"Everybody eats more at dinner," was the answer to this question given by one member of the household arts class in the Pleasant Valley School. This may not be true always, but it is true that we usually make dinner a meal where we have soup, perhaps a meat dish like a roast, or a piece of boiled meat, more vegetables than at breakfast and supper, and some sweet dish that we call "dessert"; and even if we do not eat more, the food itself is "heartier."

Here are three plans for dinners.

Dinner Plans

I

2 hot dishes (as meat and vegetable) Bread and butter Dessert Relish

II

Soup

2 or 3 other hot dishes (as meat and 1 or 2 vegetables)

Bread and butter

Dessert

Beverage

Relish

III

Soup

2 or 3 hot dishes

A relish (as jelly or pickle) Bread and butter Salad Dessert Beverage

One of the hot dishes can be fish or shellfish, or baked beans; and when there are two vegetables we usually like to have potato, although rice, samp, or hominy can take the place of the potato.

It is really an art to put together dishes that belong together; so let us study this for a little time.

Why do certain dishes fit each other at one meal? Suppose we take Dinner II, and arrange it this way: potato soup, baked beans, boiled potato, boiled rice, bread and butter, rice pudding. Here is another menu : tomato soup, baked potatoes, stewed tomato, boiled greens, bread and butter, baked apples. Here is a third one : meat soup, meat, warmed-over fish, custard pudding made of eggs and milk.

Do these menus seem just right to you? Mollie Stark was sure that her father and brothers would not like any of them; and, although they might prefer the third one to the others if they were very hungry, there seemed something wrong even with that. Miss James asked her to change them and make something better. Here is the first menu that Mollie planned: tomato soup, meat, boiled potatoes, string beans, apple tapioca pudding.

Here is another of Mollie's menus: potato soup, fish, stewed tomato, samp (in place of potato), and baked custard. Can you explain the difference between these and the first three? You may be sure that there are too many dishes of the same nature in each of those three. The first has too much starchy food; the second too much green vegetable and fruit food; the third too much meat food. We seem to crave a mixture. This is where our natural habit and desire are good. In the two menus that Mollie planned, you can see that the balance is better among the meat, the starchy, and the "green" foods. You notice that the dessert in the second menu balances better with the first than it would with a hearty dish of meat, for fish does not seem to "stay by" as meat does. Our appetite and nature agree about some things in our meals. Other things that we like, we seem to like because of some custom that has come to us from the past. When the Puritans of New England cooked their wild turkey at the first Thanksgiving, they probably made cranberry sauce from the wild berries gathered in the bog; the combination was pleasing, and we like it to this day. Some of our food habits are not so good; as, for instance, a breakfast of sausage, griddlecakes, and sirup.

Here is one simple rule that is a good one in making menus : where there is a good supply of the meat dish, then a light dessert, principally fruit, is best; but when the meat is a little short, have a dessert made with milk or with eggs and milk, or have suet pudding.

The plans given are suggestions only. Of course we do not want soup at every dinner, and if the soup has meat in it, we do not need any other meat. We should all learn moderation in eating our dinner, especially if we are very hungry at the beginning of the meal; and remember that, if there is a dessert, it is a part of the dinner. When we have eaten quite enough of everything else, and then take pudding or pie, no wonder that we find the latter giving trouble.

How much shall we have for our family? One rainy Saturday, when Mollie Stark was spending the day with Marjorie Allen, Marjorie said to her mother, "Please leave us all alone in the kitchen and dining room, and let us get dinner all by ourselves." Mrs. Allen took up a piece of sewing, glad to enjoy a quiet morning in the cheerful living room, with Grandmother. In about five minutes, open came the door from the kitchen, and Marjorie was saying, "Mother, how much tomato soup do you think we need?" Her mother laughed. Then they all had a little talk about the quantities necessary to serve of each dish. Mrs. Allen explained that in a family as large as hers it is not needful to plan so carefully for the exact amount, for left-overs can always be used; and that it saves labor and fuel to have portions of certain dishes remaining, especially those that keep well. Marjorie remembered that, when she had visited her aunt, who lives in a small apartment in the city, it was a part of the planning of a meal to have very little left over, because the storage space was so small; whereas, in the Aliens' home, and the Starks', there is the cool pantry and the large ice box.

This is the way Mrs. Allen helped the two girls to plan the quantities. There were nine people to serve: Grandmother, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, Mollie Stark, Barbara, her little sister and two younger brothers, and one man who was helping Mr. Allen. Mrs. Allen said that one learned by experience how much certain members of the family would eat of certain things, and that there was no fixed rule.

Plan for cooking dinner. Then Mollie and Marjorie went back to the kitchen, and planned for cooking the dinner.

When it is time for dinner, everything needs to be ready at about the same time, so that everything can be served and everybody helped quickly. Do you think that this is an easy matter? One very wise man, who was getting his own breakfasts, said that he knew how to cook cereal, boil eggs, and make coffee, but that he never yet had been able to have them all ready at the same time! Mollie and Marjorie thought this dinner all out before they began. This is the way they planned it:

(1) See what things are already cooked, and what needs to be done to make them ready for the table.

(2) Notice what dishes take longest to cook, and start those first.

(3) Notice what food is best eaten just as soon as it is done, and what can stand awhile on the back of the stove.

(4) Notice what things you want to have cold, and see if you can put those on last.

A cook who can do all this, have everything on the table that needs to be there, all the hot dishes hot, and all the cold dishes cold, is really a very "smart" person. Here is an exercise for you : Write out the way that you think Mollie and Marjorie planned this dinner.

Exercises And Problems

1. Consider the dinner that Mollie and Marjorie planned. Which food needs the longest cooking? Which the shortest? Which can be kept hot the most easily? Study the recipes. Each pupil should make a plan, and then compare notes in class.

2. Make several simple menus for dinner, and plan the cooking.

3. What are some of the most important things to remember in planning a dinner?