NOTES FOR WOMEN

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10521, 24 February 1920, Page 8

NOTES FOR WOMEN

BOTTLING FEXJIT. About a hundred people attended th« demonstration of fruit bottling given by, Miss Bennie at tho Technical School] last night, showing what an. interest is taken in purely domestic subjects. Of, course at present the shortage of sugar; makes the bottling of fruit without syrup of supreme importance, and Miss Rennie showed two methods of doing thia" either by placing the fruit in jars m,the oven for about ten mnutes and then, pouring boiling water into them, or filling with cold water and bringing to tho boil in a pan of water. The. re-< suit in eithert case was the same in ap-< pearance and Miss Bonnie assured her; hearers equally effective. She also demonstrated how to bottle fruit in 6yrup frhich can. also be don© in either of these ways, the syrup .being made with half e. pound of sugar to ono quart of water, boiled 15 minutes. . . Pears and apples Miss Kenme did' inf quite a different way, dipping them nrst in salt, and water to preserve the colour, and. covering with cold mixture of sugar and water. One cup of sugar to two of water, then bringing to the boil in tho same way as the other fruit. Miss Rennie demonstrated, bottling peaches, apricots, plums, and pears. She also showed how vegetables could be preserved in salt and water, celery, beans,parsnips and carrots, one ounce of salt to the quart of -water, which, should b« boiled for ten" minutes, and allowed to get quite cold before being poured intp the bottles filled with the vegetables, which, are placed in a pan of cold waterin the same way as the fruit and brought to the boil. Tomatoes were . done ins brine and also in vinegar and -water, equal parts with a little sugar. The lecture was full of valuable bints which tend to the better result of the bottling. Before using bottles they should be placed in cold water and brought to' the boil, taken out and dried off in. a moderate oven, the lids and rubber rings should be treated in the same -way, a nd new rubber rings are a necessity eaob. year. A cloth should be placed under the bottles when, boiling, and when taken! from the oven, (with the fruit) they should be wrapped in a hot cloth (so as not to alter the temperature until tho boiling water in poured into them. Another point Miss Eennio stressed particularly was that fruit should not be put away at once, as tho lids 6hould ba screwod down tightly when cold. Also they should be kept in a 'dark place to preserve the colour. Peas to bottle must be a first crop, old ones will not keep. Then in using the bottled vegetables Miss Rennie told her hearers how to prepare them. Pour off the brine, pour hot water over them, through a cullender, place in cold water, and boil quickly. Beans should havei a pinch of soda to preserve the colour. Another hint was that when svrup is used the wator in the pan should onlyreach 160 degrees, or 180 ia tho case at hard fruit. ,

Miss liennio was listened to with greati interest and a number of questions were asked at the conclusion of each demonstration. " She promised to give a similar evcninar devoted to jams and jellies very shortly.

The mothers of the North Islington Maternity Home, an institution financed chiefly bv American women in London, were delighte"! with .the informal, visit of the Queen of Spain, ©ays an English' paper recently. The Quoen is eenon«-i ly troubled by the high infant mortality? in her own country and.is going tot start clinics and maternity _ centres, run on the line's of that at Islington, on her return. Duriajr the agitation for the extension of the suffrage to women, when gibes about women, in the House of Commons were frequent, no one would have beon so bold as to' prophesy that the first woman to take her seat would be an American, a Peeress, nnd a mother of six children—all of which lady Astor is. Her political career will be watched with, the greatest interest by the mass of women whose political intelligence will bo judged by the superficial observer oil the work* of the first woman M.P. New Zealanders will be interested to learn that Oatlands Lodge, for part of the war a New Zealand hospital, has now been acquired bv a moving pictur* company.