st in one or two
more than she needs, lest some day she finds one burned and none to
match it in the shops.

Guest cards are really necessary,--primarily, in order to avoid
confusion in seating a number of persons in a short time, but with a
secondary reason for their existence which is not to be overlooked: they
enable the hostess to seat together those who have most in common and
who will start the ball of conversation rolling, and keep it going.
Many a meal has proved stupid and tiresome to some one because she sat
by an uncongenial fellow-guest; a hostess shows her tact--or her lack of
it--by the way she plans the seats of those who are to surround the
table.

As to favours, they are in no way essential; they are suggested here
merely because they afford some opportunity for originality, and serve
to break the ice at the very beginning of a meal. They are not for the
older woman, who will doubtless despise them, but for the girl-hostess
who is gay enough still to care for whatever raises a laugh. They should
depend for their worth not on any intrinsic value, for they should have
none, but on their cleverness, their appropriateness; those mentioned
are only "suggestions;" every hostess should from these go on to others
which have more to them.

Just a word of warning as to the menu. Do not try and transform into a
"function" what should be only a light and pleasant luncheon. The
moment that is done, and a demand is made for extreme thought and
preparation on the part of the hostess, and formality on the part of the
guests, that moment the whole affair becomes a weariness to the flesh
and spirit, and the charm is gone. There is no limit to the number of
courses a hostess may offer if she really sets out to show what she can
do if she tries; every year gastronomic possibilities increase, and an
ambitious woman may pile pates on croquettes, and salads on sherbets,
and creams on top of everything else _ad libitum_, if she so wishes. But
a luncheon should be a luncheon, not a cooking-school display. It should
be delightful to the eye, delicious to the palate, sufficiently
elaborate to show respect to one's guests, and yet simple enough to be
in good taste; restraint rather than ostentatious display should give
the meal the refining touch which is needed to make it really complete.

January

By a happy omen our year begins with a gala day; time was when the very
mention of New Year's Day brought to our minds