WOMEN'S NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 258, 28 September 1935, Page 14

WOMEN'S NOTES.

COOKING. (By Miss Mary Tallis.) Creole recipes from New Orleans.— Gumbo Soups: These are delicious soups with many combinations of flavours, all equally good. They are made with crabs, oysters, shrimps, chicken, rabbit, okra, and herbs. File, which is made from sassafras leaves, dried and powdered, is often used, as it thickens the soup and imparts an unusual flavour, but gumbo can be made without it. Try Crab Gumbo: Gumbo soups are always eaten with rice; a spoonful is put in each plate and the soup noured over it. Prepare the crabs by cutting off the claws and cracking. Two or three largo crabs, cut in quarters, are sufficient. Season them well. Put 2 tablcspoonsful of lard in a thick soup pot and stir into it 2 spoonsful of flour. Add a large onion, cut up fine.' Let it brown, and pour in a tin of tomatoes, or the same amount of fresh ones, 1 bav-lenf, 1 sprig thyme, and 1 sprig parsley. Cook for TO minutes, then pour in I.} quarts of boiling water. Simmer for 2 hours, then put in the crabs and cook for i hour, or more. When eating, put a piece of crab and rice in each plate with the soup. Shrimp Jnmalnva: Boil, cool and peel 20-30 shrimps. Put to fry 1 cupful of rioe and I large onion. Allow them to fry well and then add the shrimps. Stir constantly and when all are brown, cover with hot water. Season with salt and pepper and add parsley, thyme and a bayleaf. Let the mixture simmer and put in more water if necessary. Cook until the rice is done; then let it dry a little before serving. Grilladcs: Grillades are a well-known Creole speciality. Select round steak and cut in square-shaped pieces. Season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it thoroughly into the meat. Have ready a thick frying-pan; melt in it sufficient lard or bacon dripping and add an onion and a clove of garlic, chonped. Let this brown, then add a chopped tomato. Place the grillades on this and let them absorb all the flavours. Cover and simmer on a low fire until the juices of the vegetables have yvell penetrated the meat. Serve on Lot plates garnished with parsley, accompanied with rice or red beans. LAUNDRY. How to Dye.—Curtains, cushioncovers, table-runners and chair-backs which have faded will appreciate a little “Beauty treatment.” The outlay is trifling compared with the excellent results and the equipment is simple. What you really need is enthusiasm and a day when tlie weather is definitely on vour side; also time to go at the work leisurely. If you hurry over it, the re-

suits will be thin and patchy. But, 1 whatever you do, never stint yourself of the actual dye. This is most important as the material must be en-! tirely saturated. Cold-water dyes are. splendid if you have pale or delicate tints in mind, and as a “refresher” for articles which are already dyed, they are j unequalled. Cotton, silk, and art silk respond wonderfully to the cold-water treatment, but for a really powerful • colour the boiling water process is much better value. When you have collected your tackle, which should include a sizeable enamel vessel for the dye bath, and a measuring jug plus rubber gloves to protect your hands, wash the article and, if starched, boil it, to soften it. Also deprive it of any buttons or hooks, Allow it to get three-parts dry before beginning operations. In preparing the dye, follow the directions on the packet and couple them with your own judgment. \ou have to work on your own initiative as regards colour, and it is wisest to test the shade on a scrap of material from the hem by boiling as directed, then add a teaspoonful of salt and continue for another ten minutes. If the colour is too light, you can add more dye; if it is too dark, a quart or two of the solution should be bailed out and hot water added in ils place. See that-every inch is covered by the solution. Use wooden sticks to turn it about often and let it simmer according to directions. During the whole time of immersion the article should be allowed no rest, but should be turned over and over. Be strict about this, neither permitting it to take a breather above the liquid nor to lie inert at the bottom of the bath. Ten minutes simmering should see it done. Some colour will go in the last triumphant process of rinsing, which must be very thorough. Several waters are necessary, the last one being crystal clear. When you take the article out, squeeze it generously, to get rid of the water, but avoid wringing it out. Dry out of doors and iron before it is quite diy. Woollen articles should be allowed to cool slightly in the dye bath before rinsing. All kinds of beautiful colours may be obtained by blending. A marvellous shade of tomato is the result of half a packet of old rose mixed with a quarter of pillar-box red. Two lots

of mauve and one of heliotrope give a pretty mulberry shade, and a charming shade of green comes from one part or pale green and half a part of daffodil. When dyeing black it is not always easy to get the right tone, two dippings often being necessary. A spot of navy blue added to the black will banish that rusty effect which is rather distressing. If the article is faded or marked, dark blue or black are the safest tints to use. The cold water process is simple, too, but be sure in planning your colour scheme to allow for the fact that the fabric when dry will be several shades lighter. If you are ambitious, try knot dyeing, which is fascinating. A cushion cover, for instance, before being dyed should be knotted tightly in the middle, then dyed, rinsed and untied producing a charming shaded effect.

GENERAL. Beach comfort.—Modern sun-battl-ing means that at holiday time even grown-up parties spend most of each day on the beach, and a largo portion of that time in a reclining position. So comfort on the seashore has become much more important than it used to be. But, unless there is some protection between you and the sands they dress and squeeze in under a bathing dress adn squeeze in under a bathing cap. A sun-bathing mat will cure these minor ills, and works out cheaply if you make it yourself. A mat, with its attached pillow, made in shades of green and white, can be made very cheaply. You will need 2J yards, of plain coloured terry towelling and two white Turkish, towels with coloured stripes, each measuring about 45 by 24 inches. Cut any fringe from the towels. Then cut off from one and lay aside for the pillow, a length of 18in., right across the width. Join the cut towel to the whole one by a machine seam, to get a total length of about 70in. As the towels often have a few crossway stripes at each end, if the seam is made among them and well pressed it will not bo noticeable. Spread the coloured terry towelling on the floor, wrong side uppermost. Lay over it the joined towels, right side uppermost. The terry will be some inches larger each way. Centre the towels on it, turn in its edges to form a wide border all round and stitch them down to cover the towel edges, and hold them in place. This makes the mat. Make from the piece a pillow-case measuring, ■when seamed, 17in wide by llin. deep, with the stripes running crosswise to contrast with those on the mat. The bottom edgo of the case will be a fold of material with seams at the sides and top. Leave the centre part of the top seam open for 9-10 in.,, and close it with a zipp fastener. The pillow is not stuffed so that it will be more convenient to carry, or pack. If used on a sandy beach it can be filled from the sand each day, as required. If used on a shingly beach, or in your garden, obtain 21bs of silver sand and fill the pillow as required, using the same sand over and over again For ease of carry-

ing, the pillow may be clipped to the head of the mat with press fasteners, and the whole rolled into a neat bundle and secured with a double strap and handle. A further point— when the holiday is over, you can. take the mat apart and make from it several towels for winter use. HINTS.

From sideboard to hall-rack.—lf you have an old-fashioned sideboard with a back with an inset mirror in the centre, to modernise it remove this back piece and convert it into a useful hall-rack. Screw two large coat-liooks on either side of the mirror and hang two smart clothes-brushes from cupliooks attached below tlie mirror. Then screw the rack to the wall with patent screws.