Meals for Young Cooks

By Ruth H. Brent

From “The Keep It Short & Simple Party Menu Book,” copyright 1974 by Ruth H. Brent. Reprinted by arrangement with Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Barbecued Cheeseburgers Old-Fashioned Potato Salad Salad Strawberry Ripple Cake

2 pounds potatoes

4 eggs

2 cups chopped celery

1 bottle cole slaw dressing

1.
Scrub potatoes and boil in jackets until fork-tender.
2.
Chill potatoes until cool enough to handle, then cut into 1/2″ cubes and put into large bowl.
3.
Hard-boil eggs, cool, and slice.
4.
Wash and chop celery.
5.
Add celery and sliced eggs while potatoes are still warm, and top with dressing. Mix gently until dressing coats potatoes thoroughly.
6.
Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

8 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

6 slices cheddar cheese

6 hamburger buns

1.
Melt butter and add salt.
2.
Add meat and form into hamburger patties.
3.
Barbecue hamburgers on grill outdoors.
4.
Place cooked hamburgers on toasted, buttered buns. Top each patty with cheese.

1 (14 1/3-ounce) package strawberry frosting mix

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese

2 eggs

1 (18 1/2-ounce) white cake mix.

1.
Preheat oven to 350º.
2.
Combine dry frosting mix with cream cheese in large bowl.
3.
Set aside in small bowl 1 cup frosting to be used later for top of cake.
4.
Separate eggs and beat egg yolks into frosting mix in large bowl.
5.
Prepare cake mix as directed on package, using remaining egg whites. Add 1 cup of batter to frosting mix and blend well.
6.
Pour remaining cake batter into greased 9″ x 13″ cake pan.
7.
Pour frosting mixture in large bowl over the batter and, with a table knife, gently swirl the two mixtures together to get a marbled effect.
8.
Bake for 40–45 minutes or until toothpick comes out of cake clean.
9.
Cool cake completely in pan before icing with frosting left in small bowl.

[illustration] Illustrated by Arlene Braithwaite