MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 May 1936, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

U.S.A. COOKERY.

THINGS THEY DO DIFFERENTLY

The way yoil poach eggs interests me greatly, but I think your method laborious (says an American writei in an English magazine). When we poach an egg, wd break the egg into a greased cup which will lodge mside the hole of the kettle, so that the cup does not actually touch the water. While the kettle boils, the steam cooks the egg beautifully, without additional pan and water and loss of time. . ... We have a gravy-browmng hint that seems worth passing on, too. We cover an old dinner-plate cvcnlv with plain flour, about quarter of an inch thick, and place it in a fair.v quick oven till the flour is a good brown colour, but being careful not _o burn it anywhere. Then we tip the flour into a basin, and season .loioughly with salt and a little pepper. This we store in an enamelled tin or glass jar, and use as required. Our method of preparing apples for pies varies greatly from yours. We cut the apples in half from stalk then, with a teaspoon scoop out the core. This prevents 'waste, and the apples look better vhen stewed. When we are washing green vegetables we do not use salt the same as you. We use borax instead, or a lei sertspoonful of borax and a Lable--I'ocnfnl of vinegar. All insect life . onies out on top of the water once Jiis method is employed. And after draining, we pour boiling water over greens and allow to stand for a few minutes. This method .hortens the time necessary for cooking, and does away with any unpleasant odour. If you use borax and vinegar for all salad greens, it will not only free them from insects, but it keeps the vegetables crisp and witlT an appetising look. When boiling soup we place a knife across the top of the saucepan, since this prevents the contents of the pan from coming over when they reach boiling point. The same idea also <romes in handy when boiling milk for sauce.

Another economical hint that seems ■veil worth passing on is that con--mned with greasing pudding basins, •nd the like. Instead of using the i utter on to a cold basin, we fill the .’•asin with boiling water and leave o stand for a minute or two; then 'iy. and quickly rub with greasy ;.:i;.in which the butter was r.lapped when received from the gi occr. ’f you find your custard-powder difficult to mix, try our method: To mix ,-imtard powder smoothly, mix half ,:lie sugar dry with the powder. The ugar granules separate the powder and make the mixing twice as easy, t hen add the remainder of the sugar in the usual way. When a cake is wanted in a hurry, and we have not time to decorate it in the ordinary way, we melt a little red-currant jelly, smooth this careiully over with a brush, and then cover thickly with dessicated coconil or chopped almonds. Even plain penge cakes, if done in this way, are .. iven a superior look, and made popular with young and old alike.

CUSTOM CHANGING. WHY WEAR MOURNING? 'i wenty-five- years ago a widow wore heavy crepe veil attached to her •-■<• for six months, full mourning for a year, and then half mourning for jJier six momiis. writes Evelyn baylor in the Nows Chronicle. Daugh.s wore full mourning for their : e.:ts for a j, t-r and would not have' thought cf accepting an invitation to dinner or out to the theatre .. -_■ tv,o for thi zc months. Children •/ere nut into li'ack clothes. Black-edged m tepuper was compviscry for six months or so, and ..carls weie the only jewels considered suitable fir mourning wear. At the dbath of Rii.g Edward VH, the omen of the whole nation went into ■murning. How things have changed. To-day woman in full "widow’s weeds” is ■. rare sight indeed. Veils are only worn by the ladies of the Royal Family at State tun rals. Black-edged .icte-paper has gone right out of date, nd at funerals the majority of worn- , n wear dark In own as much as black, and beige stockings and gloves where once the grimmest of ilack would have been considered esential. Children do not wear mourning at all.

Even Court mourning periods grow shorter and shorter out of consideration for the numbei of charities which are adversely affected by the withdrawal of members of the Royal Family from public affairs, and attendance at film first nights, matinees and dinners in aid of charity is not cancelled. Why indeed must women wear mourning at all? The majority of deaths are those of old people, who have lived their lives and come to the natural and not unexpected end of ihehi. Without being callous, can their relations not. iemember them in their hearts without parading heavy mourning in front of their friends? Mourning is expensive, when clothes have to go wholesale into the dyepot, and the only alternative is to adopt the dress schemes of the average middle-class Frenchwoman, still a slave to mourning ideas. She wears black all the time, because there is nearly always a relation for whom she is in whole or half-mourning. How drab and gloomy the appearance of a l-’rench Sunday crowd! How sallow the cheeks of the women, how almost

ludicrous the appearance of black mackintoshes, black-edged handkerchiefs’ I am not suggesting that we should a.ll wear oui' brightest clothes for a| funeral, but that dark brown or dark blue should be • considered quite as “official” mourning wear as black — and .uaeed that there should be ah end to this ‘‘officaildom” about an essentially private and personal affair. After the funeral I can sec no reason way women should not. continue with their ordinary summer wardrobes. And why they should feel obliged to postpone visits Io Ihc. theatre, dinner parties with frienddances that have been arranged, 'tn'ess their own I personal inclination is that they do not “feel like” din.ng or dancing or! going to a play, ! <!■: not know. There is .-till a lot of hum buggery about mourning, i ii.nl certainly be ouo of those who ! ]>■ r ;fy “no mourning, by request,” in the notice of my death —even tii.aigli there may not be anybody who would wish to mourn my passing out of the world.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

THEIR ROMANTIC STORY

Ages and ages ago, in far-off Cathay, the flowery kingdom, the first cultivated varieties of chrysanthemums were evolved from an insignificant wayside weed, by the horticultural cunning and untiring patience of yellow, wrinkled Mongols in their terraced gardens. Ancient the linclago of the queen of autumn flowers. For at least two millenniums the Chinese have esteemed the “li-ki” as they call the chrysanthemum, only less than the peony.' Confucius, their sage of sages, praised the flower with unwonted warmth. Renowned generals and, eminent statesmen, revered philosophers and beloved poets were held in greater honour because' by their devoted skill and enthusiastic experiments they produced new and beautiful varieties.

T’ao Ming-yang, who lived 1500 years ago, was the greatest of all Chinese breeders of chrysanthemums. A delicate poet and exquisite epicure, a connoisseur of all refined and subtle pleasures, he brought to birth by consummate craft a wonderful array of enchanting varieties. The city where he dwelt changed its name after his death to Chuhsien, the City of Chry santhemums.

At some era remote even in the long, long annals of china, the chrysanthemum migrated to Japan, where it evoked such admiration that it became the symbol of the ruling dynasty. Regarded as a quasi-sacred emblem of the Son of Heaven, the sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum must not, under severe penalties, be reproduced in any design save for Imperial purposes. In conventionalised form it is portrayed on State documents of the highest moment, emblazoned upon the doors of Imperial carriages, engraved or enamelled on the hilts and scabbards of the swords of the most exalted Imperial officers. The highest distinction the Emperor can confer is the Order of the Chrysanthemum, created for and entirely confined to royal personages.

THE FIRST SHOW

Nothing is known of the inti" auction of the flower into Europe. In all probability it was brought by the Dutch, ardent and skilful horticulturists, when they enjoyed so great a share of commerce with the East. The earliest date fixed with certainty is 1759. when Captain Blanchard, whose vessel plied between Marseilles and the Orient, brought to France no fewer than a thousand plants. Only one survived and was propagated. the "Old Purple,” as it was called much later. For a- score of j ears this was the only kind commonly found in the gardens of the Occident, and it became the ancestor of many varieties cultivated to-day. The Japanese themselves regard as the highest aim not the exhibition of a. few gigantic or dainty or curious blooms, hut the production of a symmetrical mass of blossom. They generally prefer bushy plants with plenty of foliage and myriads of shortstemmed, medium-sized flowers. A single plant in Count Okuma’s garden in Tokio had .1200 flowers, a mass of colour in the shape of a cone with a, circumference'at the base of over eight feet. At the celebrated shows every November in Dango-zaka, -at Tokio, may be seen wonderful plants trained in the form of beasts and birds and fishes, dfagoiis and demons, houses and ships, and co on, arranged to represent historical and mythological incidents. The earliest chrysanthemum show on record took place at Tokio. in 926 4 D the Mikado Uda. an ardent devotee of the flower, issued an edict commanding that his whole realm be searched for the choicest specimens. His officials lansacked the gardens of, nil Japan and assembled the finest flowers at the Imperial Palace for the gratification of the Court.

WORTH-WHILE HINTS. To keep mustard fresh, smooth, and a good colour, mix with milk instead of water. , When shoes are very wet stuti inc toes with paper. They will dry quickly and keep their shape. When cooking, keep a spring clothes peg ill pocket of overall. T3y clipping this to hot handles of saucepan hds burnt fingers will be prevented. To preserve leather furniture a little castor oil and rub it in fairly generously with a soft cloth, leave i for an hour, then polish off with a dry duster. This will keep the leather soft and supple and prevent cracks. Onion juice, applied immediately, will often remove scorch marks from clothes. . Holes in linoleum may be repaired bv filling them with finely chopped cork. Mix the cork with liquid glue and then place it in the hole. When it has set hard, rub down with glasspaper, and colour with paint to match the linoleum. When tying down covers on jams, pickles and jellies, always reiiiembei to wet the string. This will prevent them from slipping, and, when diy, the string will tighten. Rain spots on clothes can be ie mvoed by placing a clean damp clotn on the material and pressing it with a warm iron. ‘ Orange juice, or rind, adds a pleasant flavour to stewed apples, oi dried pears or peaches. Discoloured handkerchiefs should be soaked all night in a solution of pipeclay and warm water; the next day wash and boil them in the usual way. Stains on bronze oxidised curbs can . be removed by washing them with a I solution of sulphate of soda loz to a I pint of waler. Rinse in very hot water, and polish.