THE LADIES EDITED BY "CASSANDRA"

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 522, 22 December 1888, Page 4

THE LADIES EDITED BY "CASSANDRA"

CHRISTMAS GOSSIP. §LD Father Christmas heralds his advent in truly unorthodox fashion this year, sending as his orderly, in lieu of luxurious warmth, rare ghosts of sunshine set in a sniff of veal old English weather, without its beautiful accompaniment of fields carpeted with with snow, clothed in nature's pure white shroud, giant Irees whose leafless branohes tyrannical King Frost has beautified \vith icy tassels, and on whose glacial surface genial Sol paints miniature rainbows. - Human-exotics as we are, nutured in the wildness of a semi-tropical climate, this touch of an icy finger does not meet with an unqualified approval ; nevertheless it invites us to bring glimpses of the dear' old Home Country into antipodean decorations. With cold without, why not court ' Yule-tide within? The effect of snow is easily obtained. . Frost or rime can also with facility . l find a counterpart in artificial life. The latter is acquired by dropping gum on wool, and sprinkling coarse Epsom salts over it. Out Christmastree—that deity inseparable from the festive season with the young ideas- can be made to prototype a snow-laden member of the forest world by coating tlie upper surfaces' of the branches with gum and then dredging thickly with flour. Bow much more valuable would the trophy 'be in the eyes of the ' childer ' detached from a * real snow tree.' How are we to define the unmistakable something, as subtle as an essence, that converts even a ■ common -place apartment into a bower of beauty? To feed"the &ense of the artistic. is an object worthy of attainment. That we eat oar plumpudding minus the cheery yule log, is no reason that our room should be unhallowed by the poetry of seasonable decoration. Dainty trailing sprays of feathery creeper mingled with wreath of ivy, made on thin wire, give the stern gilding of the pier-glass fiesh lustre. The gasalier may , also be draped in a mantle of greenery, unde- j teriorated (if carefully manipulated) by any unpleasant shadow. The effect aimed at must in all cases be light and graceful. The pictures of the dear ones severed from the home by Fate's sharp axe, separation, seem to smile upon us a happy Christmas greeting encircled by garlands of flowers. For church decoration a lovely form of bordering is made of cardboard, submitted to a substantial coat of gum, and then sprinkled with pieces of broken wallnut shell ; very pretty letters in imitation of coral are concocted by gumming the shapes, and sifting over with tapioca. I can unhesitatingly recommend, for picturesqueness of effect, the silver lettering. Nothing looks more quaintly artistic. The substance employed is nothing more nor less than every-day tinfoil, cut something the shape required. This is crumpled up in the hand, then slightly straightened so as I not to detract from the crinkled appearance. So much for outward adornment. Christmas iggests other and more substantial subject's of fccussion in the guise of cookery, though why |s season should be set apart as a special ■rii, wherein our gourmet propensities run wild Wpasturage of bilious comestibles is a problem Kult of solution. Mankind— even historical Res— have ever been great diners. According Rlilton, Eve prepared a little dinner, tempering poury fruits and tempting drinks with dulcet earns, in honour of the angel Raphael's memorile visit to Paradise. Keats, in his ' Eve of St. pes,' dwells with zest on a dainty supper. The .mighty Tennyson sees poetry in the art of eating and drinking, judging from his appetising description of a pasfcy at a picnic, in his ' Idyll of • Audley Court.' Poetic associations may surround the most common-place actions ; man, though a dining animal, may convert each repast into a feast of reason. s Could Queen Mab herself desire to sit down to anything nicer than a good rich plum pudding 1 confected as follows : Stone and cut up threequarters of a pound of muscatel raisins ; wash, pick and dry one pound of currants ; cut three ounces of candied peel into thin slices, add half-a-pound of sultana raisins, one pound of moist sugar, one pound of breadcrumbs, one pound of finely-chopped suet, half an ounce of ground cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of bitter almonds, four ounces of sweet almonds, blanched and cut into shreds. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, moisten with eight eggs well beaten, stir in a quarter of a pint of brandy. Butter and flour a substantial pudding cloth ; put in the ; pudding, tie down very tightly and olose, and boil from eight to nine hours. A plum pudding . without brandy sauce, except in the case of the rabid teetotaller, is like a rose without perfume, a diamond minus glitter, or an M.P. deprived of -his honorarium. 'Little things attain great - ends.' The alcoholic fixing is called into being thus:— Mis one tablespoon of baked flour with N three ounces of fresh butter ; work well together . with a. wooden spoon, stir in one gill and a half .of boiling water; a tablespoon of moist sugar; : boil gently for ten minutes, add a wineglass- of \\ brandy and the savoury condiment is ready for /'use. ■ : ; ;v has tried their culinary talent in the ; art of making mince pies, yet all the sisterhood ?■ qf 'amateur chefs are not in possession of the recipe which (to use a 'Patentee's' ■■vocabulary) when once used, you will use no > .other. I quote it. Grate the rinds of three large . lemons, squeeze out the juice, boil the remainder of the lemons until tender, to palp finely. Add )' the. pulp to three large apples, previously baked ; in their skins, and having this cores removed. ; Put in one pound of currants, one pound of suel .finely chopped, two pounds of moist sugar, one > ounce 'of candied citron (sliced), one ditto of Koi.&nge, and the same quantity of lemon peel, Cone!, t.eacupf ul oi brandy, and two tablespoonf uls marmalade. Mix well together, place |r;in;W'ston'e jar, with a closely-fitting lid. Let ij for a few days, and the result; will be :yi;Eea^t for the. Gods.' fi .^/'One more stew, in the pleasing similitude of a '^Christmas' 'cake : Chop one pound' of raisins (Mus j-catel), .add a quarter of mixed candied pee?;j(nne}y sliced), a quarter of a pound of Bvreel l^alinonds (blanched), one teaspcronf «l of nutmeg.

Beat one pound of butter with one pound at sugar to a cream, add the dry ingredients, beat , thoroughly for a quarter of an hour. Pour into a buttered tin, and bake in a moderate oven. The icing is made by whisking the whites offour eggs to a stiff froth, add ten ounces of icing ! sugar, and beat the whole for half-an-hour. Coat the cake with its white raiment, whilst hot, utilising an ivory paper-knife for the purpose. Let it harden in a cool oven. My limited, culinary catalogue includes, I think, the adjuncts deemed quite indespensable at Yuletide. The grosser attributes— roast beef, turkeys, geese, ducks, etc:, are within the radius of most people's cooking powers. They undoubtedly form the pi voi round which man's dining powers revolve. 'Douglas Jerrold, commenting on the Londoner's love of public dinners, says : If the .New Babylon were destroyed by an earthquake, Londoners would meet at a dinner to consider the subject. After the sweet fare provided, it is meet thai merriment should hold sway— 'cat, drink, and be merry.' Young and old join with equal spirit in frolic in the family circle at Clu-istmastide, The sere and yellow leaf shows new life, the rich, blooming flower more voluptuous colouring, the tender bud additional beauty. Among the most innocent recreations are Anagrams, formed by the transposition of words, sentences or names of persons, so as to produce a name, sentence or verse of pertinent, or widely - | different meaning. They are difficult to discover and are exceedingly striking when good. The example given will explain the pith of the fun : Transposed, "Astronomers, "forms 'no iriorestars.' Enigmas form a source of great amusement. They are simply catches in which the sense is playfully cheated, constructed so as to mislead and to surprise when the solution is made known. The celebrated enigma 0.-i the letter ' H,' by Lord Byron, is an admirable specimen of what may be rendered in the form of an enigma. Charades, though a favourite pastime, often come across a stumbling block in lack cf appropriate words. They may be sentimental, in poetry or prose, but unless the quartz is solid, the gold is dull. The appended words are attractive metal whereon to work : Earring, bagpipe brainless (a masher taken by Hemus' notturno process), drugget, hailstorm, halfpenny. When nature is weary with ' Blind Man's Bluff,' ' Hunt the Slipper,' ' Family Coach,' etc., cards give the body a necessary siesta. ' Put ' is a game from which a fund of enjoyment may be gained. It is played thus: The cards have a different value in this game from all o.thera. The best card iv. the pack is a trios, or three ; the next a deuce or two : then come in rotation, as at oilier games, the ace, king, queen, knave, ten, etc. The dealer distributes three cards to each player, one at a time. Whoever cuts the lowest cards has the deal. Five points make the game except when two opponents say 'I put.' Then the score is at an end, and the contest is determined in favour of the player who runs two tricks out of three. ' Matrimony ' is another good round game, playable by any number of persons. The game is played with counters, and the dealer places what he pleases on each chance, namely five, marked on a sheet of paper. The other players all deposit the same amount except one. That is when the dealer stakes twelve. The real; of the company lay down eleven each. After this two cards are dealt round to everyone, beginning at the left ; then to each person one other card, which is turned up, and he who so happens to get the ace of diamonds sweeps all. If it be not turned up, then every player shows his hand, and anyone having matrimony is not a failure, as he takes the counters on that point. Unless the ace of diamonds is turned up, it counts only as another ace. Christmas and New Year knicknacks are as abundant as ever. 'Tis one of the joys of the happy festival, this interchanging of souvenir*. Not by its intrinsic value do we estimate the gift, but as a green spot of remembrance in the world's wilderness. What present could be more charming than a unique flower-holder in cardboard, cut in the shape of a horse-shoe, covered with velvet or satin, studded with silver or gilt nails, and trimmed with bows of tinsel ribbon, bouquets being. .placed at each end. Another delicious receptacle for blooms is made in the shape of a general's hat. The foundation is covered with velvet, crossed and edged with gallooas and gold lace, and trimmed with butterfly bows. A pretty ' Smolder's Companion * represents a draw-well. The beam is made of gilt metal ; the miniature bucket contains matches or cigarettes, the receptacle for cigars being covered with fancy silk. A newspaper rack, which would <je much appreciated by a harrassed Benedick, is a wooden board covered with plush and divided by straps of fancy galloon, through which the papers are slipped.

— Bad dreams, disturbed sleep, indigestion, stomach gas, all vanish before Dr. Soule's American Co.'s Hop Bitters. Read and ponder. Men who work about gasworks are not subject to epidemics. Whoever now covers their footpaths with coal-tar to prevent fever will gain another advantage when the wet season seta in neither grass nor weeds will stow thereon.