Ellice Serena Prescribes a Dinner Suited to Stomachs Tried by the Thanksgiving and Christmas Festivities — How to Make and Serve the Various Dishes.
The stomach is perhaps a little the worse for the over-indulgence of Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the good housewives have one more treat for us. And we must remember that it was the over-indulgence, not the character of the dinners, that did any mischief there was.
Here is another good dinner, and it is my suggestion for New Year’s Day.
Dinner menu for New Year’s Day
Tomato Bisque
Boiled Fish, Drawn Butter, Parisienne Potatoes
Sweet-Bread, Croquettes, Green Peas, Sage
Roast Duck, Stuffing, Apple Sauce
Creamed Onions, Lima Beans, Baked Macaroni
Celery Salad
Wafers, Cheese
Fruit Pudding, Lemon Custard, Nuts, Raisins, Fruits, Coffee
Tomato Bisque
Stew slowly for 30 minutes a quart of tomatoes. Stir in a half teaspoonful of soda and strain through a sieve. Re-heat, add a quart of hot milk, a large tablespoonful of butter, salt and pepper to taste. When about to stew, stir in two heaping tablespoonsful of finely sifted cracker crumbs.
Sage Stuffing
Moisten one pint of stale bread crumbs with two tablespoonsful of melted butter. Season with salt, pepper, one tablespoonful of minced parsley, one teaspoonful of sweet marjoram or powdered sage. Mix thoroughly.
Parisienne Potatoes
Scoop out the potatoes and drop the balls into cold water. At the end of a half hour, dry them and cook in hot fat until tender and lightly browned. Place some brown paper on a sieve and turn in the potatoes to drain.
Creamed Onions
Select the white silver skins, remove the outside, and cut off the ends. Let them lie for some moments in warm water, drain, and boil in salted water and milk until tender. Pour off the water, add cupful of hot cream to the onions, a lump of butter rolled in flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss about until the butter is melted, and serve.
Lima Beans
If the dried beans are used, put them in soak overnight. When ready to cook them, cover with fresh, cold water and boil them until tender and mealy, adding salt when about half done. Season with butter and pepper. A thin strip of sweet bacon cooked with the beans gives a flavor that is agreeable to most tastes.
Baked Macaroni
Take one-quarter pound of imported macaroni, break into pieces and cover with plenty of boiling water, well salted. Add a small lump of butter and cook rapidly for 30 minutes, occasionally stirring it from the bottom ot the pan with a fork. Arrange in a baking dish with butter, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Strew the top thickly with grated cheese and place in the oven just long enough to color it. Too long baking renders the cheese leathery and indigestible.
Fruit Pudding
Cream a large tablespoonful of butter with four level tablespoonfuls of sugar. Add the beaten yolks of two eggs and two teacupsful of sweet milk. Mix well and stir in gradually 1-1/2 pints of flour, sifted, with two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Flavor with nutmeg — about a saltspoonsful full. Add one-half pint of well-floured raisins and currants mixed — the raisins to be seedless. At the last moment, gently fold in the whipped whites of two eggs. Have some coffee cups lightly greased, fill each of them with two tablespoonfuls of the mixture and steam 45 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife. Turn out on a dessert dish and surround with custard sauce. This is an excellent family pudding and may be eaten with impunity by young or old.
