THE HOME OFFICE

Southland Times, Issue 21264, 10 December 1930, Page 19

THE HOME OFFICE

ASPARAGUS SOUP. Sent in by “Betty” Otautau, in answer to “Ellen” Gore. Two quarts of good beef or veal stock, four onions, two or three turnips, some sweet herbs, and the white parts of a hundred young asparagus —if old, half that quantity. Allow them to simmer till fit to be rubbed through a hair sieve. Strain and season it; have ready the boiled green tops of the asparagus, and add them to the soup. BARLEY SUGAR. “Betty” Otautau, sends this recipe in answer to “R.G.S.” Invercargill. Boil clarified 1 af sugar to the thread; then pour in for every pint of liquid sugar 2 teaspoonfuls of lemon juice and 6 or 7 drops of essence of lemon. Stir well and boil again, till as before, it is brittle. While this is boiling, slightly oil a marble slab; on this pour the sugar. When cool, cut it up into strips with a pair of scissors, and twist the sticks a little with the hand. CHRISTMAS NOVELTIES. Sent in by "Betty” Otautau in answer to “Colleen” Otautau. CHRISTMAS COOKIES. 41 cups sugar, 11 of butter, 1 of thick cream, 1 teaspoon of soda, 2 eggs. Flavour with orange or lemon extract; powder with sugar, and put a few raisins in the centre. GOLD CAKE. Sent in by “Betty” Otautau, in answer to “Colleen” Otautau. One lb. each of flour and sugar, (lb. butter, the yolks of 14 eggs, the juice and grated rind of 2 lemons. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream; add the yolks well beaten and strained; put in the lemon peer, then the Hour (dried), and a teaspoonful of salcratus dissolved in a spoonful of hot water; beat 15 minutes; just before it goes into oven, stir in the lemon juice very thoroughly. GOLD CAKE N 0.2. Yolks of four eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 2 cup flour, 1 cup butter, 4 cup milk, 4 teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, citron and currants. FRUIT JELLY. Sent in by "Betty” Otautau. Peel 2 bananas and 2 oranges, and put in slices on a deep glass dish, dissolve a jelly square, lemon flavour, in 4 pint of water and pour over the fruit; when it Ls set pile stiffly-whipped cream on top and serve. CHEWING GUM No. I. Sent in by “Betty” Otautau. 11b refined parafine, 41b white sugar, colour Io suit, melt and pour into a candy pan, and divide when cool into squares. TO COOK A HAM. Sent in by “Joan” Invercargill. Before cooking a ham, soak it in cold water for two hours, then put it in a boiler with cold water. Bring to the boil, and then lower the gas, and keep simmering, allowing 15 minutes to every pound of the ham. Leave in the water after it has been cooked for a good while, to keep it moist, then take out, skin and roll in browned bread crumbs. BRANDY SAUCE. Sent in by “Joan” Invercargill. 4 pint of water, 4 wineglass of brandy, 4oz loaf sugar, 4oz cornflour, and, if liked a little nutmeg. Mix the cornflour smoothly with a little water and put the rest into a copper saucepan with the sugar. Boil and reduce to a thin syrup, skimming occasionally. Add the cornflour to the syrup, stir until it boils, then add the brandy and serve.

A PEACH SWEET. Open a tin of peaches and drain the syrup off. Lay the peach halves in a dish and fill the centres with vanilla-flavoured cream. Blanch and quarter some almonds and stick over. Boil the syrup down until thick and pour round when cold. Serve with cream. —“Editor Home Office.” CHOCOLATE BISCUITS. Sent in. by “Louise” Gladstone. Dissolve two squares of chocolate in one tablespoonful of water mixed with one teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Beat to a cream two heaped tablespoonfuls each of butter and sugar; add the yolk of one egg, then the melted chocolate. Sift in two heaped tablespoonfuls of flour; beat well, add two more tablespoonfuls of flour, and mix gently. Roll out, cut small rounds; put on a buttered baking tin, and bake for a few minutes in a moderate oven. RECIPES FOR MINCEMEAT. One pound raisins, 11b. sultanas, 11b. currants, 41b. suet, 2oz. candied peel, teaspoonful mixed spices, three medium-sized apples, two egg cups of brandy, 4oz. sugar. Mix all fruits and finely mince, then add wellchopped suet, then sugar and spiefcs, mix ingredients well together, and add brandy. This will then be ready for making into pies. The measurements of these ingredients can be reduced according to amount of mince required. One pound of apules cut small, lib. raisins chopped fine, 11b. sultanas, 41b. mixed peel, lib. suet chopped very fine, one nutmeg, grated rind of lemon, add a little brandy or whisky to keep. Mix all together. One pound of currants, lib. of raisins, 11b. of beef suet, jib. of brown moist sugar, Jib. of mixed candied peel, lib. apples, two lemons, rind and juice, and spice. Stone and chop the raisins, and wash and dry currants. Remove all skin from suet, and chop very finely. Chop peel. Peel, core, and chop up the apple. Squeeze juice from lemons, and grate rind finely. Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix thoroughly, adding spice to taste. Place in pots and cover. This mincemeat is better for keeping. When first opening the jar, stir well with a spoon before using. “Editor Home Office.” LASTING FLOOR POLISH. The drudgery of floor polishing is eliminated by this valuable new method. The process itself will take some little time, but actually it is an enormdus saving of labour, for the floors will require to be thus treated only about once in every five years. The polish can be used in deal or oak floors, or on linoleum or oilcloth. First of all wash the floor with hot soda water, and leave it for twenty-four hours to dry. Then coat it with plenty of raw linseed oil, and leave again for a week, or until the oil is thoroughly dry. Now shred 31b of beeswax very finely, pour a gallon of raw linseed oil over it, and placing the container in a pail, dissolve the beeswax by gentle heat. Do not set the vessel over an open fire, but stand it at the side of a closed range. When the polish is cool, it will look very like honey. It should be evenly and smoothly applied to the floor with a clean paint brush, taking care not to spread it on too thickly. Leave it to dry for about two days, and then to finish it off saturate a rag with turpentine, allow about five minutes for evaporation, and then go over the whole floor with it, doing a section at a time. You will find that the floor has a splendid and lasting polish, and once it has been treated in this way the whole process of polishing will simply consist of occasionally rubbing it over lightly with a pad, wrung out in turpentine. The pad should be about the size of a cheese cloth and should consist of pieces of rag stuffed into a bag of soft woollen cloth.

CHRISTMAS POULTRY. What savoury bird are you going to serve this Christmas? The way to .choose a turkey is to examine closely the legs, eyes, feet and skin. In a young turkey the legs are smooth and dark, with supple feet, the eyes are bright and full and the skin glossy and smooth. If the legs are scaly and yellowish with stiff feet, the eyes lifeless and sunken and the skin blotched in parts, the bird is old. Another way to tell if the turkey is young is to feel for the cartilage at the end of the breastbone. If soft and yielding the bird is young. But make sure that it is cartilage that is soft and yielding and not the breastbone, sometimes intentionally broken to daccive those who are too trusting. But suppose a goose is to be your piece de resistance, then again, oh, be careful! or you may find it hard to carve the hide of what is not a succulent young goose, but a tough old veteran. The feet of a goose —and a tame duck too, for that matter-— should be soft, yellowish and somewhat moist and the bill both pliable and yellowish if the bird is young and freshly killed. Here is a stuffing for the turkey. Put sausage meat in one end and an ordinary veal stuffing—such as 3 teacups breadcrumbs, 1 onion, chopped, 2 tablespoons butter, salt, pepper, paprika, celery, salt and crushed herbs, and minced parsley to taste, well moistened with milk or water in the other end, after rubbing the inside of the bird with a cut glove or garlic. Remember that the breast of turkey is apt to be dry unless you prepare the bird carefully for the roasting pan, or cook it in a double toaster. If cooked in an open tin, cover breast with slices of fat bacon, or with a thickly buttered paper, aud bake in a quick oven. “Elizabeth Craig.” ROYAL ICING. Many cooks despair of ever being able to put all those professional fancy touches on their cakes, but. nowadays, if you haven’t a forcing bag, you procure quite inexpensively sets of gadgets which will enable you to make frills and roses anywhere you like. To make the royal icing, take whites of 5 eggs 14 to 21b icing sugar, few drops lemon juice, and a little blue. Sift the icing sugar. Put whites into rather a large basin and beat a little with a wooden spoon. Add the icing sugar very gradually, beating well the w’hole tune. This tends to make the icing smooth and glossy. Add the lemon juice, and one or two drops of blue to make the icing a pure white. Beat well. To cover the cake, the icing must be thick enough to run slightly. Put most of the icing on the top of the cake, and with a large knife (a dinner knife will answer the purpose if a palette knife is not available), work gently from the top to the sides of the cake, then smooth it evenly round the sides. Do not use water to smooth the icing, wiping the knife with a damp cloth is sufficient. When the cake is cokted, allow to stand for a while for the icing to set, or it may be left till next day for the decorating. To the remainder of icing in the basin add a little more icing sugar gradually till a little dropped from the spoon will keep its shape. For piping, a macintosh bag and a set of three icing tubes (with a screw to fit), a rose, a leaf, and a plain pipe for writing will be found quite sufficient for ordinary use. Always keep the basin containing the icing covered while in use—“ Editor Home Office.”

CHEWING GUM No. 2.

Sent in by “Betty” Otautau. 11b spruce gum, or Venice turpentine, 41b parafi- melt together and divide when cool into desired shape.