THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18025, 25 February 1922, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

HOME-MADE ICES. During tho hot weather now home-made ice s and ice-puddings will be found much moro acceptable than tho usual varieties of sweets. The following recipes are all recommended :- Ice Or&am Without a Freezer.—Get two pounds of blackberries, put in a pan and bring to scalding point. Take out and beat to a pulp in a mortar, adding half a pound of fine white sugar and a pint of scalding cream. Work all through a hair sieve, then put in a tin with a cover to shut it in. Have ready a bucket—preferably wooden—strewn at bottom with broken-up ice and salt mixed. Stand the tin doKvn on that, and heap around its sides mono ice and salt (coarse salt serves). Watcli for tho fruited cream to begin to thicken for "freezing," then stir it round, recover, pilo ice and salt up over the lid, and leave for four and a-half hours. When required just lift the tin and dip it in warm water to loosen the ice cream for turning out. For raspberry icecream, apricot, or peach the same quantities will be found right.

Apricot Ice.—i Make a custard with half a pint of milk and the yolks of three eggs, and two otmces of castor sugar. Wash three ounces of dried apricots, put them into a stew pan, cover with cold water, and stew gently till quite soft. Pass through a sieve, add castor sugar to taste to the pulp. Mis with the custard when quite cold, and freeze. A tcaspoonful of whipped cream on each ice is a great improvement. Lemon-water Ice.—Eight ounces white sugar, one pint cold water, rind and juice of two or three lemons according to size, whites of two eggs. Put water, sugar, thin strips lemon rind, and lemon juice in pan over a gentle heat. When dissolved, boil quickly for ten minutes, strain, and allow to get quite cold. Put into prepared freezer, and turn gently for a few minutes, then add stiffly beaten white of eggs, and freeze again until a uite firm. Serve m small paper cases. Note. —Any kind of fruit pulp and juice may be used, with the addition of flavouring and colouring to taste. YogurJ Ice Cream.—Make a syrup from half a cupful of water, three-quarters of a cupful of sugar and the grated yellow rind from a quarter of an orange Mix together half a cupful of pineapple juice, half a cupful of drained shredded pineapple, half a cupful of orange juico and an eighth of a cupful of lemon juice. Then blend the syrup with the fruit mixture and add slowly a cupful and a-half of fresh bntter-milk and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt. Turn into a chilled freezer, and when it begins to congeal stir in half a pint of chilled double cream whipped solid. Freeze a s usual.

Frozen Apple Custard.—Prepare a generous pint of boiled custard from a pint of milk, two beaten eggs, a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, arid four tablespoonMs of sugar. Cook over hot water until well thickened, remve from the fire and flavour with lemon juice. Turn into a chilled freezer, and when tho cream begins to congeal, add a cupful of thick, strained apple sauce, sweetened to tasto and flavoured with cinnamon and grated nutmeg. Continue to freeze until firm and smooth.

COOKERY HINTS. To whip cream add a small pinch .of baiting powder. Apples and onions shredded together make a delicious sandwich filling. You will shed no tears when peeling onion s if you keep your teeth tightly closed and peel the onions under water. When boiling a ham, leavo it in the water in which it has been boiled until quite cold. This will make it juicy and tender.

' "Add a little ground ginger to a rice padding before bakin? it. If this is done one can use half milk and half water instead of all milk.

To remove a cold pudding or jelly from amould, wrap a hot cloth roundtne outside of the mould for a minuto or Two. To remove a hot pudding use a cold cloth. A dash of nutmeg or cinnamon over baked apples is a decided improvement, while a pinch of cinnamon added to chocolate and' cocoa before they come to the boil adds a piquancy to their flavour. When about to roast a joint, cover it with rind saved from a piece of ham or bacon, and cook with it on. This will save the trouble of constant basting, and will prevent the joint from burning or drying.

Before paring apples wipe them with a damp cloth, and as you peel tbem put the skins in a separate saucepan, cover with water, add a little' sugar or syrup, and boil gently for a little while. A rich juice will then be had for use with puddings.

Always drain your boiled rice into a clean bowl, and use the water for thickening soups, or with a little flavouring it makes a good drink for ohildren, especially if their stomachs are a little out of order. Bice water also makes a very good stiffening for lace 3 and other light laundry articles.

If fruit jellies have not been boiled enough, return them to the pan and reboil. .If overboiled they will not set unless a little gelatine is added to them in the proportion of half an ounce to each pint of juice. Melt the gelatine in a very little water, return the fruit jelly to the pan, strain in the and bring to the boil. Remove from the fire, and when cold and nearly setting pour into the pots. Cover when cold.

WELL-BALANCED HEALS. All housewives should aim not only at providing their families with food that certainly causes a feeling of repletion, but possibly has little food value, but also at arranging meals that really do nourish, because they contain the number of food units necessary for keeping the body in good health. It i ß ycheaper in the end, too, as if food lacks the requisite amount of nourishment people eat more and become hungry sooner. Soup made with cereal stock containing rice, : eaten with white bread, boiled cod or hake, potatoes, fruit tart, form an example of a badly-balanced meal, which does not contain nearly enough nourishment, though doubtless anyone having such a meal would feel satisfied to! the time being. If, however, the soup were made of haricots or lentils, and eaten with wholemeal or brown bread, the fish baked or steamed and coated with cheese sauce and served "an gratin," and the fruit tart replaced by stewed fruit and custard the meal would bo nourishing and not more expensive. The custard, even if made with powder, hag a higher food value than pastry on account of the milk in it. Remember that wholemeal, barley meal, and oatmeal contain much more nourishment than white flour, so bread or scones made with any of these ingredients are better than white bread. Oatmeal porridge, scones, and oatcakes aro invaluable. Barley meal porridge makes a wholesome change. Nuts are a most valuable food, and nut bread is not only nourishing, but delicious. Try it for the children's lea in place of cake! Fat is, of course, a necessity, especially for children- If butter is too expensive give them toast and dripping but do not let jam or syrup replace fat.