same idea of coolness may be also well carried out in a luncheon
in which ferns are made to play their part.

A FERN LUNCHEON

[Illustration: FOR A FERN LUNCHEON.]

The house should be filled with ferns, in the fireplaces, in the window
seats, in the parlours, and in the halls. In the dining-room the table
may be laid either or without a cloth, and a large shallow pan or tray
put in the centre; if a tray is used, it should have a layer of
absorbent cotton on it. The edge of this dish must be concealed by tiny
growing ferns; in the dish should be large pieces of ice, piled in an
irregular mound, and very small ferns put in the crevices. The ice will
give out enough coolness to perceptibly affect the atmosphere of the
room, and the combination of the ice and ferns is a pretty one. A few
days before the luncheon some ferns may be pressed, and these may be
laid on the table if it is so large as to admit of more decoration; the
cards may also have a little fern pasted on each.

An appetising menu might be:--

MENU

ICED PEACHES.
CREAM OF CORN SOUP.
FILETS OF FLOUNDER. SAUCE TARTARE.
CLAMS A LA NEWBURGH.
CHOPS. STUFFED TOMATOES. ICED TEA.
RED RASPBERRY SHERBET.
ALMOND ASPIC SALAD. BROWN BREAD AND BUTTER.
ICE CREAM IN MELONS.

The peaches are not to be frozen, but kept on the ice after they are
halved, peeled, and sprinkled with sugar, until they are thoroughly
chilled. They may have a small spoonful of whipped cream served with
them, if that combination is liked. The clams are prepared exactly as is
lobster, except that they must be kept for a little longer in the sauce
in order to just cook them through. They are to be served in ramekins.
The tomatoes are to have the inside removed without breaking the
skin, and this is mixed with bread crumbs and seasoning, returned to the
tomatoes, and baked.

The salad is made by filling small individual moulds with almonds and
bouillon jelly made of melted extract of beef, seasoning, and dissolved
gelatine; the nuts should be cut into strips and arranged in a pattern
with a little of the aspic before the moulds are filled. A stiff
mayonnaise is to be served with this.

The ice cream is particularly delicious, though it seems very odd to one
who is not familiar with it. A very rich cream is made with the yolks of
five eggs added to a quart of cream, and when done it is put in large
spoonfuls in halved, small, and spicy muskmelons. The two eaten together