=Breakfast sausages.= Small pork sausages fried in pan with a small piece of b.u.t.ter. Serve on platter with their own fat.

=Consomme Ditalini.= Boil some Ditalini (a species of Italian paste), in salt water, drain off and serve in consomme. Grated cheese separate.

=Eggs Creole.= Put in b.u.t.tered shirred egg dish one spoonful of Creole sauce, break two eggs in center, and bake in oven.

=Creole sauce.= Put in sauce pan three ounces of b.u.t.ter, one sliced onion, and three sliced green peppers. Simmer for ten minutes, or until soft, then add one quart of canned tomatoes with their juice, one can of sliced French mushrooms, one-half can of sliced pimentos, a very little finely chopped garlic, and salt and pepper. Cook slowly for one hour.

Fresh tomatoes may be subst.i.tuted for canned, if desired; and if the sauce is too thick some brown gravy or bouillon may be added.

=Fillet of sole, Joinville.= Cook the fillets "au vin blanc." Serve crayfish sauce or ecrevisse, or shrimp sauce with sliced French mushrooms, truffles and lobster.

=Potage Mongol.= One-third puree of peas, one-third consomme Julienne, one-third puree of tomatoes. Well mixed.

=Chicken saute, Bordelaise.= Jointed chicken saute in b.u.t.ter with a shallot. Serve brown gravy with mushrooms and cepes saute, and garnish with fried onions.

=Cepes saute.= Cepes are a species of mushrooms and may be obtained in cans. Slice and fry in b.u.t.ter and olive oil in equal parts, season with salt and pepper, and when nearly golden yellow add a very finely chopped shallot and some chopped parsley, and simmer for a minute longer. Often used for garnishing entrees, etc.

=Fried onions.= Cut large onions in thin slices and separate into rings.

Put in milk, then in flour, and fry in hot swimming lard. When brown remove, salt, and serve on napkin, or use for garnishing.

DECEMBER 14

BREAKFAST Preserved figs Oatmeal with cream Chickens' livers saute, au Madere Rolls Coffee

LUNCHEON Cold a.s.sorted meats Alligator pear, French dressing Roquefort cheese Crackers Coffee

DINNER Lynnhaven oysters Puree of Lima beans, aux croutons Ripe olives Sand dabs, meuniere Louisiana gumbo file Boiled rice Russian salad Peach Melba a.s.sorted cakes Coffee

=Chickens' livers saute, au Madere.= Cut the livers in three, salt and pepper and fry in saute pan in b.u.t.ter. Drain off and add a cup of sauce Madere. Do not let them boil in the sauce.

=Puree of Lima beans.= Take a can of Lima beans, or a quart of fresh beans, put in vessel, cover with chicken broth or bouillon and boil till done. Then strain through fine sieve, put back in vessel, add two ounces of sweet b.u.t.ter, and season to taste. Serve with small squares of bread fried in b.u.t.ter.

=Louisiana gumbo file.= Two chickens, one quart of large oysters, one quart of cooked shrimps, six bell peppers, four large onions, one quart of tomatoes, one-half pound of b.u.t.ter, two bunches of celery, one small bunch of parsley, one-quarter teaspoonful of tobasco sauce, and black pepper and salt to suit.

=First.=--Cut the chicken the same way as for frica.s.see, and wipe dry.

=Second.=--Cut onions and brown in b.u.t.ter, and strain.

=Third.=--Fry chicken brown in strained b.u.t.ter, then set to one side.

=Fourth.=--Add two tablespoonsful of flour to strained b.u.t.ter and brown gradually. When a rich brown add two quarts of boiling water, then add the tomatoes. Now bring to boiling point and strain through a fine strainer.

=Fifth.=--Place strained liquor in a large stew pan and add one teaspoonful of salt and a half teaspoonful of black pepper, then add the chicken. Should the liquor not sufficiently cover the chicken add more hot water to about two inches above. Then add the bell peppers and celery without cutting up. Boil over slow fire until chicken can be picked off the bones with fork. Then remove chicken and strip meat from bones and cut in small pieces, remove the celery and bell peppers, and replace chicken. Add the shrimps, oysters and tobasco sauce. Boil for ten minutes. Then gradually add sufficient "file powder" to bring to a rich creamy consistency. Add to each plate two large tablespoonsful of boiled rice. Serve immediately.

=Boiled rice.= Wash one-half pound of rice and soak in cold water for an hour. Cook over hot fire in four quarts of boiling water for fifteen minutes, or until the grains can be mashed between the fingers. Strain through a colander.

DECEMBER 15

BREAKFAST Hothouse raspberries with cream Boiled eggs Dry toast Coffee

LUNCHEON Livermore salad Fillet of halibut, Mornay French pastry Rolls Tea

DINNER Potato and leek soup Queen olives Black ba.s.s, Cambaceres Vol au vent Toulouse Roast lamb, mint sauce Rissolees potatoes Field salad Vanilla ice cream Lady fingers Coffee

=Livermore salad.= Broil three country sausages, allow to cool and slice thin. Mix with one peeled tomato cut in small squares, one-half cup of string beans, chives, chervil, salt and pepper, and one-third of white wine vinegar to two-thirds of olive oil.

=Fillet of halibut, Mornay.= Place the halibut fillets in b.u.t.tered pan, season with salt and pepper, cover with fish stock or water, and boil.

When nearly done remove from pan and put on b.u.t.tered platter, cover with Mornay sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and place small pieces of b.u.t.ter on top. Bake in oven till nice and brown. See sauce below.

=Sauce Mornay.= For four persons use one pint of thick cream, season with salt and Cayenne pepper, bind with the yolks of two eggs and one tablespoonful of grated cheese.

=Mint sauce.= Use one-quarter pound of brown sugar to one quart of vinegar. Bring to the boiling point, cool off and add some fresh mint leaves chopped fine.

=Rissolees potatoes.= Cut potatoes in the form of a small egg or a ball.

Boil for seven minutes, then put in pan with b.u.t.ter and brown. Sprinkle with salt.

=Vol au vent, Toulouse.= Boiled breast of chicken cut in small squares; chicken dumplings, dessertspoon size; one can of French mushrooms, whole; one sliced truffle, and two sweetbreads sliced and boiled in chicken broth. Put all in ca.s.serole, add one-half wine gla.s.s of dry sherry wine, allow to become hot, and add sauce Allemande to cover. It will now be like a stew. Season to taste and fill the heated "vol au vents," or patties.

=Black ba.s.s, Cambaceres.= Simmer six finely chopped shallots in b.u.t.ter.

While hot add three sliced fresh mushrooms, one peeled tomato cut in squares, and one-half gla.s.s of white wine. Reduce almost dry. Then add one pint of white wine sauce. Cook the fish "au vin blanc" style and pour the sauce over same.

DECEMBER 16

BREAKFAST Sliced pineapple Rolled oats with cream Rolls Coffee

LUNCHEON Omelette Lorraine Cold lamb with jelly Salade Americaine French pancake Coffee

DINNER Potage Flamande Boiled codfish, sauce Horose Potatoes nature Tenderloin of beef, Bristol Lettuce salad Ice cream a.s.sorted cakes Demi ta.s.se

=Omelette Lorraine.= Serve the omelette with small sausages, broiled bacon and Madeira sauce.

=Salade Americaine.= Parboil one-half cup of okra cut in pieces one inch long. Peel a tomato and a boiled potato and cut in strips. Put in bowl with the okra, which has been allowed to cool, and garnish the top with very finely chopped Virginia ham over one half, and with chopped green peppers over the other half. Serve with French dressing.

=Pancakes.= For two persons take three-fourths of a cup of flour, the same of milk, one egg and a pinch of salt. Mix together into a thin batter. Bake on a pancake pan, well b.u.t.tered.

=English pancakes.= Mix and cook the cakes as above. Stack one on another in a chafing dish, sprinkling each with a little lime juice and powdered sugar.

=Pancakes Lieb.= Same as above, but instead of the lime juice, spread each cake with sweet b.u.t.ter and powdered sugar. Keep hot with chafing dish.

=French pancakes.= Same ingredients as above, but cover each cake with currant jelly and roll into a roll. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and burn with a redhot iron in stripes.

=Potage Flamande.= Potato soup garnished with brunoise.

=Boiled codfish, sauce Horose.= Boil the codfish, place on napkin, garnish with small boiled potatoes, quartered lemons and parsley. See sauce below.

=Sauce Horose.= Two-thirds Hollandaise sauce and one-third tomato sauce mixed.