AT HOME AND ABROAD

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 83, 8 April 1925, Page 12

AT HOME AND ABROAD

A TOUGH FOWL. There i s a way of coo king an old lien so that it piinnot be distinguished from a spring chicken. First prepare and truss a three-year-old fowl as for boiling then put just one onion inside. Then place it on a meat stand in a roomy saucepan. The stand should be very tall with long legs that lift tbo fowl hio-h above the bottom of the pan, which should contain enough cold water to reach to the support withoit covering the fowl. With a cover on, «+*am the fowl as follows:—Keep it simmcrino, and from time to time take a look to see if a little more boiling -water is needed. If you intend t© have it simply steamed, take the fowl out at the end of three hours, or as soon as a fork run into it slides easily into the tender flesh. The onion should then bo removed, and a white sauce and a garnish of lemon rings dished up with the iowl. The method just described is a busy-day method, good as far as it goes, but it stops short of the point of perfection. The following method supplements it: After two hours of steaming, lift the fowl out, remove tiie onion, and stuff the fowl in the usual way for baking. The old lieu is popped immediately into the oven, and comes out a tender, delicate spring chicken. Whichever way the fowl is served, the preliminary onion is allimportant. So, too, is the stewing of the giblets separately, in order that a good full-flavoured gravy may be obtained. FRAGRANT ROOMS. Guests bidden to their Majesties' Courts or to Windsor for the first time are invariably charmed by the refreshing sweetness of the perfumed air in the reception and drawing-rooms, states an English writer, and wonder at its source. Those admitted to the intimacy of the Royal Family's private apartments notice the same exquisite fragrance. It pervades the drawing-rooms, too, at Marlborough House, York House, St. James's Palace, Sandringham, in the Royal yachts, and wherever members of the Royal Family are in residence. At times it suggests a whiff from an old-world garden where white pinks, moss roses, lad's love, jessamine, sweetbriar, rosemary, lemon thyme, marjoram, and other fragrant herbs flourish. This old-world fragrance of the courts has never changed since the girlhood days of Queen Victoria and her first courts. The secret of its subtle blend is still preserved, and its use was con- ; tinued by King Edward, Queen Alexan- ' dra (who is especially fond of it), King George, the Prince of Wales, and the immediate members of the Royal.Family. The salons on the Royal yacht at Cowes exhale the same refreshing air as in the Royal residences on land. At the recent courts the aromatic freshness of the air aroused the curiosity of the American debutantes. One of them was heard to say, '"I- wonder what it is. It is too fresh for potpouri. It reminds one of cottage garden flowers at home." This refreshing effect is gained by diffusing the mysterious essence through a fine spray in the ballroom and all the apartments open for the courts a short time before the arrival of the guests. All the carpets, tapestries, and "upholsteries are lightly sprayed, and so the air becomes "odourous and sweet like wind flowers laden, scattering their blossoms o'er the pathway of the fair." MEANINGLESS MOVEMENTS. There is all the difference between charm and the reverse in natural animamation held on the leash, of self-control, and undisciplined, .meaningless movements. Jaek-ln-the-lrex restlessness is not vivacity; it is a disease!' And, sad to say, it is a disease -which seems to be alarmingly on the increase. Women -who have something really interesting to communicate spoil their qualities as raconteurs simply because arc on

the go all the time. Not only hands and feet are in perpetual motion, but every feature. A quiet and restrained mobility of countenance is beautiful; but very far from beautiful is a sort of facial St. Vitus' dance, to say nothing of exaggerated vocal inflections and tittering laughter. One admits that frigid repose is as alienating, almost as over-restlessness, but of the two evils, after an overdose of the latter, one decides that the former is more tolerable. Over emphasis always irritates. One telling gesture at the right moment will get your effect home. But meaningless movements of the hands and eyebrows, and constant turns of the head, are enough to kill the significance of the most informative or the most amusing talk, for the eye of the listener is engaged more strenuously than the ear; and the overburdened eye wearies the mind before the ear has a chance. CLEAN YOUR WHITE SHAWL. This is an excellent way to dry clean slightly grubby woollies. Place them in a large bowl and sprinkle well with dry flour. The flour should be slightly rubbed in witli the hands. Then the shawl should be , taken out into the open and thoroughly shaken. It may be necessary to repeat the process, after which the shawl will look quite clean and fresh.