WOMAN’S WORLD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5486, 11 October 1929, Page 1

WOMAN’S WORLD.

By ANTOINETTE for the “ Hauraki Plains Gazette.” FASHION NOTES. Embroidered linen is a new arrival in the world of dress materials, and a very atractive one. A very effective little frock can be made, complete with scarf and bordered with the same plain fabric. The vogue of the three-piece has extended to the simpler fabrics and models that are carried out in plain linen often are completed by gay little printed coats in which one of the colours, in the design, repeats the shade of the dress. For all its simplicity the iwashing frock of to-day contrives to embody fashion’s latest characteristics, with an original neck-line or a bodice cut after the becoming manner of a coatee. , In a becoming dress that strikes the latest fashion, blue, soft like an evening sky, is a cool effective background to a scattering of gay little blossoms in the natural flower shades. “My Lady’s Dress” was always a source of inspiration to the poets of another age, and now that the era of feminity has dawned again in dress it may be so once again, for there is certainly poetry in a filament of lace and fine tracery of leaves and flowers. Lovely in itself, lace is all the more lovely when silk or satin brings it into greater relief. And modern woman voices the sentiments of that “eminent Elizabethan” who most gracefully described lace as the “fair ambassador of a fair mind.” ATTRACTIVE SERVING. A very simple food will make a festive meal if it is served attractively. An excellent investment for such purpose in serving fresh shellfish is a set of natural-colour scallop shells. They are large enough for an individual serving, ranging in size from three and a-half to five inches across, with the fluted front edge well rounded and the back in definite shape of the mussel hinge. These shells are inexpensive, and give the atmosphere of formal serving to such simple dishes as boiled fresh mullet with caper and mushroom sauce or dried smoked schnapper and mustard sauce. Baked foods can be cooked as well as served in them. SPONGE CAKE FOR SUMMER.

Sponge cakes are no longer just plain old-fashioned yellow or white ones, requiring many eggs and little else, delicately flavoured with lemon or orange for the customary yellow sponge and almond extract for the white one. The new varieties, though just as light, use lime or grapefruit, chocolate, or spice. Not only is the flavouring varied, but the method pf combining the ingredients as well; the latter with no sacrifice to texture, but with much advantage in time of preparation and keeping qualities. For the yellow sponge cake proceed as follows : (1) Beat the yolks thorroughly ; they become lemon in colour and light from the air beaten in. Six eggs, 1 cupful of sugar, 1 cupful of pastry flour, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 3 the lemon rind grated make a large cake. (2) Add the sugar* to the beaten yolks through a fine sieve a little at a time, then beat the whole together thoroughly. (3) When the sugar is entirely added, grate the lemon rind directly into the mixture. Make certain that you use only the yellow surface ; it contains the flavouring oil. (4) Now add a tablespoonful of the juice, beating it in thoroughly with the other ingredients. (5) Beat the whites until stiff, but not dry. (6) Turn half the beaten whites into the cake mixture and fold the batter from the bottom of the bowl up over them. Then mix until no streaks appear. (7) Then lightly fold in the flour, sifting it over the top only a thin film at a time. (8) Last of all, cut and fold in the second half of the egg whites. Again make certain not to mix too long folding in. (9) Never use a pan that has been oiled for a sponge cake, as the cake will stick. Rinse the pan with cold water, then shake free from clinging drops. The film of moisture remaining changes to steam and pushes the cake away from the sides of the pan. (10) Bake in the centre of a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) for one hour or longer. It will shrink from the edge. Invert to cool and its weight will pull it free. (11) A fresh sponge cake should not be cut with a knife ; use two silver forks, slipping one down into the cake and using the other to pull away the piece you are cutting. BIRD SCARERS. As many tender plants are now just appearing above the surface, the following “scarecrows” are suggested : An amusing cat is a very effective bird scarer. A cat’s head is cut out of sheet metal painted black on both sides and has glass eyes which catch and reflect the light and are constantly on the move when hung from the branches of a tree or from a pole. Another good bird scarer is in the form of a complete tabby cat in black and grey. It is made from sheetmetal and fits into a stake set in the ground so that it can be placed beneath fruit trees or among seed beds. It revolves with the slightest breeze and has transparent eyes like its bodiless sister.

To moisten dry cheese place it on a plate over a saucepan of hot water.