A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband With Bettina's Best Recipes (12 page)

"B
Y 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
¼ C-water
½ t-salt
¼ 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
½ t-salt
¹
/
₈
t-pepper
½ 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)

¼ C-cornstarch
¼ C-sugar
½ t-salt
2 T-cold water
2 C-milk
²
/
₃
C-cocoanut
2 egg whites
½ 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.

B
OB 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 ½-inch
cubes
2 T-lemon juice
²
/
₃
C-celery (diced)
1 large green pepper (cut in strips)
1 t-salt
½ 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.

"W
HY, 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)

1½ C-berries (black or blue berries)
½ C-sugar
2 T-flour
¹
/
₈
t-salt
1 T-lemon juice