WOMAN’S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 June 1922, Page 10

WOMAN’S WORLD.

THE BABY. DANGERS OF REPRESSION. Most people appreciate the subtlety of the story of the mother who instructed a servant to “go into the garden and see what baby is doing, and—tell him he mustn’t,” says an English writer. The essential thing to realise is that a child does not cease “wanting” because by stern prohibition it is told it “mustn’t.” It may—because the consequences are too unpleasant—cease to express the want; even, after it has been denied a number 1 of times, may not be consciously aware of it. It is not nice to have the beloved mother becoming suddenly so hard and unsympathetic; so the child finds it better to forget—or, as the psychologists would say, “to repress.” An impulse repressed is, however, not on that account obliterated. And it is an interesting observation, demonstrating very clearly the persistence of these wishes that have been merely repressed, that people who in adult life are most uncontrolled, most prone to wild excesses, and most at the mercy of impulse, are very often just those who in their childhood were most cramped by a barrier of “Thou shaft nots.” Quite legitimately one might ask, “What is, then, to be done?” It is obvious that a child cannot have all its own way. And before it is old enough to understand reason what S is there left except emphatic prohibitions ? One would answer the question this way. Before denying the child the fulfilment of one of its wishes one should be quite certain in one’s mind that the denial is necessary for the child’s welfare. and not made because one is in an irritable mood or has got into a bad habit of saying “mustn’t” on very small provocation. And the next thing to bear in mind is that if a prohibition really is necessary, it must be made with kindness and sympathy, the child’s desire may have to remain ungratified, but if one immediately finds some other interest to occupy it the desire will not be repressed, but the child’s mind will merely be diverted •from it. The desire will come again, but as long as it is thus sympathetically diverted one can be certain that as soon as the child is old enough, it will be possible, by a higher appeal, to make it understand exactly why children may not do certain things permitted to adults—and why some things are not done by either.

THE HOME COOK. CHEESE CAULIFLOWER. Cauliflowers and cheese, or choufleur an gratin, is a simple delicious dish, which can be served as a savoury at dinner, or it can be eaten with the meat. It also makes a nice luncheon dish. Boil a cauliflower in the usual way, and when cooled divide it into branches. For a dish for four or five people, butter a medium-sized piedish and fill it with the. sprigs of the vegetable. Make a white sauce by putting a small tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan with a tablespoon ful of flour. Let these cook without browning for a minute or so, then add carefully threequarters of a Breakfast cup of milk, and stir until it thickens. Also add pepper and salt and a cupful of grated cheese. Stir till the cheese is dissolved, and then pour over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and a little grated cheese, and bake for 12. minutes in a moderate oven. It should be nice and brown. Any left-over cauliflower, as long as it is not all stalk, can be used for this dish.

BROWN ONION GRAVY. Place four tablespoonfuls of shortening in a skillet and add two cup sliced onions and cover, and cook slowly until a delicate brown, turning frequently; now add three-quarters of a cup of flour, and cook the flour until a deep mahogany brown, add two cups cold water, and simmer slowly for ten minutes, then bring to a boil and cook for five minutes; season and serve on meat dumplings. This gravy is delicious on meat dishes.

CASSEROLE OF HAM AND MACARONI. Ingredients.—Half lb of cooked macaroni, Jib of ham. Jib of cheese, salt, pepper, 2 eggs or dried eggs, J-pint of milk, loz. or margarine or butter. Method. —Cut the cooked macaroni into short lengths. Put half the margarine into a casserole; when melted put in a layer of macaroni, then a layer of minced ham, and one of grated cheese. Continue the layers, sprinkling salt and pepper between each, until the macaroni is finished. The top layer must be macaroni. Beat up the eggs and milk, and pour over the rest of the ingredients. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Serve in the casserole.

CREAM OF POTATO SOUP. Put into a saucepan nine tumblersfuls of water, one tablespoonful of roast dripping or butter, one large onion, five large potatoes, cut up, two cloves, pepper, and salt. Boil all together for about an hour. Twenty minutes before serVing add one pint of milk and a large tablespoon ful of sago. Boil up again for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

GINGERBREAD PUDDING. Ingredients. —Flour %lb, suet Jib, baking powder 1 teaspoonful, treacle Alb, 1 egg. a tablespoonful ground ginger, 1 small cupful milk. Method: Shred and chop finely the suet, add all the dry ingredients, the treacle, the egg wel.l beaten, and the milk. Pour in a well-greased basin, and boil for two and a half hours. A Bevy of Tips.-—A boiled suet pudding made with equal quantities of stale bread (soaked in cold water and squeezed dry in a cloth) and flour is far superior to one made with all flour. Instead of toasting bread for soup, porridge, etc., try drying it or roasting it till crisp in the oven. Fish mav be scaled much easier by dipping in 'boiling water for a minute. To extract onion juice, cut the top off the onion and press the heart with the spoon. When apples are cored for bakI ing, a delicious dish may, be made by i filling the hole with orange marmalade aud a Jitlle butter uud sugar.