A SUNDAY DINNER
"WE have gone 'over home' for so many Sunday dinners lately," Bettina
had said to her mother, "that I want you and father to come here
tomorrow."
"But, Bettina," her mother protested, "isn't it too much work for you?
And won't you be going to church?"
"I can't go to church tomorrow, anyhow, for Bob's Uncle Eric is to be in
town all morning; he leaves at noon, and the Dixons have offered us
their car to take him for a drive. Don't worry, Mother, I'll have a
simple dinner--a 'roast beef dinner,' I believe. I often think that is
the very easiest kind."
Sunday morning was so beautiful that Bettina could not bear to stay
indoors. Accordingly, she set the breakfast table on the porch, even
though Uncle Eric protested that it was too far for her to walk back and
forth with the golden brown waffles she baked for his especial delight.
When he and Bob had eaten two "batches," Uncle Eric insisted that he
could bake them himself for a while. He installed Bettina in her chair
at the table, and forced waffles upon her till she begged for mercy.
"Gracious!" Bettina exclaimed as she heard the "honk" of the Dixons'
automobile at the door. "There are the Dixons already and we have just
finished breakfast! Bob, you and Uncle Eric will have to go on without
me, for I must get the roast in the oven and do the morning's work."
"Well, I learned today to make waffles," said Uncle Eric.
For dinner that day Bettina served:
Roast Beef Brown Gravy
Browned Potatoes Baked Squash
Lettuce French Dressing
Lemon Sherbet Devil's Food Cake
Coffee
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Roast Beef= (Eight portions)
3-1/2 lb. rump roast of beef
4 T-flour
2 t-salt
1/4 C-hot water
Roll the roast in the flour and set on a rack in a dripping-pan. Place
in a hot oven and sear over all sides. Sprinkle the salt over the meat
and add the hot water. Cover the meat and cook in a moderate oven. Baste
every fifteen minutes. Allow fifteen minutes a pound for a rare roast,
and twenty minutes a pound for a well done roast. When properly done,
the outside fat is crisp and brown.
=Brown Potatoes= (Six portions)
6 potatoes
1 t-salt
Wash and peel the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt. Forty minutes before the
roast is to be done, add the potatoes. During the last ten minutes of
cooking the lid may be removed from the meat and potatoes to allow all
to brown nicely.
=Browned Gravy= (Six portions)
4 T-beef drippings
2 T-flour
1 C-water
1/4 t-salt
Place four tablespoons of beef drippings in a pan, add the flour and
allow to brown. Add the rest of the drippings, the water and the salt.
Cook two minutes. Serve hot.
=Baked Squash= (Six portions)
1 squash
2 T-butter
1-1/2 t-salt
3/4 t-paprika
Wash and wipe the squash, and cut into halves, then quarters. Remove the
seeds. Place the pieces of squash, skin down, in a baking-dish and bake
in a moderate oven until tender (about one hour). Remove from the oven,
mash up with a fork, and add to each portion one-half a teaspoon of
butter, one-fourth a teaspoon of salt, and one-eighth a teaspoon of
paprika. Reheat in the oven and serve hot.
=Devil's Food Cake= (Sixteen pieces)
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
1 egg
2/3 C-sour milk
1 t-vanilla
2/3 t-soda
2 C-flour
2 squares of melted chocolate
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue to cream the mixture. Add
the egg, well beaten, and the chocolate. Mix well. Add the soda and
flour sifted together, and the sour milk and vanilla. Beat three
minutes. Bake in two layer cake pans prepared with waxed piper for
twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven.
=Icing= (Sixteen portions)
2 C-"C" sugar
1/2 C-water
2 egg-whites beaten stiffly
1 t-vanilla
Cook the sugar and water together until it clicks when a little is
dropped into a cup of cold water. Pour slowly over the beaten egg
whites. Beat vigorously until creamy. Add the vanilla. Pour on one layer
of the cake. Place the upper layer on top, and pour the rest of the
icing upon it. Spread evenly over the top and over the sides.