CARE AND SERVING OF FRUIT. GRAPEFRUIT — ORANGES — MELONS — STRAWBERRIES — CURRANTS — BANANAS — APPLES — PINEAPPLES

ALL fruit has been exposed to dust, dirt, or handling and should be made clean when brought from market or garden. Pears and apples, if cleansed
by rubbing, will take a high polish, which adds to their beauty. Peaches should be brushed or wiped carefully. Grapes should be washed, thoroughly
drained, and the imperfect ones removed, just before serving. Some persons do not approve of washing berries, but berries and other small fruits (especially those that are received through city markets) harbor insects and other impurities that only washing will remove. The best way to wash berries is to put them into a large bowl of cold water and splash them about, repeating the process with fresh water till the berries are free from sand and dirt. By this method, the sand settles to the bottom of the bowl, whereas if the berries are placed in a colander or sieve, all the sand does not wash through, but more or less lodges on the fruit.

It is often advisable to buy fruit in large quantities oranges and grapefruit by the box or half box, apples by the barrel, bananas by the bunch, etc. They should be kept in a cool place, the drier the better and looked over often, using those first which ripen first. Pears picked green and put into a dark place for ripening do not change all at once, but some before others, and therefore need frequent inspection.

There is a difference of opinion as to whether or not fruit should be chilled before serving. Some epicures think that the flavor of fruit is spoiled by chilling; but, in the summer time especially, fruit that is cool is refreshing to most persons.

Much taste may be shown in arranging fruits for the table. There is a large variety in size, shape, and design of china, silver, glass, and basket eceptacles
which are made for holding fruits. Some in glass and silver are designed to hold both fruit and flowers.

When possible, leaves from the tree or bush upon which the fruit was grown, should be put on the dish beneath the fruit. Grape leaves under small lusters
of grapes, peaches, and plums, give a bit of cool color and fill in awkward spaces. In the fall, when clematis becomes dried, its soft fluffiness gives an
attractive touch to a dish of fruit.

When using pumpkins made into bowl or basket shape for the fruit dish, as is often done for Thanksgiving dinners, the vine fills in the spaces gracefully
and fittingly.

The most popular fruit and the one longest in season is the grapefruit. For breakfast it is served in a simple manner; but for luncheon or dinner it may be combined with cordials or suitable garnishes and be made as elaborate as desired. In preparing grapefruit for breakfast, wipe with cheese-cloth wrung out of cold water, cut in halves crosswise (not from end to end) and with a sharp, thin-bladed knife remove seeds, then cut around pulp within each
section of the fruit, except the outside next rind ; cut this last of all, severing the membrane where it joins the rind, and cutting to the bottom of the fruit.
Next, cut the core from the bottom of the grapefruit, and pull the core upwards ; it should bring with it the skin between sections of the pulp, leaving pulp undisturbed in its place. Holding pulp down on one side with the flat side of the knife and pulling one side at a time greatly helps in removing the membrane.One must be careful in preparing grapefruit in this way to avoid too much pressure. It should be handled lightly, otherwise much juice escapes, and the fruit is not pleasing in appearance. The halves of grapefruit are now sprinkled with sugar or the sugar may be passed, as some persons consider it more wholesome in the natural state. Grapefruit is not at its best when prepared the night before serving, but it is quite desirable that it stand in an ice-box from ten to fifteen minutes if sugar is served on it.

Grapefruit is served at luncheon or dinner either as a first or as a dessert course. When grapefruit is to be served in either of these ways, prepare as already mentioned or carefully remove the sections and serve in glasses which come for the purpose, or in sherbet or champagne glasses. Various cordials are used for flavoring, and some garnishes answer the purpose of flavoring as well. The Maraschino cherry is the most common of these; another is Bar le Due currants, either red or white, a spoonful placed over the fruit or in the center cavity ; cubes of apple-mint jelly with grapefruit make a combination pleasing to eye and palate ; candied fruits may be chopped fine and sprinkled over grapefruit ; whipped cream, sweetened and flavored with Maraschino cordial, may be put on the fruit with pastry bag and tube, and the cream garnished with candied violets or cherries. When serving the grapefruit in its skin, select bright yellow, smooth fruit.

Halves of grapefruit are arranged for individual service on small plates, usually overed with a lace paper doily. Lycopodium moss makes an attractive mat and garnish for the fruit, as it gives a soft, light effect and gracefully fills in the space between fruit and plate.

The two most popular ways of preparing oranges are :

1st. Wipe and serve fruit whole. Each person eats in the way he chooses, either cutting in halves crosswise and using the orange-spoon, or peeling and
separating the fruit into sections.

2nd. Wipe fruit, cut in halves crosswise, and extract juice, using a glass lemon squeezer. Serve in small glasses two-thirds full. The glasses filled with the juice are set on small doily-covered plates, placed in position on the service plate before breakfast is announced.

Other suggestions are given which, though not practical for the breakfast table, are helpful in planning for tray service.

ist. Wipe orange, peel, remove fruit in sections, and free from skin and seeds, preserving shape. Arrange on small plate around a mound of confectioner's
sugar.

2nd. Select and wipe large, firm oranges. Cut lengthwise through the skin of fruit in eight equal sections, from blossom end to within one inch of stem end. Then peel back, tucking each point under to represent petals. Leave the orange pulp whole, or partly separate sections.

3rd. Wipe and remove the peel from an orange in such a way that an inch-wide band remains around the center at equal distance from stem and blossom ends. Cut the band across once, separate sections, but do not remove them from the band, and arrange around a mound of sugar.

4th. Wipe and prepare orange in the same way as with band and separated sections ; cut the band once and turn so as to leave the sections outside ;
fasten band together with a small skewer (wooden toothpick) to make a circle.

Melons are served either for the "beginning" or the "finish" of a meal. Small melons should be washed, wiped, chilled, and cut in halves, from stem to blossom end. Remove seeds and objectionable stringy portion, and serve to each person half a melon placed on a small plate (with or without paper doily). Pass sugar on a tray, and salt and pepper also, if they are not on the table between every two covers. The flavor is preserved if the melon is perfectly chilled, but is lessened or destroyed if pieces of ice are served in it.

Watermelon should be very cold and may be served in a variety of ways. If a melon is served with the rind on, wipe, cut in halves, and trim the rounded end of each half so that it may stand flat and firm on the serving dish. Then the host may remove the red portion with a large spoon, in egg- shaped pieces, and place on individual plates. The melon may be cut in the pantry in slices three inches thick ; then the rind cut off in circular pieces, and the edible center (rounds of pink pulp) removed to a chop plate or silver platter of ample size. To serve, cut in wedge-shaped pieces. Another way is to remove the pink center of the melon in the pantry with a spoon, in egg-shaped pieces, and arrange on a large glass or silver dish, with cracked ice. A few green leaves or a few sprigs of mint may add to the attractiveness of the dish.

Choice, large strawberries should be served with the hulls on, after gently cleaning the fruit with a soft brush (butter brush). They may be piled in pyramid shape on a dish, and sugar passed with them, or they may be served on individual plates around a small mound of sugar. The mound is made by pressing confectioner's sugar into a cone-shaped utensil of the size desired and then unmolding it in the center of the plate. A pastry tube is of the right size and shape ; sometimes a cordial glass and again forms of stiff paper may be used. If the sugar has been pressed firmly into the cone, and the lower edge of the mold tapped on the plate directly where it is to be placed, it will hold its shape, unless handled or shaken roughly. Small galax leaves, with stems removed, fitted into one another and placed on the plate to form a mat, make a good color background for this fruit, if one cannot obtain strawberry leaves.Miniature market baskets, obtained at a caterer's
or confectioner's, may be filled with the berries and placed on the individual plate.

Currants on the stems should be washed, drained, and arranged for serving on a dish, preferably glass, and sugar passed. Large currants should be removed from stem and washed, then put into a dish with granulated sugar, and shaken until the currants are covered with the sugar. This should be done only just before serving. White and red currants served together make a pleasing effect. Small fruits like currants, blackberries, and raspberries may be served with a little crushed ice ; this is much appreciated on a hot day, and these fruits, being highly flavored, bear the slight dilution the melting ice gives.Cherries may be served on the stems, or stemmed and pitted and served in individual dishes with sugar and crushed ice.

Grape scissors are essential when bunches of grapes are served.

Whole bananas with skins left on are served at breakfast, or they may be peeled, sliced, and sugar and cream passed, or peeled, sliced, and sprinkled
with lemon juice and sugar.

Apples are not often served peeled, as the pulp discolors so quickly ; but if prepared nicely, they make a pleasing finish to a heavy dinner. Select large, perfect apples and keep them in the ice-box for several hours before serving. Immediately before they are to be used, peel, and cut in slices an eighth of an inch thick from stem to blossom end, beginning at the outside and working toward the core. Arrange the slices on a flat glass dish with serving
fork and pass as the last course.

Pineapple, when prepared in the simplest way, is shredded, sprinkled with sugar, and served from a large dish. To shred pineapple, pare and cut out
eyes. Pick off pieces with a silver fork, continuing until all the soft part is removed. It can be made to look more attractive, however, by serving in other ways.

1st. Cut a slice from both top and bottom of a large pineapple, then cut off the rind in four pieces, leaving a pyramid. Cut the pyramid in half-inch slices, crosswise, leaving in original shape. Serve with sugar.

2nd. Pare and remove eyes from pineapples. Then cut in half-inch slices crosswise. Remove hard centers, using a small biscuit cutter, thus leaving fruit in rings. Arrange rings, overlapping each other, in a round serving dish, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Leaves from the top of the pineapple make an attractive garnish. One may be slipped through each ring with pleasing effect.

3rd. Pare and remove eyes from pineapple. Then cut crosswise in slices one inch thick. Cut these slices in halves and arrange them on a serving dish,
straight side down, radiating from a bunch of mint.

4th. Clean thoroughly a selected pineapple. Each eye has a distinct outline, about an inch in diameter. With a sharp, pointed knife, cut on this outline toward the center of the fruit, and with a fork detach and remove the cone-shaped pieces. Arrange pieces on individual plates around mounds of sugar. They may be eaten easily with the fingers, as the outside skin remains on.