A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband

My very dear friend Cherie, she of the Carrot Cake and Chocolate Almond Souffle Torte, wanted to join my Nibbles and Novels party, but has no platform to link, so I am posting for her!! She sent me the most beautiful, hilarious book called " A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband: With Bettina's Best Recipes". It is gorgeous, and old (yay!!) and blue. And an absolute riot.

The book kind of has a story, but not really. Bettina is a newly-wed, perfect in all things home-making. Friends, family, and neighbors are all enraptured with her clever, thrifty little ways. And yes, this is absolute fiction. What woman do you know who would say:

"Browns and tans seemed safest in a little house like this, and I knew I shouldn't tire of them as of any other colors!"

It is chock-full of old-fashioned recipes (lacking oven temperatures), and I will admit plenty of great house-keeping tips, it's just hilarious how earnest and slavish and perfect little Miss Bettina is. And of course, she brings all of her single, hotel-dwelling friends over to the light of "keeping house". It's fun to peek through, if you can find it. And a treasure  I will keep forever and  ever. And I will definitely try one of these vintage recipes in another Nibbles and Novels!

A few recipes, just for old-fashioned fun's sake:

Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips
1 T butter
1 T flour
1/4 t salt
1 T pimento, cut fine
1 C milk
3 slices of bread (No More!! No Less!!?)
1/2 C tuna

Melt the butter, add the flour, salt, and pimento. Mix well. Gradually pour in the milk. Allow the mixture to boil one minute. Add the fish, cook one minute and pour over toasted strips of bread.

Radishes
12 radishes
1 C chopped ice

Wash the radishes thoroughly with a vegetable brush. Cut off the long roots and all but one inch of the green tops. These tops make the radishes easier to handle and more attractive. (giggle) Serve in a bowl of chopped ice.

Alligator Pear Salad
2 alligator pears (what in the heck is an alligator pear?!)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t sugar
1/4 t dry mustard
4 T lemon juice
4 T orange juice
1/2 C salad oil

Peel the pears, then cut in halves and remove seeds. Cut in one-half inch strips. Sprinkle with lemon juice and chill. After mixing the rest of the ingredients, chill again. When ready to serve, arrange the pear strips on top of lettuce and top with the dressing. Garnish with thin strips of pimento.