AUNT DAISY'S MAIL BAG

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 57, 26 July 1940, Page 44

AUNT DAISY'S MAIL BAG

Carrots Instead of Sweets! Dear Aunt Daisy, I am one of those silent admirers and listeners, which makes it harder for me to write to you. However, I have a@ suggestion to make, and though it may sound a little strange at first, when given a little thought it means a great deal, I have been going to write this for some time, and at last have stored up enough "pep" to do so. I want to

tell you what happened in the districts around where I lived in England, during the last war. When going to the pictures, instead of buying the usual sweets and chocolates, there used to be stalls erected outside the theatres piled high with loads of fresh scrubbed carrots, which we used to purchase; and you can guess the fun we had listening to the munching going on, while interested in one of Pearl White’s Serials.

This may not seem much, but. actually it means a great deal. What is better. for general health than carrots? Adults, too, used to buy them, because you must remember that what little sugar there was went to the Forces; and although strange at first, the habit was soon adopted; and I remember how the school teachers used to boost the idea! Now, a better idea could not be thought of to-day. From an economic point of view, it saves sugar, and the money that proprietors had been used to spending on cleaning the theatres was given to the Red Cross; and the children’s teeth, too, were considered.

So a child buying, say thrée-penny-worth of carrots, saved sugar, gave to the Red Cross, and stopped Mother from worrying about toothache and worms, besides general health and cleanliness in the theatres, : If this idea were adopted even just for Saturday afternoons, look what good could be obtained from the humble carrots. What made me write, Aunt Daisy, is because we have our own garden, and children from all round are always coming here for carrots. I’m sure the children would get lots of fun out of it, and so would the adults if they joined in the spirit of the thing. I’m sure there would be some firms or persons to donate these carrots; or if they had to be sold, to give even a little to a worthy cause. My children take carrots out of the garden and put their sweet money into the Red Cross box! If this idea were got going, I'm sure the mothers and the dental clinics would only be too pleased to help it along. I am now thirty-three yeas old, and still have my own teeth with no signs of any decay; yet I have never been to a clinic nor sat in a dentist’s chair. What would the health authorities give to hear that said by the children of today when they grow up? Wouldn’t the children, too, get a thrill out of the carrot stalls, knowing that their pennies were helping the soldiers? Even in peace time, the. money could go to some charity, such as the Crippled Children’s Fund, etc. The funny part about it was, Aunt Daisy, that the Picture Hall that I went to with its stalls of carrots outside, was right opposite a sugar refinery, and the owners of the factory used to donate the carrots! I hope I have not taken up too much of your time, but I know all the good work that you have popularised, and I did not know of anyone better to write to. All great things have started in a small way, and I’m sure there are some willing hands to help along this suggested scheme for our children and soldiers. So please, Aunt Daisy, could you pass this on, and let the slogan be: "Carrots any time, and health for all time." If you do use this over the air, do not mention my name and address, as I feel a little embarrassed, even by writing -"M,J." (Wellington). Now then, Mothers — it is "up to us." Home-made Yeast Dear Aunt Daisy, I have taken down your recipes for home-made yeast, and for wholemeal yeast scones, but as I have never used yeast before, I wondered how much of the home-made yeast you would use in place of the small cake of compressed yeast, in the scone recipe. If you could tell me I should be very grateful, as I should like to make my own yeast. "Edna," (Waikowhai). Well, that question puzzled me too, Edna; people who use home-made yeast know by expetience how much to use. Then came the following letter, which explains it exactly: , Dear Aunt Daisy, I heard you asking about the quantity of home-made yeast to use for scones, (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) expect it would be in the same proportion as for bread, which is one large cup of yeast to every 4 cups of flour, and add luke-warm water to make the right consistency. I was interested in your recipe for ginger biscuits, as I have made so many, and just wanted to tell you that I find dripping is just as good as butter for them; it is about the only thing I use dripping for, as I dislike it for most things; and living in the country I make my own butter, and so have plenty. But I thought the town women would like to know about the dripping. -"R.S." (Hunterville). Thank you for both hints, I will give the scone recipe referred to by Edna. WHOLEMEAL YEAST SCONES Three breakfast cups of fine wholemeal, or you could have 2 cups of wholemeal and 1 cup of Vimax, 1 tablespoon of butter, dripping, or lard, 4% teaspoon of salt, 1 dessertspoon of raw sugar, and fourpenny cake of compressed yeast. Rub the fat into the flour and salt. Mix and cream the yeast and sugar till liquid, and add 1% teacup of warm milk. Mix up, using more milk if necessary. Press out-do not roll-and cut into shapes. Put on a warm. oven tray, and leave on a warm rack for a while to rise. Bake in a moderate oven for about ten minutes,

Soldiers’ Sultana Cake Dear Aunt Daisy, I heard your talk this morning about the lady who wanted a good recipe for a sultana cake to send to her soldier boy, who does not like mixed fruit. The following recipe makes a lovely one. I would also like to pass on a hint I got the other day. A friend called one afternoon when I was making a plum pudding for dinner. She asked me how I treated the cloth. I said, by wringing it out of cold water. She replied that a chef had told her sister to just scatter Sugar over the dry cloth. I tried this, and it was wonderful how clean the cloth came off the pudding. SULTANA CAKE: One pound of flour, %41b. sugar, 341b. butter, 7 eggs, 1lb. sultanas, 1 teaspoon baking powder. Beat the butter and sugar, add the eggs separately, beating each 5 minutes. Add the flour, and lastly the fruit. Bake 114 hours.-"A Constant Listener" (Wanganui), Mildew Dear Aunt Daisy, With reference to the lady who wrote about her mildewed clothes, here is my experience. I had the same thing happen through damping the clothes and leaving them too long, and felt like weeping on finding them covered with mildew. However, I just kept boiling them every wash day, and in a short time you couldn’t tell they had been so badly mildewed, Was I pleased? So. I trust the lady will find it helpful-*Shackle-ton Road,’ (Mount Eden). Thank you for your reassuring letter. At the same time, repeated boiling does not always take out mildew. One of our own dinner-napkins has had a mil-

dewed corner for months, although it is in the wash regularly. One good idea is to soak the stain in very soapy starch with a little milk added, for some hours, then wash and boil. Another method (sent by "Mother Bear"), is to wet the article and rub in plenty of good soap, then hang it on the line, or lay it on the grass, leaving it out for several days and nights. If it gets dry, wet it and soap it again. It may take a week, but it generally comes clean in the end. Soaking in butter milk is also good; and chloride of lime is practically a certain one; loz. of chloride of lime dissolved in one quart of cold water for an hour, then poured off through muslin to strain out any tiny lumps, which would burn or weaken your cloth.. Soak the mildewed article in this strained water for an hour or two, and then wash well and put it out in the sun. Chlorogene will also remove mildew-just follow the directions on the bottle, Removing lodine Stains Dear Aunt Daisy, Yesterday I broke a bottle of iodine, and most of it spilt on my sheet. It was spreading the size of a saucer, so I rushed into the kitchen and mixed half a cup of milk and a good handful of salt, and soaked the spot in this mixture, rubbing it well. Then I held it under the cold water tap, with a piece of toilet soap, and soaped it well; and believe me, Aunt Daisy, it all came out as clean as a new sheet, — "M.L.B." (Parnell, Auckland).

Save the Salt Dear Aunt Daisy, I have just been listening to you reading about the lady using salt and milk to erase iodine from a sheet when freshly spilt. Well, Aunt Daisy, that handful of salt just made me jump to action, in these days of economising with overseas ingredients. I have found that iodine is easily removed.with just cold water! Of course, if it is left to harden, then use the milk and salt. Only the other week, someone put an iodine bottle on the cloth on her bedside table. Next morning, when I discovered it, the mark of the bottle was on the cloth. So I put it under the cold water and rubbed it, then left it in cold water all day, and hung: it on the line all night, and not a mark was left. I remember two years ago, my nurse spilt iodine on baby’s gown; she washed it out immediately, and hung it out, and no mark was left. I hope you don’t mind, Aunt Daisy, my saying to be easy on the salt; and as I say, one can try the economical way first-"Nobility," (Arch Hill). Yes, indeed, try plain cold water first. Salt is one of the greatest necessities, I remember reading in a historical bioSraphy how a man made a fortune by buying up tremendous quantities of salt before the Franco-Prussian War. If the cold water does not remove the stain, then one can fall back upon the salt and milk-or even milk without salt is often quite successful. L