BETTINA GIVES A PORCH PARTY
"I'M so glad that you girls have come, for I've been longing to show you
the porch ever since Bob and I put on the finishing touches."
"O Bettina, it's lovely!" cried all the guests in a chorus. "But weren't
you awfully extravagant?"
"Wait till I tell you. Perhaps I ought not to give myself away, but I am
prouder of our little economies than of anything else; we've had such
fun over them. This is some old wicker furniture that Mother had in her
attic, all but this chair, that came from Aunt Nell's. Bob mended it
very carefully, and then enameled it this dull green color. I have been
busy with these cretonne hangings and cushions for a long time, and we
have been coaxing along the flowers in our hanging baskets and our
window boxes for days and days, so that they would make a good
impression on our first porch guests. Bob made the flower boxes himself
and enameled them to go with the furniture. This high wicker flower box
was a wedding gift, and so was the wicker reading lamp. This matting rug
is new, but I must admit that we bought nothing else except this
drop-leaf table, which I have been wanting for a long time. You see it
will make a good serving table, and then we expect to eat on it in warm
weather."
"What are we to make today, Bettina? The invitation has made us all
curious.
"'The porch is cool as cool can be,
So come on Thursday just at three,
To stay awhile and sew
On something useful, strong, and neat,
Which, with your help, will quite complete
Bettina's bungalow!'"
"What about the little sketches of knives and forks and spoons in the
corners?"
"Bob did that. He wrote the verse, too, or I'm afraid I should have
telephoned. Are we all here? Wait a minute."
And Bettina wheeled out her tea-cart, on which, among trailing
nasturtiums, were mysterious packages wrapped in fringed green tissue
paper.
"What is in them? Silver cases--cut and ready to be made! Oh, how
cunning! Shall we label them, too? What is the card?
"'I'll not incase your silver speech,
For that is quite beyond my reach!'"
"Did Bob do that, too? The impudence!" and Ruth threaded her needle in
preparation.
"You see," said Bettina, "I hadn't found time to make cases for my
silver, so I just decided to let you girls help me! The card tells what
to label them, in outline stitch in these bright colors. I used to open
ten cases at home before I found what I wanted, so I am insuring against
that."
Talk and laughter shortened the afternoon, but at five o'clock Bettina
wheeled out her tea-cart again. The dainty luncheon was decorated with
nasturtiums. The girls laid aside their work while Bettina served:
Sunbonnet Baby Salad Nut Bread Sandwiches
Iced Tea Mint Wafers
Lemon Sherbet Tea Cakes
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Sunbonnet Baby Salad= (Ten portions)
10 halves pears
20 cloves, whole
20 almonds
10 thin slices pimento
10 T-salad dressing
10 pieces lettuce
Arrange the halves of canned pears, round side up, on lettuce leaves,
which curl closely about the pear and have the effect of a hood. Place
cloves in the pear for eyes, blanched almonds for ears, and slip thin
slices of canned pimento into cuts made for nose and mouth. The
expressions may be varied. Put salad dressing around the outside of the
pear to represent hair and arrange a bow of red pimento under the chin
of the sunbonnet baby. These salads are very effective and easy to make.
=Nut Bread= (Twenty-four sandwiches)
1-1/2 C-graham flour
2 C-white flour
4 t-baking powder
1 C-"C" sugar
2 t-salt
1-1/2 C-milk
2/3 C-chopped nut meats, dates or raisins
Sift together all the dry ingredients, add the nut meats and fruit. Add
the milk. Stir well, and pour into two well-buttered loaf pans. Allow to
stand and rise for twenty minutes. Bake three-fourths of an hour in a
moderate oven. Use bread twenty-four hours old for the sandwiches. "C"
sugar is light brown sugar and gives food a delicious flavor.
=Lemon Sherbet= (Ten portions)
4 C-water
2 C-sugar
1/4 C-lemon juice
1 egg white
Boil sugar and water ten minutes. Cool, add lemon juice and strain.
Freeze, and when nearly stiff, add beaten egg white and finish freezing.
=Icing= (White Mountain Cream)
2 C-sugar
1/2 C-water
2 egg whites
1/2 t-lemon extract
Boil the sugar and water without stirring until it threads when dropped
from the spoon. Pour slowly into the whites of the eggs beaten stiffly.
Beat until it holds its shape. Add the flavoring and spread on the cake.
=Bettina's Suggestions=
Arrange the sunbonnet babies on a salad platter, and let the guests
help themselves. The salad is light and attractive. The stem end of the
pear represents the neck. Cream the butter to be used for sandwiches. It
spreads more evenly and goes farther. Sandwiches taste better if allowed
to stand for several hours, wrapped securely in a napkin which has been
well dampened (not wet). Cut the slices very thin and press together
firmly. Cut into fancy shapes.