts of water, with five cloves and two blades of mace (in a bag); simmer this over the stove about ten minutes, making a sirup. This sirup will keep forever. It should be bottled and kept to sweeten t

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SUITABLE COMBINATION OF DISHES.

SUITABLE COMBINATION OF DISHES.

There are dishes which seem especially adapted to be served together. This should be a matter of some study. Of course, very few would serve cheese with fish, yet general combinations are often very carelessly considered. Soup is generally served alone; however, pickles and crackers are a pleasant accompaniment for oyster-soup, and many serve grated cheese with macaroni and vermicelli soups. A pea or bean soup (without bread croutons ) at one end of the table, with a neat square piece of boiled

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SERVING OF WINES.

SERVING OF WINES.

At dinners of great pretension, from eight to twelve different kinds of wines are sometimes served. This is rather ostentatious than elegant. In my judgment, neither elegance nor good taste is displayed in such excess. Four different kinds of wine are quite enough for the grandest occasions imaginable, if they are only of the choicest selection. Indeed, for most occasions, a single wine—a choice claret or Champagne—is quite sufficient. In fact, let no one hesitate about giving dinners without an

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TO PREPARE COMPANY DINNERS.

TO PREPARE COMPANY DINNERS.

It is very simple to prepare a dinner served à la Russe , as it matters little how many courses there may be. If it were necessary to prepare many dishes, and to have them all hot, and in perfection at the same minute, and then be obliged to serve them nearly all together, the task might be considered rather formidable and confusing. But with one or two assistants, and with time between each course to prepare the succeeding one, after a very little practice it becomes a mere amusement. The soup,

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