Cream Filling for Washington Pie

2/3 C-sugar 1/3 C-flour 1/2 t-salt 1-1/2 C-milk 1 egg-yolk 1/2 t-vanilla 1/2 t-lemon extract

Mix thoroughly the sugar, salt and flour. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. Pour into the top of a double boiler, and cook until very thick. Add the egg-yolk, vanilla and lemon extract, and cook two minutes. Beat until creamy and cool. Spread on the cake. Serve Washington pie with whipped cream if desired.

CHAPTER CI

BOB'S CHRISTMAS GIFT TO BETTINA

BOB had walked home from the office through the falling snow--and it was no short distance--with thought for neither snow nor distance. He was distinctly worried,--Christmas only two weeks off, the first Christmas since he and Bettina had been married, and as yet he had no idea what sort of a Christmas gift he ought to purchase for his wife. What did she need? Unfortunately he had heard her say only a few days ago that she didn't need a thing. What did she secretly long for? A glass baking dish! Shucks, what an unromantic present! Surely Bettina had been teasing him when she mentioned such a prosy gift as that! Well, if he didn't have some inspiration by the day before Christmas there would be nothing to do but get her violets, or candy, or perhaps some silly book that she didn't want.

"Hello, Bob!" said a voice almost at his feet.

"Say Mister Bob, Billy," another voice corrected severely.

"Hello, Jacky! Good evening, Marjorie! Coasting good?"

"Oh, pretty good. You don't know what we've got at our house!"

"Four Angora kittens!" interrupted Marjorie eagerly, before Bob had a chance to guess. "Four whole kittens. Can't see a thing, though, but they'll learn after a while! We're going to sell three of 'em, and keep one, and----"

"See here, Marjorie!" exclaimed Bob. "I'd like to buy one myself, for a Christmas present to some one! How about it? You ask your mother to save one for me--I'll stop in tomorrow morning and talk to her about it. Could you take care of it for me till Christmas morning?"

And Bob strode on with a happy grin on his face. Wouldn't Bettina laugh at the idea of an Angora kitten!

For dinner that night Bettina served:

Beef Steak Baked Potatoes Cauliflower in Cream Cranberry Jelly Moulds Bread Butter Burnt Sugar Cake Confectioner's Icing Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Cranberry Jelly= (Three portions)

2 C-cranberries 2/3 C-water 3/4 C-sugar

Look over the cranberries, removing any stems and soft berries. Add the water and cook until the skins have burst and all the berries are soft. Press through a strainer, removing all the pulp. Add the sugar to the pulp, and cook until the mixture is thick, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. When the jelly stands up on a plate it is done. Pour into moulds (preferably of china or glass) which have been wet with cold water.

Burnt Sugar Cake= (Sixteen pieces)

1/2 C-butter 1-1/2 C-sugar 2 eggs 1/4 t-salt 2-1/2 C-flour 4 t-baking powder 1 C-boiling water 1 t-vanilla

Caramelize two-thirds of a cup of sugar. When the sugar is melted and reaches the light brown or the "caramel" stage, add the water. Cook until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved in the water. Allow it to cool. Cream the butter, add the rest of the uncooked sugar, and then add the egg-yolks. Mix well. Add the salt, flour, baking-powder, vanilla and the cooled liquid. Beat two minutes and add the egg-whites stiffly beaten. Pour into two pans prepared with buttered paper. Bake twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven. Ice with confectioner's icing.

Confectioner's Icing= (Sixteen portions)

2 T-cream or milk 1/2 t-vanilla 1 T-carmelized syrup or maple syrup 1-1/2 C-powdered sugar

Mix the cream, vanilla and syrup. Add the sugar (sifted) until the right consistency to spread. Spread carefully between the layers and on the top. Set aside to cool, and to allow the icing to "set." (More sugar may be needed in making the icing.)

CHAPTER CII

A CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST

OF course a tiny Christmas tree was the centerpiece on Bettina's breakfast table, set for a nine o'clock family breakfast. All of the Christmas gifts except those that were too large were grouped around the base of the tree. Bettina refused to allow even Bob to have a peep at the gifts until the guests, Father, Mother, Uncle John and Aunt Lucy, had arrived.

"Now, don't you give us too much to eat, Bettina," laughed Father. "I know your mother has been making some mighty elaborate preparations for dinner at home, and you must leave us with an appetite."

"Well, you won't have any appetite left if you eat all you want of these waffles of mine!" exclaimed Bob, coming in from the kitchen with a spoon in his hand and an apron tied around his neck.

"Go back to the kitchen, Cook!" said Uncle John. "We don't want to see you, but we're willing to taste your waffles. Bring 'em on!"

"First," said Bettina, "we'll eat our grapefruit. Then we'll open our packages, and then, Bob, you can help me serve the rest of our Christmas breakfast."

"Come on!" said Uncle John. "Then I'll be Santa Claus and deliver the presents!"

For breakfast Bettina served:

Grapefruit with Maraschino Cherries Oatmeal and Dates Whipped Cream Ham Cooked with Milk Creamed Potatoes Muffins Orange Marmalade Waffles Maple Syrup Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Oatmeal with Dates= (Six portions)

1 C-oatmeal 1-1/2 C-water 1 t-salt 1/2 C-dates, cut fine

Mix the oatmeal, salt and water, and cook directly over the fire for three minutes. Add the dates, put in the fireless, and cook all night. Serve with unsweetened whipped cream.

Ham Cooked in Milk= (Four portions)

1 lb. ham (a slice two-thirds of an inch thick) 1 C-milk

Pour boiling water over the ham, and allow it to stand ten minutes. Remove the ham, and place in the frying-pan. Add the milk, and allow to cook slowly for twenty-five minutes. Remove from the milk and garnish with parsley.

Muffins= (Twelve muffins)

2 C-flour 4 t-baking powder 1/3 C-sugar 1/2 t-salt 1 egg 1 C-milk 2 t-melted butter

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the egg, beaten, and milk, and beat two minutes. Add the melted butter. Fill well-buttered muffin pans one-half full. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

Waffles= (Six portions)

1-3/4 C-flour 2 T-sugar 1 t-salt 3 t-baking powder 2 well-beaten eggs 3/4 C-milk 1 T-melted butter

Mix and sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking-powder. Add the eggs and milk. Beat two minutes. Add the butter. Bake in well-greased waffle irons.

CHAPTER CIII

A SUPPER FOR TWO

"WELL, this is something like it!" said Bob, as he sat down to dinner one evening several days after Christmas. "A good plain meal again. I'm so tired of Christmas trees and Christmas flowers and Christmas food that I don't believe I'll care to see any more of them till--well, next year."

"Everything is put away now," said Bettina. "All the presents are in their permanent places. Except Fluff," she added, glancing at the Persian kitten cuddled in an arm chair. "I couldn't put Fluff away, and don't care to. Isn't he a darling? Just the very touch that the living room needed to make it absolutely homelike!"

"Well," said Bob, "we did need a cat, but I think we need a dog, too. About next spring I'll get one, if I can find one to suit me."

"Oh, Bob, won't a dog be a nuisance? And destructive? And do you suppose Fluff could endure one?"

"Fluff can learn to endure one," Bob said. "Every home ought to have a dog in it. Oh, we'll get a good dog some day, Bettina, if I keep my eyes open."

"Have another muffin," said Bettina. "They'll do to change the subject. Some day I may long for a dog, too, but just now--well, Fluff seems to be a pet enough for one house."

For supper that night they had:

Bettina's Scrambled Eggs Creamed Potatoes Corn Gems Plum Butter Hickory Nut Cake Confectioner's Icing Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Bettina's Scrambled Eggs= (Two portions)

2 eggs 1 t-onions, cut fine 1/8 t-celery salt 1 T-chopped pimento 1 T-green pepper, chopped 2 T-ham, cooked and cut fine 2 T-milk 1/2 T-butter 1/3 t-salt 1/8 t-paprika

Melt the butter in a frying-pan, and when hot, add the onions, pimento and green pepper. Let cook slowly one minute. Beat the egg, add the milk, celery salt, salt, paprika and chopped ham. Add the mixture to that in the frying-pan. Cook, stirring until it is thick and creamy. (About two minutes.) Serve immediately on a hot platter.

Corn Gems= (Six gems)

1/2 C-corn meal 3 T-sugar 1/2 C-white flour 2 t-baking powder 1/4 t-salt 1 egg 1/2 C-milk 1 T-melted butter

Mix the cornmeal, sugar, flour, baking-powder, salt, egg and milk. Beat two minutes. Pour into well-buttered muffin pans, filling each half full. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

_JANUARY._

Simpler meals and wiser buying,---- More of planning,--less of hurry,---- More of smiling,--less of sighing,---- More of fun, and less of worry, In this New Year's Resolution, Trouble finds a swift solution.

CHAPTER CIV

ALICE COMES TO LUNCHEON

"I DO love to cook!" exclaimed Alice enthusiastically.

"And we have had such delicious meals since we began to keep house, if I do say it! But oh, the bills, the bills! Bettina, isn't it terrible? But you can't get any meal at all without paying for it, can you? I really do dread having Harry get the first month's grocery bill, though."

"You ought not to have to say that, Alice," said Bettina, laughing nevertheless. "Why don't you have an allowance, and pay the grocery bill yourself?"

"Because I know I could never manage to pay it," said Alice, making a little face. "I do love to have perfect little meals and cooking is such fun, but you just can't have things right without having them expensive; I've found that out. Last night we had a simple enough dinner--a very good steak with French fried potatoes and creamed asparagus on toast. Then a fruit salad with mayonnaise and steamed suet pudding and coffee. Harry said everything was perfect, but----"

"I'm sure it was, Alice. You are so clever at everything you do. But wasn't that expensive for just a home dinner for two? Steak and creamed asparagus! And mayonnaise is so expensive! Then think of the gas you use, too!"

"I didn't think of the gas," said Alice ruefully. "I thought of Harry's likes, and of variety, and of a meal that balanced well. But not much about economy. I'll have to consult you, Bettina. I'll tell you: Couldn't I plan my menus ahead for a week, and bring them over to you to criticise? That would be fun, and I'm sure you could teach me a great deal."

"I'd love to have you, Alice," smiled Bettina.

For luncheon Bettina served:

Chicken Loaf Creamed Potatoes Baking Powder Biscuits Cranberry jelly Caramel Custard Whipped Cream Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Chicken Loaf= (Two portions)

1/2 C-cooked chicken 1/2 C-ground, cooked veal 1/2 C-soft bread crumbs 1/2 t-salt 1/8 t-celery salt 1 t-chopped parsley 1 egg 1/2 C-milk

Mix the chicken, veal and bread crumbs. Add the salt, celery salt, parsley, egg and milk. Mix thoroughly. Bake in a well-buttered pan thirty minutes in a moderate oven.

Caramel Custard= (Two portions)

1 C-milk 3 egg 4 T-sugar 1/8 t-salt 1/4 t-vanilla

Melt the sugar to a light brown syrup in a sauce pan over a hot fire, add the milk and cook until free from lumps. Beat the egg, sugar, salt and vanilla, and pour the liquid slowly into the egg mixture. Pour into buttered moulds. Set the moulds in a pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven until the custard is firm (about forty minutes). Do not let the water in the pan reach the boiling point during the process of baking.

CHAPTER CV

RUTH STAYS TO DINNER

"SEE, Ruth, it's snowing harder--a perfect blizzard. That means that you'll have to stay to dinner."

"I'm only too glad to find an excuse, Bettina, but you must remember that I'll have to get back some time, and I suppose that now is best."

"Well, Bob will take you after dinner. See, I've put on a place for you."

"That's fine, Bettina, and I suppose I may as well stay. I've been anxious to ask you what you were putting in the oven just as I came in."

"A dish of tomatoes, cheese and rice baked together; Bob is fond of it. You know I almost always plan to have two or more oven dishes if I am using the oven at all, and tonight I was making baked veal steak."

"I learned something new yesterday, Bettina, that I have been anxious to tell you. Mother was preparing cabbage for cold slaw (she always chops it, you know), and it suddenly occurred to her that she might easily use the large meat grinder. So she did, and the slaw was delicious. I would have supposed that the juice would be pressed out in the grinding, but it wasn't."

"I must remember that. I suppose that other people may have thought of it, but I never have, and I'm glad to know that it works so well."

"I believe I hear Bob, Bettina. He must be cold, for it is snowing and blowing harder every minute."

"Well, I'm glad I started the fire in the fireplace. There's nothing like an open fire."

For dinner that night Bettina served:

Baked Veal Steak Baked Tomato, Cheese and Rice Bread Butter Tapioca and Date Pudding Cream Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Baked Veal Steak= (Three portions)

1 slice of veal steak (three-fourths of a pound, one-half inch thick) 3 T-flour 1 t-salt 1/4 t-paprika 2 T-bacon fat 2 T-water

Wipe the veal and cut off any rind. Mix the flour, salt and paprika. Roll the steak thoroughly in this mixture. Place the bacon fat in the frying-pan and when hot add the meat and brown thoroughly on both sides. Place the drippings and the meat in a small baking pan. Add the water, cover, and place in the oven. Cook one hour. More water may be added if necessary.

Baked Tomato, Cheese and Rice= (Three portions)

1 C-cooked rice 1/3 C-tomatoes 4 T-cheese, cut fine 1 T-pimento 1 t-salt 1/4 t-paprika 1 T-flour 1/2 C-milk 1 T-melted butter 1/4 C-cracker or bread crumbs

Mix the rice and flour, and add the tomatoes, cheese, salt and paprika. Add the milk. Pour into a well-buttered baking dish. Melt the butter and add the crumbs. Spread the buttered crumbs on the rice mixture. Bake in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes.

Tapioca and Date Pudding= (Three portions)

4 T-tapioca 1/4 t-salt 2 T-cold water 1 C-boiling water 2 T-sugar 8 dates, cut fine 1 T-lemon juice 1 egg-yolk 1 egg-white 1 t-vanilla

Soak the tapioca in cold water for ten minutes. Add the salt and boiling water and cook in a double boiler until transparent. (About twenty minutes.) Add the sugar and the dates cut fine, the lemon juice, egg-yolk and vanilla. Remove from the fire and add the stiffly beaten egg-white. Pile the mixture lightly in glass dishes and serve cold.

CHAPTER CVI

HOW BETTINA MADE CANDY

"I RAN over this morning," said Alice to Bettina, "to get your candy recipes. That was such delicious Christmas candy that you gave Harry! Wasn't it a great deal of work to make so much at a time? Perhaps I can't manage it, but I'd like to make a box of it for Harry's brother; it will be his birthday in a few days."

"It is very easy to make candy for Christmas boxes," said Bettina. "That is, it is no harder to make a large quantity than to fill one box. Bob helped me one evening, and we made four kinds at once. I had already stuffed some dates and made some candied orange peel, so you see when the candy was made, it was fun to fill the boxes with a variety of things. I always save boxes throughout the year for Christmas candy, and then I fill them all at once. Of course, until this year I didn't have Bob to help me; he enjoys it, you know, and two people can make it so much more quickly than one."

"Next year," said Alice, "I think I shall make Christmas candy--a quantity of it, so that I can put a box of it in every family box that I send. Meanwhile, I'll practise and experiment, and perhaps I can improve on the good old recipes, or think of clever ways of arranging and wrapping. Now will you let me write down some of your best recipes? I'll try them for Harry's brother."

The candies that Bettina made were:

Chocolate Fudge White Fudge Peanut Brittle Peanut Fondant

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Chocolate Fudge= (One pound)

2 C-sugar 1 C-sugar, "C" 1/4 t-cream of tartar 1 T-butter 2 squares or two ounces of chocolate 1 C-milk 1 t-vanilla

Mix the ingredients in order named, and cook until a soft ball is formed when a little of the candy is dropped in a glass of cold water. Remove from the fire and allow to cool. Do not stir while cooling. When cool, beat until creamy, add vanilla and pour into a well-buttered pan. Make white fudge and pour on top. When cool cut into squares.

White Fudge= (one pound)

3 C-sugar 1/2 C-milk 1/3 t-cream of tartar 1 T-butter 1 t-vanilla

Mix and cook the same as chocolate fudge.

Bettina's Peanut Fondant= (One and one-half pound)

2 C-"C" sugar 1/2 C-milk 1/4 t-cream of tartar 1 T-butter 2/3 C-roasted, shelled peanuts 1/4 t-vanilla

Cook the "C" sugar, milk, cream of tartar and butter until a soft ball is formed in cold water. Remove from the fire and allow it to cool. Beat until thick and creamy and add the nuts and vanilla. Shape into a loaf two inches thick and two inches wide. When cool and hard enough to cut, slice into one-fourth inch slices. Wrap in waxed paper and pack in boxes.

CHAPTER CVII

RUTH'S PLANS

"AND so, Bettina," said Ruth, sitting down on the high stool in Bettina's neat little kitchen, "Fred says we will begin the house early in the spring--as early as possible--and be married in May or June."

"What perfectly splendid news!" said Bettina. "I'm just as glad as I can be!"

"We've waited so long," said Ruth, wistfully. "Of course, if it hadn't been for the war--it did interfere so with business, you know--we would have been married last spring."

"I know," said Bettina, sympathetically, "but you'll be all the happier because you have waited."

"I'll want you to help me a great deal with my plans," said Ruth. "I've had time to do lots of sewing, of course, but I haven't thought anything about the wedding except that it will be a quiet one. And I want to ask you so much about house furnishings--curtains, and all that."

"I'd love to help!" cried Bettina with enthusiasm. "There isn't anything that is such fun. Oh, Ruth!"

"Gracious me! What?" cried Ruth, for Bettina had jumped up suddenly.

"Poor Ruth," laughed Bettina, "I didn't mean to frighten you. I forgot my cake, that was all, and I was afraid it had burned. But it hasn't. A minute longer though--you know a chocolate cake does burn so easily. But it's all right. However, you must admit that I did pretty well not to burn it while I was listening to wedding plans!"

That night Bettina served for dinner:

Swiss Steak Mashed Sweet Potatoes Creamed Cauliflower Bread Butter Chocolate Nougat Cake Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Swiss Steak= (Three portions)

1 lb. of round steak two-thirds of an inch thick 5 T-flour 1 bay leaf 1/4 t-salt 1/8 t-pepper 1/2 C-water 1 T-onion 2 cloves 1 T-bacon fat

Wipe the steak with a damp cloth, trim the edges to remove any gristle, and pound the flour into the meat, using a side of a heavy plate for the pounding. This breaks up the tendons of the meat. Place the bacon fat in a frying-pan and when hot, add the meat. Brown thoroughly on each side. Lower the flame. Add the bay leaf, salt, pepper, onion and water. Cover with a lid and allow to cook slowly for one and a half hours. More water may be needed if the gravy boils down. Pour the gravy over the meat when serving. This recipe is good for the fireless.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes= (Two portions)

3 good-sized sweet potatoes 2 C-water 1/2 t-salt 1 T-butter 2 T-milk 1/4 t-paprika

Wash the potatoes and remove any bad places. Add the water, and cook gently until tender. Drain, and peel while still hot, by holding the potatoes on the end of a fork. Mash with a spoon or a potato masher, adding the salt, butter, milk and paprika. Beat one minute. Pile lightly in a buttered baking dish, and place in a moderate oven about twenty minutes until a light brown.