MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 August 1935, Page 4

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

THOSE HAWKERS , THE HOUSEWIFE’S ENEMY After listening to a roomful of women who have chosen hawkers as one of the subjects of discussion, one is forced to conclude that housewives and hawkers will never love each other as citizens should (writes Josephine Bligh, in the Auckland •‘Star”). Nor does a reconciliation seem at all possible. The reception which seems to be most frequently given by the housewife to the hawker must give him not only a very poor opinion of housewives in general but a jaundiced outlook on life, while the constant demand on her time and purse* seems completely to outweigh the fact that the housewife often buys useful things at the door. Broadly ’speaking, hawkers can be divided into three types. There is the breezy type, who seems overjoyed to observe and serve the housewife, and who is never daunted by a cold eye or forbidding mien. If his cheerful' ness is not too -ultra, bouncy and gushing, and he does not drop it like the proverbial mantle when he finds that his efforts have proved fruitless, he is fairly sure of a mollified reception the next time he calls. But should he nettle her by a sudden machine-gun fire of words the moment she opens the door, or go oft mumbling invective all down the garden path when she refuses him a sale, then he should change his profession at once. Hawking is not his calling. To the second type belong those who have at heart the housewife’s conscience. These are known by the way they push not their wares so much as their woes. Regardless of the fact that time is the housewife’s most elusive quarry, they hamper her chase by thrusting under her nose long typewritten testaments (rather blurred by dingy cellophane) of their right to her sympathy and spare cash. Or, having no cellophane, start on a long oral testament of similar strain which is most difficult to interrupt. From the appearance of the ’ goods then produced, it is clear that it is not by these, but by the tale of woe alone, that their livings, precarious or otherwise, are obtained. The housewife (if moved) looks despairingly at a suitcase full of frightful articles and finally decides that a small donation would be of mutual benefit. Some housewives are not moved, having long since given up the practice, while others, having no intention of being moved, indicate the fact by closing the door, either quietly, firmly, or with a bang! Calling himself a “representative and therefore doubtless resentful of the titld “hawker,” there is a third type with which the housewife must contend. They are the representatives of vacuum-cleaner, washing machine, insurance and other companies. The main object of these people seems to be to “butter up” not so much their goods as the housewife herself. A policy which has evidently been found sound.

THE FLATTERER’S METHOD Tho insurance agent, if the door has not been, closed in his face before he has finished expounding upon the remarkable sacrifices his company are prepared to make for the benefit of a wise and far-seeing woman, has the most enviable opportunity. He can produce his little book of multiplication tables, look at both it and the housewife, judge her ace in his mind, then say in his most charming way (with a slight dash of detachment to show that he was making absolutely no effort at all), “Let mo see now, you would be about 22— ye:;—mm —at 1/- per week .” And the housewife who happens to be th-irLjn’sh, glows with pleasure, iegards the insurance company in quite a different light and cheerfully signs her name on the dotted line. The representative of vacuumcleaners also has opportunities, but they are of a more practical nature. He undertakes to clean any carpet in the house at anj- time she cares to specify, completely free of obligation. Such an offer few housewives can bring themselves to refuse. The demonstration consists of a great deal of talk and the sucking up of the grit, dirt and white powder which tho representative first throws on the carpet in alarmingly generous quantities. If he is an unwise representative he goes away leaving only the middle of the carpet clean and a disappointed and infuriated housewife. Whereas if he is wise he will leave behind him a thoroughly vacuumed carpet, a delighted and grateful housewife and, just lurking somewhere in the back of her mind, a faint but insistent sense of obligation.

ARTIFICIAL TIARAS Twenty-five years ago it would have been unthought of for any woman to wear artificial jewellery at tho Royal Courts. Changing fashions of a post-war world are responsible for the decision of most hostesses and debutantes of 1935 to wear tiaras, brooches, and bracelets that are hand-made from hand-cut artificial gems. Jubilee tiaras are lined with silver satin and provided with elastic and a clip, so that feathers and a veil cannot disturb them. The Duchess of York and Princess Marie Louise have ritiiicial jewellery made up for them, especially for wearing on cruises and abroad.

IF IT’S CAKE HINTS TO HOME COOKS I suppose that the quickest way to gain a good reputation is to be a good cake-maker (says Ann Batchelder in the “Ladies’ Home Journal”). The girl who plans to get married feels that she ought to be able to toss up a square meal; but whether or not. she has a conviction that she must learn her cakes. ’ And, likely enough, she shrinks’, at the thought. For of all the branches of the fine and lovely art of cookery, she has been taught .that the hardest to master is the making and baking of cakes.

Maybe this old wives' tale sprang from the fact that a lot of cake artists couldn't do anything else very well, and so fostered the myth that cake was a good deal like playing the fiddle. Not to be mastered save through a stern and intensive practice. Mastered only after years of study. And that even then, but a select few ever achieved any distinction worth talking about. That’s my theory, anyway.

Cake is a frivolous food. Lightminded, you know, and, like a buckle on the shoe, a decorative detail. But, like the buckle, it adds just that note of elegance that makes the eye grow brighter and the step lighter, and so performs a function on the table that is as necessary as butter on your bread. Life is a serious, business. And dangerous. Few of us get out of it alive. But it doesn’t do to take it too hard. So let us eat cake. And let’s make it too. For there is a spiritual satisfaction in the well-made cake that many religions are powerless to bestow. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that a fine cake is the easiest thing in the world to cook. Not like a fried egg, for example. And when all’s said and done, how many first-rate fried eggs have you ever eaten? Remember 'that there are a few things to keep in mind when you start out on a cake-making career. Have the best of materials. No cake will deliver more than you put into it.

Get your ingredients assembled and your utensils ready before the actual business begins. And, however casually you may add this and that to An Irish stew when you try a cake you simply have to measure. I know some old-fashioned, tried-by-fire cakemakers can just toss things together and come out with a perfect cake. But I don’t advise it for people like you and me. I belong to the measuring school for cakes.

Don’t think that any absent-minded stirring is going to get you anywhere. Beating is the word. A light hand and a strong arm work wonders on a batter, and spell texture. And texture makes or breaks your cake. The finer the texture tile more exalted your mood. Don’t worry for fear your cake will fall if you speak out loud while it’s baking. It hates to fall as much as you hate to have it, and it will stand valiantly if you've put. it together right and looked to the oven to see that it is even and at a right temperature.

Handle your cake as if you trusted it and had confidence in yourself. Be generous with the frosting. Some folks like one kind, some are demons for another. But whether it be chocolate or' coconut or orange, or whatever, be liberal. And be in love with your cake. If it’s the cake I think you’ll make, you will suffer no pangs of unrequited love. WORTH-WHILE RECIPES Lady Baltimore Cake. —Measure, after sifting- three times, three cupfuls of flour and sift again with three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, Cream three-quarters of a cupful of shortening with two cupfuls of powdered sugar. Add the flour alternately with one cupful of milk, beating thoroughly after each addition. Let the last o'f the flour bo the last addition to the mixture. Beat stiff, but not too dry, the whites of seven eggs. Fold into the cake batter. Flavour with one teaspoonful of almond extract. Bake in three layers in oven at 375 degrees. Filling: Chop oue cupful of nut meats and half a cupful of raisins, adding half a cupful of chopped crystallised fruits, such as cherries, pineapple, and ginger. Boil three cupfuls of granulated sugar with one cupful of water until it spins a long thread when dropped from a spoon. Add gradually to the stiffly beaten whites of three eggs. Beat until almost ready to spread, then add the nuts and fruits. Spread the filling between the layers and on top and sides of cake. The filling may be coloured a delicate pink by adding a very small amount of red colouring matter.

Chocolate Layer Cake. —Make a three-layer white cake as in the Lady Baltimore recipe. Put together and cover top and sides with chocolate filling. Chocolate filling: Melt over hot water four squares of chocolate. Beat until very light the yolks of two eggs. Add gradually one cupful and a-half o£ sugar. Then add one tablespoonful of butter and half a cupful of milk. Add a few grains of salt. Mix ail together well and bring to a boil, stirring every minute. Boil tor about one minute. Take from the fire, add jr-ltrf choco’-te, one toaL.'oonful of vanilla, ami half te:i~ponn.ul o’’ ah.mud flavouring. I’ea'. until very glossy and the filling is heavy . . i to spre-ul without running. Cuconut, Angel Cake. —Beat one cupful of egg whites until frothy, then add two tablespoonfuls of water, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, oneeighth teaspoonful of salt atid one teaspoonful vanilla. Continue beating unfit the whites are stiff but not dry. Sprinkle over the. beaten whites one cupful and a-quartcr of sifted granulated sugar, and fold in carefully with a spatula. Sift three times and measure, after sifting, one cupful of flour. Sprinkle this over the egg whites and fold in. Bako in an ungreased angel-cake pan in a very slow oven, starting at 225 degrees to 250 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour, gradually increasing the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Invert the pan on a cake rack, and let remain until the cake conies from th* pan. When cold, frost with boiled icing, cover with shredded coconut. and decorate with sections of <|rystallised pine-* appb . I< ing: Boil one. cupful of sag ar with half a cupful of water until it spins a* thread when dropped from a spoon. Do not. stir while boiling. Add this syrup to th< si itfly-beaten whites of two eggs, flavour with sun ilia, beat constantly until fro.ting ••• " and holds without rumen;-. dipt ike.-. -Cream a quarter >up;ul] of shortening with one cupful of sng-j tjicw .mop -pt.tdni >».wt ins t I

three teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Beat, two eggs with one cupful of milk, and add Io mixture alternately with flour. Beat well. Flavour with one teaspoonful of vanilla. Bake in cupcake pans for about. 2l> minutes in an oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Frost with white or coloured frosting, and decorate according to your fumy. Some centres may he scooped out and filled with marmalade or jelly.