A thousand ways to please a husband with Bettina's best recipes
by Louise Bennett Weaver · English · Gutenberg #42868 · 641,962 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: A thousand ways to please a husband with Bettina's best recipes
Author: Louise Bennett Weaver
Helen Cowles LeCron
Illustrator: Elizabeth Colborne
Release date: June 4, 2013 [eBook #42868]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2025
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42868
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Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A THOUSAND WAYS TO PLEASE A HUSBAND WITH BETTINA'S BEST RECIPES ***
A THOUSAND WAYS TO PLEASE A HUSBAND
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
A THOUSAND WAYS TO PLEASE A HUSBAND
WITH BETTINA'S BEST RECIPES
BY LOUISE BENNETT WEAVER AND HELEN COWLES LECRON
[Illustration]
_The Romance of Cookery_ AND HOUSEKEEPING
Decorations by ELIZABETH COLBOURNE
A. L. Burt Company
Publishers New York
Copyright, 1917
by
Britton Publishing Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Made in U. S. A.
[Illustration]
A DEDICATION
_To every other little bride
Who has a "Bob" to please,
And says she's tried and tried and tried
To cook with skill and ease,
And can't!--we offer here as guide
Bettina's Recipes!_
_To her whose "Bob" is prone to wear
A sad and hungry look,
Because the maid he thought so fair
Is--well--she just can't cook!
To her we say: do not despair;
Just try Bettina's Book!_
[Illustration]
_Bettina's Measurements Are All Level_
C = cup
t = teaspoon
T = tablespoon
lb. = pound
pt. = pint
B.P. = baking-powder
[Illustration]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I HOME AT LAST 11
II BETTINA'S FIRST REAL DINNER 14
III BETTINA'S FIRST GUEST 17
IV BETTINA GIVES A LUNCHEON 21
V BOB HELPS TO GET DINNER 25
VI COUSIN MATILDA CALLS 28
VII A NEW-FASHIONED SUNDAY DINNER 33
VIII CELEBRATING THE FOURTH 36
IX UNCLE JOHN AND AUNT LUCY MAKE A VISIT 39
X RUTH INSPECTS BETTINA'S KITCHEN 42
XI BETTINA'S BIRTHDAY GIFT 46
XII BETTINA'S FATHER TRIES HER COOKING 49
XIII BOB HELPS WITH THE DINNER 53
XIV A SUNDAY EVENING TEA 56
XV A MOTOR PICNIC 59
XVI BETTINA HAS A CALLER 62
XVII BOB GETS BREAKFAST ON SUNDAY 65
XVIII BETTINA GIVES A PORCH PARTY 69
XIX BETTINA AND THE EXPENSE BUDGET 73
XX MRS. DIXON AND BETTINA'S EXPERIMENT 77
XXI A RAINY DAY DINNER 81
XXII BUYING A REFRIGERATOR 84
XXIII BETTINA'S SUNDAY DINNER 87
XXIV BETTINA VISITS A TEA-ROOM. 90
XXV BETTINA ENTERTAINS ALICE AND MR. HARRISON 93
XXVI OVER THE TELEPHONE 97
XXVII BETTINA HAS A BAKING DAY 100
XXVIII POLLY AND THE CHILDREN 103
XXIX BETTINA PUTS UP FRUIT 107
XXX A COOL SUMMER DAY 111
XXXI BOB AND BETTINA ALONE 114
XXXII BETTINA ATTENDS A MORNING WEDDING 117
XXXIII AFTER THE "TEA" 121
XXXIV BETTINA GIVES A PORCH BREAKFAST 124
XXXV A PIECE OF NEWS 127
XXXVI BETTINA ENTERTAINS HER FATHER AND MOTHER 130
XXXVII THE BIG SECRET 133
XXXVIII AFTER THE CIRCUS 136
XXXIX MRS. DIXON ASKS QUESTIONS 139
XL A TELEGRAM FROM UNCLE ERIC 143
XLI BETTINA ENTERTAINS STATE FAIR VISITORS 147
XLII UNCLE JOHN AND AUNT LUCY 149
XLIII SUNDAY DINNER AT THE DIXON'S 151
XLIV A RAINY EVENING AT HOME 154
XLV RUTH MAKES AN APPLE PIE 159
XLVI BETTINA MAKES APPLE JELLY 162
XLVII AFTER A PARK PARTY 166
XLVIII BETTINA SPILLS THE INK 169
XLIX BETTINA ATTENDS A PORCH PARTY 171
L A DINNER COOKED IN THE MORNING 173
LI A SUNDAY DINNER 176
LII BOB MAKES PEANUT FUDGE 179
LIII DINNER AT THE DIXON'S 182
LIV A GOOD-BYE LUNCHEON FOR BERNADETTE 185
LV BETTINA PLANS AN ANNOUNCEMENT LUNCHEON 188
LVI RUTH AND BETTINA MAKE PREPARATIONS 191
LVII A RAINBOW ANNOUNCEMENT LUNCHEON 193
LVIII AN EARLY CALLER 197
LIX RUTH COMES TO LUNCHEON 200
LX A KITCHEN SHOWER FOR ALICE 205
LXI A RAINY NIGHT MEAL 209
LXII ALICE GIVES A LUNCHEON 212
LXIII MOTORING WITH THE DIXONS 215
LXIV RUTH MAKES BAKING POWDER BISCUITS 218
LXV PLANS FOR THE WEDDING 220
LXVI A GUEST TO A DINNER OF LEFT-OVERS 222
LXVII A HANDKERCHIEF SHOWER 224
LXVIII JUST THE TWO OF THEM 227
LXIX A LUNCHEON IN THE COUNTRY 229
LXX A "PAIR SHOWER" FOR ALICE 232
LXXI BOB MAKES POPCORN BALLS 235
LXXII AND WHERE WAS THE DINNER 237
LXXIII ALICE TELLS HER TROUBLES 240
LXXIV THE DIXONS COME TO DINNER 242
LXXV THE WEDDING INVITATIONS 245
LXXVI HALLOWE'EN PREPARATIONS 248
LXXVII HALLOWE'EN REVELS 250
LXXVIII A FORETASTE OF WINTER 255
LXXIX SURPRISING ALICE AND HARRY 258
LXXX A DINNER FOR THE BRIDAL PARTY 261
LXXXI REHEARSING THE CEREMONY 264
LXXXII AFTER THE WEDDING 267
LXXXIII A "HAPPEN-IN" LUNCHEON 270
LXXXIV UNCLE JOHN A GUEST AT DINNER 273
LXXXV DURING THE TEACHERS' CONVENTION 275
LXXXVI A LUNCHEON FOR THE TEACHERS 278
LXXXVII RUTH COMES TO LUNCHEON 281
LXXXVIII THE HICKORY LOG 284
LXXXIX SOME CHRISTMAS PLANS 287
XC AFTER THE FOOTBALL GAME 289
XCI A THANKSGIVING DINNER IN THE COUNTRY 292
XCII PLANNING THE CHRISTMAS CARDS 295
XCIII HARRY AND ALICE RETURN 299
XCIV THE FIRELIGHT SOCIAL 302
XCV ALICE'S TROUBLES 305
XCVI SOME OF BETTINA'S CHRISTMAS PLANS 308
XCVII MORE OF BETTINA'S CHRISTMAS SHOPPING 311
XCVIII CHRISTMAS GIFTS 313
XCIX A CHRISTMAS SHOWER 316
C BETTINA GIVES A DINNER 320
CI BOB'S CHRISTMAS GIFT TO BETTINA 322
CII A CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST 325
CIII A SUPPER FOR TWO 327
CIV ALICE COMES TO LUNCHEON 331
CV RUTH STAYS TO DINNER 334
CVI HOW BETTINA MADE CANDY 337
CVII RUTH'S PLANS 339
CVIII A LUNCHEON FOR THREE 342
CIX THE DIXONS COME TO DINNER 345
CX A STEAMED PUDDING 349
CXI ON VALENTINE'S DAY 352
CXII RUTH GIVES A DINNER FOR FOUR 354
CXIII ALICE PRACTICES ECONOMY 357
CXIV A COMPANY DINNER FOR BOB 360
CXV SUPPER AFTER THE THEATRE 363
CXVI WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY PLANS 366
CXVII AN AFTERNOON WITH BETTINA 368
CXVIII A WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY TEA 370
CXIX ANOTHER OVEN DINNER 373
CXX BOB MAKES POP-OVERS 376
CXXI IN MARCH 379
CXXII A FIRELESS COOKER FOR AUNT LUCY 382
CXXIII THE DIXONS DROP IN FOR DESSERT 384
CXXIV RUTH PASSES BY 387
CXXV BETTINA ENTERTAINS A SMALL NEIGHBOR 389
CXXVI A SUNDAY NIGHT TEA 392
CXXVII A SHAMROCK LUNCHEON 395
CXXVIII AT DINNER 397
CXXIX AN ANNIVERSARY DINNER 399
CXXX RUTH COMES TO DINNER 402
CXXXI MILDRED'S SPRING VACATION 407
CXXXII HELPING BETTINA 410
CXXXIII HELPING WITH A COMPANY DINNER 413
CXXXIV MILDRED'S DAY 415
CXXXV POLLY COMES FOR MILDRED 418
CXXXVI MILDRED'S PLANS 421
CXXXVII A LUNCHEON FOR POLLY 424
CXXXVIII FURS TO PUT AWAY 427
CXXXIX PLANNING A CHILDREN'S PARTY 429
CXL THE PARTY CIRCUS 432
CXLI PLANNING A LUNCHEON 435
CXLII THE NEW CAR 437
CXLIII IN HOUSECLEANING TIME 441
CXLIV MRS. DIXON HAPPENS IN 443
CXLV ENGAGEMENT PRESENTS 446
CXLVI WITH HOUSECLEANING OVER 449
CXLVII SPRING MARKETING 451
CXLVIII PLANS FOR THE WEDDING 453
CXLIX ENTERTAINING THE WEDDING GUESTS 455
CL THE BRIDESMAIDS' DINNER 457
CLI A MORNING WEDDING IN JUNE 459
CLII THE FIRST YEAR ENDS 461
[Illustration]
_JUNE._
_No, you cannot live on kisses,
Though the honeymoon is sweet,
Harken, brides, a true word this is,--
Even lovers have to eat._
CHAPTER I
HOME AT LAST
[Illustration]
"HOME at last!" sighed Bettina happily as the hot and dusty travelers
left the train.
"Why that contented sigh?" asked Bob. "Because our wedding trip is over?
Well, anyhow, Bettina, it's after five. Shall we have dinner at the
hotel?"
"Hotel? Why, Bob! with our house and our dishes and our silver just
waiting for us? I'm ashamed of you! We'll take the first car for home--a
street-car, not a taxi! Our extravagant days are over, and the time has
come to show you that Bettina knows how to keep house. You think that
you love me now, Bobby, but just wait till you sit down to a real
strawberry shortcake made by a real cook in a real home!"
Half an hour later Bob was unlocking the door of the new brown bungalow.
"Isn't it a dear?" cried Bettina proudly. "When we've had time to give
it grass and shrubs and flowers and a vegetable garden, no place in town
will equal it! And as for porch furniture, how I'd like to get at
Mother's attic and transform some of her discarded things!"
"Just now I'd rather get at some of Mother's cooking!" grinned Bob.
"Oh, dear, I forgot! I'll have supper ready in ten minutes. Do you
remember my emergency shelf? Why, Bob--Bob, they must have known we were
coming! Here's ice--and milk--and cream--and butter--and bread--and
rolls, and even a grape fruit! They knew, and didn't meet the train
because they thought we would prefer to have our first meal alone!
Wasn't that dear of them? And this will save you a trip to the corner
grocery!"
Bettina fastened a trim percale bungalow apron over her traveling suit,
and swiftly and surely assembled the little meal.
"I like that apron," said Bob. "It reminds me of the rainy day when we
fixed the emergency shelf. That was fun."
"Yes, and work too," said Bettina, "but I'm glad we did it. Do you
remember how much I saved by getting things in dozen and half dozen
lots? And Mother showed me how much better it was to buy the larger
sizes in bottled things, because in buying the smaller bottles you spend
most of your money for the glass. Now that you have to pay my bills,
Bob, you'll be glad that I know those things!"
"I think you know a great deal," said Bob admiringly. "Lots of girls can
cook, but mighty few know how to be economical at the same time! It's
great to be your----"
"Dinner is served," Bettina interrupted. "It's a 'pick-up meal,' but I'm
hungry, aren't you? And after this, sir, no more canned things!"
And Bob sat down to:
Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips
Canned Peas with Butter Sauce
Rolls Butter
Strawberry Preserves
Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips= (Two portions)
1 T-butter
1 T-flour
1/4 t-salt
1/2 slice pimento
1 C-milk
3 slices of bread
1/2 C-tuna
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pimento. Mix well. Gradually
pour in the milk. Allow the mixture to boil one minute. Stir constantly.
Add the fish, cook one minute and pour over toasted strips of bread.
=Hot Chocolate= (Three cups)
1 square of chocolate
3 T-sugar
2/3 C-water
2 C-milk
1/4 t-vanilla
3 marshmallows
Cook chocolate, sugar and water until a thin custard is formed. Add milk
gradually and bring to a boil. Whip with an egg beater, as this breaks
up the albumin found in chocolate, and prevents the coating from forming
over the top. Add vanilla and marshmallows. Allow to stand a moment and
pour into the cups.
=Strawberry Preserves= (Six one-half pt. glasses)
4 lbs. berries
3 lbs. sugar
3 C-water
Pick over, wash and hull the berries. Make a syrup by boiling the sugar
and water fifteen minutes. Fill sterilized jars with the berries. Cover
with syrup and let stand fifteen minutes to settle. Add more berries.
Adjust rubbers and covers. Place on a folded cloth in a kettle of cold
water. Heat water to boiling point and cook slowly one hour. Screw on
covers securely.
=On Bettina's Emergency Shelf=
6 cans pimentos (small size)
6 cans tuna (small size)
6 cans salmon (small size)
6 jars dried beef
12 cans corn
12 cans peas
6 cans string beans
6 cans lima beans
6 cans devilled ham (small size)
6 cans tomatoes
6 pt. jars pickles
6 pt. jars olives
6 small cans condensed milk
6 boxes sweet wafers
1 pound box salted codfish
3 pkg. marshmallows
3 cans mushrooms
2 pkg. macaroni
CHAPTER II
BETTINA'S FIRST REAL DINNER
"SAY, isn't it great to be alive!" exclaimed Bob, as he looked across
the rose-decked table at the flushed but happy Bettina. "And a beefsteak
dinner, too!"
"Steak is expensive, dear, and you'll not get it often, but as this is
our first real dinner in our own home, I had to celebrate. I bought
enough for two meals, because buying steak for one meal for two people
is beyond any modest purse! So you'll meet that steak again tomorrow,
but I don't believe that you'll bow in recognition!"
"So you marketed today, did you?"
"Indeed I did! I bought a big basket, and went at it like a seasoned
housekeeper. I had all the staples to get, you know, and lots of other
things. After dinner I'll show you the labelled glass jars on my
shelves; it was such fun putting things away! June is a wonderful month
for housekeepers. I've planned the meals for days ahead, because I know
that's best. Then I'll go to the market several times a week, and if I
plan properly I won't have to order by telephone. It seems so
extravagant to buy in that way unless you know exactly what you are
getting. I like to plan for left-overs, too. For instance, the peas in
this salad were left from yesterday's dinner, and the pimento is from
that can I opened. Then, too, I cooked tomorrow's potatoes with these to
save gas and bother. You'll have them served in a different way, of
course. And---- Oh, yes, Bob," Bettina chattered on, "I saw Ruth down
town, and have asked all five of my bridesmaids to luncheon day after
tomorrow. Won't that be fun? But I promise you that the neglected groom
shall have every one of the good things when he comes home at night!"
"It makes me feel happy, I can tell you, to have a home like this. It's
pleasant to be by ourselves, but at the same time I can't help wishing
that some of the bachelors I know could see it all and taste your
cooking!"
"Well, Bob, I want you to feel free to have a guest at any time. If my
dinners are good enough for you, I'm sure they're good enough for any
guest whom you may bring. And it isn't very hard to make a meal for
three out of a meal for two. Now, Bobby, if you're ready, will you
please get the dessert?"
"What? Strawberry shortcake? Well, this is living! I tell you what,
Bettina, I call this a regular man-size meal!"
It consisted of:
Pan-Broiled Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Baking-Powder Biscuits Butter
Rhubarb Sauce Pea and Celery Salad
Strawberry Shortcake Cream
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Pan-Broiled Steak= (Two portions)
1 lb. steak
1 T-butter
1 t-salt
1/8 t-pepper
2 T-hot water
1 t-parsley chopped
Wipe the meat carefully with a wet cloth. Remove superfluous fat and any
gristle. Cut the edges to prevent them from curling up. When the
broiling oven is very hot, place the meat, without any fat, upon a hot
flat pan, directly under the blaze. Brown both sides very quickly. Turn
often. Reduce heat and continue cooking about seven minutes, or longer
if desired. Place on a warm platter; season with salt, pepper and bits
of butter. Set in the oven a moment to melt the butter. If salt is added
while cooking, the juices will be drawn out. A gravy may be made by
adding hot water, butter, salt, pepper and parsley to the pan. Pour the
gravy over the steak.
=New Potatoes in Cream= (Two portions)
4 new potatoes
1 qt. water
1 t-salt
Scrape four medium sized new potatoes. Cook in boiling water (salted)
until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain off the water, and shake
the kettle over the fire gently, to allow the steam to escape and make
the potatoes mealy. Make the following white sauce and pour over the
potatoes.
=White Sauce for New Potatoes= (Two portions)
2 T-butter
2 T-flour
1 C-milk
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Thoroughly mix, slowly
add milk, stirring constantly. Allow sauce to cook two minutes.
=Strawberry Shortcake= (Two portions)
2 T-lard
1 T-butter
2 C-sifted flour
3/4 C-milk
1/3 t-salt
4 t-baking powder
1 qt. strawberries
2/3 C-sugar
Cut the fat into the flour, salt and baking powder until the consistency
of cornmeal. Gradually add the milk, using a knife to mix. Do not handle
any more than absolutely necessary. Toss the dough upon a floured board
or a piece of clean brown paper. Pat into the desired shape, and place
in a pan. Bake in a hot oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Split, spread with
butter, and place strawberries, crushed and sweetened, between and on
top. Serve with cream.
CHAPTER III
BETTINA'S FIRST GUEST
"HELLO! Yes, this is Bettina! Why, Bob, of course! Is he a real
woman-hater? No, I've never met any, but I'll just invite Alice, too,
and tomorrow you won't be calling him that. Six-thirty? Yes, I'll be
ready for you both; I'm so glad you asked him. He'll be our first guest!
Good-bye!"
Bettina left the telephone with more misgivings than her tone had
indicated. She couldn't disappoint Bob, and she liked unexpected
company, but the dinner which she had planned was prepared largely from
the recipes filed as "left-overs" in her box of indexed cards.
"Well, Bob will like it, anyhow," she declared confidently, "and if
Alice can come, we'll have enough scintillating table-talk to make up
for disappointments."
Alice accepted with delight, promising to wear "a dream of a gown that
just came home," and confessing to a sentimental feeling at the thought
of dining with such a new bride and groom.
"Let's see," said Bettina in her spick and span little kitchen, "there
is meat enough, but I must hard-boil some eggs to help out these
potatoes. 'Potatoes Anna' will be delicious. Goodness, what would my
home economics teacher have said if she had heard me say 'hard-boil'?
They mustn't really be boiled at all, just 'hard-cooked' in water kept
at the boiling point. There will be enough baked green peppers for four,
and enough of the pudding, and if I add some very good coffee, I don't
believe that Bob's Mr. Harrison will feel that women are such nuisances
after all! It isn't an elaborate meal, but it's wholesome, and at any
rate, our gas bill will be a little smaller because everything goes into
the oven."
When Alice arrived, Bettina was putting the finishing touches on her
table. "Alice, you look stunning!"
"And you look lovely, which is better! And the table is charming! Those
red clover blossoms in that brown basket make a perfect center-piece!
How did you think of it?"
"Mother Necessity reminded me, my dear! My next door neighbor has roses,
but I covet some for my luncheon tomorrow, and did not like to ask for
any today. So I had to use these red clover blooms from our own back
yard. They are simple, like the dinner."
"Don't you envy me, Harrison?" asked Bob at the table. "This is my third
day of real home cooking! You were unexpected company, too!"
The dinner consisted of:
Boubons with Tomato Sauce
Potatoes Anna Baked Green Peppers Stuffed
Bread Butter
Cottage Pudding Lemon Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Boubons= (Four portions)
1 C-cooked meat ground fine (one or more
kinds may be used)
2 T-fresh bread crumbs
1/4 t-pepper
1/2 C-milk
1 T-green pepper or pimento chopped fine
1/4 t-celery salt
1 egg
1/2 t-salt
1 t-butter (melted)
Beat the egg, add milk, seasonings, melted butter, breadcrumbs and meat.
Mix thoroughly. Fill buttered cups three-fourths full of mixture. Place
in a pan of boiling water, and bake in a moderate oven fifteen minutes.
The mixture is done as soon as it resists pressure in the center. Allow
them to remain in the pans a few minutes, then remove carefully upon a
serving plate. They may be made in a large mould or individual ones.
Serve with the following sauce.
=Tomato Sauce= (Four portions)
1 C-tomatoes
1 slice onion
4 bay leaves
4 cloves
1/2 t-sugar
1/2 C-water
2 T-butter
2 T-flour
1/2 t-salt
Simmer the tomatoes, onion, bay leaves, cloves, sugar and water for
fifteen minutes, rub through the strainer. Melt butter, add flour and
salt, add strained tomato juice and pulp. Cook until the desired
consistency.
=Potatoes Anna= (Four portions)
1-1/2 C-cooked diced potatoes
2 hard-cooked eggs
1/2 t-celery salt
1/4 t-onion salt
1 C-thin white sauce
Place alternate layers of diced cooked potatoes and sliced hard-cooked
eggs in a baking dish. Season. Pour a thin white sauce over all of this.
Place in a moderate oven fifteen minutes.
=Stuffed Green Peppers= (Four portions)
4 green peppers
4 C-boiling water
Remove the stems of the peppers and take out all the contents. Remove
small slices from the blossom end so they will stand. Cover peppers with
boiling water, allow to stand five minutes and drain. Fill with any
desired mixture. Bake in a moderate oven twenty-five minutes, basting
frequently with hot water.
=Filling for Peppers= (Four portions)
1 C-fresh bread crumbs
1 t-chopped onion or 1/4 T-onion salt
1/3 C-chopped ham, or 1 T-salt pork
1/2 t-salt
1 T-melted butter
1/8 t-paprika
2 T-water
Mix thoroughly and fill the pepper cases.
=Baked Cottage Pudding= (Four portions)
1 C-flour
1-2/3 t-baking powder
1/4 t-salt
1 well-beaten egg
1/3 C-sugar
2 T-melted butter
1/2 C-milk
1/4 t-vanilla or lemon extract
Mix dry ingredients, add egg and milk. Beat well and add melted butter
and extract. Bake twenty-five minutes in a well buttered mould. Serve
hot with the following sauce:
=Lemon Sauce= (Four portions)
1/2 C-sugar
1-1/2 T-flour
1 C-hot water
1 t-butter
1 t-lemon extract or 1/2 t-lemon juice
1/2 t-salt
Mix sugar, flour and salt. Slowly add the hot water. Cook until thick,
stirring constantly. Add flavoring and butter.
CHAPTER IV
BETTINA GIVES A LUNCHEON
"O YOU darling Bettina! Did you do it all yourself?" Mary exclaimed
impulsively, as the girls admired the dainty first course which their
hostess set before them. "Everything is pink and white, like the
wedding!"
"Yes," said Bettina, "and those maline bows on the basket of roses
actually attended my wedding. And after this is over, you may see that
maline again. I expect to press it out and put it away for other pink
luncheons in other Junes! Today, since my guests were to be just my
bridesmaids, I thought that a pink luncheon would be the most
appropriate kind."
"Isn't it fine to be in Bettina's own house? I can't realize it!" said
Ellen. "And the idea of daring to cook a whole luncheon and serve it in
courses all by herself! Why, Bettina, how did you know what to have?"
"Well," said Bettina, "I went to the market and saw all the inexpensive
things that one can buy in June! (They had to be inexpensive! Why, if I
were to tell you just what this luncheon cost, you'd laugh. But I want
you to like it all before I give that secret away.) And then in planning
my menu, I thought of pinky things that went together. That was all, you
see."
"But didn't it take hours and hours to prepare everything?"
"Why, no. I thought it all out first, and wrote it down, and did most of
it yesterday. I've found that five minutes of planning is worth five
hours of unplanned work. I haven't hurried, and as Bob will have this
same meal as his dinner tonight, I didn't have to think of him except to
plan for more. You see, I estimated each portion as carefully as I
could, for it isn't necessary to have a lot of left-over things. Tonight
I'll wear this same pink gown at dinner so that Bob will get every bit
that he can of my first luncheon except the silly girls who flattered
the cook."
"Bettina, there are so many things I'd like to ask you!" said Ruth, who
was a little conscious of the shining ring on her left hand. "Tell me,
for instance, how you shaped these cunning timbales. With your hands?"
"With a conical ice-cream mould. It is so easy that way."
"And this salad! Fred is so fond of salad, but I don't know a thing
about making it."
"Well, I washed the lettuce thoroughly, and when it was very wet I put
it on the ice in a cloth. I poured boiling water over these tomatoes to
make the skins peel off easily. And, oh, yes, these cucumbers are crisp
because I kept the slices in ice water for awhile before I served them.
Good salad is always very cold; the ingredients ought to be chilled
before they are mixed."
"These dear little cakes, Bettina! How could you make them in such
cunning shapes?"
"With a fancy cutter. And I dipped it in warm water each time before I
used it, so that it would cut evenly. I'd love to show you girls all
that I know about cooking. Do learn it now while you're at home; it will
save much labor and even tears! Why, Bob said----"
"I knew that was coming!" laughed Alice. "Girls, in self-defense, let's
keep the conversation strictly on Betty's menu, and away from Betty's
husband!"
And so they discussed:
Strawberries au Naturel
Kornlet Soup Whipped Cream
Croutons
Salmon Timbales with Egg Sauce
Buttered Beets Potato Croquettes
Pinwheel Biscuit Butter Balls
Vegetable Salad Salad Dressing
Wafers
Fancy Cakes Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Strawberries au Naturel= (Ten portions)
2 quarts strawberries
1 C-powdered sugar
Pick over selected berries, place in a colander and wash, draining
carefully. Press powdered sugar into cordial glasses to shape into a
small mould. Remove from glasses onto centers of paper doilies placed on
fruit plates. Attractively arrange ten berries around each mound.
Berries should be kept cool and not hulled. Natural leaves may be used
very effectively on the doily.
=Croutons for the Soup= (Ten portions)
4 slices bread
2 T-butter (melted)
1/2 t-salt
Cut stale bread in one-third inch cubes. Brown in the oven. Add melted
butter and salt. Mix and reheat the croutons.
=Salmon Timbales= (Eight portions)
1 C-salmon flaked
1/4 C-bread crumbs
1 slightly beaten egg
2/3 C-milk
1 T-lemon juice
1/8 t-paprika
1/4 t-salt
Mix ingredients in order named. Fill small buttered moulds or cups
one-half full. Set in a pan of hot water, and bake twenty minutes in a
moderate oven. Serve with following sauce:
=Egg Sauce= (Eight portions)
3 T-butter
3 T-flour
1-1/2 C-milk
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-pepper
1 egg yolk
Melt the butter, stir flour in well, and slowly add the milk. Let it
boil about two minutes, stirring constantly. Season, add yolk of egg,
and mix well. (The oil from the salmon may be substituted for melted
butter as far as it will go.)
=White Cakes= (Sixteen cakes)
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
2/3 C-milk
2 C-sifted flour
3 t-baking powder
1/2 t-lemon extract
1/2 t-vanilla
3 egg whites
Cream butter, add sugar, and continue creaming. Alternately add the dry
ingredients mixed and sifted. Add the milk. Beat well, add flavoring.
Fold in the stiffly beaten whites. Spread evenly, two-thirds of an inch
thick, on waxed paper, placed in a pan. Bake twenty minutes in moderate
oven. Remove from oven, allow cake to remain in pan five minutes.
Carefully remove and cool. Cut with fancy cutters.
=White Mountain Cream Icing for Cakes=
1 C-granulated sugar
1/8 t-cream tartar
1/4 C-water
1 egg white
1/2 t-vanilla
Boil the sugar, water and cream of tartar together without stirring.
Remove from fire as soon as the syrup hairs when dropped from a spoon.
Pour very slowly onto the stiffly beaten egg white. Beat vigorously with
sweeping strokes until cool. If icing gets too hard to spread, add a
little warm water and keep beating. Add extract and spread on cakes.
Decorate with tiny pink candies.
CHAPTER V
BOB HELPS TO GET DINNER
"GUESS who!" said a voice behind Bettina, as two hands blinded her eyes.
"Why, Bob, dear! Good for you! How did you get home so early?"
"I caught a ride with Dixon in his new car. And I thought you might need
me to help get dinner; it's nice to be needed! But here I've been
picturing you toiling over a hot stove, and, instead, I find you on the
porch with a magazine, as cool as a cucumber!"
"The day of toiling over a hot stove in summer is over. At least for
anyone with sense! But I'm glad you did come home early, and you _can_
help with dinner. Will you make the French dressing for the salad? See,
I'll measure it out, and you can stir it this way with a fork until it's
well mixed and a little thick."
"I know a much better way than that. Just watch your Uncle Bob; see?
I'll put it in this little Mason jar and shake it. It's a lot easier
and--there you are! We'll use what we need tonight, put the jar away in
the ice-box, and the next time we can give it another good shaking
before we use it."
"Why, Bob, what an ingenious boy you are! I never would have thought of
that!"
"You married a man with brains, Betty dear! What is there besides the
salad?"
"Halibut steak. It's Friday, you know, and there is such good
inexpensive fish on the market. A pound is plenty for us. The potatoes
are ready for the white sauce, the beans are in the fireless cooker, and
for dessert there is fresh pineapple sliced. The pineapple is all ready.
Will you get it, dear? In the ice-box in a covered jar."
"Why didn't you slice it into the serving dish?"
"Because it had to be covered tight. Pineapple has a penetrating odor,
and milk and butter absorb it in no time."
"What else shall I do, Madam Bettina?"
"Well, you may fix the lemon for the fish. No, not sliced; a slice is
too hard to handle. Just cut it in halves and then once the other way,
in quarters; see? You may also cut up a little of that parsley for the
creamed new potatoes. That reminds me that I am going to have parsley
growing in a kitchen window box some day. Now you can take the beans out
of the cooker, and I'll put butter sauce on them. No, it isn't really a
sauce,--just melted butter with salt and pepper. There, Bobby dear!
Dinner is served, and you helped! How do you like the coreopsis on the
table?"
"You always manage to have flowers of some kind, don't you, Betty? I'm
growing so accustomed to that little habit of yours that I suppose I
wouldn't have any appetite if I had to eat on an ordinary undecorated
table!"
"Don't you make fun of me, old fellow! You'd have an appetite no matter
when, how or what you had to eat! But things are good tonight, aren't
they?"
Bob had helped to prepare:
Halibut Steak New Potatoes in Cream
String Beans Butter Sauce
Bread Butter
Tomato, Cucumber and Pimento Salad French Dressing
Sliced Fresh Pineapple
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Halibut Steak= (Two portions)
2/3 lb. Halibut Steak
3 T-flour
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
Wash one pound of Halibut steak and wipe dry. Cut in two pieces. Roll in
flour, and cook ten minutes in a frying pan in hot fat. Brown on one
side, and then on the other. Season with salt and paprika. Serve very
hot.
=String Beans with Butter Sauce= (Two portions)
1-1/2 C-string beans
2 C-water
1 T-butter
1 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
Remove ends and strings from green beans. Add water and cook over a
moderate fire for twenty-five minutes. Drain off the water, add butter,
salt and paprika. Reheat and serve.
=Tomato, Cucumber and Pimento Salad= (Two portions)
1 tomato sliced
1/2 C-sliced cucumbers
1 T-pimento cut fine
1 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
2 pieces lettuce
Arrange lettuce on serving dishes. Place portions of tomato, cucumber
and pimento on the lettuce. Sprinkle with salt and paprika. Serve with
French dressing.
=French Dressing= (Two portions)
4 T-olive oil
2 T-vinegar
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
Mix ingredients, which have been thoroughly chilled, and beat until the
mixture thickens. Pour over the vegetables.
=Pineapple Sliced= (Two portions)
1 pineapple
1/2 C-sugar
Remove the skin and eyes from the pineapple. Cut crosswise in half-inch
slices, and the slices in cubes, at the same time discarding the core.
Sprinkle with sugar and stand in a cold place for an hour before
serving.
CHAPTER VI
COUSIN MATILDA CALLS
"HELLO, is this you, Bettina? This is Mother! I'll have to speak in a
low voice. Who do you think is here? No,--Cousin Matilda! Just between
trains, but she says she must see how you are 'situated'! Clementine has
such a wonderful establishment now, you know! No, of course not, but I
want her to see how happy you are. She seems to have the idea that an
'establishment' is necessary! Just to see the house, you know! I know
the porch isn't ready, but don't worry! About three, then. Good-by!"
That afternoon Bettina looked anxiously through the living room window
across the bare little front yard. If only critical Cousin Matilda had
waited a few months before coming! But then, the only thing to do was to
be as cheerful about it as possible----
"So this is little Bettina!" said a majestic voice at the door. "And how
is love in a cottage? How charmingly simple everything is!"
"They planned it all just as they wanted it," explained Bettina's mother
proudly. "On a small scale, of course, but perhaps some day----"
"But I couldn't ever be happier than I am right now, Cousin Matilda.
What do you think of our big living room? Browns and tans seemed best
and safest in a little house like this, and I knew I shouldn't tire of
them as of any other color! I do so dislike going into a bungalow with
one little room in blue, another in pink, and so on. The walls are all
alike, even in the bedrooms. And the curtains are just simple cotton
voiles, ecru in the living and dining rooms, and white in the bedrooms.
No side curtains to catch the dust and keep out the air. But I beg your
pardon for seeming too complacent; I love it all so that I just can't
help boasting."
"What is this, my dear? A wedding gift?"
"Yes, isn't it lovely? It is a sampler in cross-stitch that Bob's
great-great-grandmother made! His Aunt Margaret had it put under the
glass cover of this tea cart, and gave it to us for a wedding present.
See, the cart is brown willow, and I think it looks well with our
furniture, don't you? This is to be a living porch, but we haven't
furnished it yet except for this green matting rug. And Bob brought that
hanging basket home from the florist's the other day. . . . Oh, yes,
this is my Japanese garden! Bob laughs at me, I have so much fun
watching it."
"What a lovely table decoration those red cherries make in your dining
room, my dear! Like a picture, in that piece of dull green pottery!"
"Yes, Bob says I decorate the table differently for every meal! We use
this breakfast alcove for breakfast, Sunday evening tea, or any informal
meal when we are alone. You see how convenient it is! I do want to put a
round serving table with leaves on our living porch. Then we can eat
there on warm evenings in summer."
"Bettina is very accomplished in economy," said her mother. "You must
let her tell you some of her methods."
"Clementine would be interested, I'm sure," said Cousin Matilda in her
languid way. "Is this your guest room?"
"Yes, and Bob and I are proud of that. We white enameled the furniture
ourselves! It is some that we found in a second-hand store, and it was
certainly a bargain, though it didn't look it at the time. I sewed the
rags together for these blue and white rugs. Bob made that little open
desk out of a small table that we found somewhere. Now that it is white,
too, I think it is cunning. And, Cousin Matilda, I give you three
guesses as to the place in which I keep my sewing machine!"
"Why, I haven't seen it yet. In the kitchen?"
"Goodness, no! Well, I'll tell you! This looks like a dressing table,
but is merely a shelf with a mirror above it. The shelf has a cretonne
cover and 'petticoat' that reaches the floor. And underneath it--behold
the sewing machine! Bob made the shelf high enough and wide enough to
let the sewing machine slip under it! But, Cousin Matilda, you must be
tired of Bettina's economies! Please sit down with mother in the living
room and I will get the 'party.'"
And Bettina wheeled her tea cart into the kitchen, returning with
luncheon napkins, plates, glasses, a pitcher of iced fruit juice, a
plate of little chocolate cakes, and several sprays of wild roses.
"What delicious little cakes, Bettina! At least you can't be called
economical when you serve such rich and dainty food as this!"
"I must plead guilty still, Cousin Matilda. I made these little cakes
partly from dry bread crumbs. The fruit juice is mostly from the
pineapple which Bob had for dessert last night. I cooked the core with
about two cups of water and added it to the lemonade."
"Bettina, Bettina! How did you learn these things? Robert is certainly a
lucky man, and I'm sure that some day he will be a wealthy one! You must
give me the recipes you used!"
And Bettina wrote them down as follows:
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Little Chocolate Cakes= (Twelve cakes)
2 eggs
1/4 C-butter
1/2 C-sugar
1 C-dry bread crumbs
3 T-flour
1 t-vanilla
3 squares chocolate
Cream the butter, add sugar, and cream the mixture. Add the beaten eggs
and stir well. Add melted chocolate, bread crumbs, flour and flavoring.
Spread the mixture very thinly on a buttered pan, and bake twenty
minutes in a slow oven. Shape with a tiny biscuit cutter, and put
together in pairs with mountain cream icing between and on top. (Icing
recipe already given.)
=Fruit Juice= (Eight glasses)
1 C-sugar
2 C-water
1-1/2 C-lemon juice
Boil sugar and water ten minutes without stirring, add lemon juice, and
any other fruit juices. Cool and bottle. Keep on ice and dilute with ice
water when desired for use. Serve mint leaves with the fruit juice.
[Illustration]
_JULY._
_The market is full of delights in July:
Fresh vegetables, berries, red cherries for pie!
Good housewives and telephones seldom agree,
So market yourself! You can buy as you see!_
CHAPTER VII
A NEW-FASHIONED SUNDAY DINNER
[Illustration]
"YOU will go to church with us this morning, Bettina?" asked Bob's
cousin Henry, known also as the Rev. Henry Clinkersmith, as he came into
Bettina's immaculate kitchen one Sunday.
"Yes, indeed, I will go!" Bettina answered him. "Is it nearly ten
o'clock? Oh, yes, nine forty-five. I'll go at once and get ready."
Cousin Henry had arrived late Saturday evening. He was filling the
pulpit of a friend that Sunday morning.
Bettina finished arranging the low bowl of pansies which was to be her
table decoration. "For the dinner table," she explained to Cousin Henry.
"And Bob," she said as they walked to church (Cousin Henry was ahead
with an old friend), "I do believe he was worried about dinner. There
wasn't a trace of any preparation to be seen! You know I made the cake
and the salad dressing yesterday, and the lettuce was on the ice. The
sherbet was on the porch (I bought it, you know), and the lamb and
potatoes were in the cooker."
"Well, let him worry! How long will it take to get it ready after we get
home?"
"About fifteen minutes. The table is set, but I'll have to warm the
plates and take things up. Then there's the gravy to make, of course."
"All I can say is this," said Cousin Henry at dinner, as he passed his
plate for a second helping, "since you've explained the mysteries of the
fireless cooker, I realize how it would have helped those cold Sunday
dinners of the past generation. The women could have obeyed the fourth
commandment and given their families a good Sunday dinner, too!"
That day they had:
Leg of Lamb with Potatoes Lamb Gravy
Head Lettuce Thousand Island Dressing
Mint Sauce
Bread Butter
Pineapple Sherbet Bettina's Loaf Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Roast Leg of Lamb with Potatoes= (Ten portions)
A 4-lb. leg of lamb
6 large potatoes
1/4 t-paprika
1 T-salt
2 T-lard
Wash the lamb with a damp cloth. Wipe dry and sprinkle with two
teaspoons of salt. Place the lard in a frying-pan. When hot, add the
lamb, and brown well on all sides. Place the meat in the fireless
utensil. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and paprika. Arrange these
about the leg of lamb. Place the disks, heated for baking, over and
under the baking pan. Cook three hours in the fireless. Use the
drippings for gravy.
=Lamb Gravy= (Four portions)
4 T-drippings
2/3 C-water
2 T-flour
1/2 t-salt
Place half of the drippings in a sauce-pan. Add the flour, and allow it
to brown. Add slowly the water, salt and the rest of the drippings (two
tablespoonsful). Boil one minute.
=Mint Sauce= (Four portions)
1/4 C-mint leaves
1/2 C-boiling water
2 T-sugar
4 T-vinegar
1/8 t-paprika
1/4 t-salt
Chop the mint leaves very fine. Add the boiling water and sugar. Cover
closely and let stand one-half hour. Add the vinegar, pepper and salt.
=Loaf Cake (Bettina's Nut Special)= (Twelve pieces)
1/3 C-butter
1 C-"C" sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 C-flour
1/2 t-cinnamon
3 t-baking powder
1/4 C-nut-meats, cut fine
1/4 t-salt
2/3 C-milk
1 t-vanilla
1/2 t-lemon extract
Cream the butter, add the sugar and the egg. Mix well. Add the flour,
baking powder, cinnamon, nut-meats, salt, milk, vanilla and lemon
extract. Beat two minutes. Pour into a loaf-cake pan prepared with waxed
paper. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven.
CHAPTER VIII
CELEBRATING THE FOURTH
"NOW, boys, run and play while Alice and I set the picnic table!" said
Bettina to Bob and Mr. Harrison. "See if the fish are biting! Cultivate
your patience as well as your appetites and we'll surprise you soon!"
"Bettina, let me help you unpack. Everything looks so dainty and
interesting!" said Alice, as Bob and Mr. Harrison strolled off toward
the river. "You ought to have allowed me to bring something, although
I'll admit that I do enjoy being surprised. You were a dear to bring me
with you!"
"I?" said Bettina. "Of course I'm glad to have you here--no one is
better fun--but I wish you had heard something that Bob told me. He and
Harry Harrison were planning to go fishing today, all by themselves,
until Harry suggested that Bob might like to bring me along. And then he
added as an afterthought, that as three is a crowd, Miss Alice might be
induced to come too. (Why is it that 'Miss Alice' or 'Miss Kate' or
'Miss May' always sounds so like a confirmed bachelor?) Bob chuckled
when he told me how careless and offhand Harry tried to be!"
"Betty, how pretty those pasteboard plates are with the flag-seals
pasted on them!"
"I saw some ready-made Fourth of July plates, but it was more economical
to make my own. And how do you like the red, white and blue paper
napkins and lunch cloth? 'Lunch paper,' I ought to say, I suppose.
Alice, you arrange the fruit in the center in this basket, with some
napkins around it, and with these little flags sticking out of it in
every direction. But first, my dear, please tell me why you changed the
subject when I was speaking of Mr. Harrison?"
"Those devilled eggs wrapped in frilled tissue-paper look just like
torpedoes."
"Alice, Alice, I learned something new about you today. Harry said that
society girls got on his nerves, but that 'Miss Alice' seemed sensible
enough!"
"Goodness, Betty, he has disagreed with every single thing I've said, so
far! If he is being pleasant behind my back, I don't see why he should
be so disapproving in his manner to me! But if he is really beginning to
think me sensible, let us by all means encourage him! Hide my frivolous
new hat in the lunch-basket, and give me something useful to be doing.
Can't I appear to be mixing the salad? . . . Honestly, Betty, I do get
tired of society as a single interest. But what else is there for me to
do? Go into settlement work? I'd be a joke at that! Learn to design
jewelry? Take singing lessons?"
"Try the good old profession of matrimony. Why are you so fickle, Alice,
my dear?"
"I'm not; it's the men! Every sensible one I meet is--well, disagreeable
to me!"
"Meaning Harry Harrison? He appears to be taking quite an interest, at
least!"
"That is merely his reforming instinct coming to the surface. But--is
everything ready now? We'll sing a few bars of the Star Spangled Banner,
and I'm sure the men will come immediately!"
The lunch table was set with:
Lobster and Salmon Salad
Ham Sandwiches Nut Bread Sandwiches
Pickles Radishes
Potato Chips Devilled Eggs
Moist Chocolate Cake
Bananas Oranges
Torpedo Candies
Lemonade
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Lobster and Salmon Salad= (Four portions)
1 C-salmon
1/2 C-lobster
1 C-diced cucumber or celery
6 sweet pickles cut fine
3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced
1 t-salt
1/2 C-salad dressing
Mix the ingredients in the order given. Use a silver fork for mixing.
Garnish with lettuce leaves.
=Ham Sandwiches= (Four portions)
1/2 C-chopped ham
2 T-pickles
1 T-chopped olives
3 T-salad dressing
12 slices bread
Mix ham, olives and pickles with salad dressing and spread on lettuce or
nasturtium leaves between buttered slices of bread. Trim off the crusts,
and cut the sandwiches in fancy shapes.
=Devilled Eggs= (Six eggs)
6 hard-cooked eggs
1 t-vinegar
1/4 t-mustard
1 t-melted butter
1/4 t-chopped parsley
1/4 t-salt
Shell the eggs, cut lengthwise in half, remove yolks, mash them and add
vinegar, mustard, melted butter, parsley and salt. Refill the whites and
put pairs together. Wrap in tissue paper with frilled edges to represent
torpedoes.
=Moist Chocolate Cake= (Ten portions)
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C-hot mashed potatoes
1 ounce melted chocolate
1/4 C-milk
1 C-flour
1-3/4 t-baking powder
1/2 t-cinnamon
1/4 t-clove
1/2 t-nutmeg
1 t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar. Mix well. Add the egg yolks, slightly
beaten, and the potato. Stir, add the chocolate, milk and then all the
dry ingredients which have been mixed and sifted together. Fold in the
white of the eggs beaten stiffly. Add the vanilla. Pour into two
layer-cake pans which have been prepared with waxed paper. Bake in a
moderate oven for thirty minutes. Ice with white mountain cream icing.
CHAPTER IX
UNCLE JOHN AND AUNT LUCY MAKE A VISIT
UNCLE JOHN and Aunt Lucy had driven Bob and Bettina home from a Sunday
spent in the country.
"Do come in," begged Bettina, "and have a little lunch with us. After
such a bountiful dinner, we really ought not to be hungry, but I confess
that the lovely drive home has given me an appetite. And you've never
been here for a meal! Don't be frightened, Uncle John, I really thought
of this yesterday, and my cupboard isn't entirely bare. It would be so
much fun to show you our things and the house!"
"I'm not afraid I won't be fed well," said Uncle John, "but those clouds
are black in the east. If it should rain we'd have trouble getting home.
Besides, I don't like to have the car standing out in a storm."
"I don't believe it'll rain, John," said comfortable Aunt Lucy. "And if
it does, well, we'll manage somehow. I, for one, would like to see
Bettina's kitchen--and all the rest of her house," she added.
Bettina arranged the dainty little meal on the porch table, and Aunt
Lucy and Uncle John sat down with good appetites.
"This looks almost too pretty to eat," said he as he looked at his plate
with its slice of jellied beef on head lettuce, served with salad
dressing, and its fresh crisp potato chips. And the nasturtium and green
leaf lay beside them.
"Have a radish and a sandwich, Uncle John," said Bettina. "We have
plenty, if not variety. Our only dessert is fresh pears."
"But it all tastes mighty good!" said Uncle John. "Say, Bob, it is
beginning to rain, I believe!"
"Sure enough, a regular storm! We must put the car in the empty garage
across the street. I'm sure we can get permission." And he and Uncle
John hurried out.
"It will blow over, I'm sure," said Aunt Lucy.
"But if it doesn't--why, Aunt Lucy, stay here all night! We'd love to
have you! The guest room is always ready. I know you'll be comfortable,
and they can manage without you at home for once, I'm sure."
"Of course they'll be all right, and it would be quite exciting to be
'company' for a change. If only Uncle John thinks he can do it!"
"It looks as if there'll be nothing else to do," said Uncle John, when
he and Bob returned. "Not but what I'd enjoy it--but I haven't been away
from home a night for--how long is it, Lucy?"
"Seven years last May, John. All the more reason why this'll do you
good."
"Oh, I'm so glad you'll really stay!" said Bettina. "Now tell me what
you like for breakfast!"
"Anything you have except those new fashioned breakfast foods," Uncle
John replied. "I might feed 'em to my stock, now, but not to a human
being. But don't you worry about me, Betty! Because I don't worry about
the breakfast proposition. Bob here is a pretty good advertisement of
the kind of cooking you can do!"
The lunch that night consisted of:
Jellied Beef Potato Chips
Radishes
Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Iced Tea Fresh Pears
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Jellied Beef= (Four portions)
1 C-cold chopped cooked beef
1/2 T-chopped onion
1 T-chopped pimento
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-pepper
1 T-chopped parsley
1 T-lemon juice
2 t-granulated gelatin
1 T-cold water
1/2 C-boiling water
Soak the gelatin in one tablespoon cold water for three minutes. Add the
boiling water and dissolve thoroughly. Add the meat, onion, pimento,
salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Stir well together and turn into
a mould that has been moistened with cold water. (A square or
rectangular mould is preferable.) Stand in a cold place for two hours.
When cold and firm, unmould on lettuce leaves and cut into slices. Salad
dressing may be served with it.
=Radishes= (Four portions)
12 radishes
1 C-chopped ice
Wash the radishes thoroughly with a vegetable brush. Cut off the long
roots and all but one inch of green tops. These tops make the radishes
easier to handle and more attractive. Serve in a bowl of chopped ice.
=Peanut Butter Sandwiches= (Twelve sandwiches)
4 T-peanut butter
1/8 t-salt
1 t-butter
1 T-salad dressing
12 slices of bread
12 uniform pieces of lettuce
Cream the peanut butter, add the butter. Cream again, add the salt and
salad dressing, mixing well. Cut the bread evenly. Butter one side of
the bread very thinly with the peanut butter mixture. Place the lettuce
leaf on one slice and place another slice upon it, buttered side down.
Press firmly and neatly together. Cut in two crosswise. Arrange
attractively in a wicker basket.
CHAPTER X
RUTH INSPECTS BETTINA'S KITCHEN
"MAY I come in?" said a voice at the screen door. "I came the kitchen
way because I hoped that you would still be busy with the morning's
work, and I might learn something. You see" (and Ruth blushed a little),
"we are thinking of building a house and we have lots of ideas about
every room but the kitchen. Neither Fred nor I know the first thing
about that, so I told him that I would just have to consult you."
"How dear of you, Ruth!" said Bettina, as she put away the breakfast
dishes. "Well, you shall have the benefit of everything that I know. Bob
and I began with the kitchen when we planned this little house. It
seemed so important. I expected to spend a great deal of time here, and
I was determined to have it cheerful and convenient. I never could see
why a kitchen should not be a perfectly beautiful room, as beautiful as
any in the whole house!"
"Yours is, Bettina," said Ruth, warmly, as she looked around her. "No
wonder you can cook such fascinating little meals. It is light, and
sunny and clean looking--oh, immaculate!--and has such a pleasant view!"
"I wanted it to have lots of sunshine. We had the walls painted this
shade of yellow, because it seemed pretty and cheerful. Perhaps you
won't care to have white woodwork like this, but you see it is plain and
I don't find it hard to keep clean out here on the edge of town! I think
it is so pretty that I don't expect to regret my choice. Another thing,
Ruth, do get a good grade of inlaid linoleum like this. I know the
initial expense is greater, but a good piece will last a long time, and
will always look well."
"How high the sink is, Bettina!"
"Thirty-six inches. You see, I'm not very tall and yet I have always
found that every other sink I tried was too low for solid comfort. The
plumbers have a way of making them all alike--thirty-two inches from the
floor, I think. They were scandalized because I asked them to change the
regulation height, and yet, I find this exactly right. And isn't it a
lovely white enameled one? I am happy whenever I look at it! Don't
laugh, Ruth; a sink is a very important piece of furniture! I had always
liked this kind with the grooved drain-board on each side, sloping just
a little toward the center. And see how easily I can reach up and put
away the dishes in the cupboard, you see. I don't like a single dish or
utensil in sight when the kitchen is in order. This roll of paper
toweling here by the sink is very convenient for wiping off the table or
taking grease off pans and dishes or even for drying glass and silver. A
roll lasts a long time, and certainly does save dishcloths and towels.
"Do you use your fireless cooker often?"
"Every day of the year--I do believe. I cook breakfast food in it, and
all kinds of meats except those that are boiled or fried. Then it is
splendid for steaming brown bread and baking beans, and oh, so many
other things! Mother keeps hers under the kitchen table, but I find it
more convenient here at the right of the stove--on a box just level with
the stove. Next, O Neophyte, you may observe the stove. The oven is at
the side, high up so that one need not stoop to use it. It has a glass
oven door through which I can watch my baking."
"I like this white enameled table. And the high stool must be
convenient, too."
"It is splendid. Ruth, haven't you an old marble topped table at home?
It would be just the thing for pastry making."
"Yes, I do know of one, I think, and I'll have the lower part enameled
white."
"Fred can do it himself. Let him help to fix things up, and he'll be all
the more interested in them, and in helping you use them."
"Bettina, this is an adorable breakfast alcove! What fun you must have
every morning! If we have one, I don't believe we'll ever use the dining
room. How convenient! Here come the waffles--hot from the stove! Fred,
do have a hot muffin!"
"Not at the same meal, Ruth!"
"No, he'll be fortunate if he gets anything to eat at all! He isn't
marrying a Bettina. But he says he's satisfied. Bettina, does Bob help
get breakfast?"
"Indeed he does. He loves to make coffee in the electric percolator and
toast on the toaster. He says that an electric toaster and plenty of
bath towels are the real necessities of life, but I say I cannot live
without flowers and a fireplace. Oh, you will have such fun, Ruth! Let
Fred help you all he will."
"I'm hearing all this advice!" suddenly shouted a big voice in her ear.
"Look here, Mrs. Bettina, does Bob know that you are advising your
friends to train their husbands just as you are training him?"
"Fred, you old eavesdropper! I hope that Ruth makes you get breakfast
every single morning to pay for this! Aren't you ashamed? Don't you know
that listeners never hear any good of themselves?"
"I suppose Fred knew he needn't worry," said rosy Ruth, as she took his
arm. "Look, Fred, isn't it a dear little house? May he see it all,
Bettina?"
"Yes, if he'll explain how a busy man can get away at this hour of the
morning."
"Well, you see I was on my way to the office when I caught a glimpse of
Ruth's pink dress at your back door. I happened to think that she said
she didn't get a recipe for those 'skyrocket rolls' that you had at your
party the other day. I just thought I'd have to remind her, for the sake
of my future."
"What under the shining sun! Oh, pinwheel biscuits!"
"Yes--that's it!"
"Why--all right. I have it filed away in my card-index. Here--with a
picture of them pasted on the card. I cut it out of the magazine that
gave the recipe. They are delicious."
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Pinwheel Biscuits= (Fifteen biscuits)
2 C-flour
4 t-baking powder
3 T-lard
1/2 t-salt
3/4 C-milk
1/3 C-stoned raisins
2 T-sugar
2 T-melted butter
1/2 t-cinnamon
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, work in the lard with
a knife, add gradually the milk, mixing with the knife to a soft dough.
Toss on a floured board, roll one inch thick, spread with butter, and
sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon, which have been well mixed. Press
in the raisins. Roll up the mixture evenly as you would a jelly roll.
Cut off slices, an inch thick--flatten a little and place in a tin pan.
Bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. (These are similar to the
cinnamon rolls made from yeast sponge.)
CHAPTER XI
BETTINA'S BIRTHDAY GIFT
"YOUR set, Bob," said Bettina, as she gathered up the tennis balls. "But
please say you think I'm improving! Oh, there'll come a time when I'll
make you a stiff opponent, but I'll have to work up my service first!
It's time to go home to breakfast now, but hasn't it been fun?"
"Fine, Betty! We'll do it again! I don't object at all to getting up
early when I'm once up! And we ought to get out and play tennis before
breakfast every day."
"I knew you'd like it when you'd tried it once. But it took my birthday
to make you willing to celebrate this way."
"Just you wait till you see what I have for you at home! I made it all
myself, with a little help from Ruth!"
"Oh, Bob, is that what you've been doing all these evenings? I'm so
anxious to see it! I've begrudged the time you've spent all alone
hammering and sawing away down in the basement, but I didn't let myself
even wonder what it was you were making, since you had asked me not to
look."
"Well, while you're beginning the breakfast, I'll be bringing your
birthday gift upstairs. Then I can help you."
In a short time, when Bettina was arranging the cheerful hollyhocks on
the table, she heard a low whistle behind her. There stood Bob--looking
like a sandwich-man, with a brightly flowered cretonne screen draped
about him.
"Well, how do you like it?"
"Oh, Bob, it's the sewing-screen I've been wanting, and it just matches
the cretonne bedroom hangings! Here are the little pockets for mending
and darning materials--and the larger ones for the unfinished work! How
beautifully it is made--and won't it be convenient! It will be useful as
a screen, and also as a place for those sewing things, for I have no
good place at all in which to keep them! It will be decorative, too! And
how light it is! I can carry it so easily, and work beside it on the
porch or in the living room!"
"Glad you like it! Ruth designed it, and made the pockets. I did the
carpenter work."
"Bob, it's a lovely birthday gift, and I appreciate it all the more
because you made it yourself. How pretty it is with all the woodwork
enameled white!"
"I wanted it to match the bedroom things. Well, is that coffee done yet?
Tennis certainly does give me an appetite!"
Breakfast consisted of:
Iced Cantelope
Poached Eggs on Toast
Toast Apple Sauce
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Poached Eggs= (Two portions)
2 eggs
1 t-butter
1 t-salt
1 pt. water, boiling
Butter the bottom of a saucepan or frying-pan. Fill half full of boiling
water. Break the eggs one at a time in a sauce dish, and slip them very
gently into the pan of boiling water. The eggs will lower the
temperature of the water to a point below the boiling point. Keep the
water at this point (below boiling). Allow the eggs to remain in the
water four to six minutes, or until the desired consistency. Remove from
the water with a skimmer and serve on slices of toast which are hot,
buttered, and slightly moistened with water. The proper length of time
for poaching eggs is until a white film has formed over the yolks and
the white is firm. A tin or aluminum egg poacher is very convenient.
When using rings, butter the rings, fill each compartment with an egg,
and dip into the boiling water. These are inexpensive, and economical,
as no part of the egg is wasted.
=Toast= (Four Pieces)
4 slices bread
2 T-butter
Toast slices of bread one-half an inch thick on the broiler directly
under the flame, or on a toaster fitted for a burner on top of the
stove. Brown on one side, then turn and brown on the other. When both
sides are an even golden brown, butter one side, care being taken to
butter the edges. Set the toast on an enamel plate or tin pie-pan in the
oven, until all the pieces are ready for serving. Always serve toast
very hot.
=Apple Sauce= (Two portions)
4 apples
1/3 C-water
4 T-sugar
1/2 t-cinnamon
Wash, peel and core the apples. Add water and cook slowly in a covered
utensil until tender. Remove cover, add the sugar and cook two minutes.
Sprinkle cinnamon on the top.
CHAPTER XII
BETTINA'S FATHER TRIES HER COOKING
"SO she is about to try her cooking on me, is she?" said Bettina's
father to Bob, as he sat down at the table. "Well, I'll admit that I
have looked forward to this all day. But there was a time when I was a
little more skeptical of Bettina's culinary skill. You know, when mother
was in California two years ago last winter----"
"Now, Charlie, you know that all girls have to learn at some time or
other," interrupted Bettina's mother. "And I believe that Bob has fared
pretty well, considering that Bettina is just beginning to keep
house----"
"I should say so!" said Bob, heartily. "Why, I'm getting fat! I was
weighed to-day, and----"
"Don't say any more, Bob! We'll rent the house and take to boarding! If
you get fat----"
"No boarding-houses for mine! Not after your cooking, Bettina! I had
enough of boarding before I was married. Say--how long ago that does
seem."
"Has the time dragged as much as that? Well, I'll change the subject.
Dad, how do you like my Japanese garden? I think it's pretty, don't
you?"
"I certainly do, my dear. What are those feathery things?"
"Why, don't you know that, Father? And when you were a boy, you worked
on a farm one summer, too! There's a parsnip and a horse radish, and a
beet. Then there are a few parsley seeds and grass seeds on a tiny
sponge! And see the little shells and stones that Bob and I collected
for it."
"Yes, we found that pink stone up the river on a picnic a year ago last
May, before we were engaged, or were we engaged then, Bettina? And the
purple one----"
"Oh, you needn't reminisce," Bettina interrupted hastily. "Eat your
dinner."
_"Every little stone
Has a meaning all its own,
Every little shell----
But it wouldn't do to tell."_
"I composed that poem just this minute," said Bob, undisturbed.
"Will you help me get the dessert now, Robert? Are you ready, Mother?
And Father?"
"Yes, indeed. A very fine dinner, Bettina. We never have steak fixed
this way at home; do we, Mother? Can we try it some day soon?"
"I have something for dessert that you like, Dad. Guess what!"
"What is it? Oh, lemon pie! That is fine, I can tell you! But I know
already that it won't be as good as your mother's! Still, we'll try it
and see!"
That evening for dinner, Bettina served:
Devilled Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Baking-powder Biscuits Jelly
Cucumber and Radish Salad
Lemon Pie
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Devilled Steak= (Four portions)
2 T-butter
1 T-onion
1-1/2 lb. flank steak 3/4 inch thick
2 T-flour
1 t-salt
1/2 t-pepper
1/8 t-paprika
1 t-mustard
1 T-vinegar
1 T-flour
2 C-water
Melt the butter in a frying-pan, slice the onion in it and sauté gently
until golden brown in color. Remove the onion from the butter, cut the
flank steak into pieces three by two inches. Dredge these lightly in one
tablespoon flour and sauté in the butter until well browned. Remove the
meat from the frying-pan; add the salt, pepper, paprika, mustard,
vinegar and flour. Mix all together and add the water slowly. Replace
the steak in the pan, cover closely and simmer one hour, or until the
steak is tender. Serve on a warm platter and pour the gravy over it.
=Baking Powder Biscuit= (Fifteen biscuits)
2 C-flour
4 t-baking powder
1/4 t-salt
3 T-lard
2/3 C-milk
Mix and sift the flour, baking powder and salt; cut in the lard with a
knife until the consistency of cornmeal. Add the milk, mixing with a
knife. Pat into a rectangular shape, one-half inch thick, on a floured
board. Cut with a biscuit cutter one and one-half inches in diameter.
Place side by side in a tin pan. Bake in a moderate oven fifteen
minutes.
=Cucumber and Radish Salad= (Four portions)
1 C-diced cucumbers
1/2 C-diced radishes
2 t-chopped onion
1 t-salt
1/4 t-pepper
4 T-salad dressing
4 lettuce leaves
Mix the cucumbers, radishes, onions, salt and pepper. Add salad
dressing. Serve on lettuce leaves.
=Lemon Pie=
Filling
1 C-sugar
1/2 t-salt
juice 1 large lemon
2 egg-yolks
1-1/2 C-water
1 t-grated rind
1/2 C-flour
1 t-butter
Beat the egg yolks, add the sugar gradually and beat; add the flour,
salt, water, lemon juice and rind. Cook in a double boiler until it
thickens. Pour into the pastry shell, cover with meringue and bake in a
moderate oven until the meringue is brown.
=Pie Crust=
1 C-flour
1/3 C-lard
1/8 t-salt
2 T-cold water
Cut the lard into the flour and salt with a knife. Add the water
gradually, lifting with a knife that portion that was moistened first
and pushing it to one side of the bowl, wet another portion and continue
until all is moistened, using just enough water to hold together. Put
together and place on a floured board. Roll the crust to fit the pan.
Press the crust firmly into the bottom of the pan. Prick the sides and
bottom with a fork. Crinkle the edges of the crust; have the crust
extend above the edge of the pan to make a deep shell for the filling.
Bake the crust first to make it more crisp. Do not butter the pan. Bake
from five to six minutes in a hot oven. When the crust is done, add the
filling and cover this with the meringue.
=Meringue=
2 egg whites beaten stiff
5 T-sugar (powdered preferred)
1/2 t-lemon extract
Do not beat the egg-whites until ready for use. Then beat until stiff
and add the sugar and extract, beating only a minute. Pile the meringue
lightly on top of the filling, and bake the whole slowly. If baked too
quickly, the meringue will rise and then fall. Bake only until it turns
a golden brown.
CHAPTER XIII
BOB HELPS WITH THE DINNER
"HERE, Bettina, let me mash those potatoes! It's fine exercise after a
day at the office!" And Bob seized the potato masher with the same vigor
that he used to handle a tennis racquet.
"Good for you, Bob! They can't have a single lump in them after that!
About the most unappetizing thing I can think of is lumpy mashed potato,
or mashed potato that is heavy and unseasoned. More milk? You'd better
use plenty. Here! Now watch me toss them lightly into this hot dish and
put a little parsley and a lump of butter on the top. There, doesn't
that look delicious?"
"I should say so! And look at the fancy tomatoes, each one with a cover!
What on earth is inside?"
"Just wait till you taste them; they're a new invention of mine, and I
do believe they'll make a splendid luncheon dish for the next time that
Ruth is here, or Alice brings her sewing over. I'm practising on you
first, you see, and if you survive and seem to like them, I may use them
for a real company dish."
"You can't frighten me that way! Creamed chicken?"
"Creamed veal. Don't you remember what we had for dinner last night?
There were two chops left and I made it of them. I know it is good when
made of cold veal roast, but I had never tried it with cold veal
chops--so again I am experimenting on you, Bobby!"
"You don't frighten me so easily as that! I've just caught a glimpse of
something that looks like cocoanut cake, and I'll be happy now, no
matter how the rest of the dinner tastes!"
"There, everything is on, Bob! Let's sit down to dinner, and you tell me
all about your day!"
Dinner consisted of:
Creamed Veal Mashed Potatoes
Stuffed Tomatoes Bettina
Bread Butter
Sliced Peaches Cream
Cocoanut Cake
Iced Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Creamed Veal= (Two portions)
1 C-cooked veal chopped
1/2 C-white sauce (medium)
3 rounds of toast
Mix the veal and sauce. Heat and serve hot on rounds of toast.
=Mashed Potatoes= (Two portions)
4 potatoes
2 C-water
1 t-salt
1/2 T-butter
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
1 T-milk
Wash and peel medium-sized potatoes; cook in boiling water (salted)
until tender. (About twenty minutes.) Drain and shake over the fire a
minute or two until they are a little dry. Either mash with potato
masher, or put through potato ricer. Add butter, salt, paprika and milk.
Beat till very light, fluffy and white. Reheat by setting the saucepan
in a larger kettle containing boiling water. Place over flame. More milk
may be needed. Pile them lightly on the hot dish in which they are to be
served.
=Stuffed Tomatoes Bettina= (Two portions)
2 firm, good-sized tomatoes
3 T-fresh bread crumbs
2 T-left-over cooked vegetables (peas, beans, celery or corn)
1 T-chopped cooked ham or cooked bacon
1/8 t-paprika
1 T-egg
1 t-melted butter
1/2 t-salt
Wash the tomatoes thoroughly and cut a slice one inch in diameter from
the blossom end, reserving it for future use. Carefully scoop out the
pulp, being careful to leave the shell firm. To the tomato pulp, add
bread crumbs, left-over vegetables, chopped meat, egg, melted butter,
salt and paprika. Cook the mixture four minutes over the fire. Fill the
shells with the cooked mixture. Put the slices back on the tomatoes.
Place in a small pan and bake twenty minutes in a hot oven.
CHAPTER XIV
A SUNDAY EVENING TEA
"WHAT kind of tea is this?" Ruth inquired one Sunday evening on the
porch.
"Why, this is a mixture of green and black tea," said Bettina. "I like
that better for iced tea than either kind alone."
"I like tea," said Fred, "although perhaps that isn't considered a manly
sentiment in this country. I hope you do too, Ruth. Nothing seems so
cozy to me as tea and toast. And I like iced tea like this in the
summertime. An uncle of mine is very fond of tea, and has offered to
send me some that he considers particularly fine. I believe that Orange
Pekoe is his favorite."
"I think that has the best flavor of all," said Bettina, "though just
now we are using an English breakfast tea that we like very much. And
the green tea mixed with it for this is Japan tea."
"I've heard my uncle say that 'Pekoe' means 'white hair,' and is applied
to young leaves because they are covered with a fine white down. Uncle
also says that black teas are considered more wholesome than green
because they contain less tannin. I tell you, he's a regular
connoisseur."
"I see that I must become an expert tea-maker!" said Ruth. "I'm learning
something new about Fred every day. Bettina, do tell me exactly how you
make tea. Fred can listen, too, unless he already knows."
"Well, let's see, Ruth. I take a level teaspoonful of tea to a cup of
water. I put the tea in a scalded earthenware tea-pot--that kind is
better than metal--and pour boiling water over it--fresh water. Then I
cover it and allow it to steep from three to five minutes. Then I strain
and serve it. You know tea should always be freshly made, and never
warmed over. It shouldn't be boiled either, not a second. Boiling, or
too long steeping, brings out the tannin."
"But how about iced-tea? That has to stand."
"It shouldn't steep, though. I make it just like any tea and strain it.
Then I let it cool, and set it on the ice for three or four hours. I
serve it with chipped ice, lemon and mint."
"Mother always added a cherry to her afternoon tea," said Ruth.
"That would be great," said Bob. "I don't care much for hot tea, but I
believe I would be willing to drink a cup for the sake of the cherry."
"Ruth," said Bettina, "I know now what I will give you for an engagement
present since Fred likes tea, too. A silver tea-ball. Surely that will
symbolize comfort and fireside cheer."
"Speaking of firesides," asked Bob, "what material have you decided upon
for your fireplace? It seems to me that we're talking too much about
tea-making, and not enough about house-building."
That evening Bettina served:
Salmon Salad with Jellied Vegetables
Boston Brown Bread Sandwiches
Sliced Fresh Peaches
One Egg Cake Chocolate Icing
Iced Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Salmon Salad with Jellied Vegetables= (Four portions)
1 C-cooked mixed diced vegetables (string beans, carrots,
peas or celery)
1 C-meat stock or water (hot)
2 t-granulated gelatin
1 t-salt
1 T-chopped pimento
3 T-cold water
1 t-lemon juice
Cooked vegetables may be combined for this salad. Soak the gelatin in
cold water a few minutes, add the meat stock or water and stir until the
gelatin is thoroughly dissolved. If it is not completely dissolved, heat
over a pan of hot water. Add the vegetables in such proportions as
desired or convenient. Add the salt, lemon juice and pimento; turn the
mixture into a moistened mould. (A ring mould is attractive.) Allow to
stand for one hour or more in a cold place. When ready to serve, remove
from mould to a chilled plate. If a ringed mould is used, the center may
be filled with flaked salmon over which salad dressing has been poured.
If the vegetable part is used as a salad, salad dressing may be placed
around the vegetables.
=One Egg Cake= (Ten portions)
4 T-butter
1/2 C-sugar
1 egg
1/2 C-milk
1-1/8 C-flour
2-1/2 t-baking powder
1 t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar gradually, and the egg well beaten. Mix
and sift the flour and baking powder and add alternately with the milk.
Add the vanilla. Bake in a loaf-cake pan twenty-five minutes in a
moderate oven.
=Chocolate Icing for Cake=
1 square of chocolate, melted
3 T-boiling water
1-1/2 powdered sugar
1/2 t-vanilla
Melt the chocolate, add a little powdered sugar, then water and
flavoring and sufficient sugar to allow the icing to spread on cake.
Usually one and one-half cups is the necessary amount. Spread on the
cake.
CHAPTER XV
A MOTOR PICNIC
"HELLO, Bettina; this is Bob. What are you having for dinner to-night?"
"It's all in the fireless cooker! Why?"
"Couldn't you manage to make a picnic supper of it? One of the men at
the office has invited us to go motoring to-night with him and his wife,
and, of course, I said we'd be delighted. They're boarding, poor things,
and I asked if we couldn't bring the supper. He seemed glad to have me
suggest it. I suppose he hasn't had any home cooking for months. Do you
suppose you could manage the lunch? How about it?"
"Why, let me think! How soon must we start?"
"We'll be there in an hour or a little less. Don't bother about it--get
anything you happen to have."
"It's fine to go, dear. Of course, I'll be ready. Good-bye!"
Bettina's brain was busy. There was a veal loaf baking in one
compartment of the cooker, and on the other side, some Boston brown
bread was steaming. Her potatoes were cooked already for creaming, and
although old potatoes would have been better for the purpose, she might
make a salad of them. As she hastily put on some eggs to hard-cook, she
inspected her ice box. Yes, those cold green beans, left from last
night's dinner, would be good in the salad. What else? "It needs
something to give it character," she reflected. "A little canned
pimento--and, yes--a few of the pickles in that jar."
Of course, she had salad dressing--she was never without it. Sandwiches?
The brown bread would be too fresh and soft for sandwiches, but she
could keep it hot, and take some butter along. "I'm glad it is cool
to-day. We'll need hot coffee in the thermos bottle, and I can make it a
warm supper--except for the salad."
She took the veal loaf and the steamed brown bread from the cooker, and
put them into the oven to finish cooking.
"How lucky it is that I made those Spanish buns! And the bananas that
were to have been sliced for dessert, I can just take along whole."
When Bettina heard the auto horn, and then Bob's voice, she was putting
on her hat.
"Well, Betty, could you manage it?"
"Yes, indeed, dear. Everything is ready. The thermos bottle has coffee
in it, piping hot; the lunch basket over there is packed with the warm
things wrapped tight, and that pail with the burlap over it is a
temporary ice box. It holds a piece of ice, and beside it is the cream
for the coffee and the potato salad. It is cool to-day, but I thought it
best to pack them that way."
"You are the best little housekeeper in this town," said Bob as he
kissed her. "I don't believe anyone else could have managed a picnic
supper on such short notice. Come on out and meet Mr. and Mrs. Dixon.
May I tell them that they have a fine spread coming?"
"Don't you dare, sir. It's a very ordinary kind of a supper, and even
you are apt to be disappointed."
But he wasn't.
Bettina's picnic supper that cool day consisted of:
Warm Veal Loaf Cold Potato Salad
Fresh Brown Bread Butter
Spanish Buns Bananas
Hot Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Veal Loaf= (Six to eight portions)
2 lbs. lean veal
1/2 lb. salt pork
6 large crackers
2 T-lemon juice
4 t-onion salt
1 T-salt
1/2 t-pepper
4 T-cream
Put two crackers in the meat grinder, add bits of meat and pork and the
rest of the crackers. The crackers first and last prevent the pork and
meat from sticking to the grinder. Add other ingredients in order named.
Pack in a well-buttered bread-pan. Smooth evenly on top, brush with
white of an egg and bake one hour in a moderate oven. Baste frequently.
The meat may be cooked in a fireless cooker between two stones. It is
perfectly satisfactory cooked this way, and requires no basting.
=Boston Brown Bread= (Six portions)
1 C-rye or graham flour
1 C-cornmeal
1 C-white flour
1 t-salt
1-1/2 t-soda
3/4 C-molasses
1/4 C-sugar
1-1/2 C-sour milk or 1-1/4 C-sweet
milk or water
2/3 C-raisins
Mix and sift dry ingredients, add molasses and liquid. Fill
well-buttered moulds two-thirds full, butter the top of mould, and steam
three and one-half hours. Remove from moulds and place in an oven to dry
ten minutes before serving. 1--If sweet milk is used, 1 T-vinegar to
1-1/4 C will sour the milk. 2--Baking powder cans, melon moulds, lard
pails or any attractively shaped tin cans may be used as a mould. 3--Two
methods of steaming are used: (a) Regular steamer in which the mould,
either large or individual, is placed over a pan of boiling water.
Buttered papers may be tied firmly over the tops of uncovered moulds.
(b) Steaming in boiling water. The mould is placed on a small article in
the bottom of a pan of boiling water. This enables the water to
circulate around the mould. Care must be observed in keeping the kettle
two-thirds full of boiling water all of the time of cooking. (Bettina
used the method in the fireless cooker.) She started the brown bread in
the cooker utensil on the top of the stove. When the water was boiling
vigorously, she placed it over one hot stone in the cooker. The water
came two-thirds of the distance to the top of her cans. In the cooker,
she did not have to watch for fear the water would boil away. After
fastening the lid tightly on the cooker-kettle in which the bread was to
steam, she did not look at it again for four hours. (It takes a little
longer in the cooker than on the stove.)
CHAPTER XVI
BETTINA HAS A CALLER
THE next morning Bettina was alone in her little kitchen when the door
bell rang.
"Why, Mrs. Dixon; how do you do?" she said, as she opened the door and
recognized the visitor. "Won't you come in?"
It must be admitted that Bettina was somewhat embarrassed at the
unexpected call at so unconventional a time. Mrs. Dixon was dressed in a
trim street costume, but under her veil Bettina could see that her eyes
were red, and her lips quivered as she answered:
"Forgive me for coming so early, but I just had to. I know you'll think
me silly to talk to you confidentially when I met you only yesterday,
but I do want your advice about something. You mustn't stop what you are
doing. Couldn't I come into the kitchen and talk while you work?"
"Why, my dear, of course you can," said Bettina, trying to put her at
her ease. "You can't guess what I was doing! I was washing my pongee
dress; someone told me of such a good way!"
"Why, could you do it all yourself?" said Mrs. Dixon, opening her eyes
wide. "Why not send it to be dry-cleaned?"
"Of course I might," said Bettina, "but it would be expensive, and I do
like to save a little money every month from my housekeeping allowance.
There are always so many things I want to get. You see I'm doing this in
luke-warm, soapy water--throwing the soap-suds up over the goods, then
I'll rinse it well, and hang it in the shade to drip until it gets dry.
I won't press it till it is fully dry, because if I do, it will be
spotted."
"How do you learn things like that?"
"Oh, since I've been married, and even before, when I thought about
keeping house, I began to pick up all sorts of good ideas. I like
economizing; it gives me an opportunity to use all the ingenuity I
have."
"Does it? I always thought it would be awfully tiresome. You see, I've
lived in a hotel all my life; my mother never was strong, and I was the
only child. I liked it, and since I've been married, we've lived the
same way. I never thought of anything else and I supposed Frank would
like it, too--but lately--oh, all the last year--he's been begging me to
let him find us a house. And then"--(Bettina saw that her eyes had
filled with tears)--"he has been so different. You have no idea, my
dear. Why--he hasn't been at home with me two evenings a week--and----"
"You must be dreadfully unhappy," interrupted Bettina, wondering what
she could say, since she disliked particularly to listen to any account
of domestic difficulties. "But why not try keeping house? Maybe that
would be better. Why, Bob doesn't like to be away from home any evenings
at all."
"But you've just been married!" said Mrs. Dixon, tactlessly. "Wait and
see how he'll be after a few years!"
"Well, that's all the more reason for trying to make him like his home.
Have you thought of taking a house?"
"That was just the reason I came to you. You seem to be so happy living
this way--and it surprised me. I knew last evening what Frank was
thinking when he saw this little house--and then when you unpacked the
lunch--tell me honestly, did you cook it yourself?"
"Of course," said Bettina, smiling.
"Wasn't it hard to learn? Why, I can't cook a thing--I can't even make
coffee! Frank says if he could only have one breakfast that was fit to
eat----" and she buried her face in her handkerchief.
"Why, Mrs. Dixon!" cried Bettina, cheerfully, though her heart was
beating furiously. "Your trouble is the easiest one in the world to
remedy! Your husband is just hungry--that's all! I'll tell you--we'll
make this a little secret between us, and have such fun over it! You do
just as I tell you for one month and I'll guarantee that Frank will be
at home every single minute that he can!"
"Do you suppose I can learn?"
"I'll show you every single thing. We'll slip out this very day and look
for a little house--to surprise Frank! And I'll teach you to cook by
easy stages!"
"Oh, will you?" smiled Mrs. Dixon, showing an adorable dimple in her
round cheek. "You don't know how much better I feel already! When can we
begin?"
"Right now--with coffee--real, sure 'nough coffee that will make Frank's
eyes stick out! Have you a percolator?"
"No, but I can get one."
"It isn't necessary at all. I'll tell you how to do without it, and then
using one will be perfectly simple."
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Coffee= (Four cups)
7 T-coffee
3 T-cold water
1/2 T-egg white
4-1/2 C-boiling water
Scald the coffee pot, add the coffee, cold water and egg-white. Mix
thoroughly, add the boiling water. Boil two minutes. Allow to stand in
the pot one minute. Serve.
=Twin Mountain Muffins=
2 C-flour
4 t-baking powder
1/4 t-salt
1 egg
1 C-milk
1 T-melted butter
1/4 C-sugar
Mix and sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Beat the
egg, add the milk; add these liquid ingredients to the dry ones. Beat
two minutes. Add the melted butter. Fill well buttered muffin pans
one-half full. Bake in a moderate oven twenty minutes.
CHAPTER XVII
BOB GETS BREAKFAST ON SUNDAY
"NOW, Bettina, you sit here and direct me, but don't you dare to move.
I'm going to get breakfast myself."
"Fine for you, chef! Have it on the porch, will you? It's the most
beautiful morning of the year, I do believe! But you must give me
something to do. Let me set the table, will you?"
"Well, you can do that, but get me an apron first. Be sure you get one
that'll be becoming!"
Bettina went to a deep drawer in the pantry, of which the breakfast
alcove was a part, and selected a white bungalow apron with red dots.
"Here, put your arms through this! There, how 'chic' you look! Bob, do
you realize that this is our first breakfast on the porch? I must get
some of those feathery things growing out there; I want them for the
table. We must celebrate!"
"If having flowers on the table is celebrating, you celebrate every
day!"
"Of course, my dear! Our married life is just one long celebration.
Haven't you discovered that yet?"
Bettina had thus far no flower garden, but she was never without
flowers. The weeds and grasses in her backyard had a way of turning
themselves into charming centerpieces, and then, too, red clover was
always plentiful.
Bob moved the coffee percolator and the electric toaster to the porch
and attached them while Bettina spread the luncheon cloth upon the small
table. "Aren't you glad we thought to plan it so that we might have the
percolator and the toaster out here?" she said. "That was your idea,
wasn't it?"
"Aren't you glad you married me?" said Bob enthusiastically. "I'll bet
I'm the only man on this street who can frizzle dried beef and cream it!
And make coffee!"
"Who taught you that, I'd like to know? Give some credit to your wife
who forces you to do it! Here, Bridget! The grapefruit is in the ice
box; did you see it? And the oatmeal in the cooker is waiting to be
reheated. Set it in a kettle of water over the fire, so that it won't
burn. There are rolls in the bread-box. Put them in the oven a minute to
warm up. If they seem dry, dip them quickly in water before heating
them. Now shall I be making some toast-rounds for the chipped beef?"
"Well, you might be doing that. I'm getting dizzy with all these orders,
ma'am. You can hunt up the cream and the milk and the butter, too, if
you will. Now for the beef! Say, but this is going to be a good
breakfast! 'Befoh de wah' I used to sleep late on Sundays, but not any
more for me! I like to cook!"
"There's someone at the door. I'll go; you're busier than I am."
There on the doorstep beside the Sunday paper stood a little
four-year-old neighbor, her hands full of old-fashioned pinks.
"My mother sent these to you," she said.
"Oh, lovely, dear! Thank you! Won't you come in?"
"No'm! My daddy has to shine my shoes for Sunday school."
"Bob, aren't these pretty with the white feathery weeds? I do love
flowers!"
"They don't look half so pretty as this 'ere frizzled beef does!
Breakfast is all ready!"
Bettina sat down to an open-air breakfast of
Grapefruit
Oatmeal Cream
Creamed Beef Toast Rounds
Rolls Butter
Coffee
After a jolly and leisurely meal, Bob announced that he was ready to
wash the dishes.
"Ever since I've seen that nice white-lined dishpan of yours, I've
wanted to try it. It's oval, and I never saw an oval one before."
"I like it because it fits into the sink so well, and fills all the
space it can."
"See how efficient I am! I put on the water for the dishes when we sat
down to eat! Now I'll have nice hot, soapy water, and lots of it, to
rinse them!"
"But don't rinse the glasses, dear. See how I can polish glass and
silver that has just come out of that clean soapy water! Look! Isn't
that shiny and pretty? There, you can scald everything else!"
"There's the telephone! It's Mrs. Dixon! What on earth can she want? She
asked for you!"
Bettina talked for a few moments in monosyllables and then returned to
the dishes. "What did she have to say?" Bob asked.
"She asked me not to tell you, Bob. Nothing much. Perhaps you'll know
some day."
Bob looked puzzled and slightly hurt. It was the first time that Bettina
had kept anything from him and he could not help showing some
displeasure.
Bettina saw this, and said: "Bob, I don't want to have any secret from
you, and I'd like you to know that this is nothing that I wouldn't tell
you gladly if I were the only one concerned. I promised, that's all.
You'll smile when you know all about it."
And Bob was mollified.
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Oatmeal= (Four portions)
3/4 C-rolled oats
2 C-hot water
1/2 t-salt
Put the hot water in the upper part of the double boiler. When boiling,
add salt and oats. Boil the mixture for three minutes. Cover and place
the upper part in the lower part of the double boiler. Cook over a
moderate fire for one hour. Stir occasionally.
=Creamed Beef= (Four portions)
1/4 lb. diced beef thinly sliced
2 T-butter
2 T-flour
1 C-milk
Place the butter in a frying-pan, and when the pan is hot and the butter
is melted, add the beef separated into small pieces. Allow it to
frizzle. Add the flour, mix thoroughly with beef and butter, allowing
the flour to brown a little. Add the milk slowly, cooking until thick
and smooth. Pour over rounds of toast. Garnish with parsley.
CHAPTER XVIII
BETTINA GIVES A PORCH PARTY
"I'M so glad that you girls have come, for I've been longing to show you
the porch ever since Bob and I put on the finishing touches."
"O Bettina, it's lovely!" cried all the guests in a chorus. "But weren't
you awfully extravagant?"
"Wait till I tell you. Perhaps I ought not to give myself away, but I am
prouder of our little economies than of anything else; we've had such
fun over them. This is some old wicker furniture that Mother had in her
attic, all but this chair, that came from Aunt Nell's. Bob mended it
very carefully, and then enameled it this dull green color. I have been
busy with these cretonne hangings and cushions for a long time, and we
have been coaxing along the flowers in our hanging baskets and our
window boxes for days and days, so that they would make a good
impression on our first porch guests. Bob made the flower boxes himself
and enameled them to go with the furniture. This high wicker flower box
was a wedding gift, and so was the wicker reading lamp. This matting rug
is new, but I must admit that we bought nothing else except this
drop-leaf table, which I have been wanting for a long time. You see it
will make a good serving table, and then we expect to eat on it in warm
weather."
"What are we to make today, Bettina? The invitation has made us all
curious.
"'The porch is cool as cool can be,
So come on Thursday just at three,
To stay awhile and sew
On something useful, strong, and neat,
Which, with your help, will quite complete
Bettina's bungalow!'"
"What about the little sketches of knives and forks and spoons in the
corners?"
"Bob did that. He wrote the verse, too, or I'm afraid I should have
telephoned. Are we all here? Wait a minute."
And Bettina wheeled out her tea-cart, on which, among trailing
nasturtiums, were mysterious packages wrapped in fringed green tissue
paper.
"What is in them? Silver cases--cut and ready to be made! Oh, how
cunning! Shall we label them, too? What is the card?
"'I'll not incase your silver speech,
For that is quite beyond my reach!'"
"Did Bob do that, too? The impudence!" and Ruth threaded her needle in
preparation.
"You see," said Bettina, "I hadn't found time to make cases for my
silver, so I just decided to let you girls help me! The card tells what
to label them, in outline stitch in these bright colors. I used to open
ten cases at home before I found what I wanted, so I am insuring against
that."
Talk and laughter shortened the afternoon, but at five o'clock Bettina
wheeled out her tea-cart again. The dainty luncheon was decorated with
nasturtiums. The girls laid aside their work while Bettina served:
Sunbonnet Baby Salad Nut Bread Sandwiches
Iced Tea Mint Wafers
Lemon Sherbet Tea Cakes
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Sunbonnet Baby Salad= (Ten portions)
10 halves pears
20 cloves, whole
20 almonds
10 thin slices pimento
10 T-salad dressing
10 pieces lettuce
Arrange the halves of canned pears, round side up, on lettuce leaves,
which curl closely about the pear and have the effect of a hood. Place
cloves in the pear for eyes, blanched almonds for ears, and slip thin
slices of canned pimento into cuts made for nose and mouth. The
expressions may be varied. Put salad dressing around the outside of the
pear to represent hair and arrange a bow of red pimento under the chin
of the sunbonnet baby. These salads are very effective and easy to make.
=Nut Bread= (Twenty-four sandwiches)
1-1/2 C-graham flour
2 C-white flour
4 t-baking powder
1 C-"C" sugar
2 t-salt
1-1/2 C-milk
2/3 C-chopped nut meats, dates or raisins
Sift together all the dry ingredients, add the nut meats and fruit. Add
the milk. Stir well, and pour into two well-buttered loaf pans. Allow to
stand and rise for twenty minutes. Bake three-fourths of an hour in a
moderate oven. Use bread twenty-four hours old for the sandwiches. "C"
sugar is light brown sugar and gives food a delicious flavor.
=Lemon Sherbet= (Ten portions)
4 C-water
2 C-sugar
1/4 C-lemon juice
1 egg white
Boil sugar and water ten minutes. Cool, add lemon juice and strain.
Freeze, and when nearly stiff, add beaten egg white and finish freezing.
=Icing= (White Mountain Cream)
2 C-sugar
1/2 C-water
2 egg whites
1/2 t-lemon extract
Boil the sugar and water without stirring until it threads when dropped
from the spoon. Pour slowly into the whites of the eggs beaten stiffly.
Beat until it holds its shape. Add the flavoring and spread on the cake.
=Bettina's Suggestions=
Arrange the sunbonnet babies on a salad platter, and let the guests
help themselves. The salad is light and attractive. The stem end of the
pear represents the neck. Cream the butter to be used for sandwiches. It
spreads more evenly and goes farther. Sandwiches taste better if allowed
to stand for several hours, wrapped securely in a napkin which has been
well dampened (not wet). Cut the slices very thin and press together
firmly. Cut into fancy shapes.
CHAPTER XIX
BETTINA AND THE EXPENSE BUDGET
"RUTH asked me today how we manage our finances," said Bettina over the
dinner table. "She said that she and Fred were wondering what plan was
best. I'm so glad I have a definite household allowance and that we have
budgeted our expenses so successfully. The other day I was reading an
article by Carolyn Claymore in which she says that three-fourths of the
domestic troubles are caused by disagreements about money."
"Then we haven't much to quarrel about, have we, Betty? That is true in
more than one sense. But I'm sure that this way seems to suit us to a
T."
"I'm even saving money, Bob."
"I don't see how you can when you give me such good things to eat, and
when we have so much company."
"Well, I plan ahead, you know--plan for my left-overs before they are
left, even. I do think that an instinct for buying and planning is
better than an instinct for cooking. And either one can be cultivated.
But it was certainly hard to get that budget of expenses fixed
satisfactorily, wasn't it? I told Ruth that no two families are alike,
and that I couldn't tell her just what they ought to spend for clothes,
or just what groceries ought to cost. After all, it is an individual
matter which things are necessities and which are luxuries. The chief
thing is to live within your means, and save as well as invest
something--and at the same time be comfortable and happy. I told Ruth we
started with the fixed sums and the absolute necessities, and worked
backward. I told her they must absolutely be saving something, if only a
quarter a week. Then, that Fred must manage the budget of expenses that
comes within his realm, and not interfere with hers, and that she must
do the same with the household expenditures, and not worry him. It takes
a lot of adjusting to make the system work satisfactorily, but it is
certainly worth it."
"Did you tell Ruth about the envelope system that my sister Harriet,
uses? She says she is so careless naturally that when George gives her
her allowance each month, she has to put the actual cash in separate
envelopes, and then vow to herself that she will not borrow from the gas
money to make the change for the grocer-boy, and so forth. That is the
only way she can teach herself."
"My cousin's wife used to keep the most wonderful and complete accounts,
but she couldn't tell without a lot of work in hunting up the items how
much she already had spent for groceries or clothes or anything. She had
to change her method, and it was she who taught me to keep my accounts
in parallel columns, a page for a week, because you give me my allowance
each week. I like this way so much, for I can tell at a glance how my
expenses are comparing with the allotted sum."
"I like to look at your funny, neat little notebook, Bettina, all ruled
so carefully for the week, and the headings, such as gas, electricity,
groceries, meat, milk, laundry, across the top."
"Don't make fun of my notebook. I couldn't keep house without it. In
case of fire, I'd save it first of all, I know! It is almost like a
diary to me! I can look back over it and remember, 'That was the day Bob
brought Mr. Green home and we almost ran out of potatoes!' Or 'This was
the day I thought my brown bread had failed, but Bob seemed to like
it!'" she exaggerated.
"Failures in cooking! Why, Bettina, I don't know the meaning of the
words! And I don't see how you can feed me so well on the sum I give you
for the purpose. I'd feel guilty, only you don't look a bit unhappy or
overworked."
"I should say not!"
"You surely don't remember how to cook all the things you give me!"
"No, indeed, Bob, not definitely, that is. You see, on the shelf by my
account book, which you smile over, I have my card index with lots and
lots of recipes filed away. Then I have notebooks, too, with all sorts
of suggestions tucked in them just where I can lay my hand on them."
"Betty dear, you've given me a real glimpse into your business-like
methods! Some men seem to think that it doesn't take brains to run a
house well, but they don't know. It requires just as much executive
ability and common sense as it does to manage a big business."
That night the dinner for two consisted of:
Cold Ham Green Peppers Stuffed with Rice
Light Rolls Peach Butter
Hot Fudge Cake
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Light Rolls=
2 T-sugar
1/4 t-salt
1/2 C-scalded milk
1/2 yeast cake
3/4 C-flour
2 T-melted butter
1 egg, well-beaten
2 T-lukewarm water
flour
Add the sugar and salt to the scalded milk and when lukewarm, add the
yeast dissolved in the lukewarm water, and three-fourths of a cup of
flour. Cover and set in a warm place to rise. Then add the melted
butter, the well-beaten egg, and enough flour to knead. Let rise in a
warm place. Roll to one-half an inch in thickness and shape with a
biscuit cutter. Butter the top of each. Fold over, place in a buttered
pan, close together. Let rise again for forty-five minutes and then bake
in a quick oven for twenty minutes.
=Green Peppers Stuffed with Rice=
6 green peppers
1 C-white sauce
1/2 C-cooked rice
1 T-chopped green pepper
3 onions cooked and cut fine
1/2 t-paprika
Cut the stem ends from the peppers, and remove all seeds; add one-eighth
of a teaspoonful of soda to each pepper, fill with water and allow to
stand one-half hour. Mix one cup of white sauce with the rice, onions,
chopped pepper and paprika. Fill the pepper cases and bake thirty
minutes in a moderate oven.
=Hot Fudge Cake=
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
2 egg yolks
2 squares (or ounces) of chocolate, melted
1/2 C-molasses
1/2 C-sour milk
1/2 C-hot water
2 C-flour
1 t-cinnamon
1 t-soda
1 t-baking powder
1/4 t-salt
1 t-vanilla
2 egg whites
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming. Add the egg
yolks, melted chocolate, molasses, sour milk, hot water, flour,
cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat two minutes, and
add the stiffly beaten egg whites. Fill well-buttered muffin pans
one-half full, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes.
Serve hot as a dessert, with whipped cream.
CHAPTER XX
MRS. DIXON AND BETTINA'S EXPERIMENT
"I'M so happy!" said Mrs. Dixon, as she stopped at Bettina's door one
cool morning. "But I'm nervous, too! What if Frank shouldn't like it?"
"Oh, but he will!" Bettina assured her. "He'll think he's the luckiest
man in town, and I almost believe that he is! He'll love that dear
little white house with the screened porch! Why, the very grass looks as
if it longed to spell 'Welcome' like some of the door mats I've seen!
And think of the flower boxes! You were very fortunate to rent it for a
year, furnished so nicely, and probably when that time is up you'll be
ready to build or buy one of your own."
"You are a dear to cheer me up this way, but I'm nervous in spite of
you. Perhaps I should have consulted Frank before I promised to take the
house."
"But he has been urging you to keep house for so long! And I know he'll
be grateful to you for sparing him the worry of hunting one himself.
Besides, he'll like being surprised."
"Well, I'll go back to the hotel for luncheon with him, and then I'll
phone him later to meet me at the house. I won't tell him a thing; I'll
just give him the address. I'll say it's very, very important. That will
surprise him and perhaps will frighten him a little. He never does leave
his office during business hours, but it will take only a few minutes
for him to run out here in the car. Goodness, I'm forgetting what I came
for! Do you suppose I am too stupid to try to make those Spanish buns
Frank liked so much? We had them at the picnic, you know. I have three
hours after luncheon until he comes, and I just long to give him some
good coffee and some Spanish buns that I've made myself! That little
kitchen looks as if it would be so nice to work in! I tried coffee a
little while ago over at the house, and really--it was fine! It looked
just like yours! I was so surprised! To think of my doing such things!"
"Of course you could make Spanish buns; it would be fine if you would.
I'll tell you,--why not let me come over for an hour right after
luncheon and superintend? Then I'll slip home so that you can be alone
when Frank comes. I could tell you some other things about cooking while
we're there together,--things you may write down in your new notebook.
For example, I've often wondered that so few housekeepers can make good
white sauce."
"What in the world is that?"
"It's used in cream soups, and it's the cream part of creamed vegetables
and meat and fish, and then there is a thicker white sauce that is used
to bind croquettes--that is, hold the ingredients together. There are
really four kinds of white sauces and they are very simple to make. I
think everyone should know the right way to make them, for they are
useful in preparing so many good things."
"I'm glad we'll be near you because I can ask you so many questions."
"And I'm glad that it is summer, because you can have so many things
that require little or no cooking, and by fall, I'm sure you will be an
accomplished housekeeper."
"Will you come over at two, then, or earlier if you can?"
"Of course I will!"
And as Mrs. Dixon hurried away Bettina felt a sympathetic thrill at the
happiness two other people were about to find.
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Spanish Buns= (Twelve Buns)
1/2 C-butter
1 C-sugar
1 egg-yolk
1/2 C-milk
1-3/4 C-flour
3 t-baking powder
1 t-cinnamon
1/4 t-powdered cloves
1 egg-white beaten stiffly
1 t-vanilla
1/2 C-currants
Cream the butter and sugar, add the egg yolk. Mix and sift the flour,
baking powder, cinnamon and cloves; add these and the milk to the first
mixture. Beat one minute. Add the vanilla and the stiffly beaten egg
white. Bake in well buttered muffin pans twenty minutes in a moderate
oven. Ice with confectioner's icing.
=Confectioner's Icing= (Twelve portions)
3 T-cream
1 t-vanilla
1 C-powdered sugar
Mix the cream and vanilla, add sugar slowly until the consistency to
spread (more sugar may be needed). This is a most satisfactory frosting
and is easily and quickly made. It is suitable for hot weather.
=White Sauces= (Four portions)
=1--Soup=
1 T-flour
1 T-butter
1 C-liquid
1/4 t-salt
This is the consistency for creamed soups.
=2--Vegetable Sauce=
2 T-butter
2 T-flour
1 C-milk
1/4 t-salt
This white sauce is used for creamed vegetables, creamed fish, etc. This
amount is required for two cups of vegetables.
=3--Pattie Sauce=
3 T-butter
3 T-flour
1 C-milk
1/3 t-salt
This sauce is used for oyster or other patties.
=4--Croquette Sauce=
3 T-butter
4 T-flour
1 C-milk
1/3 t-salt
This is called a binding white sauce and is used to hold other
ingredients together.
=Method of Preparing White Sauces=
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour and salt, stirring
constantly. When well mixed add the liquid, a little at a time. Bring to
a boil, stirring constantly. This is far better than mixing the flour
with a little of the liquid when cold, as so many people do when
creaming potatoes or other things. If the white sauce seems too thick
for the purpose, thin with a little more liquid before removing from the
fire.
CHAPTER XXI
A RAINY-DAY DINNER
THE rain had been falling all day in a heavy downpour, and Bettina had
ventured out only to gather some red clover blooms for the porch table,
which she was now setting for dinner. In spite of the rain, it was not
cold, and she liked the contrast of the cheerful little table, with its
white cloth and bright silver, and the gray day just outside the screen.
"If Bob would only come home early, how nice it would be!" she thought.
"Perhaps that's he at the telephone now."
However, it proved to be Mrs. Dixon. "I phoned to ask you if I should
throw away the yolks of two eggs. I've just used the whites."
"Oh, no, Mrs. Dixon! Beat them up well, and add a little cold water to
them. Then set them in the ice-box. They will be just as good later as
they would be now. You may want them for salad dressing or something
else."
"If I ever have the white of the egg left, shall I treat that the same
way?"
"No, don't beat that up at all, nor add any water. Just set it in the
refrigerator as it is. I'm so glad you called up, Mrs. Dixon. Will you
and your husband take dinner with us next Sunday? Perhaps we might all
go to church first."
"We'd love to do that! I've just been worrying over Sunday dinner, and
you've restored my peace of mind. But won't it be a great deal of work
for you?"
"I won't let it be. I don't believe in those heavy, elaborate Sunday
dinners that take all the morning to prepare. We'll just come home from
church and have it in half an hour. You may help me."
"We'd love to come. I have so much to tell you. I've been very busy, but
Frank has helped, and it has been such fun! You don't know how he enjoys
the little house! Well, good-bye till tomorrow!"
"Boo!" shouted Bob in her ear, as she hung up the receiver. "I
discovered your dark secret this morning! Frank Dixon told me!"
"Well, what did you think of it?"
"The only possible solution in that case. You are their good angel--that
is, if she doesn't poison Frank with her cooking, or burn the house down
when she's lighting the fire."
"She won't, don't worry! She takes to housekeeping as if she had always
done it. Her house is immaculate; she has been cleaning and dusting and
polishing from morning to night. I'm almost ashamed of mine!"
"I'm not!" said Bob, decidedly. "I don't see how you can keep it clean
at all with a man like me scattering papers and cigar ashes everywhere.
And I'm always losing my belongings, and always will, I suppose."
"That's only a sign that we haven't discovered the proper place for them
all yet. But we'll work it out in time. Well, are you hungry?"
"Hungry? I should say so! Why, I could almost eat you!"
"Well, Bob, we have a rainy-day dinner tonight that I hope you'll enjoy.
Hash! Does that frighten you?"
"Not your hash, Betty."
"Well, everything is ready."
The rainy evening menu consisted of:
Browned Hash Creamed Cauliflower
Date Muffins Butter
Apple Sauce Cake Chocolate
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Browned Hash= (Two portions)
1 C-chopped cold cooked beef
1 C-cold boiled potatoes diced
a few drops of onion juice
2/3 t-salt
1/4 t-pepper
1 T-milk
1 T-fat (lard, butter or one-half of each)
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Spread the mixture evenly in a hot
frying-pan in which the fat has been placed. Cook without stirring until
a crust is formed on the bottom; fold over like an omelet and place on a
hot platter.
=Creamed Cauliflower= (Two portions)
1 head cauliflower
4 C-water
1 t-salt
1 C-vegetable white sauce
Separate cauliflower into sections, wash well and cook in boiling salted
water until tender. (About half an hour.) Drain and cover with vegetable
white sauce.
=Date Muffins= (Ten muffins)
1/4 C-sugar
1/4 C-dates cut fine
1 egg
1/4 t-salt
3/4 C-milk
1-3/4 C-flour
4 t-baking powder
2 T-butter (melted)
Mix the sugar, dates, baking powder, flour and salt. Add milk in which
one egg has been beaten. Beat two minutes. Add butter, melted. Fill
well-buttered muffin pans half full of the mixture, and place in the
oven. Bake twenty minutes. Serve hot or cold.
=Apple Sauce Cake= (Ten portions)
1/2 C-butter
1 C-sugar
1 egg, beaten light
1-3/4 C-flour
1 t-soda
1-1/2 t-cinnamon
1/2 t-powdered cloves
1 C-hot, thick, strained, sweetened apple sauce
1 C-mixed, chopped raisins, nut meats and dates
1 t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar gradually. Stir well. Add the
well-beaten egg. Mix the soda and apple-sauce, and add to the first
ingredients. Alternately with the flour and spices, add the vanilla and
fruit. Beat for two minutes. Turn into a square pan, and sift granulated
sugar over the top. Bake in a moderate oven one-half hour.
CHAPTER XXII
BUYING A REFRIGERATOR
"SOMETHING in refrigerators?" said the clerk politely to Mrs. Dixon and
Bettina.
"You talk to him," said Mrs. Dixon. "I don't know a thing about a
refrigerator; that's why I begged you to come."
"Well," considered Bettina, her red brown head on one side, "we want one
that will hold not less than a hundred pounds of ice. The large ones are
much more economical in the long run. Here, Mrs. Dixon, is a
hundred-pound fellow. May we examine it, please?"
"Certainly, madam."
"No, this won't do. See, Mrs. Dixon, the trap is in the bottom of the
food chamber. That is wasteful and inconvenient, because in cleaning it
you would have to leave the door of the larger compartment open. That
would let the cold air out and waste the ice. Anyhow, you know the trap
is the sewer of the refrigerator, and has no business in the food
chamber. The trap really ought to be in the bottom of the ice chamber,
where it can be cleaned without removing the food, or opening the door
of the food compartment. Besides, I prefer to have the ice put in at a
door on the side of the front, not on the top. Yes, here is the kind I
mean. I like this trap, too. See, Mrs. Dixon, isn't it fine? It has a
white enamel lining and shelves of open wire that can be removed."
"It looks nice, doesn't it? And when I get some white shelf paper on
those shelves it will be like an attractive cupboard."
"Oh, my dear! You mustn't do that! That would prevent the circulation of
air through the ice-box, which is the very thing that makes the food
compartment cold. You see, that circulation of air goes on through these
open-wire shelves. Another thing, I've seen people cover the ice with
newspapers to keep it from melting, as they thought. But they were
mistaken. Any friction causes warmth, and ice keeps better when there is
nothing touching it."
"Well, if you like this one, I'll ask the price of it."
"It will be expensive, I'm afraid, but the most economical in the long
run. Are you staying downtown to meet Mr. Dixon?"
"Yes, I'd like him to see the refrigerator. He takes such an interest in
these household things I'm getting."
"Well, good-bye, dear. I must hurry home to get dinner. It won't take
long, but I'll have to go, or Bob will get there first, and I'm a little
sentimental about being there to greet him at the door."
Bettina's dinner that night consisted of:
Broiled Lamb Chops
Boiled New Potatoes New Peas in Cream
Vegetable Salad
Bread Butter
Rhubarb Pudding
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Broiled Lamb Chops= (Three portions)
3 chops
1 t-salt
Wipe chops and place in a red-hot frying-pan. As soon as the under
surface is seared, turn and sear the other side. Turn down the fire a
little, and continue to cook, turning chops often. Cook seven minutes if
liked rare. When cooked, sprinkle with salt and spread with butter.
=Creamed New Peas= (Three portions)
1 qt. peas
1/8 t-soda
1/2 t-salt
Shell one quart of peas, cover with cold water and let stand ten
minutes, wash well, and drain off the water. Cover with boiled water and
cook twenty to fifty minutes, according to age of peas. A pinch of soda
may be added to the water. It softens the skins on the peas. Add salt
when the peas have cooked twenty minutes.
=White Sauce for Peas= (Three portions)
1 T-butter
1 T-flour
1/8 t-salt
1/2 C-milk
Melt the butter, add the flour and salt, mixing well, and the milk,
stirring constantly. Cook two minutes. Add the peas.
=Rhubarb Pudding= (Three portions)
1 C-cooked, sweetened rhubarb sauce
2 T-flour
1 T-cold water
1 egg-white
1/8 t-salt
Add the water slowly to the flour and mix well. Add the rhubarb sauce
and cook until very thick (about five minutes). Add the stiffly beaten
white of egg, mix thoroughly and turn into moistened moulds. Serve cold
with cream.
CHAPTER XXIII
BETTINA'S SUNDAY DINNER
"THIS seems like old times!" remarked Mr. Dixon, as he and his wife
strolled leisurely home from church with Bob and Bettina. "I haven't had
this peaceful Sunday feeling since I was a youngster. Then all the
Sundays were like this, cool, quiet and sunny--sprinkled all over with
little girls in smooth curls and white leghorn hats, and little boys in
uncomfortable, hot clothes a size too large, and newly polished shoes. I
often recall the plentiful Sunday dinners, too!"
"Don't get your hopes too high!" said Bettina. "Though I will promise
you one treat, wild roses on the table. Bob and I walked out into the
country last evening and found them."
"What can I do?" inquired Mrs. Dixon, when she and Bettina were alone in
the kitchen.
"You can sit here and talk to me while these potatoes are cooking and
the veal birds getting done. You see, the birds have already cooked
three-quarters of an hour this morning before I went to church. The
waxed beans are in the fireless cooker; I have to make the butter sauce
for them. And you see I have the new potatoes all prepared, standing in
cold water. I have only to cook them in boiling salted water till they
are done. That won't take long, as they aren't large. I set the table on
the porch this morning. Bob can make the coffee in the percolator in a
little while, when we're ready. He usually starts it when we come to the
table, and then it is ready in time to serve last. By the way, if you
like the Thousand Island dressing we are to have for the head lettuce,
I'd like to give you the recipe. It is a very popular one just now."
"Oh, I've eaten it! Frank is very fond of it, and used to order it every
chance he had at the hotel. Will you really tell me how to make it? So
many good dinners now end with the salad and cheese and coffee, and I
think Thousand Island dressing on head lettuce makes a splendid salad."
"Of course I'll show you. Well, the iced cantaloupe, which is our first
course, is in the ice-box. Our dessert today is just cake with chocolate
cream frosting, and coffee. It is such a simple Sunday dinner, but
that's the kind I believe in!"
BETTINA'S SUNDAY DINNER
Iced Cantaloupe
Veal Birds Boiled New Potatoes
Gravy
Waxed Beans Butter Sauce
Bread Butter
Head Lettuce Thousand Island Dressing
Salt Wafers
Cake with Chocolate Cream Frosting
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Veal Birds= (Six portions)
1-1/2 lb. veal steak
4 slices bacon
1 T-butter
1/2 C-crumbs, fresh
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
2 T-milk
2 T-fat
Cut veal from the round (veal steak) into strips, four by two and a half
inches. Put the trimming and four slices of bacon through the food
chopper. Cook the chopped meat three minutes in the butter. Add to this
the fresh bread crumbs, salt, pepper and milk. Spread this mixture on
the strips of veal. Roll and tie securely with white cord, roll in flour
and sauté until browned a little on both sides, in two tablespoons fat
in frying pan. Place in a casserole or small covered pan. Season each
bird with salt and a small piece of butter. Pour an inch and a half of
water into the pan. Cook an hour, or a little less, in a moderate oven.
Gravy may be made by adding four tablespoons of water to two level
tablespoons of flour, mixing carefully and gradually pouring into the
stock in which the meat has been cooked. Bring to a boil.
=Thousand Island Salad Dressing= (Six portions)
1/2 C-olive oil
2 T-lemon juice
2 T-orange juice
1 t-onion juice
1/4 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
1 t-Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t-mustard
1 t-chopped parsley
Place all the above ingredients in a pint fruit jar, fit a rubber on the
jar cover, and shake vigorously until the dressing is well mixed and
creamy. Pour over tomatoes, asparagus, peas, beans, spinach or lettuce.
Serve as a salad.
=Cake with Chocolate Cream Filling= (Six portions)
1/2 C-butter
1 C-sugar
1 beaten egg yolk
1-1/2 C-sifted flour
2 t-baking powder
1/4 t-mace
1/2 t-vanilla
1/2 C-milk
1 egg-white, stiffly beaten
Cream the butter, add the sugar, yolk of egg, dry ingredients and milk.
Stir well, add the flavoring, beat two minutes, cut and fold in the egg
white. Bake in a large round buttered pan in a moderate oven for thirty
minutes. The pan should be seven inches in diameter. Cover with
confectioner's icing.
=Confectioner's Icing=
2 C-powdered sugar
3 T-milk
1 t-vanilla
12 chocolate creams
Mix vanilla and milk, add powdered sugar. Mix until stiff enough to
spread. Cut creams in half and arrange on the cake.
CHAPTER XXIV
BETTINA VISITS A TEA-ROOM
"AREN'T you a bit timid about driving?" asked Bettina, as she stepped
into the car beside Mrs. Dixon.
"Not now. You see, I've been practicing every evening with Frank, and he
says that I am as good a driver as he is! Oh, Bettina, we are having so
much fun these days! The little house is a great success, and I'm really
learning to cook! I've had some dreadful failures; but Frank doesn't
seem to mind. You see, I know he gets a good meal downtown at noon, and
so I don't worry about him."
"Look, Charlotte! What lovely goldenrod! We must stop and get some!
Don't you love it?"
"Indeed I do! I have a rough brown waste-paper basket that it looks
stunning in. I set the jar of goldenrod right inside! Frank is very fond
of it."
"Charlotte, you're just like a bride yourself--thinking about Frank's
likes and dislikes."
"Am I?" laughed Mrs. Dixon as her color rose. "Well, lately Frank seems
just like his old self! He appreciates everything so, and is so nice at
home! And it seems that he can hardly get home quickly enough! We have
enjoyed getting things settled and planning our future. Next year we may
build a house of our own, but I don't care to have it too large to
manage easily."
"Are you going to stop here?" asked Bettina, as Mrs. Dixon slowed down
after a peaceful stretch of level road.
"Yes, I want to show you something."
A short path led to a small house close to the road, but almost hidden
in a tangle of flowers and wild grapevines.
"Isn't this a cunning little rustic place?" asked Charlotte. "Two
friends of mine started it. See" (pointing to the sign over the door),
"it's called 'The Friendly Inn.' Inside you'll find that quotation about
living in a house at the side of the road and being a friend to every
man. You know that one. These girls live on that farm over there. When
they came home from college they wanted something to do--some way to
earn money--but they didn't care to leave home. This is such a splendid
road that the autos swarm past all summer long. These girls opened this
little tea room, and serve luncheons and tea here all summer. Most of
their supplies come directly from the farm. It is just a pleasant drive
from the city, and many people like to come out here in the afternoon.
I'll introduce you to the girls."
Bettina found the inn-keepers charming, and after a short conversation,
she and Mrs. Dixon ordered:
Tomato Cup Salad Iced Tea
Bread and Butter Sandwiches
Vanilla Ice Cream Chocolate Sauce
Marshmallow Cakes
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Tomato Cup Salad= (Six portions)
6 tomatoes
1 C-diced cucumbers
1/4 C-chopped green peppers
1/4 C-sliced radishes
1 T-chopped onion
1 t-salt
1/8 t-paprika
6 T-salad dressing
Wash cold firm tomatoes of a uniform size. Cut a slice from the stem end
and scoop out seeds and pulp. Save the pulp. Sprinkle the inside with
salt. Invert for five minutes. Mix the cucumber, green pepper, radishes,
onions, tomato pulp, and salad dressing. Fill with the mixture and
refill the shells. Have all of the ingredients cold and serve at once.
If the mixture stands in the tomato cups very long it becomes watery.
The tomatoes may be prepared and kept cool, and the mixture prepared,
all but the onion, and placed in the ice-box until ready for use. Never
put anything containing onion in the ice-box. Serve the tomatoes on
crisp lettuce leaves.
=Chocolate Sauce for the Ice Cream= (Six portions)
1 C-sugar
1 square of chocolate
1/8 t-salt
2 T-flour
1 t-butter
1 t-vanilla
2 C-boiling water
Mix the sugar, flour and salt. Add the square of chocolate and boiling
water. Allow to boil four minutes, stirring constantly. Add the butter
and vanilla. Serve hot or cold with ice cream.
=Marshmallow Cake=
Use any white cake recipe. Bake in gem pans. Cover with White Mountain
cream icing. Just before the icing is ready to spread, add quartered
marshmallows. Do not add the marshmallows while the icing is hot, as
they will melt, and the little "bumps" are attractive when spread on the
cake.
CHAPTER XXV
BETTINA ENTERTAINS ALICE AND MR. HARRISON
"BY the way, Bettina," said Bob, over the phone, "I saw Harrison and
asked him out to dinner tonight. He said he was to call on Alice later,
so I suggest that you invite her, too."
Bettina smiled to herself at Bob's casual tone. Ought she to ask him not
to invite company without consulting her?
"No!" she decided emphatically. "Company or no company, our meals shall
be simple, but good enough for anybody. I'll not change my menu for
Alice and Mr. Harrison. I'm sure they'll like it just as it is."
"To tell the truth, Bettina," said Alice's vivacious voice over the
telephone, "I'd love to come, if it weren't for that--that man!"
"But, Alice, you're going to see him later."
"I know; worse luck! He's the most insufferable person I know! You see,
last night we had a little argument, and he was very rude."
"Maybe he's coming to apologize."
"Don't you imagine it! He couldn't. He dislikes society girls above all
other people."
"Oh, Alice!"
"Well, he does! He told me so evening before last, out at the park."
"Seems to me you're seeing a good deal of him for a man you feel that
way about."
"Well, you started it. You told me that he was a woman-hater, and I
thought it would be fun to reform him. At first he thought me fine and
sensible, but lately I've been showing him how frivolous I really am. I
suppose I hoped that by this time he'd approve of everything I said and
did. But he won't. He seems actually to be trying to reform me! And I
won't be reformed! I could never be anything but frivolous Alice if I
wanted to! I hate those big, slow, serious men, without any fun in
them!"
"Cheer up, my dear!" laughed Bettina. "Come tonight, anyhow. I like the
frivolous kind, whether he does or not."
That evening, much to Bettina's secret amusement, Mr. Harrison and Alice
met on the doorstep.
"Don't think we came together," explained Alice, flippantly. "A dinner
and an evening of me are about all Mr. Harrison can endure!"
"I couldn't have spared the time, anyhow, Miss Alice. You see, I'm a
busy man, and the people who are doing worth-while things in this world
are obliged to overlook some of the amenities."
It was on Bettina's tongue to inquire how a busy man found time to make
so many calls as he was making now. But she refrained, knowing well that
lively Alice could hold her own with any man in the universe, even
though she might not be doing the things that Mr. Harrison considered
worth while.
"A fine dinner," said he to Bettina, as they sat down at the table. "I
admire a woman who knows how to prepare and serve food. She is paying
her way in the most dignified and worth-while profession of all--that of
a home-maker."
"Mr. Harrison," asked Alice severely, "may I inquire whether or not you
know how to drive insects out of cabbage before serving it?"
"I'm afraid I don't."
"Well, I'm surprised, for even I know that. Bettina just told me. You
place the cabbage, head downward, in cold water, to each quart of which
has been added a tablespoonful of vinegar."
"Silly Alice!" said Bettina. "Don't tease! Look at my lovely pansies.
Alice, I believe you gave me that flower-holder when I announced my
engagement."
"When I announce my engagement----" said Alice.
Bettina saw a strange and startled look come over Mr. Harrison's face,
which immediately departed when Alice added:
"Which will be years hence, no doubt--I hope my friends will give me
nothing useful. I love to come here, Bettina, but I'm not a natural-born
housekeeper like you. I shall marry an idle millionaire, and we will do
nothing but travel aimlessly about from one end of the world to the
other. That is my idea of perfect happiness!"
That night for dinner Bettina served:
Pork Chops Potatoes Maitre d'Hotel Butter
Bread Butter
Cabbage Salad Served in Lemon Halves
Cocoanut Blanc Mange Custard Sauce
Iced Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Pork Chops= (Four portions)
4 chops
1/4 C-water
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-pepper
Wipe the chops, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a hot frying-pan
(no fat added), brown on one side and then turn on the other side,
cooking over a moderate fire. Add the water and immediately place the
cover on the frying-pan. The steam cooks the pork more quickly and
prevents over-browning. Cook twenty-five minutes.
=Maitre d'Hotel Butter Sauce= (Four portions)
3 T-butter
1 T-lemon juice
1/2 t-salt
1/8 t-pepper
1/2 t-parsley
Cream the butter, add the lemon juice, salt, pepper and finely chopped
parsley. Pour this over new potatoes which have been boiled. Garnish
with parsley.
=Cocoanut Blanc Mange= (Four portions)
1/4 C-cornstarch
1/4 C-sugar
1/2 t-salt
2 T-cold water
2 C-milk
2/3 C-cocoanut
2 egg whites
1/2 t-vanilla
Mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt with the cold water. Add the milk
slowly, stirring well. Cook twenty minutes in a double boiler, stirring
occasionally, or ten minutes over the flame, stirring constantly. Cool
slightly and add the shredded cocoanut and the stiffly beaten whites of
the eggs. Add the vanilla. One-fourth of a cup of nuts, candied cherries
or preserved pineapple may be added if desired. Chill in moulds wet with
cold water. Serve with cream or custard sauce made from the egg yolks.
=Custard Sauce= (Four portions)
2 egg yolks
1/3 C-sugar
1/8 t-salt
1 T-flour
2 C-milk
1 t-vanilla
Beat the eggs, slowly add the sugar and the flour well blended, the salt
and the milk. Cook in a double boiler until thick enough to coat a
silver spoon. Add the flavoring and serve cold.
CHAPTER XXVI
OVER THE TELEPHONE
BOB and Bettina were at breakfast one morning when the telephone rang.
"It's Mrs. Dixon, Bettina," said Bob, his hand over the mouthpiece.
"Much excited. Panicky. House afire. Hurry."
"Hello, Charlotte!" said Bettina, quickly. "What in the world is the
trouble?"
"The worst yet!" came a nervous voice. "Frank's Aunt Isabel is to be at
our house tonight! Oh, I wish you knew her! She never did approve of
me!"
"Oh, Charlotte, you just imagine that! She wouldn't come if she disliked
you so!"
"That's just it! She didn't approve of me when we lived at the hotel,
and now that we've taken a house, she wants to see how things are."
"Well, things are fine! Doesn't Frank say so?"
"Yes, of course. But the meals! Two company meals to get, and for a
critical person like her, too! What on earth shall I do?"
"Now, don't be nervous, Charlotte! It's easy! We'll think up a delicious
little dinner that you can prepare mostly beforehand. When does she
arrive?"
"Five o'clock, and leaves just after breakfast."
"Good! Two simple meals and all day in which to get them ready. Let's
see. The weather is warm, so you will prefer a dinner that is partly
cold. Watermelon that has been in the refrigerator all day would be a
simple dessert, with no cake or anything else to think of. How about
cold boiled tongue for your main dish? Sliced thin and garnished with
parsley. You might also have a very good salad. Apple, celery and green
pepper salad would be delicious and economical also. Then you might have
corn on the cob. I've had it recently and know how good it is. That
would be the only thing you would have to think of at meal time, and it
is very easy to cook. You would serve it in a napkin to keep it hot.
Then I want to send you some peach butter that I made the other day;
that would go beautifully with your dinner. There you have it all! If I
were doing it, I should add iced tea to drink, served very daintily,
with sliced lemon and mint leaves."
"Oh, Bettina, how good it sounds! Will you repeat that menu for me?"
Cold Boiled Tongue
Apple, Celery and Green Pepper Salad
Golden Bantam Corn on the Cob
Bread Butter Peach Butter
Iced Tea Lemon
Sliced Watermelon
"Now, if you'll get a pencil and paper, I will give you some directions
about cooking."
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Boiled Tongue= (Four portions)
A fresh beef tongue of two pounds
1 T-vinegar
Wipe the tongue well. Place in a kettle and cover with cold water. Add
the vinegar. Bring to a boil, and boil slowly until it seems tender when
pierced with a fork. (It should boil at least two hours.) Take the
tongue from the water, and remove the skin and roots while it is still
warm. Cool, and slice thin. This may easily be cooked in the fireless
cooker, in which case the water with which the tongue is covered must be
brought to a good boil on the stove, and then removed to the cooker. If
the tongue is very salty, soak in cold water for two hours.
=Apple, Celery and Green Pepper Salad= (Four portions)
1 cup tart apples cut in 1/2-inch
cubes
2 T-lemon juice
2/3 C-celery (diced)
1 large green pepper (cut in strips)
1 t-salt
1/2 t-paprika
6 T-salad dressing
Mix the lemon juice and apples to prevent discoloring. Add the celery,
green peppers, salt, paprika seasoning and salad dressing. Serve cold on
lettuce leaves.
=Corn on the Cob= (Four portions)
8 ears corn
Carefully remove husks and all silk from the corn. Cover with boiling
water. Cook ten minutes, or longer if the corn is old. If salt is added
to water, it turns the corn yellow and toughens the husks. Very tender
young corn needs little cooking. Salt may be added (one teaspoon to a
quart of water) two minutes before removing from the fire.
=Peach Butter= (One and one-half pints)
2 C-peaches
1 C-sugar
Peel peaches and slice very fine. Add one cup of sugar to every two cups
of peaches. Let stand twenty minutes. Mix well, and cook quickly for
twenty-five minutes. Put in glasses and seal.
CHAPTER XXVII
BETTINA HAS A BAKING-DAY
"WHY, Ruth, I didn't hear you come in!"
"The door was partly open--Bob must have left it that way--and I slipped
in quickly to see what you were up to. It's raining as if it never
intended to stop. I called to Bob on his way downtown, and asked what
you were doing today. He said that wonderful baking preparations were
going on because you expected his sister Polly and her three children
tomorrow. That sounded like a deluge--all those lively youngsters, and
Polly livelier yet--so, I came over to see if I couldn't help."
"Indeed you can, Ruth! That was dear of you! We'll have a houseful,
won't we? I have planned to put Polly and Dorothy and the baby in the
guest room, but Donald will have to sleep on the davenport. And I'm
planning to do most of the cooking today, so that tomorrow we can visit
and see people and show the children the sights. They are coming this
afternoon, and will be here Sunday and Monday at least. As soon as I
finish filling these salt-shakers, I'll begin the baking. Goodness, it
will certainly be a help to have you here, Ruth! You were such a dear to
come in all this rain!"
"Oh, I like it! I always learn so much from you, Bettina. But what on
earth are you doing with that rice?"
"Just putting a few grains in the shakers. You know salt gets damp on a
rainy day like this, and the rice loosens it and absorbs the moisture.
I'm doing it first because I might forget."
"What are you going to make?"
"Well, I'll cook some potatoes and beets to warm up or make salad of,
and I'll make a veal loaf and a white cake, I think. Then some salad
dressing, and a berry pie and some sour cream cookies. Oh, yes, some
nut-bread and some tomato gelatin, too."
"Goodness! Can you use all those things?"
"Yes, indeed! For tonight's dinner I'll have lamb chops, and some of the
cooked potatoes, creamed, and tomato gelatin, and the blackberry pie.
(You know berry pies ought to be eaten soon after they are made.) If
tomorrow is a nice day, we'll eat our dinner in the park, and in any
case, I'll be prepared, for I'll have the veal loaf, and the beets to
warm up, and the rest of the potatoes to cream or make salad of, and the
nut-bread for sandwiches if we need them, and the cake and some sliced
peaches for dessert."
"And the cookies?"
"Well, children always want cookies. I'll bake these on my big baking
sheets just the size of the oven, and I'll put lots of raisins on top."
"Bettina, what fun it would be to visit you! But we must get at our work
or Polly and family will be here before this big baking is done!"
BETTINA'S BAKING DAY RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Berry Pie= (Four portions)
1-1/2 C-berries (black or blue berries)
1/2 C-sugar
2 T-flour
1/8 t-salt
1 T-lemon juice
Wash the fruit, mix with the sugar, flour, salt and lemon juice. Line a
deep pie tin with a plain pie paste and sprinkle one tablespoon sugar
over bottom crust. Add the berry mixture. Wet the lower crust slightly.
Roll out the upper crust and make slits in the middle to allow the steam
to escape. Place on the lower crust, pinching the edges together. Bake
in a moderately hot oven forty minutes.
=Tomato Jelly= (Six portions)
2 C-tomatoes
1/2 C-water
1 T-sugar
1 bay leaf
3 cloves
1 t-salt
2 T-gelatine
Simmer tomatoes, water, sugar, bay leaf, cloves, and salt for ten
minutes. Strain. Soak the gelatin in two tablespoons cold water, and add
the hot vegetable mixture. Pour into small wet moulds. Chill for two
hours and serve with salad dressing.
=Boiled Salad Dressing= (One cup)
2 egg yolks
2 T-flour
1 t-salt
1 t-mustard
1/8 t-paprika
1/2 t-butter
1/3 C-vinegar
1/3 C-water
2 T-sugar
Beat egg-yolks thoroughly and add the dry ingredients (mixed and
sifted). Gradually add the vinegar and water. Cook in a double boiler
until thick and creamy, or directly over small flame, stirring
constantly. If whipped cream is to be used, no butter need to be added.
If not, add butter the last thing. Beat with a Dover egg beater until
creamy. Keep in a cool place.
=Sour Cream Cookies= (Three dozen)
1 C-sugar
1/2 C-butter (or lard and butter mixed)
2 eggs
1/2 C-sour cream or sour milk
1/2 t-soda
1/2 t-salt
2 t-grated nutmeg
about 2 C-flour, or as little as possible
Cream the fat, add the sugar. Cream again. Add the eggs well beaten,
sour milk, one cup flour, soda, salt and nutmeg mixed and sifted
together. Add the rest of the flour. Roll out to one-third of an inch
thickness, cut any desired shape, and bake in a moderately hot oven for
fifteen minutes. Sugar mixed with a little flour may be sifted over the
dough before cutting. Raisins may also be pressed into the top of each
cooky.
=Doughnuts= (Thirty)
1/4 C-sugar
1 egg beaten
2/3 C-milk
2 C-flour
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-cinnamon
2 t-baking powder
Mix the beaten egg and sugar, add the milk, flour, salt, cinnamon and
baking powder, sifted together. Take one-half of the dough, and roll out
one-third of an inch thick. Cut with a doughnut cutter. Roll and cut the
other half. Put the scraps together and roll again. Fry in deep fat,
turning until a delicate brown. Drain on brown paper.
CHAPTER XXVIII
POLLY AND THE CHILDREN
"WILL you look at the way that child eats her cereal!" ejaculated Polly
at the breakfast table. "And I simply can't get her to eat it at home!
In fact, on warm days like this, she won't eat any breakfast at all."
"I like Aunt Betty's cereal; it looks so pretty," explained little
Dorothy gravely, looking down at her plate of moulded cereal surrounded
by plump red raspberries.
"I hope you don't mind my serving it cold today," said Bettina. "It
seemed so warm yesterday that I cooked the cereal and put it in moulds
in the refrigerator."
"No indeed! The change is a regular treat for the children. They like
fixed-up things like this, and it certainly does give anyone an
appetite."
"Well, in hot weather, no one feels much like eating, anyhow, so I try
to make things as attractive as I can. And I want the children to have
just what they like. . . . You needn't be afraid of this cream, Polly.
We buy it from a neighbor, and I am absolutely sure that it is both
clean and good. I'm ashamed to say that we have no certified milk in
this town. Isn't that dreadful? And people keep on buying it of dairies
that they don't know one thing about! Why, I've seen women who had just
moved to town, and who knew nothing about conditions here, begin
housekeeping by cleaning house thoroughly from top to bottom, and at the
same time, leave an order for milk with the first dairy wagon that
happened to drive down their street! And they buy groceries and meat
from the nearest stores without knowing that three blocks away there
may be other stores that are better, cleaner and less expensive.
Shouldn't you think that women would insist upon knowing all about the
food they are giving their children? It seems to me that much common
sense in a housewife is a great deal more important even than knowing
how to cook and sew."
"I think that knowing how to plan and buy is more important than knowing
how to do things with your hands," said Polly. "After all, it's the
result that counts. You're a wonder, Bettina, because you have a useful
head and useful hands, too, but I haven't. So I try to know as much as
possible about every article of food and clothing that I buy, and to be
sure that I am getting the very best value from Tom's money, but I don't
know how to cook or sew or trim hats or embroider. I like friends and
babies and outdoor exercise, but I'll confess that I don't like
housework."
"Well, Tom and the children seem to be perfectly contented and happy,
and so do you. Therefore, you are a successful housekeeper."
"You are the right kind of a sister-in-law to have, Betty! I quite
approve of Bob's choice!"
The breakfast that morning consisted of:
Moulded Cream of Wheat
Raspberries
Sugar Cream
Poached Eggs on Toast
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Wheat Cereal= (Three portions)
1 C-wheat
2 T-cold water
1/3 C-raspberries
Cook the wheat according to the instructions on the package, only cook
twice as long as the directions suggest. Mix cereal and cold water. Add
boiling water slowly. This method prevents lumping. Wet individual
moulds with cold water, place raspberries around the inside of the mould
and fill with the wheat. Allow to remain in mould for fifteen minutes.
Remove from mould, surround with more berries and serve. If desired
cold, chill in the refrigerator. Cereals may be cooked in a double
boiler or a fireless cooker.
=Method of Cooking Cereals=
Put the water and salt in the upper part of double boiler and place
directly over the flame. When the water boils, add the cereal very
slowly, stirring constantly. Cook for five minutes directly over the
fire. Place the upper part in the lower part of the double boiler
containing boiling water, and cook the required time. All cereals must
be thoroughly cooked.
_AUGUST._
_Twenty little jelly-glasses, twenty pots of jam,
Twenty jars of pickles and preserves,
Making other wealth than this appear a stupid sham,----
Ah, you dears! What color, gleam and curves!_
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XXIX
BETTINA PUTS UP FRUIT
[Illustration]
"HONK! Honk!" sounded an auto horn at Bettina's door one cool morning,
as a crowd of lively voices also summoned her.
"Bettina, O, Bettina! We've come to get you to play tennis with us this
morning. You must! You've been neglecting us for Bob and we're jealous."
"Oh, girls, I simply can't! I have just bought quarts and quarts of
cherries and currants of a boy who came to the door, and I must take
today to put them up!"
"That's easy! Leave 'em till tomorrow!" said Alice cheerfully.
"I can't do that, because they're just at the canning point and it isn't
a good thing to have them a bit over-ripe. Then these are freshly
picked, and that is the best way to have them."
"I'll stay and help; may I?" said Ruth, who had suddenly developed a
deep interest in things domestic.
"Why, of course I'd love to have you, Ruth, but seeding cherries is slow
work, and I believe that playing tennis would be more exciting."
"But not half so interesting as to hear you tell me how you do things. I
love to listen."
"We'll all stay," suggested Mary. "It'll do us good. But you'll have to
lend us big aprons; can you?" And she looked down at her white middy,
skirt, and shoes.
"Come on!" shouted Elsie. "You can lecture as we seed cherries, Bettina.
How are you going to put them up?"
"Well, Bob likes plain currant jelly, and plain canned cherries awfully
well. I may preserve some cherries with currant juice, too, but I think
I'll not do anything very elaborate today."
"Goodness, that sounds elaborate enough to suit me! Will you be looking
over the currants while we are stoning cherries?"
"Leave the stones in half of them, girls; many people like them that way
better."
"What were you doing to all those jars?"
"Just getting ready to sterilize them. You see I'll put them on a folded
cloth, in this big kettle of cold water. Then I'll slowly heat the water
to the boiling point, and fill the jars immediately with the fruit and
syrup. I must scald the rubber rings, too, before I use them."
Bettina was rapidly looking over currants as she talked. "Girls, do you
notice my jelly strainer? See, it's a piece of cheese-cloth fastened
into a wire strainer. It can be attached to any kettle. I haven't used
it yet, but I know that it will be very convenient. You know it's best
to strain the juice through the cheese-cloth without pressure. If I have
the cloth double, the juice will be quite clear. If I wanted an
especially clear jelly, I could even have the juice pass through a
flannel or felt bag."
"How on earth can you tell when the jelly jells?" asked Ruth.
"Well, I test it this way. I take up, in a cold silver spoon, a little
of the mixture that is cooking. If it jells and breaks from the spoon,
it has been cooking long enough. Of course I remove the rest from the
fire while testing it, because it might be done."
"Bettina, cooking and jelly-making and things like that seem to be so
natural for you!" cried Ruth. "I get so frightened sometimes when I
think what if I should be a poor housekeeper and make Fred unhappy!"
"Alice," said Mary, "Heaven forbid that either of us should ever be
talking like that about a man!"
"Goodness, I should say so!" declared Alice emphatically, a little too
emphatically, thought Bettina.
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Currant Jelly=
2 qts. currants
sugar
Pick over currants, but do not remove the stems. Wash and drain. Mash a
few with a vegetable masher in the bottom of a porcelain-lined or
granite kettle. Add more currants and mash. Continue adding currants
until all are used. Bring to a boil slowly and let simmer without
stirring until the currants appear white. Strain through a coarse
strainer, and allow juice to drain through a jelly bag. Measure the
juice, and boil ten minutes. Gradually add an equal amount of heated
sugar, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, and continue boiling
until the test shows that the mixture has jelled. When filling
sterilized glasses, place them in a pan containing a little boiling
water. This keeps the glasses from breaking when hot jelly is poured in.
Fill and set the glasses of jelly aside to cool. Cover with hot melted
paraffin.
=Canned Cherries=
6 qts. cherries
1-1/2 qts. sugar
1/2 pt. water
Measure the cherries after the stems have been removed. Stone if
desired. If they are stoned, be sure to save the juice. Put the sugar
and water in a kettle and stir over the fire until the sugar is
dissolved. Add the cherries and heat slowly to the boiling point. Boil
ten minutes skimming carefully. Put into sterilized jars, filling the
jars to overflowing with the syrup. Seal securely. (When filling the
jars stand them in a pan containing boiling water. This keeps them from
breaking.)
=Bettina's Jelly-Making Suggestions=
1. Use a porcelain-lined or a granite kettle.
2. Let juice drip from a cheese cloth or flannel bag.
3. Measure equal quantities juice and sugar.
4. Boil juice ten minutes, add heated sugar. (Heated
by being placed in warm oven.)
5. Boil until it drops thick from a cold silver spoon,
or jells on a plate.
6. The smaller the quantity of jelly made at a time,
the clearer it is.
7. Cook no more than three cups of juice at a time.
8. Skim carefully.
9. Boil regularly.
10. Pour in sterilized glasses.
11. Let stand in bright sun twenty-four hours.
12. Cover with very hot paraffin. This kills any
bacteria that may have collected.
13. Keep jelly in a cool, dark, dry place.
CHAPTER XXX
A COOL SUMMER DAY
"WHY, hello, Ruth!" cried Bettina at the door one afternoon. "I haven't
seen you for weeks, it seems to me! What have you been doing? Come in
and give an account of yourself!"
"First let me deliver these nasturtiums that mother sent," said Ruth.
"She always remembers how fond you are of flowers."
"Thank you, they're lovely! I need them tonight for my table, too. Will
you come into the kitchen with me while I put these in water?"
"M-m," said Ruth. "Something smells good! In the oven?"
"Yes, pork chops, baked apples and escalloped potatoes. Peek in and see
'em."
"Outch!" cried Ruth, holding her hand in sudden pain. "I forgot that
that pan was hot, and started to pull it out to see better! I'm a
perfect idiot! I do that every time I have anything in the oven!"
"That's a shame, Ruth, dear! Here, apply a little of this olive oil!
It's the nearest remedy I have. Vaseline is good, too, or baking soda.
Hold it with the damp cloth to keep out the air."
"It feels better already," said Ruth. "I made some gingerbread last
evening for dinner--Fred was there--and burned my hand in the same way
exactly. And even at such a cost the gingerbread wasn't very good. I
think I didn't bake it quite long enough. How long ought it to be in the
oven?"
"Well, gingerbread takes longer than most quick-breads. Here, let me
give you my time-guide for baking, and you can keep it in your
card-index. Then it's always at hand when you want to refer to it."
"Thank you, that's a good idea, Bettina. May I sit down here at the
kitchen table and copy it?"
"Do, I'll get you a pencil and a piece of paper. Ruth, won't you stay to
dinner tonight?"
"I can't possibly, Bettina. I am going out with mother, and should be at
home now dressing. Oh, by the way, I had a chance to refer last night to
something you made me copy and put with my recipe cards. 'How to Remove
Grass Stains'! I got it on my white dress--a dreadful looking stain--and
immediately referred to my card-index. It said, 'Moisten with alcohol or
camphor, allow to stand five minutes, and wash out with clear water.'
The stain came out like magic! I used camphor; we didn't happen to have
any alcohol in the house."
"I'm so glad it came out; that is such a pretty white dress. And weren't
you glad you knew just where to find a remedy? It seems a little trouble
to index things, but it is really worth doing."
"I think so, too. Well, there's Bob, and I must rush off. Bob, you're
going to have a good dinner tonight! I've just been investigating!"
Bob had:
Pork Chops Escalloped Potatoes
Baked Apples
Bread Butter
Fresh Pears
Tea
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Baked Apples=
4 apples
8 T-sugar
1/2 C-water
1/2 t-cinnamon
2 T-butter
Select apples of uniform size. Wash and core. Place in a pan, cover the
bottom with water. Fill each cavity with sugar, a dash of powdered
cinnamon and a tiny lump of butter. Bake for thirty minutes, basting
occasionally. Serve around the platter of pork chops.
=Bettina's Time-Guide for Baking Quick Breads=
Pop-overs--Thirty minutes in a hot oven.
Baking-powder biscuits--Ten to fifteen minutes in a hot oven.
Corn bread--Twenty-five to forty minutes in a moderate oven.
Muffins--Twenty to twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
Gingerbread--Thirty to forty-five minutes in a slow oven.
CHAPTER XXXI
BOB AND BETTINA ALONE
"WHY, Bob, look at the front of your Palm Beach suit!" exclaimed
Bettina, after she had greeted Bob at the door. "What in the world have
you been doing?"
"Pretty bad; isn't it!" said he, ruefully. "Frank Dixon brought me home
in his car, and he had some sort of engine trouble. We worked on it for
awhile, but couldn't fix it, so he phoned the garage and I came home on
the street car. I must have rubbed up against some grease. Do you
suppose my clothes are spoiled?"
"No-o," said Bettina, slowly, "not if I get at them. Let me see; what is
it that takes out auto grease? Oh, I know! Bob, you go and change your
clothes right away while I'm cooking the meat for dinner. Then I'll
doctor these."
"What will you do to them?"
"I'll rub them with lard, and let it stay on them for about an hour.
Then after dinner I'll wash them out in warm water and soap, and
then--well, Bob, I believe they'll be all as good as new."
"I thank you, Mrs. Bettina."
When Bob returned and Bettina was putting the dinner on the table, she
smiled to herself over a new idea that had popped into her head.
"Bob, what would you think if I should enter some of my nut-bread at the
state fair?"
"Well, is that what you've been smiling at all this time? I think it
would be fine. If I were judge you'd get first prize in a minute! Say,
strikes me this is a pretty good dinner!"
It consisted of:
Ham Mashed Potatoes
Escalloped Onions
Rolls Butter
Dutch Apple Cake Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Ham= (Three portions)
2/3 lb. ham
2 T-water
Wipe a slice of ham (one-third of an inch thick) and remove the rind.
Place in a hot frying-pan. Add the water. Cook until brown on both sides
(about fifteen minutes).
=Escalloped Onions= (Two portions)
1 C-cooked onions
1/2 C-vegetable white sauce
3 T-fresh bread crumbs
2 T-butter
Mix the onions with the white sauce and pour into a buttered baking
dish. Melt the butter and add the fresh bread crumbs. Place the buttered
crumbs on top of the onions. Brown the mixture in the oven (about
fifteen minutes).
=Dutch Apple Cake= (Two portions)
1 C-flour
1/4 t-salt
2 t-baking powder
1 T-butter
1 egg well beaten
1/3 C-milk
1 sour apple
2 T-sugar
1/2 t-cinnamon
Mix flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in the butter. Add the milk and
egg. Mix well. Spread one-half an inch thick in a shallow pan. Pare and
cut the apples in lengthwise sections. Lay in rows in the dough with the
sharp edges pressed lightly into the dough. Mix the sugar and cinnamon
and sprinkle over the top. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve
with lemon sauce.
=Lemon Sauce= (Two portions)
1/2 C-sugar
1/8 t-salt
1 t-flour
1 C-water
1 t-butter
2 T-lemon juice
Mix the sugar, salt and flour well. Add the water slowly. Cook seven
minutes. Add the butter and lemon juice. Serve hot.
CHAPTER XXXII
BETTINA ATTENDS A MORNING WEDDING
"HOW lovely!" Bettina whispered to Bob after the beautiful ceremony had
taken place in the rustic grape arbor. "How like Cousin Kate this is!
But I had no idea that Frances planned to be married out of doors, had
you?"
"She told me that they were hoping for fair weather, but weren't
counting on it."
"And this is a regular golden day; isn't it! What a time to remember!
Bob, look at Cousin Kate's flowers! A natural altar, without decoration!
Poppies, sweet-peas, nasturtiums, cosmos, more kinds than I can count!
It's a little earlier than they usually have weddings, too; isn't
nine-thirty early?"
"Yes, but Frances thought that this would be the prettiest time for it,
and you know they aren't at all conventional."
"What are you two gossiping about?" shouted big Cousin Charles in
Bettina's ear: "don't you see enough of each other at home without
avoiding the rest of us at a time like this? Go and kiss the bride and
congratulate the groom as soon as you can get to them. Fanny wants to
see you particularly, Bettina. Breakfast is to be served on the porch;
don't forget that you two are to be at the bride's table!"
The wide porch looked very charming. Each table seated four, except the
one for the bridal party and near relatives, which was in the center,
surrounded by the others. On each table was a basket of pink sweet-peas
and trailing greenery. Each simple white place-card held a flower or
two, slipped through two parallel cuts across the corner. Frances was
seated at the groom's left, and at her left sat her new brother-in-law,
who was the best man. Next to him was the minister's wife, then jolly
Cousin Charles, the bride's father, then the groom's mother. At the
right of the groom sat Anne, Fanny's sister, who was maid-of-honor; and
next to her sat the clergyman. Then came the bride's mother and the
groom's father. Beyond him sat Bettina, then Bettina's cousin Harry,
then Aunt Nell and Bob. That was all, for there were few near relatives
and Bettina's father and mother were in California.
"Frances looks well; doesn't she?" said Aunt Nell to Bettina. "No
showers, no parties or excitement, and you can see how simple the
wedding has been. Cousin Kate is so sensible, and so is Frances. I can
tell you already that the breakfast menu will be dainty and delicious,
but simple."
She was right, for it consisted of:
Watermelon Cubes
(Served in Sherbet Glasses)
Fried Spring Chicken New Potatoes
Creamed Peas
Hot Rolls Butter
Currant Jelly Peach Ice Cream
Bride's Cake Coffee
Nuts Candy
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Fried Chicken=
1 2-1/2-lb. chicken
4 T-flour
2 t-salt
1/2 t-paprika
4 T-fat (lard and butter)
2 T-water
=To Prepare the Chicken for Serving and Cooking=
Cut the legs from the body, break the joint at the thigh and cut in two.
Cut off the neck and wings. Break the breastbone and cut in two
lengthwise. Break the back in two pieces lengthwise, if desired. Plunge
the pieces into cold water and allow to drain. Sprinkle each piece with
salt and paprika, and roll in flour. Place the fat in a frying-pan. When
very hot add the chicken. Allow all the pieces to brown thoroughly;
cover the pan with a lid and add the water, lower the fire and cook
over a moderate fire for thirty minutes. Turn frequently to prevent
scorching.
=Gravy= (Six portions)
3 T-fat from frying-pan
1 T-butter
6 T-flour
1 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
1-1/2 C-milk
1 t-parsley chopped
Loosen the pieces of chicken which have stuck to the frying-pan, add the
butter, stir constantly until the butter "bubbles," add the flour, salt
and paprika. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk slowly, cook for two minutes,
add the chopped parsley and pour the gravy into a gravy bowl for
serving.
=Bride's Cake= (Thirty pieces)
1-1/2 C-sugar
1/2 C-butter
2-1/2 C-flour
1/8 t-salt
2/3 C-milk
3 t-baking powder
1/4 t-cream of tartar
1/2 t-almond extract
1 t-vanilla
4 egg-whites
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming the mixture. Mix
and sift three times the flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar.
Add these dry ingredients alternately with the milk to the first
mixture. Add the almond and vanilla extracts. Beat two minutes. Cut and
fold in the egg-whites which have been stiffly beaten. Pour the cake
batter into a large, round loaf cake pan, having a hole in the center.
Bake forty-five minutes in a moderate oven. When the cake is removed
from the oven, allow it to stand in a warm place for five minutes, then
with a spatula and a sharp knife, carefully loosen the cake from the
sides, and turn out onto a cake cooler. When cool, cover with White
Mountain Cream Icing.
=Suggestions for Serving the Bride's Cake=
The Bride's Cake may be baked in this form and placed in the center of
the table for the central decoration. A tall, slender vase, filled with
the flowers used in decorating, may be placed in the hole in the cake.
Place the cake upon a pasteboard box four inches high and one inch wider
than the cake. This gives space to decorate around the cake. The cake
and box may be placed on a reflector, which gives a very pretty effect.
If cake boxes containing wedding cakes are distributed among the guests
as favors, use the one in the round pan for central decoration and bake
others in square pan. Square pieces may then be cut, wrapped in waxed
paper, and placed in the boxes.
CHAPTER XXXIII
AFTER THE "TEA"
"DOESN'T it bore you to think of cooking when you've been out all
afternoon?" asked Mrs. Dixon, wearily. "And today the refreshments were
so elaborate and everything was so stiff and tiresome!"
"I usually anticipate feeling this way," said Bettina, "and plan to have
something at home that is already prepared, and that I can get together
without much trouble. Then I put on a house dress as quickly as I can,
for I can't bear to cook in party clothes. But I'm sure I don't know
what I am going to have for dinner tonight. Bob and I had planned to go
downtown to dinner with some friends, but just before I went out this
afternoon he phoned that the invitation had been withdrawn because of
somebody's illness."
"Goodness!" cried Mrs. Dixon, "what will you do? Go downtown
yourselves?"
"No; Bob doesn't enjoy that, and neither do I. I can manage somehow, for
of course there are always things in the house to get. I'll tell you.
I'll phone Bob to bring Mr. Dixon here, and you can see what an
emergency supper is like."
"Oh, I couldn't think of it! You're tired, and it's nearly six now!"
"Well, what of that? You can help. And I know you're dreading to get
dinner at home. We'll just combine forces."
Bettina went to the telephone and called Bob. "Hello, dear! Please bring
Mr. Dixon home to dinner with you; Charlotte is going to stay. And if
you come in his car, will you stop on the way and get a watermelon that
has been on ice? Be sure it's cold!"
"And now," she said to Mrs. Dixon, "let me get into a house-dress, and
then for a sight of the refrigerator."
"Oh, what beautiful glazed apples!" exclaimed Mrs. Dixon ten minutes
later.
"They were to have been for breakfast, but I'll have them for dinner
instead. Then there are enough cold boiled potatoes for creamed
potatoes; and, besides that, we'll have an omelet. And then I'll stir up
some emergency biscuit----"
"And you can explain everything that you do!"
"Well, for the omelet--we'll take four good-sized eggs--one for each of
us----"
"What else goes in? Milk?"
"No, I think that hot water makes a more tender omelet. Then I'll use a
few grains of baking powder to assist in holding it up, though that
isn't necessary. We'll beat the yolks and whites separately till they're
very light. Goodness! There come the men!"
"Here's your watermelon, Bettina!" called Bob. "A big fellow! Don't
forget to save the rind for pickles, will you? Why, hello, Mrs. Dixon!
Frank's here!"
The menu that night consisted of:
Omelet Creamed Potatoes
Glazed Apples
Emergency Biscuit Butter
Watermelon
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Omelet= (Four portions)
4 eggs
4 T-hot water
1/2 t-salt
1/8 t-pepper
1 T-butter
a little parsley
Beat the yolks until thick and lemon colored. Add hot water (one
tablespoonful to an egg), salt and pepper. Beat the whites till stiff
and dry. Cut and fold into the first mixture. Heat the omelet pan, add
the butter, turn the pan so that the melted butter covers the sides and
bottom of the pan. Turn in the mixture, spread evenly, turn down the
fire and allow the omelet to cook slowly. Turn the pan so that the
omelet will brown evenly. When well puffed and delicately browned
underneath, place the pan on the center shelf in a moderate oven to
finish cooking the top of the omelet. Crease across center with knife
and fold over very carefully. Allow to remain a moment in pan. Turn
gently with a spatula onto a hot platter. Garnish with parsley. An
omelet is sufficiently cooked when it is firm to the touch when pressed
by the finger.
=Creamed Potatoes= (Four portions)
2 C-cold diced potatoes
1 T-chopped parsley
1 T-chopped pimento
1/2 t-salt
1/8 t-paprika
1 C-vegetable white sauce
Add the potatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper, to vegetable white
sauce. Add pimento and parsley. Cook three minutes, stirring constantly.
=Emergency Biscuit=
2 C-flour
4 t-baking powder
1/2 t-salt
3 T-fat (lard and butter)
7/8 C-milk
Mix the dry ingredients and cut in the fat. Add the milk, mixing with a
knife. Drop by spoonfuls on a buttered pan, placing one inch apart. Bake
twelve minutes in a hot oven.
=Glazed Apples= (Six portions)
6 apples
1-1/2 C-"C" sugar
1-1/2 C-water
1 t-butter
Boil the sugar and water six minutes in a deep saucepan. Do not stir.
Pare and core the apples. Place them in the syrup as soon as pared, to
prevent them from discoloring. Cook until apples are tender. Remove the
apples from the syrup and boil the sugar and water longer if it is not
thick enough. Add the butter to the syrup and pour in and around the
apples. Serve hot or cold. Granulated sugar may be used, but "C" sugar
gives a better flavor.
CHAPTER XXXIV
BETTINA GIVES A PORCH BREAKFAST
BETTINA had risen early that beautiful July morning, for she had much to
do. Bob had insisted upon helping her, and at eight, Ruth was coming.
"Such a simple breakfast after all, Bob! Do you think she'll like it?"
"Sure she will! If she doesn't I'll disown her! Say, Bettina, I haven't
had my breakfast yet, and ten o'clock sounds far away. May I have just
one doughnut with my coffee?"
"Why, Bobby, Bobby! Did I forget you? Your Aunt Elizabeth and the whole
suffrage cause is on my mind this morning, but I didn't think even that
could make me forget you. Help yourself to anything you see that looks
good!"
The Aunt Elizabeth on Bettina's mind was an aunt of Bob's who was to be
in town between nine and twelve, in conference with some of the leading
suffragists of the city. She wished to see the bungalow, and at ten
o'clock Bettina was giving a breakfast for her and the women with whom
she was to confer. It was with fear and trepidation that Bettina had
invited them, although she declared to herself that she was sure, sure,
sure, of every dish on the menu!
As she arranged the great graceful yellow poppies in the center of the
porch table, set for six, she was feeling somewhat nervous.
"Bob, you must go now, or you'll be too late for the train. Take a taxi
home, not a street car."
"Taxi! You don't know my Aunt Elizabeth. She'd say, 'Say, young man, if
you aren't saving your money any better than this, you ought to be.'
And we'd probably end by walking."
"Hurry, dear."
The train proved to be late, and Ruth and Bettina were ready to the last
detail. While beautiful, distinguished-looking Aunt Elizabeth was
dressing, Bettina was meeting guests at the door. Before she realized
it, she had introduced everybody to the guest of honor, and was ushering
them out to her charming porch table.
"Oh, Ruth," she said in the kitchen, "isn't my Aunt Elizabeth lovely?
I'll say 'mine' now, not Bob's. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to
be frightened."
The breakfast consisted of:
Moulded Cereal on Bananas Whipped Cream
Codfish Balls Egg Soufflé
Green Peas
Twin Mountain Muffins Jelly
Doughnuts Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Codfish Balls= (Four portions)
1 C-raw salt fish
2 C-raw potatoes
1 t-butter
1/2 C-cracker crumbs
1 egg, well-beaten
1/4 t-pepper
more salt if needed
1 T-water
Shred the fish. Pare and quarter potatoes. Place the fish and potatoes
in a stewpan and cover with boiling water. Boil twenty-five minutes or
till the potatoes are soft. Do not boil too long or they will become
soggy. Drain well, mash and beat until light. Add butter, seasoning and
egg. Shape, roll in crumbs, egg mixed with water, more crumbs, and fry
in deep fat. These may be shaped into flat cakes, rolled in flour and
sautéd in hot fat. Garnish with parsley.
=Egg Soufflé= (Four portions)
2 T-butter
2 T-flour
2 C-milk
4 eggs
1 t-salt
a pinch of cayenne or 1/4
t-paprika
1 C-white sauce
2/3 C-cooked peas
Melt the butter, add the flour and gradually add the milk. Cook three
minutes, add seasoning and the well-beaten yolks. Fold in the beaten
whites and turn into buttered moulds. Set in a pan of hot water and bake
in a slow oven until firm (about twenty-five minutes). Serve with a
white sauce, highly seasoned, to which has been added one cup of cooked
peas. Pour the sauce around the soufflé.
=Potato Doughnuts= (Three dozen doughnuts)
1 C-mashed potatoes, hot
1-1/2 C-sugar
2 T-melted butter
3 t-baking powder
1/2 t-salt
1/2 C-sweet milk
2 eggs
3 C-flour
1/8 t-grated nutmeg
1/2 t-powdered cinnamon
Beat the eggs, add the sugar. Mash the potatoes and add the butter and
the milk. Add this mixture to the eggs and sugar. Add the flour, baking
powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon sifted together. Roll one-fourth of an
inch thick, cut with a doughnut cutter, and fry in hot deep fat.
CHAPTER XXXV
A PIECE OF NEWS
AS Bettina was putting the finishing touches on her porch table, set for
dinner, and humming a little song as she tried the effect of some ragged
robins in a mist of candy-tuft, all in a brass bowl, she heard a murmur
of voices at her front door.
"I'll tell just Betty; no one else must know--yet. But what if I haven't
the courage to tell even her?"
"Perhaps she'll suspect anyhow!"
"Goodness, Harry! You make me afraid to go in! Is my expression
different?"
The answer was not audible to Bettina, though she was sure that she
heard whispers and a little suppressed laughter. Certainly it had
sounded like Alice's voice! What? Could Mr. Harrison be with her? For a
moment Bettina stood stock still, feeling like an eavesdropper. Then she
let out a gasp of amazement. "Well!" was all she said, and sat down to
think. When the door-bell rang, she could not at first gain the
composure necessary to answer it.
"Why, how are you, Alice? I haven't seen you for ages! And Mr. Harrison!
Do come in; you must stay to dinner, for you're just in time. Bob will
be home any minute."
"Oh, we couldn't stay!" answered Alice. "Har--Mr. Harrison and I were
walking home from town, and when we came to this house, we couldn't help
stopping to say 'hello.'"
Bettina was conscious of a strained feeling in the air, which made her
want to giggle--or shake Alice. After all, she couldn't help
overhearing! And yet she might be mistaken! She found herself
saying--she scarcely knew what--to keep up the conversation.
"Do stay! We have a funny little dinner tonight, but I believe you'll
like it. Bob had been rather over-worked at the office lately--and I
tried today to think of some of his favorite dishes for dinner. I wanted
to have a jolly little meal to take his mind off his worries. And it
would help a lot if he could see you two people. Do stay! Do you care
for blueberry tarts, Mr. Harrison? Well, that's to be our dessert!"
"My, that sounds fine!" said Mr. Harrison. "Couldn't we stay, after
all?" he asked, turning to Alice.
"Well, if you really, truly want us," said Alice to Bettina.
"Why, of course I do! I'm delighted to see you! I think we're fortunate.
Mr. Harrison, you are usually so busy that we scarcely dare invite you!"
"I suppose I ought to be at work today, but I'm taking a little holiday.
I couldn't put my mind on business."
He was actually blushing, Bettina thought. Suddenly she found Alice's
arms around her and Alice's laughing face hidden on her shoulder.
"Don't, Harry! Let me be the one to tell her!"
And so Bob found them, all laughing and talking at once.
"Hurrah!" said he when he heard the news. "The best possible idea! Is
dinner ready, Bettina? Get out some grape juice and we'll drink to the
health and future happiness of Alice and Harry! I'm the man that made
this match!"
Dinner that night consisted of:
Fish a la Bettina Rice Cakes
Stuffed Tomato Salad
Rolls Butter
Iced Grape Juice Blueberry Tarts
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Fish a la Bettina= (Four portions)
1 C-medium white sauce
1-1/3 C-cooked fish
2 T-chopped pimento
2 T-chopped sweet pickle
1/2 t-paprika
Mix ingredients in order given, heat and serve on wafers.
=Rice Cakes= (Four portions)
1-1/2 C-boiled rice
1/2 t-salt
1 egg yolk
6 T-crumbs
4 T-fat (lard and butter mixed)
Mix the rice and salt with the egg. Shape into flat cakes, two and a
half inches in diameter and one-half an inch thick. Roll in bread crumbs
and sauté in hot fat until brown on both sides. (About eight minutes.)
If the egg does not sufficiently moisten the rice, add one tablespoon of
milk.
=Stuffed Tomato Salad= (Four portions)
4 tomatoes
1 C-chopped cabbage
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
4 T-salad dressing
Stuff fresh tomatoes with cabbage, seasoned, and mixed with salad
dressing. Arrange the tomatoes on lettuce leaves and place one
tablespoon salad dressing on the top. Add a small piece of green pepper
or a sprig of parsley to the salad dressing.
=Blueberry Tarts= (Four portions)
Fill muffin pans with plain pastry. Place two tablespoons of mixture on
each crust. Cover with pastry strips and bake twenty minutes.
=Blueberry Mixture=
1/2 C-blueberries
1/4 C-sugar
1 T-butter
1 T-vinegar
1 t-cinnamon
Mix the berries, sugar, butter cut in small pieces, vinegar and
cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly, over a moderate fire for three
minutes.
CHAPTER XXXVI
BETTINA ENTERTAINS HER FATHER AND MOTHER
"WE had no such steak as this in California!" declared Bettina's father
with satisfaction, as Bob served him a second helping.
"But then," said Bettina's mother, "did you find anything in California
that you thought equalled anything in your own state? Father never
does," said she, laughing. "He seems to enjoy traveling because it makes
him feel that his own home is superior to every other place on earth.
And it is," she agreed, looking about her happily. "I can say that after
a summer spent in California, I'm more than thankful to be back again."
"I was afraid that you and father would be so anxious to open up the
house that you wouldn't agree to come here for your first meal."
"Of course we're anxious to get home," said Mother, "but after you wrote
Father that if he would come here to dinner tonight you would have a
steak cooked just to suit him, he was as eager as a boy to get here."
"Well, who wouldn't look forward to it, after a summer spent in hotels?"
said Father. "And I must say that Bettina's dinner justifies my
eagerness. It's exactly right--steak and all."
"Now for dessert!" said Bob. "This coffee that I've been making in the
percolator is all ready, Bettina!"
For dinner that night they had:
Pan-broiled Sirloin Steak Mashed Potatoes
Carrots
Head Lettuce Thousand Island Dressing
Sliced Bananas Quick Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Pan-Broiled Steak= (Six portions)
2 lb. sirloin steak an inch and a half thick
1 T-butter
1/2 t-salt
1 T-parsley
1 T-lemon juice
Wipe the meat with a damp cloth. Have a tin pan sizzling hot. Place the
meat in the pan and cook directly under the broiling flame. Turn
frequently with spoons, as a fork will pierce the meat and allow the
juices to escape. A steak an inch and a half thick should be cooked from
eight to ten minutes. Place the steak on a hot platter. Sprinkle with
salt, lemon juice and parsley. Dot with butter. Serve very hot.
=Gravy= (Six portions)
2 T-drippings from the steak
2 T-flour
1/2 C-water
1/2 C-milk
1/4 t-salt
Pour the drippings from the steak into a pan, add flour and mix well.
Allow the flour to brown, add water and milk very slowly to the flour
and drippings. Add the salt and allow to cook until the gravy thickens.
If there are not two tablespoons of drippings, add sufficient butter to
equal the amount.
=Carrots= (Six portions)
6 medium-sized carrots
2 T-butter
1/2 t-salt
1/4 t-pepper
Wash and scrape the carrots, cut into two-thirds inch cubes and cook
until tender in enough boiling water to cover. (About fifteen minutes.)
Drain, add the butter, salt and pepper. Heat thoroughly and serve.
Carrots may be scraped and steamed whole or cooked whole in boiling
water.
=Quick Cake= (Sixteen pieces)
1/3 C-butter
1-1/2 C-brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 C-milk
1/4 t-salt
1-2/3 C-flour
3 t-baking powder
1 t-cinnamon
1/2 t-nutmeg
8 dates, cut fine
Cream the butter, add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg and milk,
salt, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and dates. Beat for two
minutes. Bake in a well-buttered loaf cake pan for thirty-five minutes.
=Icing=
1 egg white
2 T-cold water
3/4 C-powdered sugar
1/2 t-vanilla
Beat the egg white until very stiff; add water and sugar gradually. Beat
thoroughly and add the flavoring. Beat until it will stand alone, then
spread on cake. More sugar may be added if necessary.
=Thousand Island Salad Dressing= (Six portions)
1/2 C-olive oil
juice of half a lemon
juice of half an orange
1 t-onion juice
1/4 t-salt
1/4 t-paprika
1 t-Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t-mustard
1 T-chili sauce
1 T-green pepper cut fine
1 t-chopped parsley
Place all the above ingredients in a pint fruit jar, fit a rubber and
top tightly on the jar, shake vigorously until well mixed and creamy,
and pour over head lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, peas, beans or spinach.
Serve as a salad.
CHAPTER XXXVII
THE BIG SECRET
"COME in, Alice! Now do say that you'll stay to dinner, for we can talk
afterward."
"Well, if you'll take me out into the kitchen where you are working. You
see, I have all this to learn, and I'm depending on you to help me."
"Of course I'll help, Alice, but you are so clever about anything that
you care to do that I know you'll soon outstrip your teacher. Tell me
first, does anyone know the Big Secret yet?"
"Not a soul but Bettina, Bob, and my family. That is what I came to talk
about."
"Oh, Alice, I'd love to be the one to give the announcement luncheon, or
the breakfast, or whatever you prefer to have it!"
"Would you do it, really? Bettina, I've been longing to have you offer,
but it is work and trouble, and I didn't want to suggest it."
"Why, Alice, I just enjoy that kind of work! I'd be flattered to be
allowed to have it here. Of course, you know that I can't do anything
very elaborate or expensive, but I'm sure that between us we can think
up just the prettiest, cleverest way of telling it that any prospective
bride ever had!"
"Bettina, my faith is in you!"
"When do you plan to be married?"
"Late in October or early in November, I think. And I'd prefer not to
have it announced for a month. You see, I don't want to allow time for
too many festivities in between."
"Oh, Alice, if you take my advice, you won't have any showers or parties
at all. I know you! If you do allow it, you'll have more excitement than
any bride in this town!"
"Well, Harry advises me not to, but oh, Betty, you know how it is! I
know so many people, and I do like fun, and then Mother likes to think
of me as the center of things. She's afraid that when I am married to
Harry I'll become as quiet as he is, and then too, I honestly don't
think she'd feel that I was really married without it. You know sister
Lillian had lots of excitement and more parties crowded into a day
than----"
"Yes, and she was so tired that she nearly fainted when she stood up to
be married!"
"That's true, but she liked the fun, anyhow. She says that a girl can
have that kind of fun only once, and she's silly to deny herself. Well,
I'll have a whole month to think it over in. I've been sitting here all
this time, Bettina, trying to decide what it is that you are
making--those croquettes, I mean."
"They are potato and green corn croquettes, and Bob is very fond of
them. I made them because I happened to have some left-over corn. Until
I learned this recipe, I didn't know what to do with the ears of cooked
green corn that were left."
"And what is the meat dish?"
"Well, that is made of left-overs, too, but I think you'll like it.
Creole Lamb, it is called. It is made of a little cold cooked lamb that
was left from last night's dinner. The rhubarb sauce that I am serving
with the dinner was our dessert last night. But I do have a very good
new dessert!"
"New or not, the dinner does sound good. There is Bob, now, and I'm so
glad, for I confess that my appetite is even larger than usual!"
The menu that night was as follows:
Creole Lamb
Potato and Green Corn Croquettes
Rhubarb Sauce
Bread Butter
Head Lettuce French Dressing
Lemon Pie Cheese
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Creole Lamb= (Three portions)
1 T-butter
1 T-chopped green pepper
1/2 T-onion, chopped
1 T-flour
1/4 C-meat stock or water
1/4 C-tomato pulp
1/2 t-lemon juice
1/2 t-salt
1/3 t-horseradish
1/2 C-cold cooked lamb, cut in cubes
3 pieces of toast
Melt the butter, add pepper and onion. Cook two minutes and add flour,
stock, pulp, lemon juice, salt and horseradish. Boil two minutes,
stirring constantly. Add the lamb. Heat thoroughly, and serve on toast
strips.
=Potato and Green Corn Croquettes= (Three portions)
1 C-hot mashed potatoes
1 C-green corn pulp, cooked with
1 T-butter
1/2 t-salt
1/2 t-pepper
1 egg yolk
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Shape into cylindrical form,
roll in bread crumbs, dip in beaten egg, roll again in crumbs. Deep fry.
The egg yolks for croquettes may have a tablespoon of water added for
each yolk. The whites as well as the yolks may be used for covering the
croquettes. To get the corn pulp, cut the kernels lengthwise of the
rows, and press out the pulp with the back of the knife. This recipe is
good for left-over corn.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
AFTER THE CIRCUS
"THERE is nothing so exciting as a circus," said Ruth, "but oh, how
comfortable and peaceful it seems to get away at last from the crowds
and the noise! How quiet and cool this porch is, Bettina. In two minutes
I'll get up and help you with dinner, but you made a mistake to put such
a comfortable chair here in this particular spot."
"Ruth, stay just where you are! This meal is supper, not dinner, and it
will be ready in the shortest possible time. Where are the men?"
"Going over the plans of our house, I suppose. Fred has worn them almost
in pieces by exhibiting them so often. There seem to be a great many
details to settle at the last minute. As for me, I'm perfectly
satisfied, for I'm going to have a kitchen exactly like yours. Bettina,
what lovely nasturtiums, and how delicious that cold sliced ham looks
with more nasturtiums to garnish it!"
"Yes, and I have nasturtium leaves lining the salad bowl--and see, I'll
put one large flower on each plate!"
"Don't nasturtiums always seem cool and appetizing? The whole supper
looks that way!"
"Well, circus day is almost invariably warm, and people are tired when
they come home, so I planned to have a cold and simple meal."
"Isn't boiled ham hard to prepare?"
"No, indeed, nothing could be simpler. I bought a half of a ham--I like
a piece cut from the large end--and I soaked it for an hour in cold
water. Then I brought it to a boil in fresh cold water and a little
vinegar, and transferred it to the fireless cooker for five hours. Then
I baked it for an hour in the cooker, having first trimmed it, and
covered it with brown sugar and almost as many cloves as I could stick
into it. It is very tender and good, I think--one of the best of my
fireless cooker recipes."
"I am planning to have a fireless cooker when I keep house."
"That is fine, Ruth! You have no idea how they save both gas and worry.
Some day I'll give you all of my best fireless recipes; I use my cooker
a great deal. For instance, this brown bread was steamed in the cooker.
A fireless is invaluable for steaming. I usually plan to have Boston
Brown Bread, Tuna or Salmon Loaf and a pudding all steaming in the large
compartment at once. Then I've learned to bake beautiful beans in the
cooker! I wonder what our grandmothers think of Boston Baked Beans and
Boston Brown Bread all made in the fireless! I'm sure I could prove to
any of them that my way is just as good, besides being much cooler and
more economical! Well, shall we call Fred and Bob?"
The circus day supper consisted of:
Cold Sliced Ham
Boston Brown Bread Butter
Blackberries Cream
Spiced Cake
Iced Tea Sliced Lemon
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Spiced Cake= (Sixteen pieces)
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
2 egg yolks
2/3 C-sour milk
1-1/2 t-cinnamon
1/4 t-ground cloves
1/4 t-mace
1 t-soda
2 C-flour
1 egg white
1 t-vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar and egg yolks. Mix well. Mix and sift
all dry ingredients. Sift and add alternately with sour milk. Add
vanilla and stiffly beaten egg white. Bake in a loaf cake pan, prepared
with waxed paper, in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes. Cover
with "C" sugar icing.
="C" Sugar Icing= (Sixteen pieces)
1 C-"C" sugar
1/3 C-water
1/8 t-cream of tartar
1 egg white
1/2 t-vanilla
Mix the sugar, water and cream of tartar. Cook until the syrup clicks
when a little is dropped in cold water. Do not stir while cooking. Have
the mixture boil evenly but not too fast. Pour gently over the beaten
white of the egg. Stir and beat briskly until creamy. Add vanilla. Place
on the cake. If too hard, add a tablespoon of water.
CHAPTER XXXIX
MRS. DIXON ASKS QUESTIONS
"I HAD resolved," said Mrs. Dixon, at Bettina's dinner-table, "not to
accept another invitation to come here until you people had eaten again
at our house. But your invitations are just too alluring for me to
resist, and your cooking is so much better than mine, and I always learn
so much that--well--here we are! For instance, I feel that I am about to
learn something this very minute! (Now, Frank, please don't scold me if
I talk about the food!) Bettina, how did you ever dare to cook cabbage?
It looks delicious and I know it is, but I tried cooking some the other
day and the whole house has the cabbage odor in no time. Yours hasn't.
Now what magic spell did you lay on this particular cabbage?"
"Let me answer that," said Bob. "I want to show off! Bettina cooked that
as she always cooks onions and turnips, in a a large amount of water in
an uncovered utensil. Isn't that correct, Bettina? Send me to the head
of the class!"
"Yes, you're right. I did boil the cabbage this morning, and of course I
have a well-ventilated kitchen, but I don't believe the odor would be
noticeable if I had cooked it just before dinner."
"I never used to eat cabbage," said Bob, "but I like Bettina's way of
preparing it. She never lets it cook until it gets a bit brown, and so
it has a delicate flavor. Most people cook cabbage too long."
"Another question, Teacher. How did you manage to bake these potatoes
so that they are so good and mealy? Mine always burst from their skins."
"Well," said Bettina, "I ran the point of the knife around the outside
of the potato. This cutting of the skin allows it to swell a little and
prevents it from bursting. Then I baked it in a moderate oven. Another
thing. I've discovered that it is better not to pierce a potato to find
out if it is done. I press it with my fingers, and if it seems soft on
the inside, I remove it from the oven and press the skin until it
breaks, allowing the steam to escape. If I don't do that, a mealy potato
becomes soggy from the quickly condensing steam."
"Oh, Bettina, I'm so glad to know that! I like baked potatoes because I
know they are so digestible, but I never can make them like these. Now I
won't monopolize the conversation any longer. You men may discuss
business, or the war, or anything you choose."
The dinner that night was as follows:
Hamburger Steak Lemon Butter
Baked Potatoes Escalloped Cabbage
Bread Butter
Prune Soufflé
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Hamburger Steak= (Six cakes)
1 lb. of beef cut from the round
1/4 t-salt
1 t-onion salt or onion juice
1/8 t-pepper
Grind the meat twice and add the seasoning. Shape into cakes two and a
half inches in diameter and one inch thick, handling as little as
possible. Place on a hot pan and cook under the broiler twelve minutes,
turning when brown. Dot with butter and serve hot.
=Lemon Butter for the Steak= (Four portions)
2 T-butter
1/2 t-salt
1/2 T-lemon juice
1/2 T-minced parsley
1/4 t-paprika
Mix in order given and spread on hot meat of any kind, broiled steak,
chops or fish.
=Baked Potatoes= (Four portions)
Select potatoes of a uniform size. Wash thoroughly with a vegetable
brush. Run the point of the knife around the outside of the potato. Bake
in a moderate oven forty to sixty minutes.
=Escalloped Cabbage= (Four portions)
2 C-cooked cabbage
1 C-white sauce
1/8 t-paprika
1/4 C-bread crumbs
1 T-butter
Remove the outer leaves of a two and a half pound head of cabbage. Cut
in half (using but half for dinner). Wash thoroughly and cut in shreds
or chop moderately fine. Put in a large kettle of rapidly boiling water.
Boil for twenty minutes. Drain well, add one-half a teaspoon salt. Make
the white sauce, add the cabbage and paprika, mix well. Place in a
buttered baking dish. Cover with buttered crumbs and place in a moderate
oven until browned.
=Prune Soufflé= (Four portions)
1/4 lb. prunes
6 T-sugar
1 T-lemon juice or 1/2 t-lemon extract
2 egg whites
Wash the prunes thoroughly, cover with water, and allow to soak three
hours. Cook slowly in the same water until soft. Remove the stones from
the prunes, and save the pulp and juice. Add sugar, cook until very
thick (about three minutes). Stir constantly. Cool, add the lemon juice.
Cut and fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Fill a well-buttered open
tin mould half full of the mixture. Place the pan in another pan filled
with boiling water. Cook in a slow oven until well raised, firm, and
light brown in color (about twenty-five minutes). Serve with the
following custard sauce:
=Custard Sauce= (Four portions)
2 egg yolks
4 T-sugar
1 T-flour
1/8 t-salt
1-1/2 C-milk
1/2 t-lemon extract
Beat egg yolks until light, in the upper part of a double boiler. Add
sugar, flour and salt. Mix well and slowly add the milk. Cook over the
lower part of the boiler until thick enough to coat a silver spoon. Beat
well, add the extract, and cool.
CHAPTER XL
A TELEGRAM FROM UNCLE ERIC
"WHAT shall I do with this butter, Bettina?" inquired Bob, who was
helping to clear off the table after dinner one evening. "Put it in the
ice-box?"
"The butter from the table?" asked Bettina. "No, Bob, I keep that
left-over butter in a covered dish in the cupboard. You see, there are
so many times when I need butter for cake making or cooking, and prefer
not to have it very hard. Then I use that cupboard butter. There's the
doorbell, Bob. Now who do you suppose that can be?"
"A telegram from Uncle Eric," said Bob, when he returned from the door.
"Well, isn't that the limit! He's coming tonight!"
"Tonight!" echoed Bettina.
"Yes, on business. You see, there ar
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