WOMEN’S NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 256, 26 September 1935, Page 11

WOMEN’S NOTES.

COOKING. (By Miss Mary Tallis.) Made from Roses.—Candied Rose' Petals: These are exceptionally dainty sweets which can be eaten just as they are, or used as a decoration for cakes. Pick the petals separately, rinse well in cold water, place on sheets of clean white paper, and put in the sun to dry. Then dip each petal in the white of an egg, dry on sheets of thin cardboard and sprinkle with castor sugar. Then make your syrup, using lib sugar and -J pint cold water and boil until the sugar threads. Put your rose petals in shallow pans, pour the syrup over them, and leave them for 2-1 hours. Spread the petals out once more on cardboard and dry them in a cool oven. Store in airtight jars or bottles until wanted. Rose-leaf Jam: In Persia, where coffee is served almost black, rose leaf jam is handed round with it—the sweetness of the preserve helping to counteract the bitterness of the strong coffee. The luscious confection also found a place in the store cupboards of our great-great-grandmothers. Here is the recipe: Gather a pound of deep red rose leaves. Pour boiling water over them, then strain quickly, and dry. Make a syrup of 11b of granulated sugar and 1 cupful of water. Add the rose leaves and simmer gently until the preserve is quite soft and thick. Put into small pots and keep in a cool place. Rose Frosting: For every 50 rose petals you will need one “catty” (li-Lb) of granulated sugar. Pound your rose petals into pulp, then add the sugar and stir until the sugar and rose petals are thoroughly mixed. Then put the mixture to dry in the sun. You will find that, when dried, the sugar will have retained its granular form and that the confection will be rose-coloured and The frosting can then be used eitlier to sweeten and colour drinks, or as a very pretty decoration for iced cakes. Rosed Peaches: Here is a recipe for a Chinese delicacy which is well worth trying. You-will need 25 peaches, lib sugar, i cupful of water, -J pint vinegar, i tablespoonful of table salt, red roses and cloves. Make a syrup by boiling the sugar, water, vinegar and salt together for 20 minutes. Stand the peaches in hot water for about 3 minutes, then rub the down off them with a towel. On the stem part of each peach put a rose. Using the cloves as skewers, fasten the roses to the peaches. Place rosed peaches in the syrup and simmer gently until soli.

GENERAL. A Fireside Pouffe: —lf you haven’t a fireside pouffe, now is the time to make one-. The following is an attractive pattern and is inexpensive, for the whole of the material can be bought for well under ten shillings. Materials: 2-jvds cover fabric, 31in wide; lining, 23yds unbleached calico, 31in wide ; Iyd bias binding; 1 wooden button mould; 1 hank thick pipingcord ; 1 packet kapok stuffing; some rugging and hay. Cut 4in off both ends ot covering fabric and lining. Join ends of lining together to form a circle and stitch l|in hems at the top and bottom Thread these hems with piping cord. Draw up the bottom tightly, tie firmly and tuck ends inside. You will find there is a small hole left in the centre. Out a circle of calico and sew over the hole. The lining is now ready to. be stuffed. Put in the kapok, a handful at a time, and make a flat, even layer all over the bottom of the calico case. Then put in the rugging, a little at a time, spreading it over the kapok in flat, even layers, until the case is three-parts full. Then finish the stuffing of the case with hay. When you have put in as much stuffing as yoii can, tie up the case tightly with the second cord, put the pouffe on the floor and it hard with the hack of a brush. This will force the stuffing together and when you open up the case after this treatment you will find there is room for a lot more stuffing. Continue filling up and beating until you cannot get another scrap of hay into the cover. Tie the cords up tightly, tuck the ends inside and stitch a circle of unbleached calico over the little hole to keep the stuffing from working out. The floor cushion is now ready to be covered. Make the outside fabric, cover in. exactly the same way that you made the lining, and the same size. Now put the pouffe hay side down, inside the cover and pull this up over the stuffing lining. Draw up the second piping cord and tie as tightly as you can. Tuck the ends of the cords inside and cover with a small circle of the material hemmed on very neatly. To finish the pouffe make a small rosette witli the material cut on the cross.