Chapter 2 (Bettina’s First Real Dinner)

Introduction

Well, after the first full night in her new home Bettina appears to have developed the guilties. Determined to make amends for the previous evening’s pick-up supper Bettina labors over the stove to prepare what Bob enthusiastically describes as a “regular man-sized meal!”

Part 1

The Menu

Pan-Broiled Steak

New Potatoes in Cream

Baking-Powder Biscuits

Butter

Rhubarb Sauce

Pea and Celery Salad

Strawberry Shortcake

Coffee

Cream

Preparing the Meal

Hmm…this is far more challenging than last night’s supper of creamed canned tuna fish. Frankly, if I was in Bettina’s shoes I’d make the most of that honeymoon glow and belatedly take Bob up on that offer of a nice dinner at a hotel—ESPECIALLY after a full day of marketing.

Still, Bettina is a gal determined to puts her marriage first…“You think that you love me now, Bobby, but just wait until you sit down to a real strawberry shortcake made by a real cook in a real home!” Apparently she subscribes fully to that old adage that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach…time to slip on the bungalow apron and keep those romantic flames kindled!

Pan-Broiled Steak

I’ve never tried cooking steak under a broiler before, but I suppose there’s a first time for everything. Since I haven’t used my broiler recently I made a point of cleaning the oven earlier in the day and switching on the top element to make sure it was working.

Slap the steak on a flat pan, fire up the broiler, and slide the meat in. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty, as it turned out.

In a very few minutes I could hear fat splattering inside the oven and a peculiar clanging noise as the pan began to buckle from the heat. Within seconds the kitchen was opaque with smoke, and the entire family sprang into action. I fanned, my husband shut off the smoke detectors, and my son raced to open the front and the back doors.

Grimly determined to see this recipe through I doggedly set the timer (still madly fanning the air) and pulled out the steak out after exactly seven minutes. My husband and son like their beef well done, but to cook it so thoroughly this time would have been impossible.

New Potatoes in Cream

Boiled potatoes in sauce…not exactly a gourmet dish, but certainly easy. The white sauce came together far more quickly this time, so perhaps the Bettina magic is beginning to take effect!

Baking-Powder Biscuits with Butter

It’s been ages since I last made biscuits, but I’m thankful these use baking powder as a leavening agent rather than yeast. Bettina’s “cut the fat in with the flat side of a knife” didn’t work at all for me, so I resorted to the age-old method of taking a pair of knives and slashing and slashing and slashing.

Hmm…the dough seems a bit rubbery, but into the oven they go.

Rhubarb Sauce

This is unfamiliar territory…I’ve never cooked rhubarb before and in fact had trouble finding it at the supermarket.

The ease with which the rhubarb cooked down erased any doubts, however. In exactly ten minutes I had a pan of aromatic sauce that didn’t require food coloring for that pretty pink color. I don’t care how the stuff tastes…this recipe’s a winner!

Pea and Celery Salad

A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband gave no recipe for this, so I had to search through my other Bettina books. I finally located it in Bettina’s Best Salads and yes, the leftover peas from the night before are perfectly adequate. Chop up some hard-boiled eggs, some celery and other assorted vegetables, add some seasonings, nd whip together some homemade mayonnaise.

Problem. My first batch of mayonnaise refused to come together, Bettina offers

no advice on the subject, and so I was forced to scour the Internet.

The most common remedy involves adding a couple of tablespoons of boiling water to cook the egg and (hopefully) increase the volume.

Better, but still too thin. Step 2 is adding another egg yolk and beating for several minutes. I’m sure Bettina had at best a manual egg beater to work with but now, with time getting short and desperation setting in, I hauled out my electric mixer and beat the stuff without mercy.

…Bingo (thanks heavens)

Strawberry Shortcake

I’m not sure why the night’s menu requires two lots of baking powder biscuits (one for the primary breadstuff and the other for the strawberry shortcake) but OK…Bettina’s wish is my command. The dough felt a bit less rubbery on my second attempt, so I’m hoping these turn out well.

Bettina’s strawberry shortcake calls for plain cream rather than whipped, and I found it impossible to comply with this (blind obedience has its limits, it seems). I finally compromised by sweetening the cream with powdered sugar but, exercising all my self-control, managed to leave it at that and simply poured the cream into a pitcher.

Coffee with Cream

To be drunk after the meal (obviously)—the sweetened cream left over from the shortcake will be perfect.

How It Looked

What more can I say? This table is shaping up nicely with the matching plates, good silverware, and attractive red tablecloth--and sans my husband's extensive collection of condiments (I put them out of sight in a box and, with luck, they'll stay there until the meal is over)