Cut some slices of bread from a not too fresh loaf, trim them to an
oblong shape, remove all crust and toast a delicate brown. Into a pat
of butter mix some finely chopped parsley, pepper and lemon juice, in
suitable proportions, and with the mixture coat the slices of toast.
Remove the skin and bones from the desired number of sardines and lay
them on the toast; garnish between the sardines with hard-boiled eggs,
chopped very finely, the whites and yolks separately. Sprinkle over
all some minced parsley and there you have a canapé--a sardine
canapé--one of the most delightful appetizers known to good diners of
this day and generation. Moreover it is a fitting beginning for a
Christmas dinner of the kind which I am about to submit for your
approval.