A Thousand Ways To Please A Husband

“With Bettina’s Best Recipes. The Romance of Cookery AND HOUSEKEEPING.”

Written by Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron and published in 1917, it is dedicated to:


After assuring you that Bettina’s measurements are all level, the authors launch into 461 pages of recipes and chirpy prose, with chapter titles such as “Bob’s Christmas Gift to Bettina” and “Ruth Comes to Luncheon.” It’s a sweet little nostalgic wallow and can be downloaded from Google Books.

Here, for example, is what Bettina feeds Bob on their very first night in their new home after the honeymoon. He suggests they eat at a hotel but Bettina, wise and careful bride that she is, has already planned for their return, and with the help of her “emergency shelf” she whips up a delicious and economical supper.

Creamed Tuna on Toast Strips
Canned Peas in Butter Sauce
Rolls, Butter, Strawberry Preserves
Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows

This repast pleases not only her husband’s taste buds but also his wallet, and he fondly declares that “Lots of girls know how to cook, but mighty few know how to be economical at the same time.”

Bettina’s Creamed Tuna

1 T butter
1 T flour
¼ t salt
½ slice pimento
1 C milk
3 slices of bread
½ 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. Stir constantly. Add the fish, cook one minute and pour over toasted strips of bread.

Betrothed young ladies should be sure to read chapter 60, “A Kitchen Shower for Alice.”