CV Ruth Stays to Dinner

CHAPTER CL

THE BRIDESMAIDS' DINNER

RUTH'S wedding colors were to be pink and green, and pink and green were, therefore, the colors which decorated the charming dinner table laid for the wedding party and close relatives the night before the wedding. A bud vase holding a half-opened pink rose bud stood before every two places. A large, low dish in the center of the table held pink roses, while at either end was another low arrangement of the same flowers.

Tiny paper slipper nut cups at each place held the pecans, and at the places laid for the best man and the ushers, silver pencils, Fred's gifts to the groomsmen, were found. "They are cunning, of course," chattered Bernadette, Ruth's cousin and maid-ofhonor, "but you men just wait till you see the green parasols that we bridesmaids are to carry! Ruth is giving them to us, you know!"

The dinner menu was as follows: Watermelon Balls Celery Bouillon Bread Sticks Veal Birds Creamed New Potatoes Buttered New Beets Rolls Butter Balls Mint Frappé Blackstone Salad French Dressing Thin Bread and Butter Sandwiches Brick Ice Cream White Cake Coffee Salted Pecans

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level) Blackstone Salad (Eighteen portions) 36 pieces of head lettuce 9 grapefruit 9 T-Neufchatel cheese 9 T-cottage cheese ½ t-paprika ½ t-salt 2 T-cream 1 T-salad dressing

Arrange two pieces of lettuce on each salad plate. Carefully peel the grapefruit and remove all the tough fibres and the white skin. Cut the grapefruit into one-inch

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pieces. Arrange the pieces in a circle upon the lettuce leaves. In the center of the circle, place the cheese mixture. Pour the salad dressing over the lettuce, cheese and grapefruit.

Cheese Mixture

Mix the Neufchatel and cottage cheese, the salt, paprika, cream and salad dressing. Stir until very creamy. Spread on a piece of waxed paper to the thickness of one inch. Place in the refrigerator, on the ice if possible. When cold and hard, cut in pieces three-fourths of an inch square. Place a cube in the center of the grapefruit circle on each side plate.

French Dressing

8 T-lemon juice 2 t-salt ½ t-paprika 1 C-olive oil

Mix and beat thoroughly the lemon juice, salt and paprika. Add the oil very slowly. Beat for three minutes. Add one tablespoon to each portion of the salad. Serve at once.

CHAPTER CLI

A MORNING WEDDING IN JUNE

AFTER the solemn and beautiful ceremony had taken place in the roseembowered summer house, there was the usual hush for a moment, and then Ruth and Fred were engulfed in a sudden rush of chattering friends, eager to offer congratulations. Bettina and Bob were swept off with the others to the house, where the wedding breakfast was waiting to be served. "The morning is after all the happiest time for a wedding," whispered Ellen to Bettina, as they found their places at the bride's table. "Everything seems so fresh and new and green and hopeful! Isn't the table lovely, Bettina?"

And indeed it was. Rose-decorated again, with the graceful flowers in baskets, and the white bride's cake in the center of the table, Bettina felt that it made the proper setting for the flushed and smiling little bride. "And the wedding cake is to be passed in darling little baskets," continued Ellen. "Little baskets with handles—and the cake in tiny packages tied with white ribbon! Pink and green candy all around them, too!"

The wedding breakfast consisted of: Watermelon Balls in Halves of Cantaloupe Chicken Croquettes Creamed Potatoes

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Mushroom Sauce New Peas Butter Sauce Parker House Rolls Loganberry Jam Fruit Salad Wafers, Bettina Brick Ice Cream White Cake Coffee Nuts Candy

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level) Mushroom Sauce (Thirty portions) 1 C-chicken fat ¼ C-water 1¼ C-flour 2 t-salt ½ t-paprika 7 C-milk

Mix the fat and flour carefully, add the water, salt and paprika. Cook one minute, stirring constantly, add one-half of the milk and cook until the mixture gets very thick. Beat one minute, add the rest of the milk and cook again, still stirring continuously. When the sauce is very thick and creamy, add the mushrooms. Stir over a hot fire for one minute. This allows the mushrooms to get hot. Serve one tablespoonful of the mixture around each croquette. The sauce may be reheated by adding two tablespoons of milk, and placing over a hot fire. Fruit Salad (Thirty portions) 30 slices of pineapple 120 white cherries 30 red maraschino cherries 120 pecan meats 30 T-salad dressing 30 pieces of head lettuce 2 t-salt

Arrange the pieces of lettuce on the salad plates. Sprinkle with salt, arrange on each portion a slice of pineapple, four white cherries, four pecan nuts and one maraschino cherry. Place one tablespoon of salad dressing on each slice of pineapple, then arrange the fruits and nuts in any desired design. Serve immediately.

Wafers Bettina (Thirty portions) 30 double wafers ¼ lb. cream cheese (white) 3 T-chopped nut meats 3 T-butter ¼ t-salt

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