supplies of bread, water or
champagne when wished.

All dishes are to be removed quietly, and either placed in a
dumbwaiter or given in charge of a maidservant just outside the door.
If it is necessary to have any dishes or silver used again, they must
be cleansed out of sight and hearing of the guests, as also no odor of
cookery must reach the dining-room. Large, flat baskets must be in
readiness to transport the china and silver to the kitchen.

To wait at a large dinner the attendants should average one to every
three people: hence, it will be well for the small household to engage
outside attendance. Very skilful servants have been known to
successfully attend to as many as six guests, but one must be sure of
this beforehand.

The Menu.

It will be seen after a perusal of this that the order of the formal,
modern dinner _a la Russe_, is very much as follows: Oysters, soup,
fish, roast, entrees, Roman punch, game, salad and cheese, dessert,
fruits, sweets, coffee. To make this clearer, one bill of fare will be
given as an example, always remembering that the number of courses may
be lessened in order to suit the taste or purse of the host. Many
courses are not a necessity, but the finest quality and the best of
cookery should mark each dish served.

Every dinner should begin with soup, to be followed by fish, and
include some kind of game. To this order there is no repeal, since
"soup is to the dinner," says De la Regnier, "what the portico is to
the building or the overture is to an opera." From this there is never
any deviation.

A standard bill of fare for a well-regulated dinner is as follows:

Oysters on the Half-shell. Mock Turtle Soup.
Salmon with Lobster Sauce. Cucumbers. Chicken Croquettes.
Tomato Sauce. Roast Lamb with Spinach.
Canvas-back Duck. Celery. String Beans served on Toast.
Lettuce Salad. Cheese Omelet.
Pineapple Bavarian Cream. Charlotte Russe.
Ices. Fruits. Coffee.

Each course may be served on dishes different from the other courses;
also fancy dishes, unlike any of the rest, may be used to pass
relishes, such as olives, and add greatly to the beauty of the table
service. Suitable sets for fish and game, decorated in accordance, are
greatly to be admired.

Menu holders are frequently very pretty, and upon the menu card itself
much taste and expense are sometimes lavished. Still it is not
considered good taste to have them at every plate, for the reason that
it savors too much of