The Camas Hot Springs Exchange

Oh, why can't I give a party like Betty," asks a society inclined five-year old. Why, indeed, mother, since it involves so little and will make such a hit of your little boy or girl with his or her friends?

Youngsters do not need to have a lot of special preparation for their parties. In fact, with their abundant good spirits, cookies or sandwiches and a glass of milk or a dish of ice cream served after school can well be turned into a party.

You need not wonder or worry where your children are if you have refreshments to serve them every so often when they trip gaily home from school to your house.

If refreshments are served after school, and thus, before the evening meal, make them light but refreshing, so no appetite for the meal need be ruined. Simple and palatable beverages are an excellent choice, as are small cookies and sandwiches.

Milk Fruit Shrub (Serves 4)
1 cup crushed strawberries with juice
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
Sugar to sweeten (1/2 to 3/4 cup)
1 quart milk

Combine all ingredients and beat with rotary beater. Pour into glasses and serve.

Prune Milk Drink (Serves 2)
1 pint cold milk
1 cup prune puree
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
Dash of salt
Sprinkling of nutmeg

Blend prune puree with lemon juice, sugar and salt. Add chilled milk and stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with nutmeg. A tablespoon or two of vanilla ice cream may be floated on top if a richer beverage is desired.

Fruit Lemonade
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1 orange
3/4 cup pineapple juice
tablespoons cracked ice
4 cherries
Few slices of banana
1 1/2 cups ginger ale

Boil together sugar and water for two minutes; set aside to cool. Pour 1/2 cup of the cooled syrup into a shaker or glass jar, add the fruit juices and ice and shake until thoroughly mixed. Fill glasses about half full, add fruit, then ginger ale.

Hot Malted Eggnog (Serves 6)
6 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1/2 cup malted milk powder
Dash of salt
4 cups milk, scalded
Dash of nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine eggs with sugar, malted milk powder and salt. Add scalded milk and vanilla. Serve hot in glasses with a sprinkling of nutmeg.

For a fluffier eggnog, beat egg yolks and whites separately. Fold whites in last without much mixing.

With your choice of beverages suitable for youngsters, here are cookies which are equally appropriate. All of these are of the simpler variety that are used for keeping the cookie jar filled.

Sugar Cookies (Makes 90)
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, well beaten
4 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and blend thoroughly. Roll and cut in fancy shapes with floured cutters. Bake in a hot (400°) oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Peanut Butter Cookies (Makes about 150)
1 cup butter or substitute
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup moist peanut butter
2 teaspoons soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons boiling water
3 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together butter, granulated and brown sugar. Add eggs and blend well. Mix in peanut butter. Dissolve soda in hot water and add to mixture. Sift salt with flour and add to first mixture. Put through cookie press or drop by spoonfuls on greased baking sheet and press with fork. Bake in a hot (400°) oven for 8-12 minutes.

Hermits (Makes 5-6 dozen)
1 cup butter or substitute
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons sour milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon soda
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 cup currants
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

Cream butter until fluffy, then work in sugar. Add milk and well beaten eggs. Sift soda with half the flour and add to creamed mixture. Add remaining flour to fruits, nuts and spices and work into first mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake in a moderately hot (375°) oven for 12-15 minutes. These will keep nicely for a long time.

LYNN SAYS:
These Food Tips Reveal Ingenuity

Squeeze a bit of lemon juice into the food chopper before putting through dried fruits. They'll grind more readily.

Baked custard can be a glamour dessert if you serve it with butterscotch sauce and chopped nuts.

Whipped cream makes a more interesting topping for cake, puddings or fruit salads if some chopped maraschino cherries are added to it.

When broiling chops, serve them with this fruit combination: top pineapple slices with apricot halves and brush with bacon fat before broiling.

Tiny biscuits make a good snack for evenings when they're spread while still warm with cream cheese and deviled ham.

When using canned baked beans, add some extra flavor by mixing in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 3 tablespoons chilisauce, a dash of worcestershire sauce and a bit of chopped green pepper.