LXXIV The Dixons Come to Dinner

Waffles (Six portions) 1¾ C-flour 2 T-sugar 1 t-salt 3 t-baking powder 2 well-beaten eggs ¾ 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

"W ELL, 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

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(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 ½ 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) ½ C-corn meal 3 T-sugar ½ C-white flour 2 t-baking powder ¼ t-salt 1 egg ½ 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.

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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!

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