WOMAN’S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1931, Page 13

WOMAN’S WORLD

A WOMAN AT SEA. SOME REFLECTIONS. There are several reasons for taking a long sea-voyage. Sometimes it is by doctor’s orders; maybe it is for business purposes; again, it may be purely for pleasure. 'The steward gave another reason why some folk sail on the ocean waves. “We have a woman on board,” he said, “who just came on to get off.” ft sounded like looping the loop. “Fair, fat and forty” describes this woman perfectly. There is another woman on board, scraggy, ruffled, and nick-named the parrakeet. She screeches. That is why. Being a thoroughly disgruntled person, I consider the pleasures of a seavoyage are well out-weighed by the sheer discomforts. For one thing, there is no possible way of dodging folk you dislike except by jumping overboard. Secondly, a small cabin in which you are cooped up with an irritating room mate is terribly cramping to your style. And. it is such a trial to 'be unceasingly polite about the door or the porthole being open or closed. Tn a nearby cabin a baby yodels in three different keys every hour. Disconsolately you clamber up the com-panion-way in search of the nice man who talked 'philosophy last night. But you discover the “Fair, fat and forty” person has got him. The parrakeet grabs your arm and screeches at you instead. Of course there are men, lots of them. Mostly married or otherwise uninteresting. All the same, I have learned a lot about myself that I never knew before. Apparently, I have many latent virtues. All the male 'bores have told me so. One called me an attentive listener. (I don’t remember a word he said!) Another lauded me for my ready sympathy. (All the sympathy I felt was for myself!) Others said I was magnetic. What they meant by this 1 couldn’t make out, seeing that the only “eligible” for me was strongly attracted by the “Fair, fat and forty.” A man of many wives loudly lamented that his latest one had left him. Then he left me to go and get a drink. A 'beautiful moon bathes the sea in silver light. From somewhere comes the strain of muffled music. The parrakeet is screeching, and I, I sit aft, alone on a coil of'rope, and fight it hut with the stars. 5000 YEARS B.C. FASHIONS AND HOUSES. Discoveries illustrating the life of a people that existed 5000 years before the coming of Christ are described by Dr. Hermann Junker, of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, in a report on his recent excavations in the neolithic settlement of Merimda, near Beni Salama, on the western delta of the Nile, about 30 miles north-west of Cairo, states an exchange. The furniture of tdie Merimda people was extremely varied, and their ceramic art was tolerably well developed. Undamaged vases'have been found and new forms recorded, notably large water jars with handles,, accompanied. by pot : itery ladles with which the liquid was baled put. The tools were all of flint, copper not having 'been used. It is not certain how the inhabitants were clothed, but it can be gathered that they. were not so fond ■ of- dress as their Upper Egyptian neighbours, since little has been found in the way of ornaments, except some pendants of shell with serrated edges, fragments of a necklace of bone and stone, and an ivory 'bracelet. The presence of palettes shows that the practice of painting round t'he eyes " existed at Merimda as well as in Upper Egypt and the Fayyuin. Entirely different from tihe customs hitherto known were the methods of dealing with the dead. There were no special cemeteries, but the dead were 'buried, in contracted attitude, among the 'buildings of the settlement, especially near hearths. Corn was thrown on the body to serve as food, especially near the head, 1 and sometimes in the hands, which were placed over the mouth. It seems that the bodies were buried near human habitations so that tihey could share the food of the living. A GASTRONOMIC MAP. ■ENGLISH FOLK COOKERY. From English folk cookery a gastronomic map has recently been prepared. It contains the names of more than six hundred dishes and customs, connected with food, collected during four years’ research by Miss F. White, founder of the English 'Folk Cookery Association. Miss White goes a'bout the country collecting information a'bout food much as Cecil Sharp used to go about in his work of research for folk songs, and in order to make her Gastronomic Map of England more perfect she is now asking for further names and descriptions of any food, cooked or uncooked, for which any localities in any part of the country may be noted. When she was in Devizes some time ago she heard the town clerk had received a letter from New 'Zealand asking for a recipe for Devizes pie. No one in the town was able to supply the information.

“At last,” Miss White said in an interview with a. representative of The Observer, “1 found the recipe in Mrs. Dalgairns’ Cookery Book, published in 1829. This experience shows how in the very place where a particular food has once been famous it may sometimes 'be completely forgotten. In fact, during the last 80 years, English folk cookery has been steadily declining.” Looking over the map, one notices such names as Coventry Godcake, Stuffed Chine, at Glee in Lincolnshire; and found that Melton Mowbray is as famous for curd cheese cakes as for its pork pies. Stuffed chine, it was explained, is a famous old dish, at Clee, for Trinity Sunday, the custom being for a chine of 'bacon stuffed with herbs to form a part of the dinner. Coventry Godcake is a ipastry cake after the style of a 'Banbury cake and in the shape of an isosceles triangle. It is slashed across the middle and ornamented with sugar. Made in various sizes, the smaller cakes were given, in times gone by, to the children who, on New Year’s Day, used to visit their godparents to ask a 'blessing. The curd cheese cakes of Melton Mowbray are a great dish for ‘Whit-'Sunday. It is said that there are enough of these cakes made for this festival to pave the -whole town. And here is the story of Stilton cheese: “The first Stilton,” said Miss White, “as far as my present research work carries me, was 'being made in the early part of the 18th. century in the dairy at Quenlby Hall, a fine old Elizabethan mansion, about seven miles from Leicester. “At that period one Elizabeth Scar-

brow was making there a famous cheese known as! Lady Beaumont’s cheese. When she married she took tho recipe with her and made it in her own dairy at (Little Dalby. It was -then called Quenby cheese. •“In time her two daughters married, one to Cooper Thornhill, landlord of the Bell Inn at Stilton, in Huntingdonshire, and the other to a farmer named Baulet, of Wymondham. The farmer’s wife continued to make 'Quenby cheese, and one Christmas she sent one as a present to her 'brother-in-law at Stilton. “Now the Bell Inn at Stilton was a stage on the great North Road, from Aldersgate Street to Glasgow, and when the passengers got out there tho cheese, was put before them. So much was it appreciated that the landlord, told his. sister-in-law he would, take every cheese she could make. From that time it came to be called Stilton cheese, though it was not made there. ’ ' , “At the end of the 18th century, William Marshall, in his agricultural survey, wrote that the demand for the cheese had grown to such an extent that all the farmers in the neighbourhood of Little Dalby, whence it came, paid their rent by making it. “It is interesting to note that Mrs. Herbert Watson, of Harby, the champion Stilton cheese-maker of Leicestershire, was Lorn at Little Dalby within a stone’s throw of where the first Stilton cheese was made.’’ SUGAR-ICING DECORATIONS. ■SOME USEFUL HINTS. To write a name in sugar-icing on a cake take a piece of stiff paper, roll it up like a sugar bag, and cut a small hole at the point. 'Put in the icing, squeeze the bag, and, if you guide it carefully, you will find it quite easy to form the letters. For more elaborate decorations it is necessary to invest in nickel-plated icing pipes to" fit an icing syringe. There are now some '5O or 60 designs in these, including stars, shells, leaves, roses, ribbons and borders, grapes, dahlias, for-get-me-nots. etc. Even more important is the “writer” for it is almost as easy to. write in icing with this little instrument as it is in ink with a fountain pen. Even with the icing syringe and pipes, you may need a little practice before you obtain “exhibition” results, so it is best to try your ’prentice hand on paper. The decorating icing is made in exact-

Another type of suit, illustrating the fluting skirt, and the fitting jacket fluting at the hem and having a “medici” collar and epaulette sleeves. The model is expressed in deep violet face-cloth. Iv the same way as the coating icing, but you must be sure to use sufficient white of egg and sugar to make it stiff enough to stand up straight. Sieve the sugar before mixing, and, when the icing is made, beat it from time to time to ensure a smooth flow. WEDDING. LAMBIE-HERIVEL. Beautifully decorated with Christmas lilies and other blooms, the Presbyterian Church made an ideal setting yesterday for the wedding of Mr. James Lambie, fourth son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Lambie, Mangatoki, to Wilma Stewart, third daughter of Mrs. J. Herivel, Eltham. The nuptial ceremony was performed by the Rev. J. A. Ryburn, and Mr. Herbert Webb, of Hawera, presided at the organ, playing appropriate music, including the Wedding March. Entering the church with her brother (Mr. C. Herivel, Eltham), who gave her away, the bride presented a very charming picture. 'She was attired in an ankle-length frock of white taffetas, made on early Victorian lines, and carried a dainty shower bouquet. Her headdress was of tulle. Attending her as bridesmaid was Miss Mavis Farquhar, who was prettily frocked in pink organdi, also of early Victorian style. The little flower girl, Gweneth White, also made a pretty picture in an organdi frock of lemon. Both bridesmaid and flower girl carried Victorian bouquets. Mr. Harold Pearce (Stratford) attended the bridegroom as best man. Later, a reception was held at the home of the bride’s mother, where over 40 guests were entertained, the usual toasts being honoured. The presents were numerous and costly, and included several cheques. The beautiful decorations at the church were carried out by Mrs. Darling and Mrs. de Launay. The happy couple later left by car for the north, where they will spend their honeymoon, the bride travelling in a green ensemble, with hat and shoes to tone. —Argus.

RECOMMENDED RECIPES. Veal mince: To serve with macaroni, , chop the meat finely and mix with eome chopped ham. Add some grated breadcrumbs, a grate of lemon peel, seasonings, and bind with some stock and an egg. Boil six ounces of macaroni in quickly boiling salted water, and drain well. Line a greased mould with the macaroni—some of it can be mixed with the meat if liked —fill with mince, cover with greased paper, and steam for an hour. # # # * Jazz Christmas cake: The cake itself: fib of flour, one teaspoonful of bakinc- powder, half a level teaspoonful of ground ginger, half a level teaspoonful of mixed spice, one lemon (rind only), one orange (rind and juice), soz of castor sugar, Jib of Barbadoes sugar, 6oz of margarine, 2oz of butter, 2oz of crystallised or glace ginger, 2oz of glace cherries, 4oz of dessert figs, 4oz of stoned raisins, 4oz of mixed peel, 4oz of sultanas, jib of currants, four eggs, IJoz desiccated coconut. Wash, pick over, and dry the fruit, and stone and cut up the raisins. Shred the peel, stalk and cut up the figs, and cut the ginger and cherries in small pieces. Mix the baking powder with a tablespoonful of the flour and put aside, after sifting the flour with the spices. Beat the sugars and fats to a cream, add the finely grated orange and lemon rind, then gradually stir in the flour, coconut and prepared fruits, adding them alternately with the well-beaten eggs, and then the juice of the orange. Mix and beat well, adding a little more moisture as required — either some milk or cooking sherry. Lastly, stir in the baking powder. Turn the mixture into a greased and lined tin and bake steadily, testing it with a warm iron skewer before taking it up. It -will take about three hours.

Chocolate souffle: Simmer together for ten minutes four ounces of chopped chocolate, two ounces of sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of milk. Pour the mixture on to the slightly whipped yolks of two eggs, add half an ounce of gelatine, and thicken over the fire without reboiling. Strain, and when quite cold add one tableapoonful of coffee essence, one dessertspoonful of vanilla, the two stiffly whipped whites of the eggs, and four tablespoonfuls of whipped cream. Turn into a souffle dish which has had a band of paper tied round it, and leave until cold and set. Remove the paper carefully and garnish the aides of the souffle with sieved cake crumbs and the top with sweetened, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream. * # # * Cherry fudge: Ingredients: Three cupfuls of granulated sugar, threequarters of a cupful of cream (or, if you prefer, milk may be used instead, with a quarter of a cupful of butter added), three-quarters of a cupful of glace cherries, half a cupful of coconut, half a teaspoonful of rose extract. Chop a few of the cherries, but halve most of them. Cook the sugar, cream (or milk and butter) to a soft ball—that is, when the mixture makes a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Take off the fire, beat till it starts to form a creamy consistency, then add the cherries and coconut. Beat till nearly cold, then add the flavouring. Turn into a buttered tin and cut in pieces when cold.