CHAPTER XLVIII

BETTINA SPILLS THE INK

"WHERE are you, Bettina?" called Bob one September evening when Bettina failed to meet him at the door. "Oh, Bettina!"

"Here I am, Bob, in the kitchen! I'm so ashamed of myself!"

"What for?"

"My carelessness. I just spilled a whole bottle of ink on this new apron of mine! I had begun to get dinner, and as it was a little early, I sat down for a minute to finish a letter to Polly. Then all at once I thought something was burning, and jumped up in such a hurry that I spilled the ink. I ought to have known better than to try to do two things at once! Luckily, the dinner was all right, but look at this apron! And it was such a pretty one!"

"Well, Bettina, I'm always getting ink and auto grease on my clothes, and you seem to keep yours spotless. So it is a surprise to me that it happened. Still, spoiling a new apron may be unfortunate, but I shouldn't call it tragic. Is it really spoiled?"

"No, I think I can fix it up so it will be almost as good as new, but it's a nuisance. See, I'm soaking it in this sour milk. I'll leave it here for four hours, and then apply some more milk for awhile. Then I believe the ink will come out when I rinse it."

"Well, Bettina, I'm glad you didn't spill ink on the dinner. Something smells mighty good!"

They had:

Beef Balls Gravy Mashed Potatoes Bettina's Celery and Eggs Cinnamon Rolls Butter Watermelon

BETTINA'S RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

=Beef Balls= (Three portions)

1 lb. round steak 1 t-salt 1/4 t-paprika 1/8 t-celery salt 1/4 t-onion salt

Grind round steak, season, shape into round cakes and broil them for seven minutes under the flame. While they are cooking, prepare the horseradish sauce.

=Horseradish Sauce= (Four portions)

2 T-butter 2 T-flour 1 C-milk 2 T-horseradish 1/2 t-salt

Melt the butter, add the flour. Mix well, add the milk and cook one minute. Add the salt and the horseradish. Serve immediately.

=Mashed Potatoes= (Three portions)

4 medium-sized potatoes 1-1/2 T-butter 1/2 C-milk 1/2 t-salt 1/8 t-pepper

Cook the potatoes (peeled) in boiling salted water. When done, drain off the water, pass through a vegetable ricer, or mash well with a potato masher. Add butter, salt, pepper, and the milk. Beat vigorously, reheat and pile lightly in a hot dish.

=Bettina's Celery and Eggs= (Three portions)

1 C-cooked diced celery 2 hard-cooked eggs sliced 2/3 C-vegetable white sauce 1 T-butter 3 T-fresh bread crumbs

Add the sliced hard-cooked eggs and cooked celery to the white sauce. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered baking dish. Cover with the crumbs which have been mixed with melted butter. Bake in a moderate oven until a delicate brown. (About twenty minutes.)

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