WOMAN'S WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 12883, 4 August 1906, Page 4

WOMAN'S WORLD.

[Bt Viva.]

Viv> will in this column answer all easonable questions relating to the home, cookery, domestic economy, and any topic of interest to her sex. But each letter must bear the writer's bona fide name and address. So notice whatever will be taken of anonymous correspondents. Questions should oe loncisely put, and the writer's nam de plume oe clearly written. -ANSWERS TO COT»RF,RPn\ T T>EVI S. " Peg«ry.''—Add a little grated nutmeg just before serving.. This not only adds to tho flavor, but aids digestion. " Anxious " —Scour well with carbolic sand soap, then rinse with clean, warm water. Place it on the stove for a few seconds to thoroughly dry it. " Miss M."—Cannot advise you. You had better consult a specialist. HOUSEHOLD RECIPES. Lobster Sauce.—Required : One small lobster, two ounces of butter, one ounce jf flour, half a pint of the liquor the ish was boiled in, half a gill of "milk >r cream, half a teasponful of lemonjuice, salt, and cayenne. Remove all the ■ish from the lobster, and cut it into small, neat pieces. If there is any coral, pound it with half an onnce of the butter, and rub it through a sieve. Melt the butter in a clean .saucepan, stir in he Hour smoothly, and add the fish sto.:k. Stir the sauce over the fire till it boils, add the lobster, lemon-juice, r.iilk or cream, and the seasoning. Stir in the coral butter, adding a small piece of it at a time. Should there be no coral, a few drops of anchovy-essence or cochineal will make the sauce a prettier color. Should the latter be used it must be added very judiciously. Lamb Cutlets a la Rothschild.—Required : About two pounds of cutlets, a small tin or jar of pate de fois gras, fresh bottled, or tinned artichoke bottoms, one for each cutlet, a little butter, Tarragon vinegar, salt, and pepper. For the sauce : Two or three mushrooms, one pint of brown sauce, one ounce of glaze, one wineglass of sherry, one shallot or small onion, two truffles, bunch of parsley and herbs, half an ounce of butter, a pinch of castor sugar, two or three pieces of raw mutton bones if possible. See the cutlets are neatly trimmed; split open the round, lean portion of each cutlet so that it can be opened like a book. Spread a layer of foie gras in the middle, and close the other flap down on it, securing it with a tiny skewer. When all the cutlets are done, boil them from four to eight minutes according to their thickness. Boil the globe artichokes till tender, or, if preserved ones aro used—which will save much trouble—heat them through in a little 'butter. In either case, after heating, sprinkle the artichoke bottoms with salt, pepper, and a few drops of vinegar. Arrange the cutlets and** artichoke bottoms alternately on a hot dish, and pour the sauce over. To make the sauce : Melt the butter in a saucepan, put in the sliced shallot, pieces of bones, and herbs. Fry these a good dark brown. Add the sauce, glaze, and castor sugar. Allow this sauce to simmer for fifteen minutes, and skim it well. Then strain the sauce, add the wine, note if the seasoning is correct, stir in the finelychopped truffles, and pour over the cutlets.-

Burnt Cream.—Required : One ounce of sheet gelatine, half a pint of cream, half a pint of milk, three raw yolks of eggs, two ounces of loaf sugar, brandy, sherry, or vanilla flavoring. To decorate mould : Ffalf a pint of clear wine .jelly, a few pistachio nuts, two teaspoonfuls of desiccated cocoanut. If a decorated mould is desired, rinse it with cold water, and coat it all over with a little melted jellv. When this has set, decorate it tastefully with any design in pistachio nuts and cocoanut. Set these decorations with a little more warmed jelly, and leave asrain till set. If preferred, merely a plain wetted mould can be used. To make the cream: Melt the sugar in a clean, drv saucepan over the fire; use no liquid. When it has melted, keep it over the fire till it becomes a rich, dark-brown colorbut on no account let it blacken or it wili be spoilt. Add the milk and stir it over 41G hre till the sugar -= again dissolves. Let it cool,slightly. Beat up the yolks, ind add them to the colored milk, and "ook this custard very carefully till it _hickens. On no account let it boil it into a clean basin, sweeten, and lavor the costard to"taste, and let it cool Melt the gelatine in a few tablespoonfuls of hot water, and whip the cream. Add f .he cream to the milk, etc., strain in the gelatine when a little cool, and pour all into the prepared mould. Leave till cold and turn out after dipping th* TV"ld in warm wator.

\armouth Straps. —Required : Half n pound of rich, short pastrv. one kippered herring (raw), one or-nce of grated cheese 'Parmemn best), cayenne pepper. Roll ort the pastry to ahont a quarter of an inr-h m thickness. Sp-inkle over it hn-P the ch?ese and a dust of cayenne. Fold the pastry m three, and mil it ovrt again over the rest of the cheese, fold it m three, and roll it out to onlv about one-eighth of an inch in thickness. Out the partry into strips about three inches Ion? and a quarter of an inch wide. Cut the hf»rring into simitar strips. Place a strip of .paftrjr, and of herring together, find \vrsl them round each other, pinching the ends well together, so that the twist le-s'-mhles barley sngar. Lay the twists or on a bakun-sluet, and bake them a delicate brown in a quick oven. Serve them very hot on lace paper. Quince and Apple Marmalade.— Required: Equal quantity of quinces and apples, three-quarters of a pound of suuar to each pound of fruit-pulp, water to cov*r the bottom of the pan. Peel and slice the fruit, put it in the pan. with the water, and stew.it gently rnt ; l it i? in a mash. l\ T ext rub it through a hair-sieve and weigh the pulp. Put it back in the pan. and add sugar in given proportions. Stir this over the fin 1 til] the mixture sets quickly wheu a little ie cooled on a plate. Put into clean, dry jars, and cover them when cold with parchment paper. Baltimore Pudding.—Required: Threequarters of a pound of flour, six ounces of ■met, three ounces of chopped peel, three ounces of sultanas, three ounces of Demer'lra sugar, three ounces of raisins, one egg, half a pint of mi'k, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, half a teaspoonful of "ixed spice. Chop the suet, mix it with 'he flour, haking-powder. pei-1, sucar, ■V caned sultan is, stoned and halved raisins., '.nd !-pioe. Mix these with the milk and 'vell-b'aten egi. Put this mixture in a well-greas d pudding-basin, tie a sodded md floured cloth over the top. and b < 1 it or four hons. Turn it out of the basin, irid serve with any sweet sauce. IvanhcK? on Toast (a Savory).—Required : Unmake of a dried haddock, a tomato", toast. Remove the skin and bones from ■■he haddock, and cut the tomato into slices. Have ready some small rounds of toast! Chop the haddock, and season it with popper. Put a layer of it. on each round of toast, then lay on a slice of tomato and ialf a walnut/ .Make them very hot in iie oven, and serve. HINTS. A Mother's Hint,—To keep a baby covered at night sew a large button to each corner of the coverlet, and attach a long white tape—this should form a loop—o each corner of the bedstead. Then, after the baby is comfortably tucked in, asten the Lods to the button 'on the cover, let. A Simple Remedy for a Cough.—Boil •ogether half a cud of treacle and a piece •f butter the size of a walnut; add to this the juice of one lemon. The mixture nust be well stirred to prevent burning. Egg stains on either linen or china hould be soaked in crld water. Hot vater hardens them, and makes it dh'fi. 'ult to remove them. A Few Useful Jam Hints.— (a) Us» '-T'od, dry. not over-ripe fruit; (b) mirhaae onlv good sugar, cheap kinds \vi!| >oil the flavor of the fruit: (c) a courier • reserving pan is best but failing that a •ost-iron enamelled stewpan does excellently (tin pans should be avoided, as they spoil the color of the jam): (d) the preserving pan should not be more than three oarta full at most; fe) the jam should be allowed to boil quicklv the whole time, ouuenpsft it will be a bad color; (jj if the

preserving pan is at all thin, place H on a trivet over the fire, and not directly-cro the fire; (g) skim the >jam well and often. To Clean Hair Combs.—Combs should never be washed : but they may be cleaned by brushing, and by pulling a piece? of cotton th::"i"h the teeth, changing it as it become* ''wi. Finally, rub well with a clean cloth. !SKj 'T i-he atmosnhere of a renin that has become somewhat stuffy,-• place a i>w drops nf oil rf lavender in an ornamental bowl half filled with boiling W".' ■' •r] 'f- (Vio window. ".

To restore linoleum and oilcloth that has became somewhat dull, wash with milk, let dry, and polish with beeswax and turnentine. You will be delighted with the result. - i

As mi aid to good digestion, s splendid nlan is to sio a tumblerful of hot- water flavored with a slice of lemon immediately on rising. . : '

COMArENTS OF AMERICAN WOMEN. Optimism is very ?asy to write. : Bnt ro-iieo *-'il,vion perhaps—rem. rked:'. that easv wrting makes verv haH reading. It saves one a great deal of trouble to,assure people that to 1 e noble they have only to w : «=h to he so, and that if they will only believe hard enough that the moon is made of green cheese, ,-ome day they will be able to bite holes in it—the biggest, roundest hole* that ever were. It's easy, but. is H The weeep : ng ph'losopher is at-heart happier than the lansruishhv' one. Pessimists are the only really cheerful people. They look at life as a wise feminine philosopher did at matrimony, of which she said: " Expect much, and you'll be disappointed; expect nothing, and you'll be agreeably surprised." —N xola Greeley Smith. The truth is that every career in every plane of life offers infinite possibilities for

happiness, for improvement, for growth or success.- But the possibilities are like deeply hidden treasures lying in 4ne's own souf, which only work and patience are needed to bring to-light. The woman with the home could bring into it only what she really was. 1 Her house was an expression of herself, as every woman's house is. If her ideal of happiness consists of bridge in the .afternoon and a large visiting list, the probability is that she will not find those artistic and intellectual pleasures or opportunities which she envies in her friend's Ufe.-r-Margiret Hubbard Ayer.

PERSONAL AND GENERAL.

Touching Miss Eileen Ward's recent presentation at the Court of King Edward and Queen Alexandra, Lady Ward said to an Auckland interviewer •—" Presentation at Court is a pleasant business nowadays compared with the awful ordeal it was when I was presented twelve vears ago. The reforms Hie Majesty the king has effected in this direction alone have earned for him tlie lasting gratitude of those concerned. There is* none of the backing out and entangling of trains there used to be, and the change from a morning to an evening function is especially welcome. The presentations are followed by 6upper, and the company have the entree of all the rooms, and everything is don© on the most splendid seal* imaginable."