MOTORING WITH THE DIXONS
"NOT through dinner yet?" exclaimed the Dixons at the door. "May we sit
down and wait? It's a beautiful evening, and we've come to get you to
take a long drive with us."
"Fine," said Bob. "Come out to the dining-room and talk till we're
through."
"And then I'll help Bettina clear off the table," said Charlotte. "Well,
people, it looks like a good dinner, and Sherlock Holmes deduces,
moreover, that you had roast lamb yesterday for your Sunday dinner."
"You might also deduce that we had baked potatoes, from which these
creamed ones are made," laughed Bettina. "Nothing else to guess at,
except that part of a cabbage made cold slaw yesterday and escalloped
cabbage today. And my dessert, while simple, has no secret past," she
added as she removed the first course. "A plain and simple custard,
that's all."
"Suits me," said Bob, heartily, "especially when it's cold like this."
"By the way, Bettina," said Charlotte, "did you ever get rid of those
black ants you were telling me about?"
"Yes, I've never seen one since."
"Well, you know how worried I was about the little red ones that
bothered me. Aunt Isabel, in a letter, gave me a remedy that has worked
like magic."
"Aunt Isabel has her uses, after all," teased Frank.
"I should say she has! She knows all about housekeeping, from A to Z!
Her remedy sounds queer, but I can vouch for its efficacy, so if anyone
ever asks you what to do for red ants, you tell them this, Bettina. I
took some covers from baking powder cans, and some Mason jar covers, and
some pie tins, and chalked the sides well with common school crayon.
Then I set them on the pantry shelves to hold dishes of whatever kinds
of food the ants liked. The ants never climbed over those chalked covers
and soon they had all disappeared. I don't have to use the chalked tins
any more, but if I ever see a red ant in my pantry again, I'll get out
the chalk."
"Couldn't you make a heavy chalk mark on the shelf paper around the dish
of food?" asked Bob.
"I tried that, but it didn't do any good. But the other way worked
beautifully."
"I'm glad to know about it," said Bettina. "Well, Bob, are you ready? It
will take only a few minutes to carry out the dishes and pile them up.
I'm sorry we've kept you people waiting."
For dinner that night they had:
Cold Sliced Lamb Creamed Potatoes
Chili Sauce Escalloped Cabbage
Bread Butter
Baked Custard
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Escalloped Cabbage= (Two portions)
1 C-cooked cabbage
1 T-butter
1 T-flour
1/4 t-salt
1/2 C-milk
2 T-fresh bread crumbs
1 T-melted butter
Melt the butter, add the flour and salt, and mix well. Slowly pour over
the milk and cook until creamy. Add the cabbage. Pour into a buttered
baking dish. Add bread crumbs to melted butter, and place the buttered
crumbs on the cabbage. Bake in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes, or
until the crumbs are browned.
=Chili Sauce= (One and one-half pints)
12 large, ripe tomatoes
3 green peppers
2 onions
2 T-salt
2 T-sugar
1 T-ground cinnamon
3 C-vinegar
Peel the tomatoes and onions, and chop separately very fine. Chop the
pepper also, and add the salt, sugar and cinnamon. Mix all the
ingredients together and add the vinegar. Cook one and one-half hours
over a moderate fire, stirring sufficiently to prevent sticking. Bottle,
and when cool, seal with paraffin.
=Cup Custard= (Three portions)
2 eggs
2 C-milk
4 T-sugar
1/8 t-salt
A few gratings of nutmeg
1/4 t-vanilla
Beat the eggs slightly, add the sugar and milk slowly. Add salt and
flavoring. Stir well. Pour into well-buttered cups. Sprinkle the nutmeg
gratings on the top. Set the cups in a pan of hot water and bake in a
moderate oven until a knife comes out clean upon piercing the custard
(about thirty-five minutes). Do not allow the water in the pan to boil.
Serve the custard cold, removing from the cups just before ready to
serve. The custards may be served in cups.