When using place cards for your dinner guests, try a very considerate approach. If not everyone at your party knows each other, print guest’s name on both sides of standing place card. This way guests across way can become acquainted with everyone at your table and not just to few people around them. Very considerate!

Looking for a vegetable idea: Choose tender, young carrots in full length (peeled, but not sliced). Cook until soft, but far from mushy. Using green tops of scallions, take three beautiful and colorful carrots and tie them together with top of scallion. You can use two or three tops and you have a very pretty vegetable bundle to set on side of main meat or fish entree.

Serving hot rolls? Take your prepared hot roll mix and make a figure- eight, or tie a knot, or even shape a letter. Be creative, a basket of different shapes also adds an added appeal to your table.

Using just a few decorative touches to your meal and Viola! you are a very good host/hostess and people will beg to come to your parties. When you use special touches, your guests will feel “catered” to. Enjoy!

©Arleen M. Kaptur

Return to oven with foil left open. While fish is baking, prepare sauce. Combine sour cream, sugar, salt, pepper, grated rind, and lemon juice. Cook about 3-4 mins. just to heat - do not allow sauce to boil. Remove fish from oven and foil wrap, place on a plate, and pour sauce over. Sprinkle chopped parsley over fish and add lemon slices to head and tail area. Serve with a dinner salad with choice of dressing, baked potato with butter, and small June peas with sauteed onions. For dessert, try strawberry shortcakes topped with whipped heavy cream with a touch of vanilla. A royal meal for royal guests!

Baked Halibut - Ingredients:

2-3 lb. halibut or whitefish

4 tbs. melted butter 3/4 cup grated American cheese 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1-1/2 tbs. Parmesan cheese 2 cups whole milk

2 tbs. lemon juice (squeezed from a fresh lemon) 1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Remove skin and bones from halibut.

Wash fish in salted water and dry completely with paper toweling. Cut into serving-size portions. Place fish filets in well greased flat pan sized to accommodate them in a single-layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil fish approximately 12 mins. about 2” from flame. Prepare a cream sauce using melted butter, blending in flour slowly and completely until sauce is smooth. Slowly add milk. Simmer sauce for 4 mins. stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper to taste broiled fish filets in a well-buttered 2-quart casserole dish and brush with lemon juice. Pour cream sauce evenly over fish. Sprinkle shredded American cheese and Parmesan over top. Bake in a 350 oven for 20-25 mins. Bake until fish is lightly browned and flakes easily with a fork. Place under a broiler for 1 mins. to brown. Serve with carrot/slaw salad, fresh, tender asparagus spears, and raspberry sherbet for dessert.

So grab those fishing poles and head out to lakes, rivers, and streams. Serve fish for dinner and be proud of your “catch of day.”

©Arleen M. Kaptur 2002