Part 54

Breakfast.

An Orange. Oatmeal Porridge, with Cream and Sugar. Coffee. Broiled Steak. Baked Potato. Cream Toast.

Lunch.

Egg-nog.

Dinner.

Celery Soup. Croutons. Roast Chicken. Creamed Onions. Duchess Potato. Lettuce Salad (plain). Velvet Cream. Coffee.

Lunch.

Cocoa Cordial. Sponge Cake.

Supper.

Fancy Roast of Oysters. Dry Toast. Chocolate, with Whipped Cream. Orange Jelly.

No. 2

Breakfast.

An Orange. Wheat Germ, with Cream and Sugar. Broiled Partridge. Dry Toast. Coffee.

Lunch.

1 Cup of Hot Chicken Broth.

Dinner.

Consommé. Bread. Roast Beef. Mashed Potatoes. Tomato Salad. Cream of Rice Pudding. Coffee.

Lunch.

1 Cup of Mulled Wine.

Supper.

Venison Steak, with Port Wine Sauce. Toast. Sponge Cake, with Sweet Cream. Cocoa.

SERVING

If cooking be a science, then serving is an art. It perhaps more closely resembles painting than any other, for a well-spread table should be a picture, and each separate dish a choice bit in the landscape. The invalid's tray should be a dainty Dresden water-color of delicate hues and harmonious tints.

It is not easy to give definite directions in regard to serving, for it involves so much of good taste in so many directions, and depends so largely upon the individual and the circumstances. It requires intelligent study, a cultivated habit of thought, and the appreciation of symmetry, and the harmony of colors; to do it well one must ever judge anew and arrange again, for no two meals are exactly alike in all their details.

Of course, the most important thing in serving is the thing to be served. A badly prepared or unwholesome dish, no matter how beautifully it may be presented, is worthless--perhaps even worse, for it may prove a positive source of evil. An indifferently done steak, served on a silver platter, is less acceptable than one perfectly cooked on plain china, or a bit of burned toast on Dresden ware than a daintily browned piece on a common white plate. Put the force, therefore, of your efforts on securing that which is wholesome in itself, adapted to the needs of the patient, and perfectly cooked; then serve it in the most attractive manner at your command.

Good serving is a necessity for the sick. It should never be regarded as simply ornamental. When a person has the hunger of health, colors and dishes are not of great account; but when one is ill, or exhausted with fatigue, sometimes a pretty color, a dainty cup, or beauty of arrangement makes all the difference, and one is tempted to eat when otherwise the food would remain untouched.

Simplicity should rule at all times the arrangement of an invalid's tray. Anything like display is entirely out of place. Japanned trays of oval shape are the ones in general use. When one is fortunate enough to possess a silver tray, the dishes may be placed directly upon it, or on a doily, which covers the center of it. All other trays should be completely covered with a dainty snowy napkin, or tray-cloth.

After the napkin has been neatly spread upon the tray, place a plate in the middle of the side nearest to you, and then arrange the other dishes about it, with the tiny earthen teapot on the right, and the sugar-bowl and cream-pitcher of silver next to it; the knife, fork, and spoons should be on the right and left of the plate, never in front of it. The various dishes to be served should then be arranged symmetrically in other parts of the tray, not scattered about without the appearance of order.