XCIV The Firelight Social

Rice Croquettes with Jelly (Three croquettes) 1 C-steamed rice 1 egg-yolk 1 T-butter 1/8 t-paprika ¼ t-salt 1 t-chopped parsley 3 T-flour 2 T-grape jelly

Mix the steamed rice, egg-yolk, butter, paprika, salt and parsley. Shape into flat disks one inch thick and three inches in diameter. Roll in flour. Make an indentation in the center of each with a spoon, to hold the jelly. Fry in hot deep fat until brown. Drain, the wrong side up. Heat in a hot oven and serve hot. Place a cube of jelly in the center of each. Sponge Cake with Whipped Cream (Three portions) 3 slices of stale cake (three by three by one inch) 8 marshmallows cut in cubes 3 T-canned cherries 3 T-cherry juice 4 T-whipping cream ½ t-vanilla 1½ T-sugar

Beat the cream until stiff, add the vanilla, marshmallows and sugar. Arrange the cake in glass sherbet dishes. Place a tablespoon of cherries and a tablespoon of juice on each slice. Place one and a half tablespoons of the whipped cream mixture on each portion. Allow to stand in a cold place for five minutes.

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CHAPTER CXXXIII

HELPING WITH A COMPANY DINNER

"C OOKING a company dinner is such fun!" sighed Mildred. "I like the dinner part, but I always wish that the company would stay away at the last minute." "Oh, you'll like Mr. Jackson, Mildred. He's one of Uncle Bob's best friends, and so nice and jolly!" "The jolly men always like to tease, and the ones who aren't jolly are always cross. I don't intend to get married myself. I'm going to live in a nice little bungalow like this one and do my own cooking." "Will you live all alone?" asked Bettina.

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"I'll adopt some children—seven or eight, I think,—all girls. I don't want any boys around." "Your bungalow will have to be larger than this to accommodate them all if you adopt seven or eight." "I don't want a large one; that would spoil the fun. I'll let the children take turns sleeping on the floor. Children always love to sleep on the floor, and mothers never like to have them do it! I wonder why? Now, will you let me brown the flour for the gravy?" "Yes, dear. Put half a cup of white flour in that frying-pan over the fire and keep stirring it constantly until it is a nice brown color, about like powdered cinnamon." "This way?" "Yes, Mildred; a little darker than that, but keep stirring it so that it won't burn. There, that's exactly right!"

That evening Bettina served: Leg of Lamb with Browned Potatoes Gravy Egg and Lettuce Salad Strawberry Shortcake Cream Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level) Leg of Lamb and Browned Potatoes (Four portions) 3 lb. leg of lamb 6 potatoes 1 T-salt ¼ t-paprika 2 T-bacon fat 1/3 C-boiling water

Allow the lamb to stand in cold water for ten minutes. Remove and wipe dry. Place the fat in a frying-pan. Add the meat and cook until thoroughly browned on all sides. Place in the fireless cooker (or a slow oven) and surround the meat with the potatoes. Sprinkle with the salt and paprika. Add the water. (If in the cooker, place the heated disks under and over the meat.) Cook two hours. Gravy (Four portions) 4 T-browned flour 1 T-butter 1 t-salt ¼ t-white pepper 1½ C-meat stock and water

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Remove the meat from the pan in which it was cooked (also remove the potatoes) and add sufficient water to the stock in the pan to make one and a half cups all together. Melt the butter, add the browned flour and a tablespoon of the stock. Mix well, and add the salt and pepper. Add the remaining stock; cook, stirring constantly for two minutes. Pour into a heated gravy dish. Serve at once. Egg and Lettuce Salad (Four portions) 8 pieces of lettuce 4 hard-cooked eggs 4 radishes 4 young onions 2 t-salt ½ t-paprika ¼ t-celery salt 8 T-salad dressing

Arrange two pieces of lettuce on each plate. Slice an egg, a radish and an onion and arrange these upon the lettuce leaves. Sprinkle each portion with a fourth of the seasoning. Place two tablespoons of salad dressing on each portion. Have all the ingredients cold before combining.

CHAPTER CXXXIV

MILDRED'S DAY

"I

HELPED to make the cunning little biscuits, Uncle Bob," explained Mildred at dinner. "You did?" said Bob, feigning astonishment. "You rolled them out with a rolling pin, I suppose, and——" "Oh, no, Uncle Bob! You ought never to use a rolling pin, Aunt Bettina says!" said Mildred in a horrified tone, as if she had been cooking for the First Families for a score of years. "Good cooks always pat down the dough—they never roll it out." "Well, what do you do first? Stir up the dough with a spoon?" "No, indeed; you use a knife. Then you pat the dough down, and cut out the dear little biscuits with a biscuit cutter." "And put them side by side in a nicely buttered pan? I know how!" "But you don't butter the pan," said Mildred triumphantly. "Or flour it, either. Aunt Bettina says that lots of people think the pan has to be buttered or floured, but they're wrong. It's lots better to put the biscuits into a nice clean pan." "But don't they stick to it, and burn?"

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