NOTES FOR WOMEN

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 10028, 20 July 1918, Page 10

NOTES FOR WOMEN

CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS For the past two weeks workers from the Countess of Liverpobi Fund and Citizens' Service League - have been out at .Agahauranga making the pium pudding, -wh.cn is one of the ingredients or every w enrugUm soldier 6 parcel from noma at Christ-mos time, it is early in che day to trunk of Christmas, but me parceis uavo to hu puchtu , next oulix ill vluer id UO leady iol <u.apaU,u y«C,S''d;9 | tklOAi Wi«> Ol jf.CCCuy tlid >VUiii V* ci. oo

*UO HVijiOi a 1111*0 ueoil *-*- v*u 1110 I-", nHaiUC!' i*l*V U—j'S ‘V*-H SCO lw,wU (IJ J a* jm-ulllg, ICua,,' Ul*ilca iOf ; ‘■*lo *»*t!a it mo ilolli. *1 Vloll to LUO VV CJ*.i*B..o*i atmt Export vi oiks, wnoio mu piO-CoS Ol 11* iX.I*S (till! tllilllllg 13 Clll**c<i oUI, la moot lllioioSv'.iig, x*iO Ii.SL la until tkj ! Cui'iitlCl oil t Uy the Va.Uiliu.iy v. a. xois, ami mu o-vaupti'uy i***s o-m*i ,I*.. Ji*t a w.i~sa till mu i-»ms mu Ci>***paiiy a*utl yitovmua tilo .Xv—Oi s—oumg a ij-au tiuui ana iio.pl a* iu*orUul 111 tili UOlk. llld 11*31 IWlll CntUlui i» tv nac lias iiuuii mo 6uu**u* j ana tVtiSUUOuuU, JLUU Copper is ill** I*l UU.i*i.g Hiitdf 101’ tlkj tu.lig Ucouoil, ail serves lo moil DUttci a**a laid *ui g-ons-...g mu ononis in via,m uitt puou.l.ga ill O OutlitU. A tlUlkUtl Ui 1)1’ UUUOU..S la p.Uiigod illlo uu-Ulng waler to prepare c.*om ini s>u*i-p**rg. ill mo *.cxi room. auuoiKia *um poor are buing out up iuau;j iur m*a***g, aim eiuijuuiig is prepared. A ama*i room servos a s an egg room, ana nere in a -auios are bresm.g eggs, tv-uica aw men oeaiou, eigoty at it time, in a Hugo tin. THro Dontuis penorru in.a iioit aim-a r*/**g egg wnialc eucn. Aiieuuy these young [jcupio nave beaten up cduO egga for Ijio puuamgu. Uiie room, q,*ito oo o y wim a ui*, *a uuea us a uiuia room, and about a amen v. orkers aie busy all tuo time cruuio.ing me .uiuaa, winch is passed Uuougii a .urge aievo. Then, in tne largest room of an, comes, the chief process ui mixing. run, is done in targe aeep uik, dr.guiu.iy Used as stock tnis when tne company maae linuea soups. ■ Ninety poanus oi puadiug is mixed in one of inesc tins at One time; two mixers, one at each end. do the job, and U is very heavy work indeed, as can be seen by a glance at the huge quantity in the tin. The mixing is all-done oy hana, tne whom population being exactly as wou.d be aoue lor the making of the Christmas pudding in any household. While two ladies do the mixing, two others weigh out all the ingredients and pour tnom into , the tins as required. Miss Clark superintends the mixing, and Airs Murphy the preparation generally. When ready, the mixture is put into the basins, very large ones indeed, and these are covered with butter-paper, tieu down, ana then taken outs’.ue to await conveyance to the works, whore they arc cooked. The workers get through about 14 or 15 mixings a day, though one day as many as 19 were put through. l With ail the preliminary work necessary this is quite a big achievement. A visit to the works to see the process of cooking and canning was doubly interesting, and one hardly realises without seeing it hi w much work can go to the making of one tinned plum, pudding, hirst, the basins of mixture are placed in huge ovens, and when the doors are tightly clamped the steam is turned on, and a uniform temperature maintained; eight hours in His serves to thoroughly cook the puddings,, and , then comes the process of tinning. The pudding is again "mixed", and placed in the’ tins," where it' is pressed down; the tin is lined throughout with paper, paper is placed on top, and the lid of the tin is put on by a little machine and fastened down, another small machine running solder round *he join and securing it firmly. The tin is entirely , airtight, except for one tiny hole in the middle. It is then placed on a machine tor extracting the air, a tiny piece of solder being placed on the tin first. When the indicator ■ show that the highest vacuum possible "has been securer in the machine, and consequently in the tin, an electric needle solders the hole in the tin, and’it is then completely air-tight, and the contents are in a vacuum. It i? noticeable that the tin at either end is distinctly flattened as it ooincs out of (ho vacuum. The tin is now ready tor the parcel, but first it is submitted, with the tinned meat made by the company, to u heat-test, being kept in a room with a high temperature for about three days. If there is a flaw in any tin this causes the contents to ferment, and that tin is condemned and not passed out from the' works. The company makes its own tins, and the process seems a simple one. A block machine fashions the tin ii to shape, another cuts the round ends of the tins, which are soldered on, and a simple looking, machine makes the strip and end which serves for the self-open-ing tins, these being the kind which *ue used for the nlum nuddiugs, so that (he men can open thcnTeasily. Aoout -lOOlbs of pudding is being put up in 4lb tins it being th. tight boi.e-i to send these to the hospitals, as easier of beating than sending the small ones. It is these puddings which on receipt of 7s 6d will have the uottur s name a-:,,. ed; Altogether it is intended ,to muko IS.OOOIbs weight of pudding, which is lisa than last year’s quota, but the greatly increased prices of all commodities me telling on the funds in band. Although a lap-go quantity of flour whs donated, some of the bread and eggs and the sugar yet the spioe required, the fruits, lemon peel, eggs and butter are all inoreaied in price, and so far. the donations received have not nearly reached last year’s sum, so-that much more money is needed to pay for the Christmas puddings tor our men, who will be spending (heir Christmas day tor the fourth time Ip the trenches. Hr Long more, of the Meat Export Company, shows every consideration to the ladies working at the puddings; and they are greatly indebted to him and to the company tor help in ihe work. The labour and canning of the puddings has to be paid for, but the work put in by the ladies helps greatly towards saving of expense, which would be much greater if the whole of the mixing had to be paid for as well, ami also, only those with a personal interest could take the cave and time to see that all the ingredients are so thoroughly cleaned and prepared. If the men at the front could see what a labour of love wont to the making of their Christmas puddings . they would if that were possible, appreciate them doubly.