DOMESTIC REALM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11452, 28 February 1931, Page 11

DOMESTIC REALM

By “MARIE."

Household Hints

A GRACEFUL CARRIAGE. SOME SPLENDID EXERCISES. —. —, ,If you want to liavo a graceful, upright carriage, keep tlie muscles of the. hack in good, condition.. These muscles are often stretched and weak-, ened by the. "weight of the head and arms which, tends to draw, the b<sdy forward. 1 Also most activities.call for the use of the hands and necessitate, a bending forward of the body, and there is,. therefore, a corresponding, stretching of the. back muscles. Here, is a. good exercise to strengthen them.t Bring your bauds to your should-; ers holding the elbows at right angles to the body, move your elbows forward sideways and backward, describing a circle with each one. Repeat ten times, making each turn, slowly and holding the chest high throughout.

ANOTHER GOOD EXERCISE. Raise the arms overhead, bend forward uud touch the floor with the tips of your* lingers, keep the knees stiff. Straighten • up, bending the knees slightly as you do so. Repeat ten times. You may not bo able to touch the floor-first, but if-you persist you will imprqvo from day to day. Later on, increase the number of bendings and see how much of the palms of your hands you can-lay flat on the floor. This exercise preserves the suppleness of the waist, strengthens th 6 hack muscles, and stretches the long muscles at the back of the thighs, which otherwise tend to shorten ind cramp.

BALANCING EXERCISES. Balancing exercises train the body ui graeo and suppleness. With your hands on your hips raise your right leg and extend it as far forward as you can, swing it sideways and stretch .it; then stretch it backward. Repeat the exercise ten times, five times with each leg. As you improve hold each position a little longer, and raiso the arms forward, sideways and upward as.you stretch each leg forward, sideways and backward. Practice deep breathing in combination with arm raising. Stand straight and raise arms slowly at the sides to the horizontal position, palms np; bring tbe arms overhead, inbaling deeply, then lower thorn while you breathe out.

THE TROUSER SKIRT,

Tweed skirts arc rife this season, and they look very well in town, worn with a three-quarter or a fairly short fur coat, says a writer in the Manchester Guardian. The coat is generally belted in at the waist. Brown and brown-grey coats arc chosen and here and there a grey tweed may be worn with a grey astrachan coat. Tweed, skirts themselves are cut on circular lines, or they have pleats to give them plenty of room. These pleats may be short, and at the edge of the skirt, but sometimes there is what is apparently a deep pleat all down the skirt, which is really' a" slit. "The material wraps over in front, so that unless the skirt is in movement th e slit hardly shows. When the wearer walks it often parts, showing knickerbockers. These knickerbockers are rarely separate, but are. made to join into tlio pleats of tbe skirt. Most often they are of tho same material, but sometimes something lighter ■is used. While' they have hitherto been confined to country wear, they may now he seen in the streets. Some of them look like skirts at the back and like very wide-pleated knickers in front. In actual, fact, the skirt-cum-knickerbocker is not very much fuller than the plusfours. It has rather tho suggestion of the plusand may have originated from ,i, nil less those garments themselves tried to emulate the newest sports skirt.

“THE MAN I MARRIED!” There was always something wrong with Tom, Dick and Harry but thor 0 was nothing wrong with Owen! states tho writer. Owen was. goodlooking, not dangerously good-look-ing, but just darlingly so. Ho was quiet .and lie did not flirt; lie had a nv>dest income and he . was .not extravagant, . neither was lie mean. Men liked him and lie didn’t lot women llirt with him, and when I viewed Owen. I said to myself, “What a paragon!” He was not keep on his food, and lie did hot tell .me how beautifully liis mother cooked. Tie had. not, been fussed, over by a family o|„ .sisters; „ lip ..had just heen brought up very simply.,in a quiet way, and Owen had gone on being quiet ever afterwards. ' He was one of those unostentatious , people, who might achieve great. tilings, . and everybody \vould .say, “Good gracious, why I never thought he’d do anything of the sort! . Fancy, him!,”.. ,So I married Qwen! Not for ahy of those reasons, though, because when ypu really • do' love, you dqii’t weigh up the pros and ’ eons; you just, take what comes arid trust ,to lu<j:k. I loved Him because he lmd the most ‘infectious smiie iu the world, and tlio - way ho ■said “Lovely” when he was pleased was utterly ridiculous. Aud tliearo you are! j' y v '/ ■

• RECIPES, Five Minutes’ Pudding: 4ozs. flour, 4ozs breadcrumbs; a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon • baking-powder, 4ozs siiet, 6pzs, dates, 1; oz. ’ sugar,,' 1 ..egg, I giflti milk, lemoh hind. Put the flour, salt arid baking-powder ipto a basin, add,the chopped suet, dates cut into four; the - grated rind of 1 lemon, and- the sugar. . Beat up the egg, add *' the milk to it, and stir* satd tho • pudding. • ' Although: not so

nourishing, the pudding may bo prepared without the egg. Orange Velvet Cake: -Jib butter ij cup sugar, 2ozs. cornflour, 4-eggs, -J cup milk, I teaspoon bicarbonate soda, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 level- teaspqon salt,, 3 oranges. Cream the butter and sugar till very light, add beaten-yolks of eggs, half the milk and th 6 flour (which must, be sifted with the salt, cornflour, soda and cream of tartar). Add the grated, rind of oranges, then the rest of tlio/milk and-the whites of the eggs beaten, to a stiff -froth (stir very gently-into the mixture). Bake in 4 shallow tins for 15 minutes. Spread with orango cheese or with icing sugar.

, American Doughnuts:, One. cupful of selLraising flour, half a cupful of sugar, half a nutmeg. Mix together with milk, roll out on a hoard, cut with a sharp, round cutter. Make a hole in the-centre about the size of a shilling aud fry .in boiling lard. When a nice golden brown one side, turn ■ and fry the other. Serve immediately. Ladies’ Fingers: Beat the yolks of three eggs with .a quarter of a pound butter for TO minutes, add a quarter- pound almonds, blanched, cut fine the grated rind of a lemon, mix well, add Ooz flour very gradually, roll out paste, cut -into strips the size and length of a finger, bake in a moderate oven.

Date and Rice Pudding.— Cook three ounces of rice in a pint of milk. When the rice is soft, stir in two ounces of shredded suet, four ounces of rasins, four ounces of chopped dates and grated lemon rind to flavour. Finally, stir iu a beaten egg and half an ounce, of self-raising flour. Pour into a greased mould and -steam for an hour. Serve with custard sauce.

Ratafia Meringue Pudding: One pint of: milk, ooz of castor sugar, threo eggs,. 4oz of ratafias, six drops of ratafia essence, loz iof butter. U-sc the butter to grease a piedisli. Lino it with half the ratafias. Whisk the yolks of three eggs and the white of oiio with ouo ounce of castor sugar, add two- ounces of ratafias crushed to a powder, aud the milk. Turn this into the dish and bake until sot in a very moderate oven. -.-) ■ - .

Irish Cake: Take 21b flour, 1J lb butter, 1 Jib brown sugar, Jib citron, 2J lb currants, 18 eggs. Warm the butter and beat it to, a cream, break in tlie eggs by degrees ; with the fruit and sugar.- Add tlie flour last. Keep beating the sam© way, -.and do nob take out the hand till thoroughly mixed. Bake about three Louis. Sponge Drops : 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 3 tablespoons boiling milk, -i teaspoon soda, J r teaspoon tartar, lemon essence. Beat- eggs and sugar till light; sift flour aud risings in slowly. When well mixed add the boiling milk. Drop in dessertspoonfuls ou greased- oven tray, and bake iu a fairly hot oveu.

Apple Cake: ' Stew apples with sugar and very' little water. When done keep warm at side of. stove till mixture is ready. Paste —fib butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons cold water, 1 egg, -Jib selfraisiug flour. Mix butter and sugar, add egg and water, then flour. Knead slightly, then, roll out on floured paper to twice the length required, Spread half with the waim apple, then > lift the other half with th e paper,; as the mixture is very soft, and fold over tho apples. Remove top paper carefully, and tear off. Slip slide (hot) under cake, and bake 20 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar when cold, and cut in squares. • Plain Pastry: ilb dripping to 2 cups flour, pinch salt/juice of lemon in 'water to mix. Bettor if stood over night. Puff Pastry: lilb flour, lib butter, i teaspoon salt. Mix lightly with water .and stand over night, No rising is needed. Angel Pudding: Take the contents of a tin of cherries and remove the stones from the fruit. _ Peel six bananas and cut them in halves lengthwise'. Butter a •piedish, arrange tlie bananas and cherries in it, in alternate layers, pour over them a cupful of the cherry syrup, and sprinkle with castor sugar. Bake in a slow oven for half an hour, and servo liot or cold, with thick cream or cup custard,.

EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

PREPARATIONS IN DUBLIN

At least TOO.OOO visitors are expected bV the Irish organisers of the Eucharistic Congress to he Jiem in Dublin in 1932. About £BO,OOO is needed to run. the congress, and a national collection lias been made in. every Roman Catholic Church in Ireland.- , , . . ' The provisional programme for the wliidh will attract/ to Ireland -about 12 cardinals, 400 bishops. several roval visitors, and thousands. of priests is now announced. Arrangements' include general comiflunien foi women throughout Ireland. oji Sunday, June 12,. 1932, general communion for .men -on Sunday, Julie 19, aiid Poiitificial MaSs at the Pro-Catlicdral. Dublin, on tlie same da iho Irish hierarchy will officially receive the visiting bishops on the evening of* Juno ,20'.- .and'tlie congfessi' wfl 1 opelion* Jiinb 22; Vrt