LIII Dinner at the Dixon's

Potato Cubes (Four portions) 2 C-raw potatoes cut in ¾-inch cubes ½ t-salt 4 C-boiling water

Add the salt to the boiling water, add the potatoes and boil till tender. (About ten minutes.) Drain and shake over the fire for a moment. Add the sauce, and serve. Butter Sauce (Four portions) 2 T-butter 1 T-chopped parsley 1 t-chopped green pepper ¼ t-paprika

Mix together, heat and add to the potatoes. Prune Whip (Four portions) 1/3 lb. prunes 3 egg-whites 1 T-lemon juice ½ C-sugar

Pick over and wash the prunes, then soak for several hours in cold water, enough to cover. Cook slowly until soft, about fifteen minutes. Rub through a strainer. Add sugar and lemon juice and cook five minutes; the mixture should be the consistency of marmalade.

Beat the whites until stiff, add the prunes when cold, pile lightly into a buttered baking dish and bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. Serve with cream.

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CHAPTER LXXV

THE WEDDING INVITATIONS

BOB and Bettina had scarcely sat down to dinner one crisp cold evening, when they heard laughing voices at the door. "It sounds like Alice," said Bettina. "What can she be up to now? And Harry, too!"

Bob had already thrown open the door, and there, as Bettina had guessed, were Alice and Harry, each carrying a large box. "We've come to deliver your invitation to the wedding," said Alice. "It may be unconventional, but it's fun. The rest we are going down to mail—that is, if we don't get frightened at the idea, and pitch the boxes in the river instead." "If that's the way you feel," said Harry firmly, "I'll carry your box myself." "Please don't, Harry! Just think, I may never have another opportunity of mailing the invitations to my own wedding, so don't deprive me of the privilege."

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"Stay to dinner won't you?" said Bettina. "We had really planned on having Uncle John and Aunt Mary this evening, but they didn't come to town after all. So I am sure we have plenty, even to apple dumplings for dessert." "Harry had asked me to take dinner with him down town," said Alice, "by way of celebrating when these invitations were mailed. But perhaps we might stay here instead, since this was the very place in which we met first! Harry, I believe sentiment demands that we accept Bettina's invitation." "I must broil another steak," said Bettina, "but that will take only a few minutes. I'm so glad you can stay." "But we'll have to leave immediately after dinner," said Alice, "for these invitations simply must be mailed this evening."

That night for dinner, Bettina served: Beefsteak Mashed Potatoes Turnips Lettuce Bettina's Russian Salad Dressing Apple Dumplings and Cream

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level) Turnips (Four portions) 4 turnips 1 T-butter ¼ t-salt 1/8 t-pepper

Wash, pare and cut the turnips in small pieces. Cook until transparent and tender. Drain, mash, add the butter, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and return to the fire to dry out the superfluous water. Serve hot with vinegar. (Never cook turnips until brown.)

Head Lettuce (Four portions) 1 head lettuce

Remove the outer leaves and core of the lettuce. Clean thoroughly. Place very wet in a towel, wrap well and lay directly on the ice. Allow to stand one hour before serving to allow the lettuce to get very cold and crisp. Bettina's Russian Dressing (Four portions) ½ C-salad dressing 2 T-chili sauce 1 T-chopped green pepper

Mix the ingredients in the order named. Shake thoroughly in a glass jar. Serve cold.

Apple Dumplings (Four portions)

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1 C-flour 2 t-baking powder ¼ t-salt 2 T-lard 1/3 C-water 4 apples ½ C-sugar 1 t-cinnamon

Mix thoroughly the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the lard with a knife, and then add the water, mixing to a soft dough. Roll on a well-floured board to onefourth of an inch in thickness. Wipe and pare the apples, and cut them in quarters.

Cut the dough in four square pieces. Place four quarters of apple in the center of each piece of dough. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Moisten the edges of the dough with water. Bring the four corners of each piece up around the apple, pressing tightly together. Pierce with a fork to allow the escape of steam. Place each dumpling upside down on a floured tin, and bake thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven. Serve warm with cream.

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CHAPTER LXXVI

HALLOWE'EN PREPARATIONS

"T

HERE it is again!" said Bob to Ruth, who was dining with them. "And now it's gone!" "I feel the same old Hallowe'en thrill that I used to, years ago," said Bettina, "when I turn around suddenly and see a jack-o'-lantern grinning in at the window! Don't you love them?" "Those are the Stewart children," said Bob. "They're just hoping that I'll come out and chase them away! There's no fun for them in having us like it too well! You girls ought to give at least an imitation of a shriek apiece. You don't have ladylike nerves at all!" "Bob, that jack-o'-lantern reminds me that we have a piece of work laid out for you—making the jack-o'-lanterns for a Hallowe'en party we have planned. Will you do it?" "Will I?" said Bob. "Indeed I will! I haven't made one for years and years! Not since I was a boy!" "Years and years and years and years!" said Ruth, laughing. "Well, this party is in honor of Harry, so you mustn't tell him anything about it—not even that we're giving it. And Bob, I believe Fred would help make the jack-o'-lanterns."

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