CLAMS ON THE HALF-SHELL.
CREAM OF SPINACH SOUP WITH WHIPPED CREAM.
WHITEBAIT. BROWN BREAD AND BUTTER.
CHICKEN MOUSSE. STONED OLIVES.
CHOPS WITH PEAS. BERMUDA POTATOES.
GRAPE FRUIT SALAD. CHEESE SANDWICHES.
ICE CREAM HEARTS. CAKES.
COFFEE. BONBONS.
The cream of spinach soup is made by cooking the vegetable until very
tender, pressing it through a sieve and adding hot, thickened milk; a
little whipped cream is to be put in the bouillon cups before the soup
is poured in. The whitebait is one of the most delicious things in our
winter markets; it is a very tiny fish of delicate flavour, and while it
is rather expensive at first thought, it is not so in reality, for it is
so light that a pound goes a long way. It is cooked after being dredged
with flour, by frying for only a moment in a wire basket in hot fat, and
served with a bit of lemon on rounds of lace paper; brown bread and
butter in thin strips is passed with it. If it is not to be had, and of
course outside a city it is difficult to obtain, lobster Newburgh, made
from the canned fish, is an excellent substitute. About a pint of the
meat is needed for eight persons; a half-pint of cream is put on the
stove with the yolks of two well-beaten eggs; when it thickens the
lobster is added, then the seasoning and last a dash of sherry, and it
is served in ramekins or paper cases.
The chicken mousse is a cold dish, made by chopping and pounding the
cooked white meat of chicken until it is a paste, seasoning, and adding
enough chicken stock in which gelatine has been dissolved to thoroughly
moisten it; it is then whipped with an egg-beater until light, pressed
in a pan, and allowed to harden; sometimes in addition to the stock a
half cup of whipped cream is mixed in, and this is an improvement to the
ordinary rule for making it. When it is to be used it is sliced and cut
out in heart-shaped pieces; two stoned olives are put on the plate with
each piece, or, if you prefer it, a spoonful of sauce tartare.
The ices may be of strawberry cream or of raspberry ice or a mixture of
both, they are to be heart-shaped, as has been said, and each one should
have a sugar arrow stuck through it. If you prefer roses to hearts,
these should be laid on lace papers. If this course must be prepared at
home, the cream can easily be coloured a rose tint with fruit colour,
and a spoonful served in a dainty little box made of pasteboard covered
with rose crepe paper, cut to resemble petals of the flower, tied with
ribbons to match.