THE HOUSEWIFE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 17, 20 January 1916, Page 8

THE HOUSEWIFE.

• 1 SOME EXCELLENT KECIPES. HOW TO MAKE SALADS. Salad making, it is allowed, is an art. but it is an.art that may quite -easily be acquired by anyone. Some people advocate the cleansing of the various vegetables by the dry method—merely wiping them thoroughly with a cloth. They urge that to wash them in water destroys the flavour of the salad, thug spoiling it in its very beginning. Against this it must be pointed out that on the score of health the thorough washing of all vegetables Intended to be eaten uncooked is a necessity. Not only is this essential because the vegetables have usually passed through many hands and absorbed much of dust and dirt, and perhaps been touched with fertilisers, but one ever knows with what water they ! have been watered. Merely washing a little cold water over the greenstuff or wiping it with a damp cloth is not sufficient to cleanse H. It should be placed in a bowl containing an abundance of fresh cold water and a heaped tablespoon of salt, be left therein for a.while, then lifted out, have the water changed, and 60 on, for three or four times. Watercress and lettuce in particular need this careful attention. After the cleansing process has been completed, a clean cloth should he used, and the greenstuff oe perfectly dried—not all together, but small portions of it at a time. A steel knife shoud not be used under any circumstances. Many cookery books advocate breaking the leavee of the greenstuff with the fingers, but since the appearance of the salad sometimes suffers by this method, a fruit knife will be found quite satisfactory. The following is a good salad dressing: The yolks of two hard-boiled eggs grated finely, half a teaspoon mustard, one of Worcester sauce, half of pepper, one of 6alt, four tablespoons sugar, two tablespoons vinegar and three-quarter teacup of cream. A little tarragon vinegar, celery, salt and cayenne may be added, and are usually considered an improvement. The whites of the eggs should be cut in fine rings and used to decorate the top of the salad with beetroot or thinly sliced lemon.

GINGER CAKE. Something for the children's tea. You require one pound flour, three ounces butter, two ounces sugar, one dessertspoonful ginger, one teacupful treacle, two teaspoonfuls bi-carbonate of soda, some milk. Rub the butter into the flour, and mix in the sugar and ginger. Stir the treacle in milk—enough to thin it well, then add it to the other ingredients. Dissolve the bi-carbonate of soda in a little yvarm milk, and stir in among the other items. Mix well, and bake for about an hour and a-half in a good oven. CARAMELS. One cupful of golden syrup, half a cupful of 6ugar, a-quarter pint or water, two ounces butter, two ounces chocolate, a little vanilla. Stir treacle, 6ugar and water over the gas till dissolved. Add butter and grated chocolate (the latter flavoured with a few drops of vanilla). Cook all gently for half an hour. Drop a little of the mixture into a saucer of cold water; if it can be easily rolled into a soft ball it is done. Pour into greased tins, and when cold cut into small squares. FIGS IN HONEY. Soak half a pound of cleanly washed, whole figs until they are soft, then stew them in a cup of honey and a cup of water until they are very tender. They may be served hot, yvith just a little of the" juice, or they may be drained, cooled and served with a little cream. Dried peaches, apricots, and apples may be soaked, then stewed and served yvith boiled custard or rennet custard, or they may be put through a puree sieve after stewing, and made into a fruit puree by adding to them a little hot milk or cream. OYSTER SAUSAGE. Run half a pound of veal through the meat grinder and add one pint.of*«annei oysters, drained and chopped, three tablespoonfuls of grated breadcrumbs, the yolks of two eggs, a pinch of ground mace, half a teaspoonful of salt, paprika to taste and half a teaspoonful powdered sweet herbs. Mix the ingredients well, form with floured hands into small sausages, dip them in egg and bread curmbs and fry in deep, hot fat to a golden brown. Drain for a moment ou brown paper before serving. THE MAKING OF CREAM CHEESE. The very best cream cheese is made ot era*_ alone, but for slightly less excelIcat varieties rennet is used, the advantage being that less cream is required in this case to make the same amount of Begin operations by pouring the cream into a basin and letting it stand for several hours in order that it may thicken naturally. When it has thickened, i-ike half a yard of butter-musiin, B-*nhl it. and while it is still damp put the cream into it, tying up the muslin into a bag -by securing its four corners with a piece of string. Hang this up in a cool and draughty spot to drain. Twice a day it must be taken down and unfastened, so that the cream which has hardened on the outside may be well mixed into the softer part in the middle. ! Every other day the cream must uo transferred to a fresh piece of muslin. In three days the cheese will be ready for use, but if preferred it may be kept ~ a week or so before being eaten. Some people prefer it in this state, while ' others like to use the cheese as soon as , it is ready.

If you are using rennet the cream will make rather more cheese. To half a pint of cream allow seventeen drops of rennet (or a quarter of a tcaspoonful, if you buy it in powder form), and stir it in thoroughly for five minutes. Then 'coyer the basin, and leave it for twelve , hours so that its contents may coagu- | late. At the end of this time the mixture is ready for the muslin bag, in i which it should drain for about two days. To keep cream cheeses (whether made with or without rennet) fresh for some time, and to improve their flavour, work in a little salt when they are moderately firm. The when finished are soft enough to!be moulded into any shape desired, the circular one being perhaps most usual. It should be kept in cardboard boxes or tins lined with grease-proof paper. A really economical, though not quite so delicious, cheese- may be made from equal qaaartiSeft of new milk and cream. Mare rennet win be needed in this __ to produce the same amount of cotgult*