WOMEN’S NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 218, 14 August 1937, Page 12

WOMEN’S NOTES.

COOKING. (By Miss Maty Tallis.) Foreign Dishes Make a Change.— Malta: A good Maltese dish is tried vegetable marrow and tomato sauce. The Maltese fry the marrow (peeled, cut into smallish portions and parboiled) in pure olive oil, and pour over it a hot sauce of tomato puree. Tinned puree saves a lot of trouble. It is nicer, too, I think, and really no more expensive in the long run. < China.—Here is a taaty Chinese dish which has been much enjoyed by all who have tried it: Spaghetti and fried onions. Cook the spaghetti (about Jib) ill gently boiling water without salt until tender. Fry three large onions (cut into rings), briskly at first and then gently for a few minutes. Throw the drained Spaghetti into the frying pan and mix well with the onions. Season with grated kitchen salt, a little nutmeg or cinnamon, aaid a teaspoonful of ground ginger. This seasoning is very important. If you can stand it, the disli is still more, improved if finally topped up with a raw grated onion. But this is left to the discretion of the cook (or the mistress!) Be sure to serve the mixture piping hot, preferably in bowls. India. —Then there is a kedgeree as made in India—not the insipid dash found on many British breakfast tables, but a really delicious savoury. The basis is the same—cold cooked fish and rice, but it is important that the rice should be cooked as for curry and the grains thoroughly dried and separated. The next vital ingredient i 6 the übiquitous onion, which s sliced in large quantities and fried the usual golden brown in plenty of good fat (bacon fa.t is excellent). When the sliced onions are tender the flaked fish and the rice are put in the pan and heated by gentle frying; then any other suitable ingredient is added, such as cooked green peas left over from a previous meal, and of course a sufficient quantity of chopped hard-boiled egg to give point to the appearance of the dish. This delectable mixture should be served piled on a very hot dish (or in bowls again) and eaten quickly before it gets chilled. British.—And here is an excellent British dish which is supremely popular with men, women and children alike: Hard-boil 2 eggs and boil 2oz macaroni or spaghetti. Make a white 6auce (with parsley). Fry 2 onions in loz butter and slice Jib tomatoes. 1 ut in layers in a greased pie dish, cover with Jib finely mashed cooked potatoes, garnish with parsley, re-lieat and serve. GENERAL.

Nerves and temper.—Now and then everyone gets in a temper. Tempers must have exercise and often they have useful work to do. They can be handy in the home. The way I try to increase peace and justice in my own home is not by suppressing temperaments or rightful anger or argument, but by insisting that no one can take his illtemper out on anyone else who is not responsible for the cause of it. Noliody should tolerate in himself or in others that bullying, which is sometimes done by the young, as well as the older members of the family, in the effort to find a whipping boy for irritations. Yet such bullying is not only common but actually excused as the inevitable reaction of “nerves.” We should not use our nerves to terrify the helpless people who have to go on living with us. We talk sometimes as if our nerves were strange devils that took possession of us, and that’s great nonsense. Except in unusual cases, our nerves behave pretty much as we have trained them to behave. If they know they can go on the loose every few days, or every six months, and that people will be indulgent and say that it wasn t their fault, then of course tlie.y’ll go on the loose. But the obvious thing is that the really indispensable people in the world, the real workers, never do that. For one thing, they can’t spare the time, and for another they’re too honest. They have more nerve than nerves. So that is where a good job for parents comes in. If your children arc not going to go through life blaming their nerves for their failures, they should not be allowed to think that the existence of a nervous system justifies letting down of obligations or the dodging of responsibilities. They should bo taught that when nerves are under control and properly functioning they build up that totality called “nerve,” the personal resource that sees most of us through dangers and difficulties. LAUNDRY. Laundry hints.—Handkerchiefs will have just the right stiffness if they are laid out flat oil a starched tablecloth after they are washed. The cloth is folded over and passed through a wringer. To remove rain spots from felt hats, wring a towel out in hot water; lay over the hat, and hold near the fire. As the towel dries the spots will vanish. To remove creases from a silk blouse which lias been worn under a coat, hang before a fire and the creases will drop out without ironing. HOUSEKEEPING.

Housekeeping hints —UEe hot, soapy, strong blue-water to clean the inside

of a badly-stained teapot. It acts like magic. When women carpenters are ready to commence work they should fill a large bar of washing soap with nails of the required size. The nails will then penetrate the hardest wood without bending, and they will not split the timber.

A tea-cosy lined with chamois retains the heat and is much more effective in keeping the teapot warm. To remedy a shoelace when the metal tag comes off, twirl that end of the shoelace to a point, squeeze on to it a few drops of liquid glue, and twirl again to a point between the finger and thumb; in a few seconds the end will harden and can be laced as easily as if the tag was there. Do you know that a crushed-up eggshell, placed in the coffee pot, will help the grounds to settle? Give your stocking darner a coat of white enamel. The white shows up the holes clearly and makes night darning les tiring to the eyes. Stand jars when filling with hot jam or fruit on a folded towel (damp). This will prevent the hot preserves breaking the jars.