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DINNER-GIVING FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF BUSY HOUSEWIVES.

Three things are required to give an enjoyable dinner party; good taste, good judgment and an intuitive sense of harmony. Good taste suggests the proper thing in table dressing, in menu cards, in viands and beverages. Good judgment dictates the fortunate time, the appropriate guests, the seasonable dishes and topics; and last, a sense of harmony is the quality that throws a glamour over all, combining pleasant parts in one symmetrical whole, making a picture "distinct like the billows, but one like the sea." This sense of harmony never yokes uncongenial persons at table, except through unavoidable necessity. It is on the alert to suggest congenial topics and deftly turn the conversation away from disputed or disagreeable ones. It will often succeed in putting a garrulous and self-assertive man who likes to talk all the time, beside a mild and inoffensive woman who is content if she has naught to do but listen and--eat. It will swell the heart of a silent man with gratitude by reversing this action and placing beside him a woman who chatters like a magpie. It will often turn the stupid guest, who for various reasons will, in spite of all, occasionally appear at the best of tables, over to an intimate friend to whom a sacrifice for the sake of the host or hostess is a pleasure thus saving the formal guest and maintaining the reputation of the household for excellent management. In fact this sense of harmony is the essence that permeates and vitalizes the entire proceedings and assures success to the hostess, because it guarantees pleasure to the guests.

Nervousness, annoyance, anxiety on the part of the host or hostess during the serving of dinner are the deadly foes of enjoyment. If you feel these, therefore avoid showing them as you would avoid doing any other act sure to bring discomfort to those you are entertaining. Nothing conduces more to the enjoyment of guests than the fact that the host is sharing the enjoyment. What if some servant blunders or some dish is spoiled! It is aggravating, of course, but in most cases it will afford amusement if the host regards the blunder good naturedly. Of course no lady or gentleman will lose temper under such circumstances. Such an exhibition would be unspeakably vulgar; but there ought not to be even a display of irritation or a pursuing of the subject beyond a passing and good natured remark.

There is, however, a tendency on the part of too many hosts to fix their thoughts intently on the dinner and the way it is served. They try to show an interest in the conversation, while throwing furtive glances at the servants and taking occasion to communicate orders or complaints in asides. It is far better to say, "John, give Mr. Black some wine," than to communicate the order by nods and winks as if you were secretly ashamed to have Black know that you were observing his consumption of fluids, or were trying to get him intoxicated surreptitiously. Really, of the two evils, it is better to be too inattentive--to let a course wait even--than to be on the alert, watching the dilatory eater and summoning the servant the moment he lays down his knife.

A young housekeeper in medium circumstances should never attempt too much, too large a number of guests or too many courses. It is always best to practice the dishes before, in fact, if exquisite cooking and cooking even on the smallest scale, is the daily habit, no company, however large, can upset the hostess or her domestics.

And a woman who cultivates the art of little dinners soon becomes famous; men admire her and envy her husband, women dote on her, for an invitation means brightness and merriment as well as a congenial companion. The young married woman who is expert in blending sauces, is just as clever in mixing the human elements of attraction and amalgamation.

Refreshments, daintily served, stimulate conversation; ice cream breaks the ice, so to speak, and warms the company. Serving food is a visible demonstration of hospitality which all the philosophy in the world cannot cover.

Gorgeous ornamentation of dinner table is conceded to be bad form. The embellishment--the ornate, if you will--has been overdone, and now there is a reaction which tends to simplicity extreme expressed by a handsome centerpiece and a moderate exposition of not common flowers.

A different kind and color of china with every course is affected by those whose cabinet is crowded and who are proud of it, but this pride has its limitations among people of refinement and culture. This class does not give dinners simply to exhibit earthly treasure and create envy, and, perhaps, covetousness, too.

The larger the table napkin the better. A yard square is none too big, and pleasantly recalls the Parisians, whose liberality in damask is proverbial but not a characteristic in anything else. The material should be the best obtainable, and the design the most beautiful. Any lace edging or embroidery, plain or colored, is just as bad taste as quinine.

Knives, forks and spoons now-a-days, for almost everything, are somewhat confusing to those who do not dine out with sufficient frequency to keep up with the continually advancing procession. Some of these knives, forks and spoons are quite unnecessary, not to say silly, but the business of the silversmith must be considered.

UPON THE SERVING OF WINES.

If only two kinds of wine are served, sherry should accompany the soup and fish courses, and either claret or champagne brought on with the roast, and served throughout the remainder of the dinner.

For the ten course dinner, cut glass goblets filled with water and crushed ice are placed at the right of each plate, about ten or twelve inches from the edge of the table. With these are grouped sauterne, sherry, rhinewine, claret, champagne, burgundy and liqueur glasses. The goblet of water remains in place throughout the dinner, being refilled at intervals.

First Course. With the oysters, a glass of sauterne is the most appropriate accompaniment. This should be served in light green glasses, poured from native bottles, which have been cooled to 52 degrees Fahrenheit, but never iced. When the oyster plates are taken away, the sauterne glasses should also be removed.

Second Course. With the soup, sherry, slightly cooled, should be served from a decanter, and poured into small white stem glasses, flaring slightly at the top. The sherry glasses should be removed after this course.

Third Course. With the hors d'oeuvres, which may consist of cold side dishes, such as canap?s, caviar, or anchovies, or of hot dishes, such as timbales, croustades or bouchees; and

Fourth Course. Of fish, rhine wine is served from original bottles cooled to 52 degrees, and poured into long stemmed, light green glasses.

Fifth Course. With the entree, claret is served from a decanter having a handle and poured into pure white glasses, never colored. The temperature of the claret should be from 65 to 75 degrees, at least thirteen degrees warmer than other wines.

Sixth Course. With the roast, champagne is served from native bottles, as cold as possible, but not iced. The usual champagne glasses are saucer-shaped stem glasses, although some prefer a goblet shape, one size larger than a claret glass.

Seventh Course. A sherbet. With this cooling refreshment, regular sherbet glasses are necessary.

Eighth Course. Game with salad should be accompanied with burgundy, slightly warm, at 65 or 70 degrees, served from native bottles in wicker basket, poured into plain crystal glasses. After the eighth course the table is cleared for the first time of all plates, knives and forks, leaving only the water goblets, champagne and liqueur glasses before the guests. All crumbs are carefully swept away, and dessert spoons and forks laid for the

Ninth Course. With this course champagne is the favorite beverage in every country. After the dessert plates, forks and spoons are removed, a finger-bowl partly filled with water is placed before each guest, on plate having upon it a doily, a fruit knife and a nut pick . After the fruits, cognac and liqueurs, such as annisette, benedictine, chartreuse or kummel, are served in miniature decanters, without handles, and poured into tiny thimble-shaped glasses, which should match the decanters, either plain or colored, cut or in striking gold effects. Creme de menthe is served on shaved ice in a special bowl-shaped glass, from a highly decorated small decanter either of white or colored glass without a handle.

Sherry, port and madeira are improved by being decantered several hours before using. In winter, the decanters should be dipped in warm water or otherwise warmed.

All possible care should be taken in handling and decanting wines in order not to disturb the deposit which may exist in the bottle. Nearly all wines precipitate a sediment which sometimes resembles sand or white crystals. Its presence is rather a mark of superiority than inferiority in the quality of the wine. This deposit, however, if shaken, destroys the brilliancy of the wine, and impairs its flavor and bouquet.

Lighter wines, such as bordeaux and most Italian wines, should be decanted only an hour before dinner, and brought into the dining room as late as possible before using. Sauterne, rhine wine, burgundy and champagne should be served from the original bottles, which should be stood up on end at least twenty-four hours before serving, to give the sediment time to settle at the bottom. The cork should be very carefully drawn without shaking the bottle, the bottle slowly tilted, and the clear wine gently poured out. A small quantity of wine containing the sediment should be left in the bottle. Putting ice in the wine glass will spoil the flavor of any fine wine.

A few drops of wine should first be poured into the host's glass, before serving the guests. If a toast to the health of any one present be proposed, the guest in whose honor the toast is given, must not drink, but should acknowledge the compliment with a smile and bow of thanks. The etiquette in regard to the German custom of clinking glasses is very well defined. One must hold the wine glass by the stem, being careful not to touch the bowl with the fingers. Convention also requires that one must look the person with whom one clinks glasses in the eye, and not at the wine, as one unfamiliar with this custom is very apt to do.

HOW TO SEND THE INVITATION--HOW TO SERVE IN PROPER FORM DINNERS AND LUNCHEONS WITH MENUS AND RECIPES.

THE INVITATION.

Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Brown request the pleasure of Mr and Mrs. Jones' company at Dinner, on Wednesday, January 17, at seven o'clock.

The invitation should be addressed to the lady invited as "Mrs. George W. Jones."

Mr. and Mr. George W. Jones accept with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. Brown's kind invitation to Dinner, on Wednesday, January 17, at seven o'clock.

Address envelope to "Mrs. Reuben Brown."

These are for formal dinners. If the dinner is an informal affair, a simple note addressed to the wife, asking her and her husband to dine is sufficient.

When the guests have arrived the servant in charge should announce the dinner to the lady of the house.

The host takes the lady who is to sit at his right, and leads the way. The hostess brings up the rear with the guest who is to occupy the same position at her right.

Cards, with the name of the guest are usually placed at each place.

The custom now is for the servant to pass the dishes to each guest, the meats, etc., being carved into convenient size for the purpose. They are passed to the left side of the guests. All dishes, glasses, etc., not again required on the table, should be removed when the dessert is served.

The forks, knives and glasses to be used, should be placed on the table at the first setting. For formal dinners usually three or four forks, including an oyster fork, and three knives, including a silver one for the fish course, if fish is served.

A napkin is neatly folded and placed on the plate with a small piece of bread partly folded within it, if soup is served.

DINNER MENUS.

The sardine canap?s, given as a first course in Menu I, is a dainty appetizer made of sardines, boned, rubbed to a paste with a little creamed butter and seasoned to taste with Worcestershire and a few grains of cayenne. Spread small thin rounds of toast with the mixture, cover with white of hard boiled egg rubbed through a sieve and place an olive in the center of each. Cream soups are considered especially dainty. The deviled crabs are easily prepared. Pick the meat from the shells, mix with a cream sauce and season highly with mustard, cayenne and lemon juice. Wash and trim the shells, fill rounding with the mixture, cover with buttered crumbs and bake until brown. Parboil the sweetbreads, split and cut in pieces about the size of a large oyster. Egg and bread crumb them, fry, arrange on nests of boiled macaroni and pour the tomato sauce over them. Serve the cheese ramakins, which is cheese souffle baked in ramequin dishes, with this course.

The chocolate loaf is made of a sponge cake, hollowed out, covered inside and out with a plain chocolate icing. Fill shortly before serving with cream, whipped, sweetened and flavored, and serve very cold.

The first course in Menu II, is oyster cocktails, which are now in high favor. Serve either in sherry glasses, lemon, orange or grapefruit shells. Choose small, firm oysters of fine flavor and allow six to a person. Cover with a sauce made of a tablespoon of lemon juice, a teaspoon each of vinegar and catsup, a fourth of a teaspoon of Worcestershire, an eighth of a teaspoon of grated horseradish, two drops Tobasco sauce and a few grains of salt. The Potage ? la Reine is easily made and very excellent. Mash fine the yolks of three hard boiled eggs and mix with them a half a cup of bread crumbs, soaked until soft, in half a cup of rich milk. Stir into this gradually the cooked breast of a chicken chopped fine as meal and a pint of hot cream. Boil two minutes, then add a quart of clear chicken broth, salt, pepper and celery salt to season. To prepare the following course mix some flaked fish with a rich cream sauce, fill into scallop shells, cover with buttered crumbs and bake. Serve with the fillet of beef as a single course the mushrooms, rolls, potatoes and asparagus. The hot rolls given throughout the menus are made with yeast according to any favorite rule, the different names only indicating a difference in shape. Orange frappe is simply an orange water ice frozen to a mush and served in frappe glasses. The rules for croquettes and salad are too familiar to need special repetition. Add some chopped almonds to the usual recipe for meringues and bake in a slow oven. When done, press in the bottoms. Fill with the parfait before serving. To make the parfait, beat the yolks of four eggs until light, add three-quarters of a cup of maple syrup and cook over hot water until it thickens. Beat until cold, then stir into a pint of cream whipped until stiff. Fill into a mould and let stand about four hours well packed in ice and salt.

THE EASE OF A COURSE DINNER.

Many of our housewives who want the elegance of a course dinner, yet who are limited to the services of one maid, would be much amazed at the ease with which they can both cook and serve if a little forethought be used in the menu.

COCKTAIL.--A preliminary cocktail, prepared beforehand from a bottled sauce or catsup and marinated oysters or clams, makes a good beginning and can be made ready in the early morning and placed on ice to great advantage.

SOUP.--A clear soup with vermicelli or noodles can be cooked the day before and may simmer quietly for half an hour before serving time without further care.

FISH.--Fish is well represented by deviled crabs, seasoned and turned into little mounds in the center of cockle shells. This may be done any time several hours previous to the feast and all they need at meal time is a simple browning in the oven.

MEAT.--Large and substantial roasts are not only hard to prepare and serve but also fill the oven to the exclusion of everything else, so why not have delicious little steaks, fillet of beef, with canned French peas, and pomme de terre au gratin, served in ramekins and prepared early in the day from mashed potato and a sprinkling of grated cheese.

SALAD.--Most salads may, without serious injury, be mixed several hours before using and placed in a large bowl in the refrigerator, placing it on the lettuce leaves at serving time. Cheese balls are better made early and iced.

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