To the Ladies

Grey River Argus, 14 January 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

To the Ladies

"Rita”

By

v J* J: SOME PLUM RECIPES. Plums, when in season, are usually cheap and, therefore make economical dishes. Here are a few ways of cooking the delicious fruit: Plums Pickled (like Gives). —Take some hard, green plums which have been gathered before the stone is set; boil as much vinegar as will entirely cover them (having (added a tablespoon of salt and Aoz mustard seed to each pint of liquid). Pour this hot over the fruit and let it stand until the next day; then drain it off, boil again and repeat the process. When the plums are quite cold, put in bottles, cover with vinegar, tie up securely and store in a cool dry place. Candied Plums.—Cut each of a number of large ripe plums in halves (using a silver knife) and remove the stones. Place on a board (inside uppermost and each a few inches apart); sprinkle each well with white crystal sugar and put int* a warm oven until the plums warm through and the sugar is melted. Remove from the oven and set in a cool place to harden. When the glaze is almost set, sprinkle well with more sugar. These make delicious dessert fruit, the full flavour of the plum being retained. Plum Chutney.—Six pounds of dark plums, lib sugar, |lb salt, U pints vinegar, 2oz pepper, 2oz ginger, 2oz garlic, 2oz allspice, cayenne to taste. Boil all together until the plums are soft (about one hour), strain and botle. Plum Sauce. —Six pound plums, 31b sugar, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, i«_>z cloves, a little salt, handful of whole ginger (bruised), and 3 pints vinegar. Boil all together till the stones come out, strain and bottle while hot. Plum Jam.—One pound sugar to each 11b of fruit. Wash the plums and put them into the preserving pan, just breaking them a little. Sprinkle a little of the sugar over them and let stand all night. Bring to the boil next day and allow to boil for half an hour. Add the rest of the sugar gradually and boil all till a little of the syrup will jelly on a plate.

Plum Gateau.—Take Ijlb red plums, loz gelatine, a wineglass port wine, | pint water, sugar to sweeten and a few almonds. Stew the plums in water and sugar until they are soft; take them out of the syrup and remove the stones. Dissolve the gelatine and strain this into the syrup, then add the port. Put the plums and almonds back into the syrup and pour all into a wetted mould. When quite cold, turn out, stick with sliced almonds and serve with whipped cream. Plum Whip.—Stew 11b of plums with jib sugar. When cooked, stone the plums. When perfectly cold, add the whites of 4 eggs (beaten stiff;. Stir all together, place in a dish and bake for 20 minutes. Serve cold with whipped cream. Spiced Plums.—Prick the plums well with a fork and place them in a large jar with ;a sprinkling , of cinnamon, cloves and orange rind between each layer; cover with vinegar and, on the following day, strain off vinegar anti boil for 10 minutes. Let it cool; then pour it over the fruit. Leave for 24 hours: then again strain and measure. To each pint add 3oz sugar and boil together for 10 minutes. Pour this over the plums and, when cold, cover closely and store in a cool, dry place. Ready in three days. BLONDES PREFER GENTLEMEN Anita Loos, author of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” was asked to broadcast a message from 2LO before she left London for home recently (writes an English exchange). This 'is what she said:— ‘’l‘m terribly glad to be in London and shall be awfully sorry to leave it. I mean if ever I am able to retire I should prefer to retire in London. Lots of people have asked me if gentlemen really do prefer blondes, and I’m sorry to say ‘Yes they do.’ I mean, it seems so hard on all the brunettes in Italy and Spain and Darkest Africa. “But I expect they arc all right if they can acquire a ‘blonde personality.’ “It is also true that blondes prefer gentlemen, and although 1 am not a blonde myself I am quite satisfied wi.h a lot of men friends who arc not gentlemen.” ENVELOPE POCKETS. FOR SPORTS SUITS. Envelope pockets on autumn tailormades are among this season’s novelties. A new fastening for the. coat of such a tailor-made suit is a brightly- coloured enamelled link bearing the wearer’s monogram. The colour of this link is often repeated in a gay enamelled button fastening the envelope pocket. When made for sports or country wear, coast have two large-sized pockets, made with four flaps, and resembling a square envelope in their shape. These pockets often are made with a narrow piping round the edges of the flaps, the lower three being joined together at the centre, and the top one left loose to provide the opening. In some cases this upper. flap fast-1 ens over with a hidden clip instead of the coloured plain flat button which is intended, presumably, to represent the. seal upon the envelope. On suits for town wear the commercial envelope shape is most popular, while the new’ shape pocket also is making itself scon on day time dresses. HOT WEATHER WISDOM. To most of us warm days bring with them a disinclination for food. The favoured and steaming dishes of winter are no longer attractive; in fact they excite our antipathy. So we turn with joy to the market basket and the kitchen garden to supply things nutritive and luscious, which combine food and drink. The human body is the most adaptable piece of mechanism if it is given

fair play and not overtaxed in its duty. In summer, it is not called upon to produce the same amount of heat for the well-being as in the winter. This means simply that the heat producers such as cereals, suet puddings, and heavy meat diet can be reduced to a minimum, and our adaptable mechanism very soon responds to the lighter foods that summer deilSnds. Who has not experienced the allurement of a cool green salad on a hot summer’s day? Green salads, tomatoes and all uncooked vegetables contain the greatest vitamines. The value o: watercress, dandelion, leaves, and tne young nettle have not been given due consideration as salads, revered by our great-grandmothers for properties which beautify skin and complexion. Then the fruits supply sugar, and water. Fluid is necessary for the system, particularly in the summer. It serves two purposes. First, it helps the skin to throw off effectively deterious products by perspiration, which is nature’s bath. And secondly, it helps to flush the internal organs. Fluid should be increased in summer, since so much drains off through the pores of the skin that the kidneys and other organs are left somewhat in need. Cooling beverages, such as lemon water, are useful. Ices can be indulged in, provided they are not consumed when feeling over-heated. Warm drinks are really more cooling in due course. They stimulate the skin to greater activity and increase evaporation, which has a very decided cooling effect.

I Then clothing is a debated point, j Hot days are apt to make us throw off garments and sit in draughts. When one is heated the bloodvessels of the skin are relaxed. A sudden change of temperature, as a cold draught, entails an immediate cooling of the superficial arteries, and the deeper bloodvessels are . apt to become engorged suddenly and have extra work thrown on them. Various internal maladies may arise from such sudden cooling. The garment next to the skin should always be of fine wool or silk. Cotton becomes damp, and produces a feeling of chilliness. Wool or silk favours the proper evaporation between the skin and air. Also, it acts as a protection and retains the body heat. WHEN YOU PLAY TENNIS. Don’t use anything but a good liquid powder when dressing for tennis, and before applying it dab the skin over with a little orange flower water. Take a piece of cotton wool, saturate it with the orange flower water, and pat the liquid into the skin. This keeps the face delightfully cool, and gives a fresh dainty perfume to the skin. Liquid powder put on after this “preparation” will last for the whole afternoon, no matter how hot the sun or exciting the game. It is a good plan to apply a coat of liquid powder to the arms as well as the face and throat, especially if you are one of those who freckle easily, treating them exactly the same as the face, for the orange water and powder form a protection from the sun and prevent an unbecoming crop of freckles or a patch of red sunburn. Brush a few extra drops of brilliantine into the hair, for it will not only give it an extra gloss but will prevent the sun from scorching the colour from fair or golden hair. Whether you wear a. bandeau or a Helen Wills “eyeshade” must be left to your own taste. Those who burn and freckle easily will be wise to adopt the eyeshade. For the others the bandeau is perhaps the more becoming. SUMMER LAUNDERING. Unless your summer voiles and similar coloured fabrics are guaranteed fast, it is best to assume otherwise, and so take the greatest possible precautions when laundering them. Use. a warm, not hot, soapy lather and get on with the washing and drying as I quickly as possible. Give a final rinsing in cold water to which has been added a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of vinegar to each gallon. Th? salt will set the colours that show a tendency to run, and the vinegar will revive shades that have suffered from sun or soap. For your little holiday launderings you cannot be bothered with starch. Prepare and bottle the following mix- i turn and take with you:—One ounce i of gum arabic to a pint of boiling wa- , ter. Stir over a low heat till dissolved then strain and bottle. Use in the pro portion of a tablespoon to half a pint of cold water. This is a nexcellent substitute for starch.

A NEW YEAR VIRTUE. There is a very great virtue in perseverance. There really is not very much the matter with the ideals and ambitions which most of us cherish save that we do not carry them through with sufficient perseverance and faithfulness. In spasms and spurts we do very well, but. spasms and spurts do not get one very far. Goals that are worth attaining and enterprises of real moment, are not arrived at and carried through save by people who knaw something about steady climbing and who have learned to plod along over where the stretches of road are far from easy. Jesus thought it. worth while devoting one of His matchless parables to the emphasising of the need and excellence of the grace of perseverence, and before doing that. He must have seen many very fine schemes and great causes fail for the want of it. And they have continued to fail down through the centuries ever since for the same reason. There arc a great many very excellent things in their cwn way that you or I could accomplish if we had a really worth-while amount of the grace of perseverence added to the other gifts and graces which we possess, but without that the other gifts and graces are not given much of an opportunity. Indeed, the things we could do if we somehow had the grace given us to stand by and follow up the fine determinations we sometimes make would surprise even ourselves. This year we ought to try to give ourselves a chance. What is the use of being as clever and as gifted as some of us are and then have it bear so little fruit through lack of constancy and persistence? The virtue of perseverence for many of us would be on excellent one to begin to cultivate, this very day.