Louise Bennett Weaver - A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband

Bibliographical Note

This Dover edition, first published in 2012, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by Britton Publishing Company, Inc., New York, in 1917. The original tinted endpapers have been reproduced here in black and white.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Weaver, Louise Bennett.

A thousand ways to please a husband with Bettinas best recipes / Louise Bennett

Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron ; decorations by Elizabeth Colbourne.

p. cm.

Originally published: New York : Britton, 1917.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-486-48871-4

ISBN-10: 0-486-48871-3

1. Cooking, American. I. LeCron, Helen Cowles. II. Title. III. Title: 1,000 ways to please a husband with Bettinas best recipes.

TX715.W36 2012

641.5973dc23

2012007619

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
48871301
www.doverpublications.com

A DEDICATION

To every other little bride

Who has a Bob to please ,

And says shes tried and tried and tried

To cook with skill and ease ,

And cant!we offer here as guide

Bettinas Recipes!

To her whose Bob is prone to wear

A sad and hungry look ,

Because the maid he thought so fair

Iswellshe just cant cook!

To her we say : do not despair;

Just try Bettinas Book!

JUNE.

No, you cannot live on kisses ,

Though the honeymoon is sweet ,

Harken, brides, a true word this is,

Even lovers have to eat.

H OME 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, its 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? Im ashamed of you! Well take the first car for homea 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. Isnt it a dear? cried Bettina proudly. When weve 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 Id like to get at Mothers attic and transform some of her discarded things!

Just now Id rather get at some of Mothers cooking! grinned Bob.

Oh, dear, I forgot! Ill have supper ready in ten minutes. Do you remember my emergency shelf? Why, BobBob, they must have known we were coming! Heres iceand milkand creamand butterand breadand rolls, and even a grape fruit! They knew, and didnt meet the train because they thought we would prefer to have our first meal alone! Wasnt 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 Im 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, youll 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! Its great to be your

Dinner is served, Bettina interrupted. Its a pick-up meal, but Im hungry, arent 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

BETTINAS RECIPES

(All measurements are level)

Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips (Two portions)

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)

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)

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 Bettinas Emergency Shell