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Wedding Anniversaries 591
are effective on the walls—if one is willing to take a little trouble to prepare decorations.
The invitations may be written in green ink on birch bark or on paper that resembles it.
In the autumn, branches of glowing maples, wreathed about the chandelier like a great Japanese umbrella, would be effective, the other table decorations being kept to the more subdued russets, browns, and tawny yellows, with a dash of scarlet given by the candle-shades, made of natural maple leaves. Artificial ones are sold in the shops for place-cards with all the gay blendings of scarlet, green, and gold, than which nothing prettier for that purpose can be had. The names, done in raised gilt lettering and tied with bright ribbons, make pretty souvenirs of the occasion.
The menu might be composed only of dishes that we owe chiefly to the woodland. A game soup, better known as "puree de gibier," is delicious enough to make one forget that no oysters have been served. Brook trout, or any of the finny treasures of forest lakes, alone should be the choice of fish. A haunch of venison or venison steaks may come next, followed by partridge with watercress salad.
For the sweet course there is a dish called "Bibesco," made by a famous caterer, composed chiefly of chestnuts boiled, mashed, sweetened, and put through a colander, which gives the effect of vermicelli.
This toothsome material forms a ring three or four inches in thickness, the centre of which is heaped with whipped cream filled with nuts of various kinds, which have been previously steeped in sherry or maderia. Wild grapes and green filberts would be the ideal conclusion of this sylvan repast, but if not obtainable the grapes grown in gardens are not very different in flavour. |
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