NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER...

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 75, 29 November 1940, Page 52

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER...

The latest London invention is a dental shock-absorber to be worn during ait raids. It is a small contraption made of specially constructed rubber and attached by a cord round the neck. Held between the teeth, it acts as a buffer; minimising damage to teeth, tongue and ears. The shock of explosion often dislocates teeth and jaws, and causes bitten tongues and injured eardrums,

Continued from previous page) the cornflour with a little of the water and stir till smooth. Bring the sugar, water and butter to boiling point, pour it on to the cornflour, and return the mixture to the saucepan. Boil till it thickens, stirring all the while. Let it simmer for a minute or two, to cook the cornflour. Then add the rum, or the flavouring. Lemon Sauce The juice of 3 lemons, %4lb. lump sugar, 4% pint of water, 1 teaspoon of cornflour or arrowroot, and a pinch of salt. Boil the sugar and water together for 5 minutes. Moisten the cornflour with a little cold water, and add to the sugar mixture. Add ‘the lemon juice. Boil for a few minutes, stirring all the time, until the sauce is quite clear.

They are beautifully soft and pliable. Scour the pelt well in warm soapy water to clean the wool or hair. Rinse in clean water. Shake the skin as dry as possible, and lay it on a clean sack, pelt side upwards, Boil 2 tablespoons of alum and 1 tablespoon of salt in 1 pint of water till dissolved. When at blood heat, wash the pelt with it, putting plenty on and using a soft cloth, Roll the skin up, folding it pelt to pelt to keep the mixture away from the wool or hair. Leave it for two days. Repeat the process, giving three dressings altogether. Then spread out to dry, away from the sun and the wind. While it is drying, stretch frequently and pull, and rab between the hands

to soften. When it is nearly dry, work it with a blunt knife, or rub with pumice stone until the skin is as soft as suede. Recipes Wanted Dear Aunt Daisy, I wonder if you would give me two recipes. One is for yeast; we are out in the country and cannot always get compressed yeast. The other is for a Christmas cake that has curry powder in it. My mother had it before she died, and I cannot find it; and when mother made it it was beautiful. We are kept so very busy these days, with so many extra things to do that I do not get much time (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) how to listen in. I am a daughter of a Manse and my hands are kept busy, as you will know.-D.S. (Canterbury). Yes, indeed, 1] am very glad to be able to do this for you. As regards the curry powder in the cake-half a teaspoon may be put into any rich fruit cake; it brings out the full flavour of the fruit and does not make it taste at all of curry. But the special recipe you mean was published in "The Listener" a fortnight ago. It is called "1ZR Christmas Cake," as it was given to me in the very early days of broadcasting at that station. Home-made Yeast: This recipe was given to us by a lady in a lighthouse. Four tablespoons of flour, 1 tablespoon of sugar, pinch of hops, the water from the potatoes boiled for dinner. Put the potato water in a pan with the hops and boil minutes. Strain. When cool, mix into the flour and sugar, previously mixed to a paste with a little cold water. If you

forget to save the potato water, put one potato, cut up but still with the skin on, in a little water with the hops, and boil for about half an hour. Here is another excellent recipe. One ounce of hops, 1 cup of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 3 pints of water. Boil the hops for a few minutes in a small quantity of water. Drain and add sufficient to make 3 pints. Add sugar, and when tepid the flour. Just shake it and never mind if it seems lumpy. Grate in a medium sized raw potato and bottle it. If you have a little yeast in the bottle to start the working it can be used the same night. With home-made yeast it takes longer for the bread to rise than with compressed yeast. Divide it into three bottles, leaving sufficient room in each for it to work. Each bottle will "make" about 3lbs. of flour. Cream of Tartar Yeast: One tablespoon of hops, 3 small potatoes, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 2 cup of sugar. Boil the hops in 3 cups of water for about 5 minutes. Peel the potatoes and boil two of them. Strain, mash, add the sugar and the potato water to the water the hops were boiled in. When cold, add the third potato, grated, the cream of tartar, and a little left over from the last yeast, to start it working. Bottle in screw top jars. Keep in a warm place. It should be ready for use in 6 to 8 hours, Home-Made Bread Dear Aunt Daisy, I read your answer to " Rangitata" in The Listener. Should the lady happen to be in need of real bread for everyday use those fancy breads would be useless. I have made bread for nearly 40 years and used compressed yeast ever since I first heard of it, as it is much quicker than the old home-made yeast. My method is as follows: Take 8 heaped ‘breakfast cups of flour and 1 large des-

sertspoon of salt. Mix together in a bowl. Into 4% cup of just-warm water drop 4 cake of yeast. I get the 1'¥0z. size, and stir till dissolved. Then, having made a well in the flour pour in the water, a good half pint or more. Mix a little flour in with the hand, then add the dissolved yeast, and gradually work in more water and all the flour, till the consistency of good scone dough. Have ready an extra cup of flour, and after mixing in the

flour in the bowl, dust the bowl, and keep kneading the dough till it leaves the bowl clean. Plenty of kneading improves the bread. Then set aside to rise; mine usually takes 3 to 4 hours. Then on a cloth or board, work back to small size and place in tin, and leave to rise again. Then put in a good hot oven and cook for 1 hour, or perhaps longer. I usually mix with water just as warm as my hand will stand comfortably. I mix my bread when my son goes to work at 6 a.m. and it is out of the oven for lunch. If you are busy when the bread is ready to put in the tins it can be kneaded back lightly and left an hour before moulding. In my oven I always bake bread on the bottom, in a meat dish or any suit-’ able tin, and I do not open the oven door for the first 20 minutes, when I usually turn the bread. Then if it is alright I may not look at it again till time to take it out. If brown bread is preferred, make just the same way, but use 2 cups of flour and 4 cups of wholemeal, and a little more salt. Bread must be mixed with the hand. I have three men and myself and make one 2lb. loaf three times a week, using one-third of a yeast cake each baking, as we like our bread new; and the 2lb. loaf takes 45 minutes to cook. I hope this will help Mrs. M. of Rangitata. If you care to do so you can give her my address, and if necessary I may be able to help her further. A yeast company, by the way, issues a handy little book.-* Old ’Un," (Canvastown). That is very kind of you "Old ’Un," to spare time to explain the whole process so clearly. I have the little book you mention — in fact, the wholemeal yeast bread recipe which I gave in "The Listener" to Mrs. M. of Rangitata, was taken from it. It is not really "fancy," but quite simple after once using. But, of course, everyone finds her own tried method the best. I will certainly send your address to Mrs. M., who will agree

with me that it is a very nice neighbourly gesture on your part. Another Reply Dear Aunt Daisy, I have just been reading your pages in The Listener, and see that you ask for some country woman to send in her recipe for home-made bread — for a beginner. I often make my own bread and this is my recipe. I take 1 full dessertspoon of yeast and 1 dessertspoon of sugar and break them up with a spoon into a cream in a basin. Then pour 1 cupful of lukewarm water over this and put it in a warm place to start working -it only takes a few minutes. Take a large warm dish and put into it 10 cups of flour; I use 6 white flour and 4 wholemeal. Break into this about 2 tablespoonfuls of good dripping and a small handful of salt. Make a keep hole in the middle of this and pour in the yeast, and mix all into a dough with a little warm milk, or milk and water. Mix with the hand till like a scone dough. It may be slightly above lukewarm, but take care it is not too hot. Place this in a warm place and cover with a cloth; mine is a coal stove so I usually place the dish on the plate rack, Leave to rise for about 142 hours when it should be about double its bulk. Then punch it down again, and allow to rise another hour or so. Now form into loaves, to the size desired. Some people half fill their tins but I just make mine into loaves and place two on each oven shelf (slightly flour the shelf first) and leave again in a warm place to rise to nearly double their size. Bake in a hot oven for about half an hour. Have the oven fairly hot to begin, and gradually cool off a little. I usually tap the loaves with the fingers, and if they sound hollow they are cooked through. This makes 4 good sized loaves. The dripping is not absolutely necessary, but it improves the bread-it seems to keep fresh longer. I have never failed with this, and I use it every week.-E.M. (Weraroa). That is very clear and plain, and I don’t think anyone could go wrong if they follow it closely. Everyone who tries bread-making finds it very fascinating. I suppose butter could be used instead of dripping. In the professional recipes it generally says just " fat."