Strawberry Tapioca

3 T-granulated tapioca 4 T-sugar 1-1/4 C-hot water 1/8 t-salt 1/2 t-vanilla 1 C-strawberries 1/4 C-sugar

Wash and hull the strawberries, and cut in halves with a spoon. Add the sugar, mix well, and set in a cold place. Mix the tapioca, the sugar and the salt. Add the boiling water slowly. Cook ten minutes in the upper part of the double boiler. Add the vanilla. When cold, add the strawberries. Serve very cold with plain or whipped cream.

CHAPTER CXLVIII

PLANS FOR THE WEDDING

"OH, Bob!" cried Bettina, "don't you hope it won't rain?"

"Rain? When? Tonight?" asked Bob, absent-mindedly, for he was busily eating the first cherry cobbler of the season, and enjoying it, too.

"No, stupid! I'm thinking about the wedding--Ruth's wedding."

"And Fred's wedding, too," added Bob. "You talk as if Ruth were the only one who is vitally interested."

"Fred's wedding, then. For, you see, the ceremony is to be in that darling summer house if it doesn't rain. If it does it will have to be in the solarium. The bridesmaids and matrons (if it is an outdoor wedding) are to carry the prettiest green silk parasols that you ever saw. They will be Ruth's gifts to us. Over our arms we'll carry plain soft straw hats filled with pink peonies, and lots of trailing greenery. Won't that be lovely? For you know we are all to wear short white dresses and white shoes."

"And what am I to do?"

"You're to be an usher and help carry the green ropes that form the aisle."

"Yes, plain ropes covered with greenery. Will you have some more cherry cobbler, Bob?"

That night for dinner Bettina served:

Pork Tenderloin Creamed New Potatoes Cauliflower with Butter Sauce Vegetable Salad French Dressing Cherry Cobbler Cream Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Vegetable Salad= (Four portions)

2 tomatoes 12 slices of cucumber 4 T-cottage cheese 1/2 t-celery salt 1 t-salt 1/4 t-paprika 8 pieces of lettuce

Arrange two pieces of lettuce on each salad plate. Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange on the lettuce. Place three slices of cucumber on each piece of tomato. Add a tablespoon of cheese to each portion. Sprinkle with celery salt, salt and paprika. Serve at once with French dressing.

Bettina's French Dressing= (Four portions)

2 T-lemon juice 5 T-olive oil 1 t-salt 1/4 t-paprika 1 t-chopped parsley

Mix the lemon juice, salt, paprika and parsley. Add the oil slowly, beating vigorously with a Dover egg-beater or a fork. Beat until the mixture becomes a little thick. Pour over the salad.

Cherry Cobbler= (Four portions)

2 C-cherries, stemmed and pitted 2/3 C-sugar 2 t-flour 1 T-water 1/8 t-salt 1 C-flour 1 t-baking powder 1/4 t-salt 1 T-sugar 2 T-butter 6 T-milk

Mix the cherries, sugar, flour and salt. Allow to stand five minutes. Add the water. Pour the mixture into a deep glass or china baking dish. Mix and sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter with a knife. Add the milk, mixing until a soft dough is formed. Shape it with the hands to fit over the cherries. Make three slits in the dough to permit the steam to escape. Place in a moderate oven and bake for thirty minutes, Serve in the baking dish. Plain cream or whipped cream should be served with the cobbler.

CHAPTER CXLIX

ENTERTAINING THE WEDDING GUESTS

"IF you girls only would, my dear," Ruth's mother had responded to Bettina's suggestion that she and Alice entertain Ruth's house guests the entire day before the wedding, "you have no idea what a load would be taken off my mind!"

"And Alice and I would so enjoy helping you," Bettina had replied. "And remember, we mean the whole day, breakfast and all!"

Luckily, the day before the wedding dawned warm and clear At eight o'clock Harry and Bob drove them all in automobiles to a lovely country spot in which the girls served an outdoor breakfast. The morning was spent in motoring and luncheon was eaten at a charming downtown tea-room. Then they were whisked off to Bettina's little home for an informal afternoon, and Harry and Bob, feeling that they had indeed been model husbands, departed for their respective offices.

"The girl from Kentucky has volunteered to sing," whispered Alice to Ruth. "She's a dear. Do you suppose we can keep Aunt Jenny from talking for half an hour?"

That afternoon the following refreshments were served on trays:

Fruit Salad Bettina Sandwiches Orange Sherbet Bettina's Cake, White Mountain Cream Icing Coffee Nuts Candy

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Fruit Salad= (Twelve portions)

3 C-diced pineapple 1 C-nut meats, cut in small pieces 1/2 C-oranges, cut in small pieces 1/2 C-marshmallows, cut fine 1/2 C-red cherries, cut fine 1/3 C-figs, cut fine 1 C-salad dressing 1/2 C-whipped cream 12 pieces lettuce

Mix the pineapple, nut meats, oranges, marshmallows, cherries and figs. Mix the whipped cream and the salad dressing. Pour this over the fruit. Serve on lettuce leaves which have been washed and placed on serving plates. Serve immediately.

Bettina Sandwiches= (Twelve portions)

1/2 C-creamed cheese 3 T-pickles, chopped fine 1/2 C-pimento olives, chopped fine 2 T-salad dressing 1/4 t-salt

Mix the cheese, pickles, olives and salt. Add the salad dressing. Spread this mixture between two thin pieces of buttered bread. Press firmly together and cut into fancy shapes.

Bettina Cake= (Twelve squares)

1/4 C-butter 1/2 C-sugar 4 egg-yolks 7/8 C-flour 1 t-baking powder 1/4 C-strained orange juice 1/2 t-orange extract 1/2 t-lemon extract

Cream the butter, add the sugar and mix well. Add the egg-yolks which have been well beaten. Mix and sift the flour, baking powder and salt, and add these, with the orange juice and the orange and lemon extracts to the first mixture. Beat vigorously for two minutes. Fill a twelve-inch square pan which has been prepared with waxed paper, with the mixture. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. When cool, cover with the icing and cut into twelve pieces.

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-of-honor, "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 1/2 t-paprika 1/2 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 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.