COLD SERVICE.
Consommé on Tasse.
Sandwiches.
Caviar on Toast.
Radishes.
Celery.
Cold Salmon Mayonnaise.
Lobster and Shrimp Salad.
Westphalia Ham á la Gelée.
Boned Turkey.
Galautine of Faison.
Cold Game in Season.
Mayonnaise of Chicken.
Cold Turkey.
Fillet of Beef.
Game Pig.
Saddle of Venison, Currant Jelly.
Russian Salad.
Neapolitaine Ice-cream.
Water Ices.
Nesselrode Puddings.
Claret and Champagne Jellies.
Biscuits Glacée.
Charlotte Glacée.
Assorted Cakes.
Assorted Candies.
Tea.
Coffee.
Lemonade.
MANAGEMENT AND DIRECTION
OF
DINNERS AND RECEPTIONS
ON
STATE OCCASIONS AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
Etiquette as observed in European courts is not known at the White
House.
The President's Secretary issues invitations by direction of the
President to the distinguished guests.
The Usher in charge of the cloak-room hands to the gentleman on
arrival an envelope containing a diagram of the table (as cut shows),
whereon the name and seat of the respective guest and the lady he is
to escort to dinner are marked.
[Illustration]
A card corresponding with his name is placed on the napkin belonging
to the cover of the seat he will occupy.
The President's seat is in the middle of the table. The most
distinguished guests sit on his right and left. If their wives are
present they will occupy these seats, and the gentlemen will be seated
next to the President's wife whose seat is directly opposite the
President.
Official dinners all over the world are always served after the
French fashion, and are divided into three distinct parts. Two of them
are served from the kitchen, and the third from the pantry.
The first part of the dinner served French style includes from oysters
on the shell to the sherbets.
The second service continues to the sweet dishes.
The third includes ice, cakes, fruits, cheeses, which are all
understood as desserts, and are dressed in the pantry.
All principal dishes which are artistically decorated are shown to the
President first, then are carried around the table before being carved
by the Steward in the pantry.
Fancy folding of the napkins is considered out of fashion; plain
square folded, so as to show monogram in the middle, is much
preferred.
The following diagram will illustrate the arrangement of the glasses
on the table. (See diagram.)
[Illustration: DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING HOW TO ARRANGE GLASSES ON TABLE.]
A--Plate.
I--Glass for Sauterne.
II--Glass for Sherry.
III--Glass for Rhine Wine.
IV--Glass for Water.
V--Glass for Champagne.
VI--Glass for Burgundy.
Flower decorations on the table are to be in flat designs, so as not
to obscure the view of the guests.
Corsage boquets for ladies consist of not more than eight large roses
tied together by silk ribbon, with the name of the lady stamped on in
gold letters.
Gentlemen's bouttonieres consist only of one rosebud.
Boquets for ladies are to be placed on the right side; for gentlemen,
on the napkin next to card bearing his name.
Printed menus are never used on any official occasion.
The private dinners menus are either printed or written on a plain
card and placed on each cover.
Liquors, cordials, cigars are served on a separate table after the
ladies have retired to the parlor.
[Illustration]
FOR THE SICK.
Dishes for invalids should be served in the daintiest and most
attractive way; never send more than a supply for one meal; the same
dish too frequently set before an invalid often causes a distaste,
when perhaps a change would tempt the appetite.
When preparing dishes where milk is used, the condition of the patient
should be considered. Long cooking hardens the albumen and makes the
milk very constipating; then, if the patient should be already
constipated, care should be taken not to heat the milk above the
boiling point.
The seasoning of food for the sick should be varied according to the
condition of the patient; one recovering from illness can partake of a
little piece of roast mutton, chicken, rabbit, game, fish, simply
dressed, and simple puddings are all light food and easily digested. A
mutton chop, nicely cut, trimmed and broiled, is a dish that is often
inviting to an invalid. As a rule, an invalid will be more likely to
enjoy any preparation sent to him if it is served in small delicate
pieces. As there are so many small, dainty dishes that can be made for
this purpose, it seems useless to try to give more than a small
variety of them. Pudding can be made of prepared barley, or tapioca,
well soaked before boiling, with an egg added, and a change can be
made of light puddings by mixing up some stewed fruit with the
puddings before baking; a bread pudding from stale bread crumbs, and a
tiny cup-custard, boiled in a small basin or cup; also various drinks,
such as milk punch, wine, whey, apple-toddy, and various other
nourishing drinks.
BEEFSTEAK AND MUTTON CHOPS.
Select the tenderest cuts and broil over a clear, hot fire. Let the
steak be rare, the chops well done. Salt and pepper, lay between two
_hot_ plates three minutes and serve to your patient. If he is very
weak do not let him swallow anything except the juice, when he has
chewed the meat well. The essence of rare beef, roasted or broiled,
thus expressed, is considered by some physicians to be more
strengthening than beef tea prepared in the usual manner.
BEEF TEA.
One pound of _lean_ beef, cut into small pieces. Put into a glass
canning jar, without a drop of water, cover tightly and set in a pot
of cold water. Heat gradually to a boil and continue this steadily for
three or four hours, until the meat is like white rags and the juice
all drawn out. Season with salt to taste and, when cold, skim.
VEAL OR MUTTON BROTH.
Take a scrag-end of mutton (two pounds), put it in a saucepan with two
quarts of cold water and an ounce of pearl barley or rice. When it is
coming to a boil, skim it well, then add half a teaspoonful of salt;
let it boil until half reduced, then strain it and take off all the
fat and it is ready for use. This is excellent for an invalid. If
vegetables are liked in this broth, take one turnip, one carrot and
one onion, cut them in shreds and boil them in the broth half an hour.
In that case, the barley may be served with the vegetables in broth.
CHICKEN BROTH.
Make the same as mutton or beef broth. Boil the chicken slowly,
putting on just enough water to cover it well, watching it closely
that it does not boil down too much. When the chicken is tender,
season with salt and a very little pepper. The yolk of an egg beaten
light and added, is very nourishing.
OATMEAL GRUEL.
Put four tablespoonfuls of the best grits (oatmeal coarsely ground)
into a pint of boiling water. Let it boil gently, and stir it often,
till it becomes as thick as you wish it. Then strain it, and add to it
while warm, butter, wine, nutmeg, or whatever is thought proper to
flavor it. Salt to taste.
If you make a gruel of fine oatmeal, sift it, mix it first to a thick
batter with a little cold water, and then put it into the saucepan of
boiling water. Stir it all the time it is boiling, lifting the spoon
gently up and down, and letting the gruel fall slowly back again into
the pan.
CORN MEAL GRUEL.
Two tablespoonfuls of fine Indian meal, mixed smooth with cold water,
and a saltspoonful of salt; add one quart of boiling water and cook
twenty minutes. Stir it frequently, and if it becomes too thick use
boiling water to thin it. If the stomach is not too weak, a
tablespoonful of cream may be used to cool it. Some like it sweetened
and others like it plain. For very sick persons, let it settle, pour
off the top, and give without other seasoning. For convalescents,
toast a piece of bread as nicely as possible, and put it in the gruel
with a tablespoonful of nice sweet cream and a little ginger and
sugar. This should be used only when a laxative is allowed.
EGG GRUEL.
Beat the yolk of an egg with one tablespoonful of sugar; pour one
teacupful of boiling water on it, add the white of an egg, beaten to a
froth, with any seasoning or spice desired. Take warm.
MILK PORRIDGE.
The same as arrowroot, excepting it should be all milk, and thickened
with a scant tablespoonful of sifted flour; let it boil five minutes,
stirring it constantly, add a little cold milk, give it one boil up,
and it is ready for use.
ARROWROOT MILK PORRIDGE.
One large cupful of fresh milk, new if you can get it, one cupful of
boiling water, one teaspoonful of arrowroot, wet to a paste with sold
water, two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, a pinch of salt. Put the sugar
into the milk, the salt into the boiling water, which should be poured
into a farina kettle. Add the wet arrowroot and boil, stirring
constantly until it is clear; put in the milk and cook ten minutes,
stirring often. Give while warm, adding hot milk should it be thicker
than gruel.
ARROWROOT BLANC MANGE.
One large cupful of boiling milk, one even tablespoonful of arrowroot
rubbed to a paste with cold water, two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, a
pinch of salt, flavor with rose-water. Proceed as in the foregoing
recipes, boiling and stirring eight minutes. Turn into a wet mold,
and, when firm, serve with cream and powdered sugar.
TAPIOCA JELLY.
Soak a cupful of tapioca in a quart of cold water after washing it
thoroughly two or three times; after soaking three or four hours,
simmer it in a stewpan until it becomes quite clear, stirring often;
add the juice of a lemon, and a little of the grated peel, also a
pinch of salt. Sweeten to taste. Wine can be substituted for lemon, if
liked.
SLIPPERY-ELM BARK TEA.
Break the bark into bits, pour boiling water over it, cover and let it
infuse until cold. Sweeten, ice, and take for summer disorders, or add
lemon juice and drink for a bad cold.
FLAX-SEED TEA.
Upon an ounce of unbruised flax-seed and a little pulverized
liquorice-root pour a pint of boiling (soft or rain) water, and place
the vessel containing these ingredients near, but not on, the fire for
four hours. Strain through a linen cloth. Make it fresh every day. An
excellent drink in fever accompanied by a cough.
FLAX-SEED LEMONADE.
To a large tablespoonful of flax-seed, allow a tumbler and a half of
cold water. Boil them together till the liquid becomes very sticky.
Then strain it hot over a quarter of a pound of pulverized sugar, and
an ounce of pulverized gum arabic. Stir it till quite dissolved, and
squeeze into it the juice of a lemon.
This mixture has frequently been found an efficacious remedy for a
cold, taking a wine-glass of it as often as the cough is troublesome.
TAMARIND WATER.
Put tamarinds into a pitcher or tumbler till it is one-third full,
then fill up with cold water, cover it, and let it infuse for a
quarter of an hour or more.
Currant jelly or cranberry juice mixed with water makes a pleasant
drink for an invalid.
SAGO JELLY.
Made the same as tapioca. If seasoning is not advisable the sago may
be boiled in milk, instead of water, and eaten plain.
Rice jelly made the same, using only half as much rice as sago.
ARROWROOT WINE JELLY.
One cupful of boiling water, one scant tablespoonful of arrowroot,
mixed with a little cold water, one tablespoonful of sugar, a pinch of
salt, one tablespoonful of brandy, or three tablespoonfuls of wine.
Excellent for a sick person without fever.
HOMINY.
Put to soak one pint of hominy in two and one-half pints of boiling
water over night, in a tin vessel with a tight cover; in the morning
add one-half pint of sweet milk and a little salt. Place on a brisk
fire, in a kettle of boiling water, the tin vessel containing the
hominy; let boil one-half hour.
Cracked wheat, oatmeal, mush, are all good food for the sick.
CHICKEN JELLY.
Cook a chicken in enough water to little more than cover it; let it
stew gently until the meat drops from the bones, and the broth is
reduced to about a pint; season it to taste, with a little salt and
pepper. Strain and press, first through a colander, then through a
coarse cloth. Set it over the fire again and cook a few minutes
longer. Turn it into an earthen vegetable dish to harden; set it on
the ice in the refrigerator. Eat cold in slices. Nice made into
sandwiches, with _thin_ slices of bread, lightly spread with butter.
BOILED RICE.
Boil half a cupful of rice in just enough water to cover it, with half
a teaspoonful of salt; when the water has boiled nearly out and the
rice begins to look soft and dry, turn over it a cupful of milk and
let it simmer until the rice is done and nearly dry; take from the
fire and beat in a well-beaten egg. Eat it warm with cream and sugar.
Flavor to taste.
CUP PUDDING.
Take one tablespoonful of flour, one egg, mix with cold milk and a
pinch of salt to a batter. Boil fifteen minutes in a buttered cup. Eat
with sauce, fruit or plain sugar.
TAPIOCA CUP PUDDING.
This is very light and delicate for invalids. An even tablespoonful of
tapioca, soaked for two hours in nearly a cup of new milk; stir into
this the yolk of a fresh egg; a little sugar, a grain of salt, and
bake it in a cup for fifteen minutes. A little jelly may be eaten with
it.
BAKED APPLES.
Get nice fruit, a little tart and juicy, but not sour; clean them
nicely, and bake in a moderate oven--regulated so as to have them done
in about an hour; when the skin cracks and the pulp breaks through in
every direction they are done and ready to take out. Serve with white
sugar sprinkled over them.
SOFT TOAST.
Toast well, but not too brown, two thin slices of stale bread; put
them on a warm plate, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and pour upon
them some boiling water; quickly cover with another dish of the same
size, and drain off the water. Put a very small bit of butter on the
toast and serve at once while hot.
IRISH MOSS BLANC MANGE.
A small handful of moss (to be purchased at any drug store), wash it
very carefully, and put it in one quart of milk on the fire. Let the
milk simmer for about twenty minutes, or until the moss begins to
dissolve. Then remove from the fire and strain through a fine sieve.
Add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and half a teaspoonful of vanilla
flavoring. Put away to harden in cups or molds, and serve with sugar
and cream.
A delicate dish for an invalid.
EGG TOAST.
Brown a slice of bread nicely over the coals, dip it in hot water
slightly salted, butter it, and lay on the top an egg that has been
broken into boiling water, and cooked until the white has hardened;
season the egg with a bit of butter and a crumb of salt.
The best way to cook eggs for an invalid is to drop them, or else pour
boiling water over the egg in the shell and let it stand for a few
minutes on the back of the stove.
OYSTER TOAST.
Make a nice slice of dry toast, butter it and lay it on a hot dish.
Put six oysters, half a teacupful of their own liquor, and half a
cupful of milk, into a tin cup or basin, and boil one minute. Season
with a little butter, pepper and salt, then pour over the toast and
serve.
MULLED JELLY.
Take one tablespoonful of currant or grape jelly, beat with it the
white of one egg and a teaspoonful of sugar; pour on it a teacupful of
boiling water, and break in a slice of dry toast or two crackers.
CUP CUSTARD.
Break into a coffeecup an egg, put in two teaspoonfuls of sugar, beat
it up thoroughly, a pinch of salt and a pinch of grated nutmeg; fill
up the cup with good sweet milk, turn it into another cup, well
buttered, and set it in a pan of boiling water, reaching nearly to the
top of the cup. Set in the oven, and when the custard is set, it is
done. Eat cold.
CLAM BROTH.
Select twelve small, hard-shell clams, drain them and chop them fine;
add half a pint of clam juice or hot water, a pinch of cayenne, and a
walnut of butter; simmer thirty minutes, add a gill of boiled milk,
strain, and serve. This is an excellent broth for weak stomachs.
MILK OR CREAM CODFISH.
This dish will often relish when a person is recovering from sickness,
when nothing else would. Pick up a large tablespoonful of salt codfish
very fine, freshen it considerably by placing it over the fire in a
basin, covering it with cold water as it comes to a boil; turn off the
water and freshen again if very salt, then turn off the water until
dry, and pour over half a cupful of milk or thin cream, add a bit of
butter, a sprinkle of pepper, and a thickening made of one teaspoonful
of flour or cornstarch, wet up with a little milk; when this boils up,
turn over a slice of dipped toast.
CRACKER PANADA.
Break in pieces three or four hard crackers that are baked quite
brown, and let them boil fifteen minutes in one quart of water; then
remove from the fire, let them stand three or four minutes, strain off
the liquor through a fine wire sieve, and season it with sugar.
This is a nourishing beverage for infants that are teething, and with
the addition of a little wine and nutmeg, is often prescribed for
invalids recovering from a fever.
BREAD PANADA.
Put three gills of water and one tablespoonful of white sugar on the
fire, and just before it boils add two tablespoonfuls of the crumbs of
stale white bread, stir it well, and let it boil three or four
minutes, then add one glass of white wine, a grated lemon and a little
nutmeg; let it boil up once, then remove it from the fire, and keep it
closely covered until it is wanted for use.
SLIPPERY-ELM TEA.
Put a teaspoonful of powdered slippery-elm into a tumbler, pour cold
water upon it, and season with lemon and sugar.
TOAST WATER, OR CRUST COFFEE.
Take stale pieces of crusts of bread, the end pieces of the loaf,
toast them a nice, dark brown, care to be taken that they do not burn
in the least, as that affects the flavor. Put the browned crusts into
a large milk pitcher, and pour enough boiling water over to cover
them; cover the pitcher closely, and let steep until cold. Strain, and
sweeten to taste; put a piece of ice in each glass.
This is also good, drank warm with cream and sugar, similar to coffee.
PLAIN MILK TOAST.
Cut a thin slice from a loaf of stale bread, toast it very quickly,
sprinkle a little salt over it, and pour upon it three tablespoonfuls
of boiling milk or cream. Crackers split and toasted in this manner,
are often very grateful to an invalid.
LINSEED TEA.
Put one tablespoonful of linseed into a stewpan with half a pint of
cold water; place the stewpan over a moderate fire, and when the water
is quite warm, pour it off, and add to the linseed half a pint of
fresh cold water, then let the whole boil three or four minutes;
season it with lemon and sugar.
POWDERS FOR CHILDREN.
A very excellent carminative powder for flatulent infants may be kept
in the house, and employed with advantage whenever the child is in
pain or griped, dropping five grains of oil of anise-seed and two of
peppermint on half an ounce of lump sugar, and rubbing it in a mortar,
with a drachm of magnesia, into a fine powder. A small quantity of
this may be given in a little water at any time, and always with
benefit.
FOR CHILDREN TEETHING.
Tie a quarter of a pound of wheat flour in a thick cloth and boil it
in one quart of water for three hours; then remove the cloth and
expose the flour to the air or heat until it is hard and dry; grate
from it, when wanted, one tablespoonful, which put into half a pint of
new milk, and stir over the fire until it comes to a boil, when add a
pinch of salt and a tablespoonful of cold water and serve. This gruel
is excellent for children afflicted with summer complaint.
Or brown a tablespoonful of flour in the oven or on top of the stove
on a baking tin; feed a few pinches at a time to a child and it will
often check a diarrhoea. The tincture of "kino"--of which from ten to
thirty drops, mixed with a little sugar and water in a spoon, and
given every two or three hours, is very efficacious and harmless--can
be procured at almost any druggist's. Tablespoon doses of pure cider
vinegar and a pinch of salt, has cured when all else failed.
BLACKBERRY CORDIAL.
This recipe may be found under the head of COFFEE, TEA, BEVERAGES. It
will be found an excellent medicine for children teething, and summer
diseases.
ACID DRINKS.
1. Peel thirty large Malaga grapes, and pour half a pint of boiling
water upon them; cover them closely and let them steep until the water
is cold.
2. Pour half a pint of boiling water upon one tablespoonful of currant
jelly, and stir until the jelly is dissolved.
3. Cranberries and barberries may be used in the same way to make very
refreshing acid drinks for persons recovering from fevers.
DRAUGHTS FOR THE FEET.
Take a large leaf from the horse-radish plant, and cut out the hard
fibres that run through the leaf; place it on a hot shovel for a
moment to soften it, fold it, and fasten it closely in the hollow of
the foot by a cloth bandage.
Burdock leaves, cabbage leaves, and mullein leaves, are used in the
same manner, to alleviate pain and promote perspiration.
Garlics are also made for draughts by pounding them, placing them on a
hot tin plate for a moment to sweat them, and binding them closely to
the hollow of the foot by a cloth bandage.
Draughts of onions, for infants, are made by roasting onions in hot
ashes, and, when they are quite soft, peeling off the outside, mashing
them, and applying them on a cloth as usual.
POULTICES.
_A Bread and Milk Poultice._--Put a tablespoonful of the crumbs of
stale bread into a gill of milk, and give the whole one boil up. Or,
take stale bread crumbs, pour over them boiling water and boil till
soft, stirring well; take from the fire and gradually stir in a little
glycerine or sweet oil, so as to render the poultice pliable when
applied.
_A Hop Poultice._--Boil one handful of dried hops in half a pint of
water, until the half pint is reduced to a gill, then stir into it
enough Indian meal to thicken it.
_A Mustard Poultice._--Into one gill of boiling water stir one
tablespoonful of Indian meal; spread the paste thus made upon a cloth
and spread over the paste one teaspoonful of mustard flour. If you
wish a mild poultice, use a teaspoonful of mustard as it is prepared
for the table, instead of the mustard flour.
Equal parts of ground mustard and flour made into a paste with warm
water, and spread between two pieces of muslin, form the indispensable
mustard plaster.
_A Ginger Poultice._--This is made like a mustard poultice, using
ground ginger instead of mustard. A little vinegar is sometimes added
to each of these poultices.
_A Stramonium Poultice._--Stir one tablespoonful of Indian meal into a
gill of boiling water and add one tablespoonful of bruised stramonium
seeds.
_Wormwood and Arnica_ are sometimes applied in poultices. Steep the
herbs in half a pint of cold water and when all their virtue is
extracted stir in a little bran or rye meal to thicken the liquid; the
herbs must not be removed from the liquid.
This is a useful application for sprains and bruises.
_Linseed Poultice._--Take four ounces of powdered linseed and
gradually sprinkle it into a half pint of hot water.
A REMEDY FOR BOILS.
An excellent remedy for boils is water of a temperature agreeable to
the feelings of the patient. Apply wet linen to the part affected and
frequently renew or moisten it. It is said to be the most effectual
remedy known. Take inwardly some good blood purifier.
CURE FOR RINGWORMS.
Yellow dock, root or leaves, steeped in vinegar, will cure the worst
case of ringworm.
[Illustration]
HEALTH-SUGGESTIONS.
HOW COLDS ARE CAUGHT.
A great many cannot see why it is they do not take a cold when exposed
to cold winds and rain. The fact is, and ought to be more generally
understood, that nearly every cold is contracted indoors, and is not
directly due to the cold outside, but to the heat inside. A man will
go to bed at night feeling as well as usual and get up in the morning
with a royal cold. He goes peeking around in search of cracks and
keyholes and tiny drafts. Weather-strips are procured, and the house
made as tight as a fruit can. In a few days more the whole family have
colds.
Let a man go home, tired or exhausted, eat a full supper of starchy
and vegetable food, occupy his mind intently for a while, go to bed in
a warm, close room, and if he doesn't have a cold in the morning it
will be a wonder. A drink of whisky or a glass or two of beer before
supper will facilitate matters very much.