THE WOMAN'S WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12452, 23 December 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE WOMAN'S WORLD.

CHRISTMAS RECIPES. Plum Puiidixg : Required—lib of suet, £lb of flour, of breadcrumbs, lib of currants, J lib of sultanas, lib of raisins, of mixed peel, 3oz of sweet almonds, loz of bitter ah | monds, lib of brown sugar, the rind of one J lemon, one grated nutmeg, a pinch of salt, 1 eight eggs, i pint of milk, i of a pint of brandy, or i of a pint of home-made wine. "- Chop the suet very finely, mixing.it with the I flour. Then make half a pound of bread- ; crumbs. These are usually made from white ' bread, but some prefer brown. Clean and stalk the currants and sultanas. Stone and chop the raisins. Blanch, skin, and chop • the almonds, and also the peel. Put all the ingredients into a large basin, with the sugar, grated lemon rind, nutmeg, and a , pinch of salt, and mix well. Now well beat . the eggs, add to them the milk and brandy and pour this into the flour, etc., and stir thoroughly. Put into well greased basins. ; Twist a piece of greased paper over the top of the basin to help keep in the goodness, • and then tie a scalded and well-floured cloth securely over, place in a pan of fast boiling water and boil steadily for not less than eight hours.' After they are cold remove the cloths, tie clown again with clean ones, and hang in a dry place till needed. Unrivalled Plum Pudding: Stone and chop a pound and a-half of the best muscatel raisins, wash and dry a pound and threequarters of currants, and cut six ounces of citron peel into thin slices. Mix these with a pound of sultanas, two pounds of moist sugar, two pounds of breadcrumbs, and two pounds of finely chopped suet. Moisten with 16 well beaten eggs: strain these into the pudding. Add a gill of brandy, and if the pudding is not sufficiently moist, add a little bottled beer. Turn the mixture into a well-buttered pudding mould; cover with a buttered and floured cloth, and boil for 10 hours. If preferred the pudding may be cooked first for six or seven hours, and when required for table boiled again for three hours. Sauce for Plum Pudding: Put a table spoonful of cator sugar in a saucepan, with 2oz of fresh butter and two tablespoonfuls of brandy; let it stand at the side of the fire till the butter is melted and the sauce is warm, then add half a glass of brandy and a glass of Madeira. , Roast Goose: Pick and draw the goose, cut off the head, scald the feet, and tuck them under the back ; fill the inside with a good stuffing of sage and onions or veal stuffing. Roast in a brisk oven an hour if small, an horn and a-half if large. Serve with apple sauce in a boat, and with a good gravy in the disb made by- frying the - giblets with an onion and a little summer savoury. Cover with cold water, and simmer for two or three hours. Boiled Turkey: Stuff the breast of the turkey with 21b sausage meat put it into sufficient- hot water to cover it, and let it boil gently for an hour and a-half. This is sufficient time for a turkey weighing 81b. Dish up and serve with oyster sauce over. Celery sauce may be substituted if preferred. Roast Turkey: Make a veal stuffing, and fill the breast at the crop. Cover the turkey with buttered paper and roast it. A turkey weighing 121b will take three hours. When done remove, the paper, sprinkle. the turkey with salt, dredge on a little flour, and froth it well with fresh butter. Serve with a good gravy and fried sausages round. :.- FAKED FOOD. ' , Cream: Little do people dream, when adding a spoonful of " thick, rich cream" to their; tea., that the precious stuff may really be composed almost entirely of white of eggs and oil. Even the genuine article may be adulterated by the addition of boric acid or formaldehyde, used—as in the case of milkand butter—for preserving purposes. Sugar: Sand is certainly not a desirable 'addition to moist sugar.-;- If; in doubt as to t the quality of your sugar in this respect yon ' can easily" test" it. Put a little of the sugar in some "clear, warm water,-and if sand be there, naturally it will readily be discovered as a- sediment when the sugar has melted. Bread: Bread peculiarly lends itself to adulteration. A superabundance of boiled potatoes in its composition, with alum to whiten it, appears bad enough; but fancy • the addition oi ground bones and chalk, with something akin to copperas to give it a good colour! Such an'abomination really has been sold in London as the staff of life." "Self-raising flower" is often a deceptive term. In a case which recently came before a provincial court, an article sold as " selfraising flour" was certified as containing a truly alarming quantity of tartaric acid and bicarbonate of soda. And that case does not, by any means, stand alone. SHOULD ENGAGED PEOPLE DANCE? It does not speak as well for human nature in its masculine development as it might do that one hears so much more often of men wishing their fiancees to give up dancing on becoming engaged than one finds girls making the same demand for a lover's sacrifice. Perhaps men are naturally more jealous; perhaps they look upon dancing in a different light from what girls do. Perhaps— we will hope this.is the reason— are so much less ardent in their devotion to the giddy waltz that they don't quite realise how much they are asking girls to give up. A girl may love her lover with all her heart, she may be quite ready to die for him if it would do him any good; and yet she may be so desperately fond of dancing, for mere dancing's sake, that she would dance with an automaton rather than not dance at all, and when she has to staiuf against a wall with her. feet thrilling in time to the waltz which other girls:are enjoying, it is a real sacrifice and a real deprivation to her. After all, why should she not dance? What is there in having told Edwin that she loves him, and will marry" him some day: what is there in the fact of her having his ring on her finger, that prevents her taking part in an innocent amusement? Is she to give up a pleasant exercise, in which she delights, just because Edwin has asked , a question and she has answered it? The worst feature of such an arrangement is when, as sometimes happens, Edwin does not think it by any means ; necessary for him to give up the amuse- . ment, though he insists on her doing so.' . Then the really melancholy spectacle is to be seen of a deserted Angelina sitting out. ' and watching with pathetic eyes her Ed- . win as he revolves about the room with other girls. It is selfish, to say the least of it. Why should he want to limit her pleasure? One 'j would think that if he really loved her he would never have greater enjoyment than ' in seeing her happy. She can dance with every man in the room without her every / thought and affection swerving one jot - from the centre where she has fixed them 1 all. She does not cease to love Edwin because she dances with other men. In point ' of fact, she is probably comparing them all, -1 to their great disadvantage, with the one ; hero of her heart. ... 1

1 have known some men make a very sensible bargain. As long as they had a good proportion of the dances on their fiancee's card, she was free to dance the rest with whomsoever she —with one stipulation only, that she should not single out any particular man for favour. If a girl has not thoroughly fathomed her lover's nature and character before, she will certainly have every chance of doing so when she comes to find out what are his views about her dancing. If he cuts off a harmless pleasure from her then, merely to gratify his own caprice, let her look forward to having a selfish and exacting husband.

IMPROVED PROVERBS.

Quacks are stubborn things. - It's a wise girl who knows her own mind. Society's the mother ot convention. Home was not built in a day. Modesty is the best policy. Circumstances alter faces. A rolling gait gathers remorse. All's not old tha*- titters. Let us ea\, drink, and be married, for to-morrow we dye. Charity uncovers a multitude of sins.