MEMORANDA FOR MOTHERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 263, 27 January 1928, Page 5

MEMORANDA FOR MOTHERS

It is unwise to give the tinies, who are still in the tumbling-about stage, those sharp-ccrnered picture bricks to play with. They are nasty things to fall on. Beads, beloved of the nursery folk, should be strung on specially stout string or elastic—preferably the former, and firmly joined at the fastening point. The ready-threaded product braks very easily. When growing boys or girls are studying hard, poring over their lesson books with exemplary zeal, they should be turned out of doors as often as practicable. Fresh air is not the only benefit that will accrue therefrom. Let them have distances to visualise. When you accompany them on their outdor pilgrimages, point out objects some way off. Encourage them to look up the top of trees, to “get” a lovely view, and to scan the clouds. It all helps to counteract the consistent strain of close attention to reading and writing, and thinking along circumscribed lines. sifted over them every time they are turned. Afterwards keep in drawers or boxes in a dry situation. Cherries preserved in this manner are extremely elegant and have a fine flavour. In this way also orange and lemon chips are preserved. TO MAKE SAUERKRAUT To make sauerkraut in the German way remove the outside leaves of cabbage, cut the cores crosswise several times and then shred very finely with the rest of the cabbage. Pack immediately into a clean barrel, tub or earthenware crock capable of holding four or five gallons. (Smaller containers are recommended for household use.) While packing, distribute salt as uniformly as possible, using ilb. salt to 201 b. cabbage. Sprinkle a little salt in the container, put in a layer x>f three or four inches of shredded cabbage and pack down with a wooden utensil such as a potato-masher. Repeat with salt and cabbage, packing until container is full; press cabbage, down as tightly as possible and apply a cloth and then a glazed plate or board cover which will fit inside the container. (If using a wooden cover, select wood free from pitch.) On top of this cover place stones or other weights; these weights serve to force the brine above the cover. Allow fermentation to proceed for 10 or 14 days if the room is warm; in a cellar or other cool place three to five weeks may be required. Skim off the film which forms when fermentation starts; repeat this daily if necessary to keep the film from becoming scum. When gas bubbles cease to rise on the container being tapped, the fermentation is complete. Then can the kraut. RULING THE WAVES A shingle cap is indeed a necessity, if one’s hair is to be kept in order and the waves made to stay in place while one sleeps, but I am afraid that I have no directions for making one, though doubtless you could get a pattern from some crochet book. However, dainty little affairs of silk and net may be purchased very cheaply at any of the big drapers, and are quite an economy to buy. The best shape is one that fits the head closely and has tiny ear pieces finishing with a slender strap to clasp under the chin. PIERCED EARS There is no safe way that I have heard of piercing ears at home, but almost any jeweller or optician would do them for you, I think. The ears should not under any circumstances be tampered with by an amateur, as they are particularly delicate organs.