GOOD CHEER for CHRISTMAS

Ladies' Mirror, Volume I, Issue 6, 1 December 1922, Page 42

GOOD CHEER for CHRISTMAS

" CUISINIERE”

“ A RE you making Xmas Cakes and -t*- Puddings this year?” “I should just say so! Why, my family . wouldn’t think it was a real Xmas at all if they didn’t have a cake, and as for the pudding—it’s worth all the trouble of making it to see the kiddies round the table, with their eyes simply fixed, in anticipation of a hidden glint of silver, as Dad cautiously serves each plate. “I’m sure that those threepenny bits are worth more on Xmas Day than a whole shilling on any other day in the year, and don’t you think it is true, even mince pies and plum pudding have, an important part to play in the making of a very happy Xmas.” “This is my recipe for a Xmas cake, and it is a really good one.” A Good Xmas Cake loz. butter, lOoz. sugar, %lb. flour, 6 eggs, lib. each of sultanas and seeded raisins, %lb. currants, &lb. peel, 141 b. almonds, 1 teaspoonful each of lemon and almond essence, %-teaspoonful salt, 1 large teaspoonful baking powder, one-third of a grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful grated lemon rind, 1 wineglass of brandy. Method. — Prepare all fruit first, chop peel finely, blanch and chop almonds, wash, dry, and flour currants. Put all in a bowl and mix. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one by one, then lemon rind and essences, flour and fruit slowly and alternately, mixing well, and lastly, sprinkle with brandy. Bake in a paper-lined tin about 3% hours in a moderate oven. Our Favourite Xmas Pudding lOoz. breadcrumbs, %lb. flour, %lb. sugar, lib. each of raisins, currants and suet, 141 b. peel, 14-packet spice, one-third of nutmeg, salt, 1 wineglass brandy, 6 eggs. Method.— Chop and flour the suet, prepare and flour the fruit, blend all with the flour and spices, and mix with the beaten eggs and sprinkle with brandy. Boil in a floured cloth or in a buttered mould for 5 hours, and again for about 1% hours on. the day when wanted. Real Old English Mincemeat lib each of currants, sultanas, raisins, %lb. mixed peel, 11b. chopped apples, juice and rind of 1 lemon, half packet of spice, one-third grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful each of lemon and almond essence, %lb. sugar. Method. Prepare all fruit carefully, and put it through a fairly fine mincer, with the spices, etc., mixed; blend with the brandy, and use a wooden spoon to press it into jars (stone for preference), and do not use before one month. To Decorate the Cake A simple and effective decoration is to ice the cake well and form a big snowball of icing on the top with a small Xmas tree or Father Xmas surmounting it. From the top of the tree (or the hand of Father Xmas) fasten as many scarlet paper ribbons as there are people, and lead

one to each set place, terminating in a joy-bell of icing, silver painted, or if made larger, it can hold a small gift. Arrange holly leaves radiating out from the ball and also round the cake on the cloth, and if holly berries or scarlet asparagus berries are to be obtained, ornament the sides of the cake with them. Scarlet geranium petals make a substitute, and leaves and petals can be fastened on with “pins” of straw. To make the leaves sparkle like snow before using, glaze them with glue, and sprinkle with Epsom salts but do not let them scatter on the cake ! . * Last Touches to the Pudding To be conventional this should be stuck, all over with, split Jordan almonds (blanched),' crowned with holly, sprinkled with brandy and set alight. The almonds may be stuck in to form the words “A Merry Xmas” round the pudding. Cold Dishes- —May be made before the day required W/TTH extra folk in the house, ” and the shops holiday-making, extra planning has to be done to meet the needs of holiday appetites and to save labour as much as possible. Following are a few seasonable suggestions. A French Strawberry Tart Line ■ a shallow tin with pastry, short or flaky, and scatter with pellets of bread to prevent rising too much. When cooked, remove bread pellets and fill with strawberries and pour a strawberry jelly over. Served with whipped cream. Fruit Mould Raspberries or loganberries are best to use, but rhubarb or gooseberries will also do. Cook your fruit with very little water (in case of raspberries or loganberries, use only about a tablespoonful), sweeten well, and cook till pulpy. Line a jelly mould with stale bread—cut to fit. and gently pour in the hot fruit—cover with another slice of bread, place a saucer on top, and a weight on that, and leave till next day in a cool place. This should turn out, and be served with cream; it is most delicious, and a splendid children’s dish. An Unusual American Salad 1 lettuce, 3 bananas, 1 orange, 1 apple, a few turnip radishes, a few peanuts, mayonnaise, salt and pepper —1 red beet cooked. Wash and prepare lettuce and radishes, peel and slice banana, chop apple and beet, add orange juice and chopped peanuts, and blend all together. Arrange lettuce leaves in a wide shallow bowl, and place a spoonful of the mixture in each leaf —then pour over each a spoonful of thick creamy dressing. Almost any vegetables may be used-Tor ■ this salad, cooked green peas, small carrots, etc., and it is surprisingly tasty.