MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 July 1932, Page 3

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

( Notes by Marjorie )

SATIN-SMOOTH ARMS. Cocoa-butter —which is obtained from the cocoa bean- —is a wonderful beauty aid. It has a marvellous softening effect on rough, dry skin. Housework tends to remove the natural oils from the skin of the hands, so that they become coarse and red, with hardened finger-tips. Cocoai-butter rubbed into the hands regularly every night will soon make them soft and dainty again. It is also the best remedy for thin arms, gooseflesh and wrinkled elbows. The butter should be melted, and massaged into the skin with the palms of the hands. You will see an improvement after the first treatment. As the cocoa butter feeds the tissues, the arms grow plump and round, and the skin becomes satin-smooth.

HINTS TO HOUSEWIVES. Most women think that there is a monotony in housework, and would rather do anything else than this. Each day is a replica of the other, without any diversion whatsoever. The greatest way to save work is not to make it and good management and organisation will be as effective in housework as in any other work. If you look into two kitchens you will possibly notice the difference in the method of the two workers therein. One will be so cluttered up with jars, basins and tins that she has hardly room to move, and when she has finished she looks, in -despair at the mess she has to clean up. On the other hand there is the woman who clears up as she goes, and as each tin is taken down it is immediately replaced after the necessary contents are removed. The result is that when the cooking is completed all the worker has to do is to pile up the dishes and plates neatly for subsequent washing, fold up the newspapers which have protected the table and the whole thing is complete. Income households tidying up has to be done before any work can be commenced. Perhaps there has been a card party the evening before and the tables are still there when you rise in the morning. This should all be done at night. If each one does a little the room will soon be cleared. You may not always feel inclined to wash up the same evening, especially if the hour be late, but the teapot should be emptied, and the cuns rinsed and stacked out of the way. To find the whole house in chaos in the morning must be worrying in the extreme. And think of the labour attached to the whole thing! There are many women who are always on the road because they are always covering their own tracks .and clearing up the untidiness which they have made. For example, every woman should have a waste paper basket near her when she is sewing. Why drop all the ends of the thread on the floor to- be ultimately dealt with on your knees, because no sweepers and hardly any brooms will remove threads from carpets? When bringing in the waggon for afternoon tea be sure to carry the milk jug in your hand, otherwise the milk is sure to slop out on to the waggon cover, and this moans a visit to the laundry. You may not actually like the idea, but paper doyleys are- a wonderful help in saving the washing. Doyleys are always difficult to wash for the reason that sugar qnd cooked fruit stain the material and the marks are almost permanent. There are a hundred and one ways of saving the items of washing.—A.M. in the “Sydney Morning Herald.’’

TO STRAIGHTEN USED WOOL. After a garment has been undone for the wool to be used for another purpose, tho wool is found to be “curled” and consequently difficult to knit (states a correspondent). The best way to straighten the wool again, is to wind it round a. stiff piece of cardboard, about 12in. square. Secure the wool and immerse the cardboard in hot, soapy water. Wash thoroughly, then rinse and hang out to dry. When dry, the wool will be ready for rewinding, all the wrinkles will have disappeared, and it will knit up like new wool.

GLAZED CHINTZES. Glazed chintzes have caught the fancy of the modern woman at Home as much for the town house as for the country cottage. /' Their freshness, their gay simplicity cheer ' all the members of the family during difficult days. The glaze repels dirt, and all these chintzes can be dry-cleaned at home in any spirit bath. A formalised design of coral and shells is a modern conception for which Baroness D’Erlanger is respon sible. She painted it for a Paddington firm who have been making chintzes for the past 200 years. This chintz is specially suitable for lacquer furniture, or for bathrooms, either with a pink, green, or white ground.

HOUSEHOLD NOTES. SIMPLE PUDDING. It is ’ a good idea to have a list of puddings which may be consulted daily—puddings which are particular favourites with the household, and which are not too expensive for the average purse. There are a number of puddings in which suet forms the principal part, so I have chosen several to-day which may be a little new to our readers. Suet in conjunction with apples is very good. Mix three-quarters, of a pound of grated bread with the oame quantity of shredded suet, lib of appdes, chopped finely, after being peeled and cored, quarter of a pound of currants, four eggs, and the rind of a small lemon chopped as small as possible. Mix all well togethei, and boil tor three hours in a pudding basin well greased. Serve with butter sauce. If the quantities are considered too large, the ingredients may be halved. Four eggs will generally make a fairly large pudding. A plain suet padding served with treacle or golden syrup sauce is a fitting accompaniment to a lighter first course, such as fish or poultry. If you cook the pudding in a cloth leave it plenty of room as the suet causes it to swell considerably. Here is an old English recipe: Take one p-cund of flour, half a pound of beef suet, one egg, a good pinch of salt, and one gill of water. Mix the flour and finely chopped suet together, then add'the egg and salt, and make it into a paste with the water, beating rapidly all the time with a wooden spoon. Flour a pudding cloth, turn in the pudding, and boil for an hour and a-half. Or you could use-this recipe: One pound of flour, half a pound of suet, one' teaspoonful of baking powder (or you may use self-raising flour if you prefer), a good pinch of salt, and sufficient warm milk, or milk and and wafer to mix. Put into a floured and scalded cloth, and boil steadily, for an hour and a-half.

Another very nice pudding which will also be appreciated by the family on cold days is one which hails from America. The ingredients are: One cup of finely chopped suet, one cup of molasses, one cup of milk, three cups of flour, one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, one and a-half teaspoonfuls of salt, one teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon, and half a teaspccnful each of ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, all ground. Mix and sift the dry ingredients together. Then add the molasses and milk to the suet. Mix ■the two lots together, then put. into a buttered mould, cover over, and steam for three hours. This must be served with Sterling Sduce, made thus: Half a cup of butter, one cup of brown sugar, one teaspoonful of vanilla, or two tcaspoonfuls of red or white wine, and four tablespoonfuls of cream or milk. Cream the butter, add the sugar, then put in the rest of the ingredients, drop by drop. This sauce is not cooked.

Sometimes the sauces make the pudding. as it were, and care should be taken to serve something which is appetising. Hard sauce is generally liked for a rich plum pudding, but something very much less expensive may bo equally appreciated. For a molasses sauce take 1 of butter, and two tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, or if preferred one tablespoonful of vinegar may be substituted. Boil the butter and molasses for five minutes, then remove from the fire, and add cither the vinegar or lemon juice; while another verj r nice sauce may be made thus: Half a cup of sugar, one cup of water one tablespoonful of cornflour, or one and a-half tablespoonfuls of plain flour, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one tablspoonful of lemon juice, a sprinkle of nutmeg, and a tiny pinch of salt. Blend the flour- or cornflour with the water, cook for five minutes, remove from the fire, add the rest, of the ingredients, heat up again very care-

fully, so that the mixture does not boil, and serve either on the plate or ■separately in a small bow|l. The greatest care should be taken to get the thickening quite smooth, for there is nothing more unappetising than a lumpy sauce, and especially one which is merely flour and milk, and is more like paste than anything else. You can vary the flavour and appearance of puddings by putting in brown instead of white sugar, anil dark treacle instead of light, but it is always as well to keep strictly to the recipe and not try experiments;—that is unless you are an experienced cook. Finally, here is a lighter puddingmade with bananas, and which may be a little new: Line a pie dish with a layer of pastry, and fill nearly to the top with -sliced bananas. Beat up the yolk of one egg with one-third of a cup of sugar, one cup of milk, and a little essence of lemon. Pour over the bananas and cook until the pastry is brown. Meanwhile, beat up the whites of three eggs with three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and add a little flavouring. Spread this over the pie, and return it to the oven to brown the meringue.—A.M., in the “Sydney Morning Herald.”