Entertaining Made Easy | Page 8

are many and various.

A BACON BAT
A girl who lived in the country and had some city friends visiting her gave them the time of their lives at a bacon bat. She telephoned around to some of the young people and invited them to appear about five o'clock in picnic clothes. The hike wouldn't be long, she announced.
At the specified time a jolly bunch assembled to squabble good-naturedly over the various packages and bundles assigned to them to be carried. Under the hostess's direction they betook themselves via footpath and trail to a stone-walled pasture spicy with sweet fern.
Long toasting switches were readily cut by the boys from the trees in the vicinity and wood was collected for two fires. Over one the coffee was set to boil, and over the other the young folks proceeded to toast bacon. Rolls were provided in which to insert the crisp juicy morsels after toasting, and each person ate his or her own bacon sandwiches broiling hot without further ceremony.
Cucumber pickles and mustard proved popular accompaniments and the coffee was appreciated--drunk from tin cups.
There followed some huckleberry turnovers and homemade cookies, but on top of the bacon and rolls they were almost superfluous.
Instead of bacon, chops, steak, or Frankfurters may be roasted, as well as corn in season, but bacon is the least messy to eat.
Following the supper came stories and songs around the bonfire till late in the evening. The city guests enjoyed it all because to them it was so great a novelty. For the hostess it was a much easier way to introduce her guests to her friends than a more formal affair would have been.
A bacon bat is especially fun in spring or fall, but is also very enjoyable on the beach in summer vacation time.
A marshmallow roast in the evening is first cousin to a bacon bat.

A CHILDREN'S DAISY PARTY
Let the children make the invitations they send out for their own daisy party. On heavy water color paper they may draw and cut out simple outlines of daisies--about ten petals around a center which is then colored yellow with crayons. Each petal may hold one or two words of the invitation, thus: Will--you--come--to--our--daisy--party--on--Saturday--at--three?--Betty and John.
Of course there should be some outdoor games, and a good one to play is "Daisy in the Dell." For this the children form in a circle, joining hands, and one is chosen to be daisy-picker. The daisy-picker runs around the outside of the circle, chanting:
"Daisy in the Dell, Daisy in the Dell, I don't pick you, I don't pick you, I do pick you."
The child whom the daisy-picker touches upon reaching, the last word must try to run entirely around the circle and back to his place before the daisy-picker catches him. If he succeeds, he need not be "it"; but if he is caught, he must be the daisy-picker.
"Are You a Daisy?" is another jolly game. The players stand in a line facing one child, who is chosen to be "it." This child asks each one in turn the question, "Are you a daisy?" Each child answers by naming the flower he chooses to be. Thus one may say, "I am a rose"; another, "I am a pansy." If any child chooses to say, "I am a daisy," he is immediately chased by the questioner, and if caught, he must take the place of the questioner. The game then proceeds as before. One rule is that a child must not repeat the name of a flower that another child has given.
A game that is based on the Mother Goose rhyme, "Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief," etc., is called "Rich Man, Poor Man." One child is chosen to whisper to each of the players some word of the rhyme. The named children then stand in a circle, and another child who is "it" may call for any character in the rhyme that he wishes; the child who has been given that name must respond by saying "Here," and then running away. For instance, the one who is "it" may call for "lawyer," and the child to whom that name has been whispered calls out "Here," and is immediately chased by the leader. If he is caught within a reasonable length of time, he is "it," and the former leader drops out. This should be played until only two are left.
The refreshments carry out the daisy idea, and should be served outdoors, either on the piazza or on the lawn. The centerpiece at the supper-table is a big bunch of daisies, and each child has a place-card on which is painted or drawn a daisy face, the petals forming a cap frill. The sandwiches are bread and butter, and some "good-to-eat" daisies can be made from hard-boiled eggs, by cutting the whites petal-shaped,