A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband With Bettina's Best Recipes (20 page)

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (baking powder, salt and flour), and add the milk. (The resulting dough should be of biscuit dough consistency.) Peel and slice the peaches, mix well with the sugar (one-third cup) and place on the bottom of a baking dish (not tin.) Place dough shaped to fit on the top of the peaches. Make three holes to allow the steam to escape. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Boil the sugar and water four minutes. When the cobbler has cooked for twenty minutes, pour the syrup over it and allow to cook ten minutes more. Cream may be served with the cobbler if desired.

"A
BEAUTIFUL day," said Bettina at the breakfast table. "September is doing better than August."

"I was just thinking," said Bob, "that it might be fun to get Harry and Alice, and go out to Killkare park this evening. I don't believe you've been on a roller coaster this year."

"It would be fun to go," said Bettina, "although I haven't missed the roller coaster."

"Well, let's ask them to go. We can stay there awhile and then——"

"Then what?"

"Oh, nothing. Then go home."

"Bob, you meant—come here afterward and have a nice little lunch; didn't you?"

"I confess that I thought of that, and then I happened to remember that you were going out this afternoon and wouldn't want to bother with any preparations for a party."

"Going out this afternoon would not worry me at all—it is just that my funds are getting a little low, and I couldn't serve anything expensive. Let me think what I have on hand—yes, I believe I could do it by serving a salad and a dessert out of my own head."

"A Bettina salad? That's the very best kind. And what will the dessert be?"

"A Bettina dessert, too. I have some lovely apples, Bob, and I just can't afford anything very expensive. I know this will
be good, too, but you mustn't complain if I have sponge cake to eat with it."

"I should say not, Bettina. Whatever you give us will tickle me, and Alice and Harry are in such a state of blindness that they won't know what they're eating."

That evening they had:

Bettina Salad Boston Brown Bread Sandwiches
Bettina's Apples Sponge Cake
Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Bettina Salad
(Four portions)

1 C-chopped New York cheese
12 Pimento stuffed olives, chopped
3 sweet pickles, chopped very fine
¼ C-chopped roasted peanuts
¼ t-salt
¹
/
₈
t-paprika
4 T-salad dressing
4 pieces of lettuce

Put the cheese through the food chopper or grate it, add the olives chopped, the sweet pickles, peanuts, salt and paprika. Blend well, and form into balls, one inch in diameter. Arrange several on a lettuce leaf. Serve salad dressing with the salad.

Bettina's Apples
(Six apples)

6 apples
1 C-"C" sugar
1 C-water
8 marshmallows
½ C-cocoanut shredded
6 cherries

Peel and core the apples. Drop into the sugar and water which has been boiled for ten minutes to form a syrup. Place a lid on the pan and cook the apples until tender. Remove from the syrup and roll in the cocoanut. Add the marshmallows to the syrup (which has been removed from the fire) and allow them to melt. Stir them in the syrup. When the marshmallows are dissolved, stir the mixture to mix the marshmallows with the syrup. Pour around the apple, and fill the hole in the center of the apple. Place a red cherry on the top of each.

Hot Water Sponge Cake
(Eight portions)

2 egg-yolks
1 C-sugar
½ C-boiling water
1 T-lemon juice
1 t-grated rind lemon
2 egg-whites
1 C-flour
1 t-baking powder
¼ t-salt

Beat the yolks until thick and lemon colored, add the sugar gradually and beat for two minutes. Add the flour, sifted with the baking powder, and salt. Add the boiling water, lemon juice, and grated rind. Beat with a Dover egg-beater, two minutes. Fold in whites of the eggs. Bake thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven in an unbuttered pan. Do not cut sponge cake, except through the crust, then break apart.

"W
HERE are you, Bettina?" called Bob one September evening when Bettina failed to meet him at the door. "Oh, Bettina!"

"Here I am, Bob, in the kitchen! I'm so ashamed of myself!"

"What for?"

"My carelessness. I just spilled a whole bottle of ink on this new apron of mine! I had begun to get dinner, and as it was a little early, I sat down for a minute to finish a letter to Polly. Then all at once I thought something was burning, and jumped up in such a hurry that I spilled the ink. I ought to have known better than to try to do two things at once! Luckily, the dinner was all right, but look at this apron! And it was such a pretty one!"

"Well, Bettina, I'm always getting ink and auto grease on my clothes, and you seem to keep yours spotless. So it is a surprise to me that it happened. Still, spoiling a new apron may be unfortunate, but I shouldn't call it tragic. Is it really spoiled?"

"No, I think I can fix it up so it will be almost as good as new, but it's a nuisance. See, I'm soaking it in this sour milk. I'll leave it here for four hours, and then apply some more milk for awhile. Then I believe the ink will come out when I rinse it."

"Well, Bettina, I'm glad you didn't spill ink on the dinner. Something smells mighty good!"

They had:

Beef Balls Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Bettina's Celery and Eggs
Cinnamon Rolls Butter
Watermelon

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Beef Balls
(Three portions)

1 lb. round steak
1 t-salt
¼ t-paprika
¹
/
₈
t-celery salt
¼ t-onion salt

Grind round steak, season, shape into round cakes and broil them for seven minutes under the flame. While they are cooking, prepare the horseradish sauce.

Horseradish Sauce
(Four portions)

2 T-butter
2 T-flour
1 C-milk
2 T-horseradish
½ t-salt

Melt the butter, add the flour. Mix well, add the milk and cook one minute. Add the salt and the horseradish. Serve immediately.

Mashed Potatoes
(Three portions)

4 medium-sized potatoes
1½ T-butter
½ C-milk
½ t-salt
¹
/
₈
t-pepper

Cook the potatoes (peeled) in boiling salted water. When done, drain off the water, pass through a vegetable ricer, or mash well with a potato masher. Add butter, salt, pepper, and the milk. Beat vigorously, reheat and pile lightly in a hot dish.

Bettina's Celery and Eggs
(Three portions)

1 C-cooked diced celery
2 hard-cooked eggs sliced
²
/
₃
C-vegetable white sauce
1 T-butter
3 T-fresh bread crumbs

Add the sliced hard-cooked eggs and cooked celery to the white sauce. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered baking dish. Cover with the crumbs which have been mixed with melted butter. Bake in a moderate oven until a delicate brown. (About twenty minutes.)

"W
ELL, what have you been doing today?" asked Bob, after he had finished an account of events at the office.

"I've been away all afternoon, Bob, at the loveliest little porch party at Alice's! You know her porch is beautiful, anyhow, and her party was very informal. She telephoned to five of us this morning, and asked us to come over and bring our sewing; the day was so perfect. She served a delicious little luncheon from her tea cart, very simple but so good! And the beauty of it was that she had made everything herself! She didn't tell the girls, but she whispered it to me. Of course, if she had told the others, she would have given herself away; they are a little suspicious of her now because she is seen everywhere with Harry!"

"He told me he wished they could announce it right away! He doesn't like to make a secret of it."

"It won't be very long now—you know they are to be married in October or November. But, Bob, as I was telling you, Alice did all the cooking for this party herself. Of course, it was simple, but really, I think she is quite wonderful. She has never done anything useful before, but she is so clever, and she has such a 'knack' that it will really be easier for her than for Ruth. And Ruth will work twice as hard. Alice says that she is going to give other little parties this way, and practice on her guests. She says she is determined to do things just as well as anybody else, and now that she is interested, she has a tremendous pride in being a success. You know how
high-spirited Alice is. Well, she isn't to be surpassed by anyone in anything she cares to do! Oh, I forgot, Bob, she gave me some cakes to bring to you, and also some salted nuts."

"Hurray for Alice! She's some friend all right! What else did you have at the party?"

"Such good salad—she gave me the recipe—well, her menu consisted of:

Honolulu Salad Graham Bread Sandwiches
Frozen Apricots White Cake
Salted Nuts Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Honolulu Salad
(Six portions)

6 slices canned pineapple
½ C-cottage cheese
1 T-chopped pimento
1 t-chopped green pepper
¼ t-salt
6 nut-meat halves
6 pieces of lettuce
6 T-salad dressing

Add the chopped pimento, green pepper and salt to the cottage cheese. Work all together well, shape into balls one inch in diameter. Place a ball in the center of each slice of pineapple, which has been arranged upon a piece of lettuce. Place a nut meat upon the top of each cheese ball. Serve one tablespoon of salad dressing upon each service.

Frozen Apricots
(Six portions)

2 C-peeled and quartered apricots
1 C-sugar
2 T-lemon juice
1 C-water
1 egg-white

Cook apricots, sugar and water until the apricots are soft. (About five minutes.) Cool, add the lemon juice and freeze. When the mixture is half frozen, add the stiffly beaten white and continue freezing until stiff. More sugar may be used if desired.

"W
E'LL treat Uncle Eric so well that he'll have a good time in spite of himself," Bob had said when he had proposed that his gruff old uncle be invited. "I'll take Saturday afternoon off, and we'll go to the matinee, then we'll come home to dinner, and then go again to the theatre in the evening." For a great actor was to be in town, and this was the reason for Uncle Eric's possible visit. "If he'll only come," Bob had added doubtfully.

"He'll come," said Bettina confidently, for she felt that she had discovered the soft spot in Uncle Eric's heart. "We'll have a good dinner, too."

Bob remembered what she had said about the dinner and repeated it to himself as they stepped from the street car after the matinee. "It's late, Bettina," he said anxiously, "will it take you long to get dinner?"

"A very few minutes," answered Bettina. "Just long enough to warm it over."

To warm it over! But then, all of Bettina's dinners were good, so he resolved not to worry. Nevertheless, he could not help leaving Uncle Eric for a few minutes to come into the kitchen. "What can I do to help?"

"Not a thing, Bob dear. You see, I had this whole dinner ready this morning, and I have warmed it all up in the oven. I have discovered that croquettes are exactly as good when fried in the morning, and so are veal cutlets. And wait till you try the cauliflower!"

"I trust you, Bettina," said Bob, laughing. "It all looks mighty good to me. Here, I'll help you put it on the table."

For dinner that night they had:

Veal Cutlets Potato Croquettes
Escalloped Cauliflower
Baked Apples
Bread Butter
Chocolate Ice Cream White Cake

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Veal Cutlets
(Three portions)

1 lb. ½-inch slices of veal cut from the leg
1 t-salt
1½ pints of water
1 C-cracker crumbs
¼ t-paprika
¹
/
₃
t-salt
1 egg-white or yolk
1 T-water
Hot fat for frying

Wipe the meat, place in one and one-half pints of boiling water, to which has been added one level teaspoon of salt. Boil gently until tender (about thirty minutes). Remove from the water and allow to cool until easy to handle. Remove the bone and skin, and cut into pieces for serving. Mix the paprika, salt (one-third of a teaspoon) and the cracker crumbs. Roll each piece of meat in the crumbs, then in the egg, to which the water has been added, and again in the crumbs. Pat the crumbs onto the meat. Arrange the meat on a platter and allow to stand fifteen minutes. Have sufficient fat in a pan to cover articles of food. When the fat is smoking hot, add the veal cutlets, and turn to cook each side. When a delicate brown (after about five minutes), remove and drain on paper. Keep hot in the oven. Place the veal cutlets on a platter and arrange baked apples around the edges. Serve the potato croquettes on the same platter, garnished with parsley.