LADIES' COLUMN

Thames Star, Volume LXII, Issue 17386, 26 March 1928, Page 2

LADIES' COLUMN

I ' HOW DO YOU MIX—? Some useful hints which take the worry out, of everyday cooking: Mustard? —Always use cold water or milk, and add it a few drops at a time, working out all lumps with the back of the spoon. Never on any account use hot water. Baking Powder or Salt'and Flour? — They should be sifted together, twice if possible, so that the powder and salt are even distributed. Just stirring it in doesn't do. ( I Thickening for Sauce? —It is better to melt the butter and stir the flour smoothly into this, but when for any .reason the flour and liquid must be mixed, the flour should be creamed with the smallest possible quantity of cold water or milk, then blended with a spoonful or two of hot liquid to take 'the chill off it before it is added to the boiling liquid. Lemonade, or other soft drinks when essence or syrup are mixed with water? Always put the juice or syrup into the glass first and add the water to it. If you do it the other way about a good deal of the flavour is lost. Pastry?—Use a. steel knife for mixing both short and flaky pastry after the water has been added, because this is the coolest "mixer" you can have, and everything about pastry-making should be kept as cold as possible. Batter?-—A •wooden spoon should be used for beating this. After getting out all the lumps, beat the mixture with the back of the spoon. Don't just stir, but lift the batter well, to aerate it. Good results are obtained if the batter is stirred with an egg whisk. Cocoa and Chocolate? —Blend it to a thin cream with cold .milk or water before mixing with the boiling liquid, or, if milk is used, make up the quantity required • cold,and then boil. The same creaming of the powder applies to custard and blancmange. Fruit Salad?—When you are using all canned fruit, blend the juices carefully, and do not put in too much pineapple, as it is inclined' to take away the flavour of the other fruits. Salad Dressing?—There are numerous ways of mixing salad dressing, and the easiest and cheapest is to have a little fairly thin custard, and add carefully the vinegar and cream to flavour. KALEIDOSCOPE. In bright kaleidoscope they pass; a sweet and gallant throng; the friends who cheer with laughter and who charm all Life to song; whose handclasp is a gauge of trust and sacred sympathy; whose loyal hearts stand every test of, true sincerity. The long procession passes, to one harmonious air; and in the lilt of friendly feet is music brave and rare. It echoes many a magic Life was lived anew; and strewn with fragrant rosemary were poignant paths of rue. In bright kaleidoscope they pass; the faces young and old; a pageant moving down the years, as friendship's tale is told; and lamps of hope they kindle, that on dim horizons gleam; to make this earth more light to tread 'neath distant stars of dream. HOW TO LOOK SLIM. WHEN YOU AREN'T PARTICULARLY— Don't wear clothes which are conspicuous. For you are the well-cut, quieter modes. Don't cram yourself into a too-tight corset or a too-small brassiere. This gives a matronly effect, and it is better to look a rather plump a stout matron. Don't wear too fancy or strap shoes. Court shoes that give a long, graceful line to the whole leg are best. • Don't go in for large designs or too large expanses of plain materials. The small patterns are right for you. Don't wear too loose things; they add apparent size. Have your things more or less shaped, but not too tight. Don't wear beads, bands or necklaces tight round your throat; these will make your neck seem squat, while

a longer string- with lengthen the neckline. Don't wear your skirts too short, however nice your legs, or you will look top-heavy. Remember the newest'uneven hem-line is a friend indeed! Don't wear too light-coloured stockings with black or dark shoes; keep shoes .and stocking much the same shade, for that gives another graceful, unbroken line. Don't forget your daily dozen —or the weighing machine! POKE BONNETS AGAIN. It is rumoured that the crinoline and the poke bonnet are to make a picturesque appearance. The two Victorian revivals will not be seen together, however, for the crinolines are for dancing in, and the "pokes" will brighten town and country when the fashionable woman walks abroad. The poke bonnet is in velvet and velours. xA velour model is of a soft mouse colour, the entire front and sides covered with osprey mounts, converging in a high peak in the front or rather centre, and this gives the poke effect. From this point lovely plumes float lightly down over the brim and the sides. A velvet poke is stitched and las bird of paradise plumes, and there are also feathery plumes, light and soft as thistledown, to trim the undulating brims of these new picture hats. There is, undeniably, an insistent movement in some circles to bring back the picturesque models of the "sixties." If the modern woman will accept the hooped gown and the poke bonnet, ringlets will follow, and the cropped head will be no more.