Page:Mary Ronald - Luncheons.djvu/30

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14
LUNCHEONS

lima beans, flageolets, and peas, either fresh or dried, are so used. The purée can be pressed through a pastry-bag into forms simulating roses, or placed in piles on rounds of toast. Vegetables intended to be eaten with the meats they garnish should be well seasoned before being placed on the platter; but where they are to serve only an ornamental purpose, they may sometimes, as in the case of carrots and turnips, be used uncooked, as they have a better color and more firmness when raw. These two vegetables are very useful, as they are obtainable all the year round. Carrots are particularly pretty when small. Large ones sliced and then stamped into fancy shapes, combined with turnips treated in the same way, are frequently used for making designs. Sometimes they are cut into balls, sometimes are carved into forms simulating roses. It is easy to make them into cups, using a fluted knife to shape the outside, and hollowing the center with a potato-scoop. These cups are good for holding any vegetable or for vegetable salads.

Rice is generally used for borders which are intended to keep creamed dishes and fricassees in shape. Sausages cut in halves or quarters, or fried bacon, make a good relish as well as a garnish for many meats; they are particularly good with egg dishes. Paper frills on protruding bones serve the excellent purpose of concealing these unsightly ends. They are easily made by folding a strip of paper lengthwise, then cutting it down about one and a half inches at intervals of one-eighth inch on the folded side, thus making a double fringe; next slip one side up a little, making the fringe round out; and, finally, roll this around a stick, leaving the