Varieties.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 426, 14 July 1904, Page 7

Varieties.

HOW TO TAKE COFFEE. coffee is little used for fyM© breakfast in England, it is very WLBk commonly drunk after dinner, a • custom, says the ' Lancet,' which perhaps is justified, particularly when wine drinking accompanies the meal, tor coffee is an antidote to alcohol. On the other hand, a oup of hot ccffae disagrees with many persons, and the dyspeptic must eschew hot strong coffee as well as tea. ■ The excessive drinking of coffee is in any oase aa evil. But it ia often forgotten that coffee can be taken in other ways,-and in none better than in the form of jelly. A clear coffee jelly after dinner is every bit as* good as the hot infusion, while it is free from some of the drawbacks of the latter. Coffee, unlike alcohol, diminishes organic waste, rouses the muß. cular .energy without the collapse • that follows alcoholic imbibition, and gellatin in the form of a jelly is cooling, assuages thirst, is soothing, and has a tendency to absorb any excessive acidity of the stomach. Gelatin is what is known as a 'profceid sparer'-—that is, it saves the destruction of the proteid, such aa albumin. Moreover, the astringent principles of coffee, which, however, are different in kind and degree from those present in tea, are nullified by the gelatin. In short, jelly is an excellent vehicle for coffee, but, as is necessary iu making the infusion, the quantity of coffee; in—the jelly should noG be stinted, Coffee serves aa admirable purpose in dietetics, and those with whom it disagrees when taken in the form of a hot infusion will very probably find the jelly quite satisfactory; ; • STEaNGE DISHES. What a pity that people are so conservative in the matter of food. This, though they do not think so, really shows want of education, enlightenment, and broad-mindedness. Many will refuse even to taste a dish unknown to them. It ia very f unsay to hear them contemn what they have never tasted, and shudder or affect to shudder at what they call foreign mesajas. The less civilised a nation is, the feweir are its diahes. There are hundreds of vegetables and fungi which are seldom or never eaten which aire cheap, wholesome; and delicious, if people could only be persuaded of the fact, but they actually prefer to go hungry rather than try a novelty. . Sorrel, for example, makes a splendid soup, and is really good as a - vegetable if boiled like spinach; leeks in white sauce are admirable, kohl rabi is an improvement on turnips, yet hoMeeV dom we are offered any of them. ' %ffi . ~ The members of a large but ignorant fnegro congregation in North Carolina r conceived the notion that it would add very much to their influence as a church if their pastor could append the initials D D to his name. One of the brethren, learning that a certain institution in the North would confer such a degree for a price, wrote to make inquiries. In reply he received a letter stating that fifty dollars would Becuxe the desired honour. Meanwhile the members of the congregation went to work to raise fifty dollars, buff their utmost efforts failed to secure more than twenty-five. The Committee men put their heads together, and it was fiaally decided to send the money with this message to the Northern institution —•' Please send our pastor one ' D,' as we are not able to pay for the other at this time.' A city family went to the seaside for their summer holiday. The first morning ' ; their servant, a country girl who had i never seen the eea before, was sent down to the pier for a pail of sea water. The tide being low, she had to go down to the very point where the piermaster happened to be on duty. 'Please, sir/ she said, 'can I tak' a pail o' water ?' 'No,, my lassie,' replied the official, gravely, 'we're ezpectin*.a big ship in the day, and we need a' the water,' He: 'lnotice yon have discarded all finery of late.' She: 'Yes; you sas, mother to!d me that ribbon* and laces were dragging me down to perdition, so I gave them to my sister.' She: 'My father says that in order to ' succeed a man must be ninety-five per 'f cent backbone.' fie:,' Oh! I know a great many who have managed to get on with ninety, five per cent ef cheek.'