BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18805, 6 July 1929, Page 18 (Supplement)

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

To July 6: Ira Francis Baynes. Doris Elizabeth Evans. Edith Crump. Norman Hector Hall. Constance Symonds. Berkeley Sloane. Mavis Bengton Burgess. Enid Grace Haxell. July 7: Myra Morton. Marjorie Ward. Maurice Lane. Mavis Baldwin Claire Joughin. Helen Forman. Keith Bisman. July 8: Jane Mayo. Evelyn Moorfoot. Vernon Douglas Brown. Emma Marie Poulsen. July 9: Joyce Verna Chiles. Janet Jones. Leah Ruby Smith. July 10: Colin Larsen. Rosin a Berry. Mabel Helen Williams. Noel Haig Finney. Bruce Harvey. Nellie Gray. July 11: Olive Alio way. Mavis Pearl Boyer. Keith Stevens. July 12: Margaret Thompson. Joan Wright. Margaret Walsh. Mabel Joyce Chambers. Emily Reynolds. Rowena Erskine. ALMA'S COOKING DAY. (Original.) Alma’s mother was ill in bed, so Alma was doing the work. When she was dusting the front room she thought she would give her mother a surprise by doing the cooking. She did her other work first, then slipped into the kitchen quietly. The fire was roaring up the chimney, and there stood Alma with an apron on. The bench was filled with cooking things, flour, sugar, salt, baking-powder, bowl, etc. Alma was enjoying this. She was mixing the dough, and had cut it up, floured the tray (which she did not forget), then popped it in the oven. It was just on time for the scones to come out, when she heard her mother call her. What about her scones; would they be burnt? She ran off to her mother’s room and said: “ Did you call me, mother?” “ Yes, dear, I want a drink.” Alma hurried back to the kitchen, picked up a tea-towel and opened the oven door. Alas! Poor Alma’s scones were all burnt on the tops. She lifted the tray : out, and quickly made the drink for her mother. The scones were cooling on the tray when her father came home. lie happened to look in the kitchen, and saw the scones. “ That’s just how I like them. Did you make them, dear?” he said. “ Yes, daddy,” murinui'ed Alma. So they were not a failure, after all. Rona Cochranr. “ FINDINGS IS KEEPINGS.” When a thrifty Dutchman dropped his purse overboard from the Ymuidcn trawler he sorrowfully said good-bye to it. Purses falling into Davy Jones’s locker usually stay there. But this purse fell into the clutches of a crab, which, though unable to find in it anything of value to a crab, kept it tightly clenched in its claws. It may have been this very greed which was the crab’s undoing. At any , rate, it was not agile enough in getting out of the way of a Grimsby trawler’s net, and it was caught, purse and all. That is the end of the story so far as the crab is concerned. The Grimsby trawler’s owner, more inquiring than the crustacean, found an address inside the purse, and restored it to its owner in Holland.

TWO GOOD SWEETS. COCONUT CHIPS. $ a coconut. Mb of granulated sugar i pint of milk A few drops of vanilla essence. A few drops of cochineal. Cut your coconut into shreds, about lHn in length, and lay these out on a shallow tin, lined with grease-proof paper. Stir your vanilla essence into the milk, and colour it with the cochineal. Now mix your milk and sugar into a fairly thick syrup, and spread this thickly over the coconut shreds on both sides. Leave until the sugar has crystallised. ALMOND BUTTERSCOTCH. Mb sugar Piece of butter about size of a walnut 1 tablespoon of vinegar. 1 tablespoon of water Almonds to taste. Place your almonds in a cup of hot water to soak, and then skin them. Divide each almond into two. Place your sugar and water in a saucepan over a red-hot fire and stir until the sugar is melted. Now add your butter and vinegar and stir until the toffee boils. Allow your toffee to simmer for about fifteen minutes, and then try a little in a cup of cold water. If it is cooked, stir in your almonds, bring to the boil again and boil for five minutes. Pour into a well-greased dish and leave to cool. Kelynge England.

THE BEST ESSAY. WHY I LEARN AND LIKE COOKERY. There are many reasons why I like cooking. It is one of the most important things we should know howto do if we expect to be successful in the years to come; therefore it is wise for us to learn while we are young. How nice it is to be congratulated for our beautiful cakes by our friends when we invite them to tea; also to have the pleasure of baking for the bazaars. Then, again, home-made cakes always taste ever so much nider than the ones we buy. If we turn out successful in cooking, we are always recommending recipes for certain things, and people are always anxious to receive them. Ido not think there is anything more exciting than weighing the ingredients, mixing them up and, last of all, putting them into the oven, then longingly count the minutes that they have been in. Then to take them out, wondering whether they have turned out successfully: they look so nice that we cannot resist the temptation, so we decide to try just a wee bit off the edge. “Ah yes! It tastes lovely; surely it would not hurt to have another crumb,” you say to yourself, but alas! the crumb was just a bit too large, and could easily be seen, so after hesitating for a while you think perhaps it would be better to eat the remains of it, rather than be found out! When you get an experienced cook it is very interesting to enter competitions in the show, and, my word, aren’t you just proud if you happen to win a prize! So, after all, cookinig should be looked at as an enjoyable pastime instead of a tedious one. Maud Jones, aged 16. 33, Leeds Street, Linwood. A FEW HINTS IN THE ART OF PASTRY MAKING. Everything used in making pastry must be scrupulously clean and dry. Use the coldest water you can get to mix with. Flour, baking powder, salt, etc., must all be put through a sieve. Mix ingredients, allow the air to come in, to remove lumps. If your hands are hot, touch the pastry as little as possible. Mix with a knife. A marble is better than a board for mixing on. In warm weather, especially, do not make your pastry in the kitchen. Choose the coolest place you can for it. Never turn the pastry over. Keep the same side always to the board. After mixing, do not use more flour than is absolutely necessary to prevent the pastry sticking. See that the oven is well heated before baking, and do not keep opening the door every minute to see how your pastry is getting on. Once in a while is sufficient, and then close the door as soon as you can. If you have reason to think the fruit in the pastry is not cooked (if you have made a fruit tart of any description), stand the tart on the top of the stove for a few minutes. Iris Anderson. Dear Aunt,—Some of these hints I picked up, some I learnt at cooking, some I discovered in various books, and some I have learnt at home.—l .A. THE STAMP CIRCLE. The above circle met on Monday evening with a full muster of members. “Canadian and Newfoundland Stamps” was the subject of an able paper, prepared by the President of the Circle, Master Hxibert Cocks. A tasty supper was cooked and served by the kitchen stewards, Donald Rennie and Fred Winder. This is a most popular circle. The best speech of the evening was won by Mavis Howarth.