Project Gutenberg is a wondrous place to visit if you are the kind of person who needs words to flow across eyes, sometimes without much regard for the actual topic, so to speak. You know, the people who read the milk carton and cereal box at the breakfast table and learn to spell homogenized and pasteurized long before they understand anything else about those words.

Behold …

BETTINA’S BEST DESSERTS

By
Louise Bennett Weaver
And
Helen Cowles LeCron

That’s the frontispiece. Here are some chapter titles and a recipe for Floating Island. How can you resist that name! Plus a picture of something I don’t want to try.

Cherry Sauce (Eight portions)

Two-thirds cup sugar
Two level tablespoons flour
One-eighth level teaspoon salt
One cup cherry juice
One-third cup water
Two tablespoons lemon juice
One level teaspoon butter

Mix the sugar, flour, and salt. Add the liquids and cook slowly, stirring constantly, until a creamy sauce is formed. Add the butter and serve.

From the Custard Desserts … Floating Island (Four portions)

(An old-time favorite.)

Three egg yolks
One level teaspoon flour
One-eighth level teaspoon salt
One-fourth cup sugar
Two and one-half cups milk
One teaspoon vanilla

Beat the egg yolks in the upper part of the double boiler. Add the flour, salt and sugar, well-mixed. Add the milk and cook until the mixture will coat a silver spoon. Add the vanilla and beat for two minutes. Pour into a serving dish, add the Baked Meringues and serve very cold.

Baked Meringues for Floating Island

Three egg whites
Four level tablespoons sugar
One teaspoon vanilla

Beat the egg whites stiff, add the sugar and vanilla and beat for one minute. Drop from a spoon into a pan of hot water. Set in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Slip on top of the custard.

And here is the most amazing one of all… Read carefully.

No, I’m not providing that recipe. You’ll have to find it for yourself.