THE FRIENDLY EXCHANGE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 869, 26 October 1888, Page 4

THE FRIENDLY EXCHANGE.

In this column we propose to have pleasant chats fand interchange of ideas with our readers upon passing matters of domestic and social interest ; and that it may he made an instructive and profitable feature we invite correspondence of inquiry and information on all subjects that can possibly be of service to the home and our common humanity, and the Editress hopes that her appeal will meet with a hoarty and generous response. Letters must be written on one side of the paper only, and addressed to * ‘ Elise, ’ New Zealand Mail. y Correspondents will please give real name and address in addition to their nom-de-plume, not for publication but editorial introduction. For the present the Exchange will be published fortnightly, but we hope that sufficient pabulum will soon come in to enable us to make it a weekly issue. Contributions for the ‘ Exchange ’ must be sent in not later than Monday. Dear Elise,—Have you ever heard of Brown-Betty pudding ? The recipe was given me by a friend, and we have made It several times and are very fond of it. ... Brown-Betty Pudding. —Two large cups of finely-chopped apples, one cup and a hali of bread-crumbs, half a cup of sugar, a large teaspoonful of cinnamon, two tablespoonfuls of butter in bits. Butter a deep dish and put in layers of the above. First a layer of chopped apple, then sprinkle some breadcrumbs over it; then some of the butter in little. pieces ; shake two tablespoonfuls of sugar over that, and so on until the dish is full. Add a pint of water (poured in at the corner) ond bake for about two hours. .To be eaten hot with custard. I forgot to say that for the last layer the bread-crumb must be at the top. I am, Ac., . Florrie.

Dear Elise.—l send you some more receipts this week, which I hope you will find useful. Stuffed Eggs.—Boil 4 eggs hard, and when quite cold break the shells at the large end, cut off the top, and with the handle of a teaspoon scoop out all the yolk ; be careful not to break the white, only take off enough of the shell to allow you to get at the yolk. Now lay the egg on one side while you orush all the yolks together with 2oz butter, a little pepper and salt, and a sprig of parsley chopped very fine ; rub them till you have a soft paste, then press into each egg as much as it will contain ; now carefully take off the rest of the shell, and cut off a bit of the white at the pointed end, so that they can stand steady, and set them up in a glass dish and garnish with parsley. Hot Cakes for Tea. —lib flour, 2 teapoonfuls of baking powder, a, little cream of tartar and salt. Mix with milk, then flatten with the hand, cut in the shapes required, and keep in the oven for half-an-hour. I remain, Yours sincerely, M.

Dear Madam Elise, —As you published ‘ M.’s ’ complaint against the wives she has known, I feel Bure you will be equally kind to those who do not entirely agree with her. Now, I have lived a long time in New Zealand ; I have been behind the scenes in a good many families. 1 have not, I am sure, been unobservant, bnt my experience has

certainly gone to prove that the wives described by ‘ M.’ are few and far between. I will not give examples of wive 3 I have known, but I should like to remind readers of the N.Z. Mail of an opinion expressed a few years ago by an eminent doctor, that ‘ most of the ailments of married women in New Zealand were brought on by overwork.’ I am also reminded of an anecdote of a local surgeon, who after performing a somewhat painful operation on the hand of a gentleman, who hod borne it unflinchingly, exclaimed, ‘ Well done. Jack 1 You bore it like a woman 1’ I am inclined to believe that • M.’ is not herself a wife. Should she ever attain to that dignity (a dignity without doubt, but no sinecure), she will find that it is ‘ easier to teach twenty what is good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow her own teaching. Also, ‘ Use every one after his deserts, and who shall “ ’scape whipping.” ’ Shall ‘M.’? Confess now, good sister ‘M.’ that the ‘ truth you teach doth lack some gentleness.’ I should like to see,the Exchange widening out a little, although I agree that recipes for cooking are very useful. Would some of your readers, for example, give their opinion, on the question whether Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays, giving, of course, their reasons for believing that he did or did not write them. I am, Dear Madam Elise, Yours sincerely, Penelope.