A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband: with Bettina's Best Recipes

by Louise Bennett Weaver, Helen Cowles LeCron

Overview

No, you cannot live on kisses,
Though the honeymoon is sweet,
Harken, brides, a true word this is —
Even lovers have to eat.
This charming vintage cookbook, with its innocently suggestive title, reads like a novel as it follows the fictional lives of a pair of newlyweds. Join Bettina and Bob as they eat their way through their first year of marriage, from the bride's first real dinner and a Sunday evening tea to baking day, a rainy night meal, and Thanksgiving festivities. Menus for all occasions are seasoned with anecdotes about family life, friendships, household hints, and budgetary concerns.
Originally published in 1917, this volume offers a delightful look at homemaking before the advent of sophisticated appliances and fast food as well as the modern reality of women's work outside the home. Unintentionally funny and historically revealing, the whimsically illustrated narrative abounds in simple and surprisingly relevant recipes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486311234
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	05/20/2013
Series:	Dover Humor
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
File size:	3 MB

Read an Excerpt

A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband with Bettina's Best Recipes

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By Louise Bennett Weaver, Helen Cowles LeCron

Dover Publications, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-31123-4

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CHAPTER 1

HOME AT LAST

"HOME at last!" sighed Bettina happily as the hot and dusty travelers left the train.

"Why that contented sigh?" asked Bob. "Because our wedding trip is over? Well, anyhow, Bettina, it's after five. Shall we have dinner at the hotel?"

"Hotel? Why, Bob! with our house and our dishes and our silver just waiting for us? I'm ashamed of you! We'll take the first car for home—a streetcar, not a taxi! Our extravagant days are over, and the time has come to show you that Bettina knows how to keep house. You think that you love me now, Bobby, but just wait till you sit down to a real strawberry shortcake made by a real cook in a real home!"

Half an hour later Bob was unlocking the door of the new brown bungalow. "Isn't it a dear?" cried Bettina proudly. "When we've had time to give it grass and shrubs and flowers and a vegetable garden, no place in town will equal it! And as for porch furniture, how I'd like to get at Mother's attic and transform some of her discarded things!"

"Just now I'd rather get at some of Mother's cooking!" grinned Bob.

"Oh, dear, I forgot! I'll have supper ready in ten minutes. Do you remember my emergency shelf? Why, Bob—Bob, they must have known we were coming! Here's ice—and milk—and cream—and butter—and bread—and rolls, and even a grape fruit! They knew, and didn't meet the train because they thought we would prefer to have our first meal alone! Wasn't that dear of them? And this will save you a trip to the corner grocery!"

Bettina fastened a trim percale bungalow apron over her traveling suit, and swiftly and surely assembled the little meal.

"I like that apron," said Bob. "It reminds me of the rainy day when we fixed the emergency shelf. That was fun."

"Yes, and work too," said Bettina, "but I'm glad we did it. Do you remember how much I saved by getting things in dozen and half dozen lots? And Mother showed me how much better it was to buy the larger sizes in bottled things, because in buying the smaller bottles you spend most of your money for the glass. Now that you have to pay my bills, Bob, you'll be glad that I know those things!"

"I think you know a great deal," said Bob admiringly. "Lots of girls can cook, but mighty few know how to be economical at the same time! It's great to be your——"

"Dinner is served," Bettina interrupted. "It's a 'pick-up meal,' but I'm hungry, aren't you? And after this, sir, no more canned things!"

And Bob sat down to:

Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips
Canned Peas with Butter Sauce
Rolls Butter
Strawberry Preserves
Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips (Two portions)

1 T-butter ½ slice pimento
1 T-flour 1 C-milk
¼ t-salt 3 slices of bread
½ C-tuna

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and pimento. Mix well. Gradually pour in the milk. Allow the mixture to boil one minute. Stir constantly. Add the fish, cook one minute and pour over toasted strips of bread.

Hot Chocolate (Three cups)

1 square of chocolate 2 C-milk
3 T-sugar ¼ t-vanilla
2/3 C-water 3 marshmallows

Cook chocolate, sugar and water until a thin custard is formed. Add milk gradually and bring to a boil. Whip with an egg beater, as this breaks up the albumin found in chocolate, and prevents the coating from forming over the top. Add vanilla and marshmallows. Allow to stand a moment and pour into the cups.

Strawberry Preserves (Six one-half pt. glasses)

4 lbs. berries 3lbs. sugar
3 C-water

Pick over, wash and hull the berries. Make a syrup by boiling the sugar and water fifteen minutes. Fill sterilized jars with the berries. Cover with syrup and let stand fifteen minutes to settle. Add more berries. Adjust rubbers and covers. Place on a folded cloth in a kettle of cold water. Heat water to boiling point and cook slowly one hour. Screw on covers securely.

On Bettina's Emergency Shell

6 cans pimentos (small size) 6 cans tomatoes
6 cans tuna (small size) 6 pt. jars pickles
6 cans salmon (small size) 6 pt. jars olives
6 jars dried beef 6 small cans condensed milk
12 cans corn 6 boxes sweet wafers
12 cans peas 1 pound box salted codfish
6 cans string beans 3 pkg. marshmallows
6 cans lima beans 3 cans mushrooms
6 cans devilled ham (small size) 2 pkg. macaroni

CHAPTER 2

BETTINA'S FIRST REAL DINNER

"Say, isn't it great to be alive!" exclaimed Bob, as he looked across the rose-decked table at the flushed but happy Bettina. "And a beefsteak dinner, too!"

"Steak is expensive, dear, and you'll not get it often, but as this is our first real dinner in our own home, I had to celebrate. I bought enough for two meals, because buying steak for one meal for two people is beyond any modest purse! So you'll meet that steak again tomorrow, but I don't believe that you'll bow in recognition!"

"So you marketed today, did you?"

"Indeed I did! I bought a big basket, and went at it like a seasoned housekeeper. I had all the staples to get, you know, and lots of other things. After dinner I'll show you the labelled glass jars on my shelves; it was such fun putting things away! June is a wonderful month for housekeepers. I've planned the meals for days ahead, because I know that's best. Then I'll go to the market several times a week, and if I plan properly I won't have to order by telephone. It seems so extravagant to buy in that way unless you know exactly what you are getting. I like to plan for left-overs, too. For instance, the peas in this salad were left from yesterday's dinner, and the pimento is from that can I opened. Then, too, I cooked tomorrow's potatoes with these to save gas and bother. You'll have them served in a different way, of course. And—— Oh, yes, Bob," Bettina chattered on, "I saw Ruth down town, and have asked all five of my brides-maids to luncheon day after tomorrow. Won't that be fun? But I promise you that the neglected groom shall have every one of the good things when he comes home at night!"

"It makes me feel happy, I can tell you, to have a home like this. It's pleasant to be by ourselves, but at the same time I can't help wishing that some of the bachelors I know could see it all and taste your cooking!"

"Well, Bob, I want you to feel free to have a guest at any time. If my dinners are good enough for you, I'm sure they're good enough for any guest whom you may bring. And it isn't very hard to make a meal for three out of a meal for two. Now, Bobby, if you're ready, will you please get the dessert?"

"What? Strawberry shortcake? Well, this is living! I tell you what, Bettina, I call this a regular man-size meal!"

It consisted of:

Pan-Broiled Steak New Potatoes in Cream
Baking-Powder Biscuits Butter
Rhubarb Sauce Pea and Celery Salad
Strawberry Short-cake Cream
Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Pan-Broiled Steak (Two portions)

1 lb. steak 1/8 t-pepper
1 T-butter 2 T-hot water
1 t-salt 1 t-parsley chopped

Wipe the meat carefully with a wet cloth. Remove superfluous fat and any gristle. Cut the edges to prevent them from curling up. When the broiling oven is very hot, place the meat, without any fat, upon a hot flat pan, directly under the blaze. Brown both sides very quickly. Turn often. Reduce heat and continue cooking about seven minutes, or longer if desired. Place on a warm platter; season with salt, pepper and bits of butter. Set in the oven a moment to melt the butter. If salt is added while cooking, the juices will be drawn out. A gravy may be made by adding hot water, butter, salt, pepper and parsley to the pan. Pour the gravy over the steak.

New Potatoes in Cream (Two portions)

4 new potatoes1 qt. water
1 t-salt

Scrape four medium sized new potatoes. Cook in boiling water (salted) until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain off the water, and shake the kettle over the fire gently, to allow the steam to escape and make the potatoes mealy. Make the following white sauce and pour over the potatoes.

White Sauce for New Potatoes (Two portions)

2 T-butter 1 c-milk
2 T-flour ½ t-salt
¼ t-paprika

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt and paprika. Thoroughly mix, slowly add milk, stirring constantly. Allow sauce to cook two minutes.

Strawberry Shortcake (Two portions)

2 T-lard 1/3 t-salt
1 T-butter 4 t-baking powder
2 c-sifted flour 1 qt. strawberries
¾ C-milk 2/3 C-sugar

Cut the fat into the flour, salt and baking powder until the consistency of cornmeal. Gradually add the milk, using a knife to mix. Do not handle any more than absolutely necessary. Toss the dough upon a floured board or a piece of clean brown paper. Pat into the desired shape, and place in a pan. Bake in a hot oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Split, spread with butter, and place strawberries, crushed and sweetened, between and on top. Serve with cream.

CHAPTER 3

BETTINA'S FIRST GUEST

"Hello! Yes, this is Bettina! Why, Bob, of course! Is he a real woman-hater? No, I've never met any, but I'll just invite Alice, too, and tomorrow you won't be calling him that. Six-thirty? Yes, I'll be ready for you both ; I'm so glad you asked him. He'll be our first guest! Goodbye!"

Bettina left the telephone with more misgivings than her tone had indicated. She couldn't disappoint Bob, and she liked unexpected company, but the dinner which she had planned was prepared largely from the recipes filed as "leftovers" in her box of indexed cards.

"Well, Bob will like it, anyhow," she declared confidently, "and if Alice can come, we'll have enough scintillating table-talk to make up for disappointments."

Alice accepted with delight, promising to wear "a dream of a gown that just came home," and confessing to a sentimental feeling at the thought of dining with such a new bride and groom.

"Let's see," said Bettina in her spick and span little kitchen, "there is meat enough, but I must hard-boil some eggs to help out these potatoes. 'Potatoes Anna' will be delicious. Goodness, what would my home economics teacher have said if she had heard me say 'hard-boil'? They mustn't really be boiled at all, just 'hard-cooked' in water kept at the boiling point. There will be enough baked green peppers for four, and enough of the pudding, and if I add some very good coffee I don't believe that Bob's Mr. Harrison will feel that women are such nuisances after all! It isn't an elaborate meal, but it's wholesome, and at any rate, our gas bill will be a little smaller because everything goes into the oven."

When Alice arrived, Bettina was putting the finishing touches on her table. "Alice, you look stunning!"

"And you look lovely, which is better! And the table is charming! Those red clover blossoms in that brown basket make a perfect center-piece! How did you think of it?"

"Mother Necessity reminded me, my dear! My next door neighbor has roses, but I covet some for my luncheon tomorrow, and did not like to ask for any today. So I had to use these red clover blooms from our own back yard. They are simple, like the dinner."

"Don't you envy me, Harrison?" asked Bob at the table. "This is my third day of real home cooking! You were unexpected company, too!"

The dinner consisted of:

Boubons with Tomato Sauce
Potatoes Anna Baked Green Peppers Stuffed
Bread Butter
Cottage Pudding Lemon Sauce
Coffee

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Boubons (Four portions)

1 C-cooked meat ground fine (one or more kinds may be used)
2 T-fresh bread crumbs
¼ t-pepper
½ C-milk
1 T-green pepper or pimento chopped fine
¼ t-celery salt
1 egg
½ t-salt
1 t-butter (melted)

Beat the egg, add milk, seasonings, melted butter, breadcrumbs and meat. Mix thoroughly. Fill buttered cups three-fourths full of mixture. Place in a pan of boiling water, and bake in a moderate oven fifteen minutes. The mixture is done as soon as it resists pressure in the center. Allow them to remain in the pans a few minutes, then remove carefully upon a serving plate. They may be made in a large mould or individual ones. Serve with the following sauce.

Tomato Sauce (Four portions)

1 C-tomatoes ½ t-sugar
1 slice onion ½ C-water
4 bay leaves 2 T-butter
4 cloves 2 T-flour
½ t-salt

Simmer the tomatoes, onion, bay leaves, cloves, sugar and water for fifteen minutes, rub through the strainer. Melt butter, add flour and salt, add strained tomato juice and pulp. Cook until the desired consistency.

Potatoes Anna (Four portions)

1½ C-cooked diced potatoes ½ t-celery salt
2 hard-cooked eggs ¼ t-onion salt
1 C-thin white sauce

Place alternate layers of diced cooked potatoes and sliced hard-cooked eggs in a baking dish. Season. Pour a thin white sauce over all of this. Place in a moderate oven fifteen minutes.

Stuffed Green Peppers (Four portions)

4 green peppers 4 C-boiling water

Remove the stems of the peppers and take out all the contents. Remove small slices from the blossom end so they will stand. Cover peppers with boiling water, allow to stand five minutes and drain. Fill with any desired mixture. Bake in a moderate oven twenty-five minutes, basting frequently with hot water.

Filling for Peppers (Four portions)

1 C-fresh bread crumbs ½ t-salt
1 t-chopped onion or ¼ T-onion salt 1 T-melted butter
1/3 C-chopped ham, or 1 T-salt pork 1/8 t-paprika
2 T-water

Mix thoroughly and fill the pepper cases.

Baked Cottage Pudding (Four portions)

1 C-flour 1/3 C-sugar
1 2/3 t-baking powder 2 T-melted butter
¼ t-salt ½ C-milk
1 well-beaten egg ¼ t-vanilla or lemon extract

Mix dry ingredients, add egg and milk. Beat well and add melted butter and extract. Bake twenty-five minutes in a well buttered mould. Serve hot with the following sauce:

Lemon Sauce (Four portions)

½ C-sugar 1 t-butter
1½ T-flour 1 t-lemon extract or ½ t-lemon juice
1 C-hot water ½ t-salt

Mix sugar, flour and salt. Slowly add the hot water. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add flavoring and butter.

CHAPTER 4

BETTINA GIVES A LUNCHEON

"O you darling Bettina! Did you do it all yourself?" Mary exclaimed impulsively, as the girls admired the dainty first course which their hostess set before them. "Everything is pink and white, like the wedding!"

"Yes," said Bettina, "and those maline bows on the basket of roses actually attended my wedding. And after this is over, you may see that maline again. I expect to press it out and put it away for other pink luncheons in other Junes! Today, since my guests were to be just my bridesmaids, I thought that a pink luncheon would be the most appropriate kind."

"Isn't it fine to be in Bettina's own house? I can't realize it!" said Ellen. "And the idea of daring to cook a whole luncheon and serve it in courses all by herself! Why, Bettina, how did you know what to have?"

"Well," said Bettina, "I went to the market and saw all the inexpensive things that one can buy in June! (They had to be inexpensive! Why, if I were to tell you just what this luncheon cost, you'd laugh. But I want you to like it all before I give that secret away.) And then in planning my menu, I thought of pinky things that went together. That was all, you see."

"But didn't it take hours and hours to prepare everything?"

"Why, no. I thought it all out first, and wrote it down, and did most of it yesterday. I've found that five minutes of planning is worth five hours of unplanned work. I haven't hurried, and as Bob will have this same meal as his dinner tonight, I didn't have to think of him except to plan for more. You see, I estimated each portion as carefully as I could, for it isn't necessary to have a lot of left-over things. Tonight I'll wear this same pink gown at dinner so that Bob will get every bit that he can of my first luncheon except the silly girls who flattered the cook."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband with Bettina's Best Recipes by Louise Bennett Weaver, Helen Cowles LeCron. Copyright © 2012 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

I. Home at Last
II. Bettina's First Real Dinner
III. Bettina's First Guest
IV. Bettina Gives a Luncheon
V. Bob Helps to Get Dinner
VI. Cousin Matilda Calls
VII. A New-Fashioned Sunday Dinner
VIII. Celebrating the Fourth
IX. Uncle John and Aunt Lucy Make a Visit
X. Ruth Inspects Bettina's Kitchen
XI. Bettina's Birthday Gift
XII. Bettina's Father Tries Her Cooking
XIII. Bob Helps With the Dinner
XIV. A Sunday Evening Tea
XV. A Motor Picnic
XVI. Bettina Has a Caller
XVII. Bob Gets Breakfast on Sunday
XVIII. Bettina Gives a Porch Party
XIX. Bettina and the Expense Budget
XX. Mrs. Dixon and Bettina's Experiment
XXI. A Rainy Day Dinner
XXII. Buying a Refrigerator
XXIII. Bettina's Sunday Dinner
XXIV. Bettina Visits a Tea-room
XXV. Bettina Entertains Alice and Mr. Harrison
XXVI. Over the Telephone
XXVII. Bettina Has a Baking Day
XXVIII. Polly and the Children
XXIX. Bettina Puts Up Fruit
XXX. A Cool Summer Day
XXXI. Bob and Bettina Alone
XXXII. Bettina Attends a Morning Wedding
XXXIII. After the "Tea"
XXXIV. Bettina Gives a Porch Breakfast
XXXV. A Piece of News
XXXVI. Bettina Entertains Her Father and Mother
XXXVII. The Big Secret
XXXVIII. After the Circus
XXXIX. Mrs. Dixon Asks Questions
XL. A Telegram from Uncle Eric
XLI. Bettina Entertains State Fair Visitors
XLII. Uncle John and Aunt Lucy
XLIII. Sunday Dinner at the Dixon's
XLIV. A Rainy Evening at Home
XLV. Ruth Makes an Apple Pie
XLVI. Bettina Makes Apple Jelly
XLVII. After a Park Party
XLVIII. Bettina Spills the Ink
XLIX. Bettina Attends a Porch Party
L. A Dinner Cooked in the Morning
LI. A Sunday Dinner
LII. Bob Makes Peanut Fudge
LIII. Dinner at the Dixon's
LIV. A Good-bye Luncheon for Bernadette
LV. Bettina Plans an Announcement Luncheon
LVI. Ruth and Bettina Make Preparations
LVII. A Rainbow Announcement Luncheon
LVIII. An Early Caller
LIX. Ruth Comes to Luncheon
LX. A Kitchen Shower for Alice
LXI. A Rainy Night Meal
LXII. Alice Gives a Luncheon
LXIII. Motoring with the Dixons
LXIV. Ruth Makes Baking Powder Biscuits
LXV. Plans for the Wedding
LXVI. A Guest to a Dinner of Left-Overs
LXVII. A Handkerchief Shower
LXVIII. Just the Two of Them
LXIX. A Luncheon in the Country
LXX. A "Pair Shower" for Alice
LXXI. Bob Makes Popcorn Balls
LXXII. And Where Was the Dinner
LXXIII. Alice Tells Her Troubles
LXXIV. The Dixons Come to Dinner
LXXV. The Wedding Invitations
LXXVI. Hallowe'en Preparations
LXXVII. Hallowe'en Revels
LXXVIII. A Foretaste of Winter
LXXIX. Surprising Alice and Harry
LXXX. A Dinner for the Bridal Party
LXXXI. Rehearsing the Ceremony
LXXXII. After the Wedding
LXXXIII. A "Happen-in" Luncheon
LXXXIV. Uncle John a Guest at Dinner
LXXXV. During the Teachers' Convention
LXXXVI. A Luncheon for the Teachers
LXXXVII. Ruth Comes to Luncheon
LXXXVIII. The Hickory Log
LXXXIX. Some Christmas Plans
XC. After the Football Game
XCI. A Thanksgiving Dinner in the Country
XCII. Planning the Christmas Cards
XCIII. Harry and Alice Return
XCIV. The Firelight Social
XCV. Alice's Troubles
XCVI. Some of Bettina's Christmas Plans
XCVII. More of Bettina's Christmas Shopping
XCVIII. Christmas Gifts
XCIX.. A Christmas Shower
C. Bettina Gives a Dinner
CI. Bob's Christmas Gift to Bettina
CII. A Christmas Breakfast
CIII. A Supper for Two
CIV. Alice Comes to Luncheon
CV. Ruth Stays to Dinner
CVI. How Bettina Made Candy
CVII. Ruth's Plans
CVIII. A Luncheon for Three
CIX. The Dixons Come to Dinner
CX. A Steamed Pudding
CXI. On Valentine's Day
CXII. Rutht Gives a Dinner for Four
CXIII. Alice Practices Economy
CXIV. A Company Dinner for Bob
CXV. Supper After the Theatre
CXVI. Washington's Birthday Plans
CXVII. An Afternoon with Bettina
CXVIII. A Washington's Birthday Tea
CXIX. Another Oven Dinner
CXX. Bob Makes Pop-Overs
CXXI. In March
CXXII. A Fireless Cooker for Aunt Lucy
CXXIII. The Dixons Drop in for Dessert
CXXIV. Ruth Passes By
CXXV. Bettina Entertains a Small Neighbor
CXXVI. A Sunday Night Tea
CXXVII. A Shamrock Luncheon
CXXVIII. At Dinner
CXXIX. An Anniversary Dinner
CXXX. Ruth Comes to Dinner
CXXXI. Mildred's Spring Vacation
CXXXII. Helping Bettina
CXXXIII. Helping with a Company Dinner
CXXXIV. Mildred's Day
CXXXV. Polly Comes for Mildred
CXXXVI. Mildred's Plans
CXXXVII. A Luncheon for Polly
CXXXVIII. Furs to Put Away
CXXXIX. Planning a Children's Party
CXL. The Party Circus
CXLI. Planning a Luncheon
CXLII. The New Car
CXLIII. In Housecleaning Time
CXLIV. Mrs. Dixon Happens in
CXLV. Engagement Presents
CXLVI. With Housecleaning Over
CXLVII. Spring Marketing
CXLVIII. Plans for the Wedding
CXLIX. Entertaining the Wedding Guests
CL. The Bridemaids' Dinner
CLI. A Morning Wedding in June
CLII. The First Year Ends
Index