XLI Bettina Entertains State Fair Visitors

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly, picking the fish apart with a silver fork. Mould firmly in a loaf. Roll in flour, and place in a buttered bread pan. Dot with butter, and bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. This same recipe may be distributed among fancy individual moulds, filled half full. Arrange a star-shaped piece of pimento, green pepper, beet or egg in the bottom of a fancy aluminum mould. An attractive design may be made by putting the star cut from any vegetable with radiating pieces of any other kind of vegetable of a different color. Place the design firmly on the fish. Set the moulds in a pan of hot water and bake until the mixture is firmly set. (About thirty minutes.) Remove from the oven, let moulds stand three minutes, and then, with the assistance of a knife, slip them from the pan, unmould all the moulds in one flat pan, and keep them hot until needed. Do not forget that the mould must be thoroughly buttered before using. When ready to serve, make a regular vegetable white sauce (two T-butter, 2 T-flour, 1 C-milk, ¼ tsalt). When ready to serve and while steaming hot, add one beaten egg yoke. The hot sauce will cook the egg. Pour around the mould.

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CHAPTER LVIII

AN EARLY CALLER

BOB had scarcely left the house the next morning when Bettina was called to the door. "I couldn't resist coming!" said Alice. "The announcement party was lovely, and I must thank you for doing it. Aren't you tired to pieces?" "No, Ruth helped me a great deal, and by the time Bob came home to dinner, the luncheon dishes were washed and put away and the house was in apple-pie order." "Everything tasted delicious, Bettina. Maybe it sounds altogether too practical for my own announcement party, but I'm armed with a pencil and a notebook, and I do want to get some of those recipes of yours!" "You're welcome to them all, Alice, of course. They are all recipes that I have used over and over again, and I'm sure of them." "What kind of soup was it? Celery? I thought so. Wasn't it hard to prepare?" "Why, Alice, it was canned celery soup, diluted with hot milk. Then I added a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and a teaspoonful of chopped red pepper." "But surely it had whipped cream in it, Bettina!" "Yes, I put a teaspoonful of whipped cream in the bottom of the bouillon cup and poured the hot soup on it, so that it would be well mixed." "Well, that accounts for it; I thought it must be made with whipped cream. Oh, Bettina, everything was so pretty! The tulle bows on the baskets holding the wafers and the rolls—and the butterflies perched on them! How did you ever think of it?"

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"Well, butterflies are a happy choice for decorations! They can be put anywhere, and they are easy to make—at least Ruth says so." "You use paper doilies a great deal, don't you! Aren't they expensive?" "Expensive? Well, I wish you'd price them! They are so inexpensive that I like to use them even for a very informal meal; they add such a dainty touch, I think." "I must write down the recipes for your tuna loaf, and green peppers stuffed with cauliflower, and Russian dressing—and oh, that wonderful kind of rainbow dessert! Bettina, what was that dessert?" "Marshmallow cream made with gelatine and cream and marshmallows and whites of eggs. I puzzled a long time over a real 'rainbow' dessert, and finally decided on marshmallow cream with a few variations. Come into the kitchen, where I keep my card index, and I'll get all the recipes for you."

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level) Potato Balls (Four portions) 4 potatoes 1 C-crumbs 1 t-salt 2 T-egg

Boil potatoes of uniform size with the skins on. When cold, peel, roll in crumbs, to which salt has been added and then the beaten egg and crumbs. Deep fry in very hot fat.

Green Peppers Stuffed with Cauliflower (Four portions) 4 green peppers 1 C-cooked cauliflower 1 C-vegetable sauce 2 T-crumbs 1 T-butter, melted

Cut a thin slice from the stem end of each large green pepper and remove the seeds. Parboil ten minutes, and fill with creamed cauliflower and buttered crumbs. Bake until the skins are tender, basting occasionally with butter and water. Marshmallow Cream (Four portions) 2 t-granulated gelatin 4 T-cold milk 2/3 C-sugar 11/3 C-double cream 1 t-vanilla extract 1 egg white well beaten 1 t-lemon extract ¼ lb. marshmallows, cut in one-fourth cubes 4 toasted marshmallows

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