Melt the butter, add the flour and mix well. Gradually add the milk. Cook one minute, add the cheese and the eggs cut in slices. Add the parsley and the salt. Place one-half the crumbs in the bottom of a well-buttered baking dish, add the egg mixture and cover with the remaining crumbs. Dot with butter, and brown in a moderate oven.
Mix the bread crumbs, suet, soda, cloves, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Add the raisins cut fine, and the nuts. Break the egg into the molasses, beat well, and add the milk. Mix with the first ingredients. Stir and mix thoroughly. Fill a well-buttered pudding mould one-half full. Steam one and a half hours, and serve with yellow sauce.
Beat the egg white until stiff and dry. Add the yolk and beat one minute. Add the powdered sugar and continue beating. Add the milk gradually and the vanilla. Continue beating for one minute. Serve at once over a hot pudding.
"I'm sure I'd like it!" said Frank Dixon. "Much better than a pink necktie or a white gift book called 'Thoughts at Christmas-Tide!'"
"Mary Owen makes candied orange peel for all of her friends," said Bettina, "and I think that is so nice, for hers is delicious! She saves candy boxes through the year, and all of her close friends receive the same gift with Mary's card. We all know what to expect from her, and we are all delighted, too. And you see she doesn't have to worry over different gifts for each one. I do think Christmas is growing more sensible, don't you?"
"My sister in South Carolina sends out her Christmas gifts a few weeks early," said Frank. "She sends boxes of mistletoe to everyone. They seem to be welcome, too. By the way, Bob, did you and Bettina decide on your Christmas cards?"
"Yes," said Bob, "and they are partly ready. But we are waiting to get a little picture of the bungalow with snow on the roof—a winter picture seems most appropriate—and the snow isn't forthcoming! The weather man seems to be all upset this year."
"Charlotte has been making some small calendars to send out," said Frank. "She has used her kodak pictures, and I'm afraid they're mostly of me! I don't know what some of my friends will say when they see me with an apron around my neck, seeding cherries!"
"They'll be surprised, anyhow," said Charlotte. "I rather like that picture myself!"
For dinner that night Bettina served:
Look over the oysters carefully and remove any particles of shell. To the melted butter add salt, pepper and cracker crumbs. Place a layer of crumbs in the bottom of a well buttered baking dish, and add the oysters and more crumbs until the dish is filled. Pour the milk over the oysters and crackers. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven.
To the cup of salad dressing, add the oil, chili sauce, seasonings, vinegar and finely chopped vegetables. Beat two minutes. Pour over head lettuce.
Look over and wash the prunes. Soak for three hours in cold water. Cook until soft. Rub through a strainer, and add the sugar and lemon juice. Cook this mixture for five minutes. Beat the egg whites until very stiff, and add the prunes when cold. Pile lightly into a buttered baking dish and bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. Serve with cream.
"We had a large Christmas table (aren't they simple and effective?), with a Christmas tree in the center, strung with tiny electric lights, and hung with tinsel and ornaments. Strings of red Christmas bells stretched from the chandelier above the table to the four corners. The favors at each place were several kinds,—Santas, little Christmas trees, snow men and sleds, all of them concealing at their bases the boxes holding the salted nuts. The place-cards were simply Christmas cards.
"Before the guest of honor stood a small Santa, larger, however, than any of the other Santas, and in his hands were the ends of twenty or more narrow green ribbons, each leading to a separate shower-package at the base of the tree. These packages (it was a miscellaneous shower) made an interesting-looking heap, but we didn't ask Angeline to open them until we had reached the salad course. Then she drew each one toward her by the end of a ribbon, opened it, and read the verse on the gift. You have no idea how clever some of the gifts and verses were! Margaret McLaughlin—do you remember her?—had dressed a dishmop in two tea towels, making the funniest old woman! This she introduced as Bridget, Angeline's cook-to-be! One of the girls who sketches cleverly had illustrated her card with pictures of Angeline in her kitchen.
"But I am forgetting our table decorations! We had furnished four rooms for Angeline, doll size, and the furniture of each was grouped along the table. Besides the living room, bedroom, dining room and kitchen, we presented Angeline and Dean with an auto (in miniature, of course), a cow, a horse, several ducks and chickens, a ferocious dog and a sleepy cat. Weren't we good to them? And lo and behold! beside the auto stood Dean himself, disguised as a little china kewpie man; while Angeline, always a lady, stood gracefully in the living room and refused to help him with his menial tasks, or to assist Nora, who was hanging out the clothes in the back yard. Angeline was a kewpie, dressed in style.
"We had the greatest fun finding and arranging these decorations! And now I must tell you about the luncheon itself. I'm even enclosing our recipes, for I know you'll be interested...."
"Hello, there, Bettina!" called Bob at this moment, coming in with a rush, "is dinner ready? What do you suppose I've done? I've absolutely forgotten to send a Christmas gift to Aunt Elizabeth, and I know she'll feel hurt. Will you go with me after dinner to get it?"
Polly's luncheon menu was as follows:
"I wish, Bettina," Polly's letter continued, "that you might have seen the cunning sandwiches that we served with the salad. They were cut with a star-shaped cooky cutter, and on each one was perched a tiny Santa Claus. The sandwiches were arranged on a tray decorated with Christmas tree branches.
"And now comes the dessert. The chocolate ice cream was served in small flower pots lined with waxed paper, and in each flower pot grew a miniature Christmas tree. Around the base of the tree, whipped cream was heaped to represent snow. They were really very cunning.
"Served with the ice cream was a large round white cake decorated very elaborately with icing bells and holly. On the top was placed a real candy bell, large and red. This cake was carried in to Angeline to cut. Around the base, inside the cake, were twenty tiny favors wrapped in waxed paper. They were of all sorts: pipes, canoes, flat irons, animals, birds, many things, but all very tiny. Narrow white bows tied on each favor indicated its position in the cake so that the pieces could be cut to give each guest a favor. Angeline cut her piece first and drew her favor by pulling the little white ribbon. It was really great fun drawing and unwrapping the favors, and the girls tried to interpret the meaning of each. Mary Katherine, Angeline's younger sister, drew the ring, and delightedly proclaimed that she would be the next bride. At this the girls looked a little doubtful, for at the table were no less than six engaged girls besides Angeline. Mary Katherine may fool them—who knows?—but I hope not, for she is far too young and silly to 'settle down' for many years.
"With the coffee we served striped candy canes.
"Well, Betty, I believe I've told you everything about our Christmas luncheon. Do write me soon again, for I love to get your letters. Stir Bob up to write occasionally; he has forgotten his sister—now that he has a wife.
Melt the chicken fat. Add the flour and salt and mix well. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly. When the mixture gets thick and creamy, allow it to cook, with an asbestos mat under the pan, for five minutes. This cooks the flour thoroughly. Beat one minute to make it creamy. Add the chicken, veal, green pepper, paprika and salt. Allow the mixture to cool. Take one tablespoon of the cooled mixture, and dip in the beaten egg to which the water has been added. Dip in the crumbs and shape any desired shape, preferably conical. Allow the croquettes to stand at least one hour before frying. Fry in deep fat and drain on brown paper. Keep hot in the oven until serving.
Arrange the lettuce leaves (washed) on salad plates. Place one slice of tomato, two slices of pimento and two slices of green pepper on each. Sprinkle the vegetables with pepper and salt. Add two teaspoons of cottage cheese. Place one teaspoon of salad dressing on each portion.
To prepare the salad dressing, mix boiled dressing and pimento oil together and then add the whipped cream. Mix well, and pile attractively on the salad.
The "someone" proved to be Bob, who came in, very pink as to his face, and very white as to his snow-covered shoulders.
"It's growing colder every minute!" said Bob. "Well, a Christmas table! I like that! Makes a fellow feel festive!"
"I couldn't resist the spirit of Christmas," said Bettina.
"I couldn't, either," said Bob, taking a half-dozen gorgeous yellow chrysanthemums from their wrappings. "So I bought you an early Christmas gift. Like 'em?"
For dinner, Bettina served:
Remove the white membrane from the pulp of two oranges, and cut each section into half, crosswise. Add the seeded cherries, celery and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add the salad dressing, and serve very cold on lettuce leaves.
Beat the egg-yolks five minutes, add the sugar and beat three minutes. Add the water, lemon extract, flour and baking powder. Mix thoroughly. Fold in the beaten egg whites very carefully. Bake twenty-five minutes in two round shallow pans in a moderate oven. When cool, put the following filling between the layers. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
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.
"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:
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.
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.
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.)
"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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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:
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.
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.
"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:
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.
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.
"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:
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.
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.
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.