with a
little banana, orange, and small strawberries, sugar, and sherry, if you
use it, and the whole put back in the shell and passed, the top lying on
one side of the dish; small glass saucers, or nappies, as they are
called, are on each plate, and the guest is to put a spoonful in hers.
The colder the pineapple is, the better. If soft-shell crabs are not to
be had, serve a creamed fish in whole cucumbers, as was suggested for a
January luncheon. The tomato baskets are very pretty; they are made by
cutting smooth tomatoes in basket shapes, removing the inside with a
small spoon, and filling with cucumber jelly mixed with mayonnaise. This
latter is made by crushing peeled and sliced cucumbers, adding seasoning
and a little onion, and stewing till soft; they are then set with
gelatine in a dish and when firm they are broken into pieces small
enough to go in the baskets. If you are to have crabs, this course is
all right, but if you have substituted the cucumbers with fish, you must
again substitute and serve another salad for this. The frozen
strawberries are made by crushing the fruit to a paste, adding one-third
as much boiled lemonade, sweetening well, straining, and freezing. The
cakes served with this should be iced in a rather deep pink.

There are so many pretty and appropriate quotations about roses that one
may well add one to each guest card.

"Roses for the blush of youth."

"The sweetest rose, where all are roses."

"She looks as clear as morning roses newly washed
with dew."

"Mantling on the maiden's cheek,
Young roses kindled into thoughts."

"It was roses, roses, all the way."

"The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew."

"The red rose cries, 'She is near, she is near!'
And the white rose weeps, 'She is late!'"

"O beautiful, royal rose,
O rose so fair and sweet!"

"Gather ye roses while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying."

"Queen rose in the rose-bud garden of girls."

A PEONY LUNCHEON

[Illustration]

is certainly novel, and if carried out carefully it is extremely pretty,
although at first thought one would think the peony too large and coarse
a flower to use on the table. In order to get the best effect, the table
must be a round one and quite large. Then the peonies, pink and white
ones mixed, and with plenty of their own foliage, should be piled in a
mass in the centre, with the bowl which holds them in place completely
concealed. The flower