Salad Ways for Salad Days

Ladies' Mirror, Volume V, Issue 6, 1 December 1926, Page 105

Salad Ways for Salad Days

T h Hot Weather and Festive Season are now with us and all the family, even mother, goes cloaked in holiday garb and holiday spirit. Still the age-old problem of “what to have for a change” lurks at the back of her mind. Certainly the advent of Summer with its variety of fruits and fresh vegetables does seem to help, but we must serve these to the best advantage to tempt jaded appetites, because little folks require so much energy these hot days running around grasping all they can from life. And mother, too, does not want to spend too much time in the kitchen : not while the beach and the bush are calling. Most people seem to have the habit of making one or two different kinds of salads without variation, but the homely salad offers great vistas for the imagination and it is possible to make a salad a treat to the eye as well as to the digestion. Have you ever used cabbage in your salads? Raw cabbage is not as many people think, a craze of a few food fanatics, and if you are not in the habit,, do try a few of the inside heart leaves of a young cabbage shredded finely with the lettuce, some time. Very finely shredded carrots are an acquisition to a green salad, both in appearance and flavour, but shredded very finely please. Celery too, is nice, as also is our old friend of the saladthe raddish, which adds colour. An, orange in its natural sections added to the salad will earn for mother much praise from those at the table, but you will have to use one of the pipless variety (which also break up very easily into sections) either Sydney or Californian. Some people use pineapple in their salads, also apples, raisins, nuts, spring onions, cold boiled potato, cress, nasturtium leaves and flowers, dandelion, etc., and so on ad lib. For one salad you could have shredded lettuce and cabbage garnished with slices of orange and beetroot. For another, the shredded lettuce and cabbage garnished with carrot, raddishes and celery. Have round raddishes cut across so that they form petals and look like flowers nestling on the top of the dish. Cold boiled new potato cut into a similar shape to the orange

sections is also very nice, and I must not forget to mention the cucumber and the colourful tomato long recognised as essential to a good salad. But now for a salad dressing. You will appreciate this dressing as you can make a quantity and it keeps bottled indefinitely. It is a good foundation” recipe too, because any of the ingredients can be added to or lessened according to taste and other flavours added, i.e., tomato sauce or lemon juice. Half tablespoon salt; one and a half tablespoons sugar; half tablespoon flour; one teaspoon mustard; little cayenne; half cup vinegar; one or two egges; one tablespoon butter; three quarters cup of milk. Mix dry ingredients in top of a double boiler; add vinegar and beaten egg yolks and whites. Cool and serve. t Here is another recipe somewhat similar if you should be in a hurry. Take 2 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 raw egg well beaten and H tablespoons sugar, and stir over hot water until thick. If liked, oil can be beaten into this when cold or a piece of butter while it is cooking. I do not think it a good plan to* mix the dressing with the greens as this tends to make the salad sodden. Rather, if possible, mix your salad and leave it on the ice chest for an hour or so to “crispen” and then bring it to the table so that its fresh colour in gleaming glass can be appreciated. Mock Whipped Cream Ingredients : i lb. butter, li tablespoons sugar, pinch salt, teaspoon Davis gelatine, 3 tablespoons boiling, water, vanilla or lemon essence to flavour, i saltspoon cream of tartar. Pour boiling water on gelatine, stirring to melt; put butter, sugar, salt and flavouring in a basin, cream a little, add cream of tartar then pour hot gelatine in and whip well (about 10 minutes) until it appears like whipped cream. This makes an excellent filling for sponges or puffs. Eggs on Toast : Take some macaroon or some other flavoured biscuits: place a half apricot in the centre of each for the yolk with well whipped cream around to represent the white.