LVII A Rainbow Announcement Luncheon

which was to be the home of Harry and Alice. "We've brought the party with us!" and they held out several bulging baskets. "Welcome!" smiled Alice, delightedly, as she stepped down from the box on which she was standing to hang a soft, silky curtain. Harry, tall and silent, rose, hammer in hand from the crate he was opening, and welcomed each one in turn. "Bob and I came to be chaperones if you needed us," said Bettina, putting on a prim and disapproving look, as different as possible from her usual happy expression. "Oh, my dear!" exclaimed Alice's mother, in a shocked tone. "Surely you didn't imagine—but then, of course you didn't—because you would naturally know that I would be here."

Alice laughed her ringing laugh. "Mother is too literal for any use, Bettina!" And Alice's absent-minded father looked up from the newspaper he was reading to ask what the joke was. "The joke, Father dear," said Alice, "is that your foolish daughter should be about to marry this solemn and serious youth!" And she turned Harry around by the shoulders till he faced her father. "But perhaps you hadn't heard about the wedding, Father. Now don't tell me you had forgotten!" "Forgotten? Forgotten your wedding, Alice?" said her mother, astonished. "Of course your father hasn't forgotten. Why, only yesterday he was saying that the cost of a trousseau apparently hadn't lessened since Lillian was married. Weren't you, Father? It was when your new green corduroy came home, Alice, and I was saying ——" but Alice had led the girls off to show them over the apartment.

Father had retired behind his newspaper and Harry was showing Fred and Bob his own private den whither he might retire from the worries of domestic life. "Only," observed Fred sagaciously, "since it opens off the living room, you can't retire very far. I predict that married life will make you rather a sociable person, Harry."

Harry shrugged his shoulders, and said nothing. "Old bear!" cried Alice, entering the room at this point. "You don't need to be a sociable person! I like you just as you are!" And she turned to the others. "Come to the party, please. It's all in the kitchen! We've made coffee, too, and everything is bee-youtiful! I love surprises!"

The "party" consisted of: Apples Popcorn Balls Nut Cookies Maple Fudge Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

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Popcorn Balls (Eight balls) ¾ C-light brown or "C" sugar ¾ C-white sugar ½ C-molasses ½ C-water 2 T-butter ¼ t-soda 2 qts. freshly popped corn 2 t-salt 1 T-vinegar

Place in a sauce pan, the sugar, molasses, water, vinegar and butter. Cook without stirring until the candy forms a hard ball which clicks against the side of the glass when dropped into cold water. Add the soda, stir well and pour over the corn, which has been salted and placed in a large pan. Mix the syrup thoroughly with the corn, and when partially cool, moisten the hands and press the corn into balls of uniform size. Popcorn balls should be kept in a cool place. Nut Cookies (Three dozen cookies) 1/3 C-butter and lard mixed 2/3 C-"C" sugar 1 egg 4 T-milk 2 C-flour 2 t-baking powder 1/3 C-chopped nut-meats (preferably black walnuts) 1 t-powdered cinnamon ¼ t-powdered cloves ¼ t-mace ¼ t-nutmeg

Cream the butter, add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg and milk and then the flour, nuts, cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmeg and baking powder. Place the dough on a floured board. Roll it out one-fourth of an inch thick and cut with a cooky cutter. Place on a well-buttered and floured baking sheet. Bake twelve minutes in a moderate oven.

Maple Fudge (Eight portions) ¼ lb. maple sugar 2 C-granulated sugar ¼ t-cream of tartar 2 T-butter 2/3 C-milk

Mix all the ingredients in the order named. Cook until the candy forms a soft ball when a little is dropped in a glass of cold water. Remove from the fire and let it cool. When cool, beat until it becomes creamy. Pour into a buttered plate.

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CHAPTER LXXX

A DINNER FOR THE BRIDAL PARTY

THE bridal dinner, given for the wedding party by Alice's parents, was truly an elaborate affair. As the young people, who knew each other so well, and had spent so many merry hours together, glanced across the softly lighted table, a little feeling of shyness and constraint came over them because of the formality of the occasion. Even Alice, usually the ringleader in all their fun, was a little silent. "Shucks!" thought boyish Fred. "None of this in mine! I'd elope first! Wonder if Harry likes it! (Bet he doesn't.)"

Ruth was thinking, "Oh, how lovely! How perfectly lovely! I believe after all— as a time to remember through all the years——" But Fred could not read her thoughts, and saw only the particularly happy smile that she gave him. "How do you like the nut cups?" Alice asked. "Bettina made these yellow 'mum' nut cups as a Christmas gift to me, and gave them to me now for this dinner! See, they just match the real chrysanthemums! I'm sure I don't know which I like best!"

The girls exclaimed so heartily over the nut cups that Bettina declared to herself that she would make sets for each of them, of different colors and kinds. These of Alice's were really charming. Their wire handles were wound with green maline and tied with a green bow. They were filled with pecans, and pink and yellow bonbons, which were grapes covered with colored creams.

The place cards were tied with narrow green ribbon to little china slippers, cupids, doves and hearts. Besides the yellow chrysanthemums, which were the table decorations, there was for each of the girls a corsage bouquet of pink roses, and for each of the men a boutonniere of pink rosebuds in a tinfoil case. Flower pins were tucked in the maline bows of the bouquets as favors for the girls, while scarf pins were favors for the men.

When the dinner was over, and the guests were passing into the living room for dancing and music, Alice slipped her arm through Bettina's. "The dinner was lovely; wasn't it?" she said. "I did think I was too tired to enjoy it, but my heart is as light as a feather now! I am going to dance all evening till my last guest goes!"

The menu was as follows:

Grapefruit Cocktail Cream of Asparagus Soup Croutons Sautéd Halibut Potato Rosettes Cabbage Relish in Green Pepper Cases Peas in Timbale Cases Celery Hot Rolls Currant Jelly Vegetable Salad Cheese Wafers Brick Ice Cream Individual Cakes

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Coffee Pecans Bon-Bons

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

RECIPES OF THE BRIDAL DINNER

Grapefruit Cocktail (Twelve portions) 6 grapefruit 12 T-powdered sugar 12 cherries

Cut the grapefruit in halves crosswise. Half a grapefruit is one service. Remove all the seeds. Insert a sharp-pointed knife between the outside skin or shell and the pulp, and cut out around the inside. Cut the skin away from each section of the pulp. Insert the knife under the core and cut free from the shell, lift out the core and membranes in one piece, leaving the pulp. Sprinkle each grapefruit half with one tablespoon of powdered sugar. Garnish with a maraschino cherry in the center and a mint leaf on each side. Serve very cold on a paper doily with some green rose leaves under the grapefruit. Cream of Asparagus Soup (Twelve portions) 4 C-strained asparagus pulp 5 C-milk 7 T-butter 9 T-flour 2 t-salt ¼ t-paprika

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Mix well, and gradually add the milk and asparagus. Cook until slightly thick. (About two minutes.) Serve hot. Croutons (Twelve portions) 8 slices of bread 2 T-butter

Cut the bread into one-third inch cubes, add the butter melted, and salt. Mix well and brown in a moderate oven, stirring occasionally to permit the bread to brown evenly.

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CHAPTER LXXXI

REHEARSING THE CEREMONY

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