HANDY HOLIDAY SUGGESTIONS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 287, 22 December 1944, Page 22

HANDY HOLIDAY SUGGESTIONS

LL kinds of unexpected situations A arise during holiday periodsespecially a double holiday like Christmas and New Year-when frantic calls are made on ingenuity for all kinds of tasty food to help out, The bakers and butchers are on holiday, per-haps-or you niay be out of touch with them. So here are some suggestions. Be sure you have plenty of "staples" in the house — flour, wholemeal, sugar, cornflour, golden syrup, cocoa, coconut, coffee, and so on, and if you haven’t a garden, try to have a neighbour who has! Wholemeal Bread (No Kneading) ' This is the loaf we make in my own home. You soon get a knack of your own in making it. The mixture MUST be a MOIST DOUGH. Mix it mainly with a spoon, then flour the hand, and lift the dough out of the mixing bowl into the tin. It does NOT leave the bowl dry and clean like most bread. Have the tin well greased. The amount of liquid just varies a little, according to the flour-

some flours seem more absorbent than others, Eight breakfast cups wholemeal, 1 cake compressed yeast, 134 pints, or a little less, of medium hot water, 1 tablespoon each of salt and raw sugar, 1 tablespoon malt if desired. Mix the flour and salt, dissolve yeast in the warm water with the sugar (and malt, if used). Pour the liquid into the flour, and stir arid knead for five minutes. If not the right consistency, add flour or water accordingly. Mould into loaves, and put in greased tins. Put in a warm place (oven slightly heated), till double the size — about 114 hours, Keep covered while rising. Then bake about % hour, till done-gas regulo 7, Electric oven 425 to 450 degrees — top low, bottom medium. When baked, take the loaves from the tins and return to the oven for a few minutes to crisp up. Unbaked Cake (Using Wine Biscuits) This uses half a pound of butter! But it needs no oven-and you may be in an

ovenless bach. You may be able to economise in butter by serving French toast for breakfast. or lunch, or by making Cottege Cheese (see below). Half pound of butter, %21b, sugar. Put into a saucepan and melt. Beat up 2 eggs and add, stir till thick. Mix in 1 tablespoon cocoa, 1% teaspoon vanilla, %4lb. chopped walnuts, and 1 cup sultanas. Lastly, add 1lb, round wine biscuits broken with rolling pin, not too fine. Press into greased square tin. Ready next day. French Toast Beat up 2 or 3 eggs with about half a cup of milk. Dip slices of bread into the mixture, and fry in deep fat. This is a great butter saver, and makes an excellent breakfast dish, with scrambled eggs, or bacon and sausages. Cottage Cheese : You may use either thick, sour milk, ‘or you may make curds with rennet.

But the sour curds make the best cheese. Allow 1 cup milk to go thick, Turn the thick curds into a muslin bag to strain, Save the whey and drink. Turn the bag inside out, and scrape curds on to a plate. Add salt to taste and a pinch of cayenne. In Norway they also add 6 to 9 caraway seeds — you could do this if

liked, or add a little caraway flavouring. This is very good as a savoury sandwich spread with chopped spring onion and/ or parsley added. Press into small cups or jars Chocolate Roughs (With Condensed Milk: ‘No Cooking) Pour one tin of sweetened condensed milk into a basin, and add cocoa to colour-also flavour with a little essence. Stir in sufficient coconut to make it stiff and not sticky. Put rough dobs on greased paper to set-about 24 hours. Chocolate Crackles (No Cooking) Three tablespoons cocoa, 1 cup coconut, 80z. icing sugar. Mix together in a bowl. Melt 80z. butter, add and mix well. Add essence (lemon preferably). Mix in 4 cups of rice or wheat bubbles, or wheat flakes, and put into paper cases to set. This makes aboug 4 dozen. Snow Cake (No Cooking) Whites of 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon best gelatine, 42 breakfast cup cold water, 2 tablespoons sugar, vanilla essence, 1 breakfast cup boiling water, Boil the sugar and the cold water for a minute or two. Dissolve the gelatine in the boiling water. Combine the two. When a little cooler, stir in the 2 egg whites, unbeaten. When cool, whip up till foamy and thick. Pour into sandwich tin lined with wet greaseproof paper. Sets very quickly. Fill with whipped cream and chopped peaches or passionfruit. Emergency Chutney One pound of jam (plum or apricot), small onion finely .chopped, salt and pepper, kernels from fruit stones, or a few blanched and chopped almonds. Add the onion, pepper, salt and kernels or almonds to the jam. Mix well with vinegar to taste. This can be used (continued from previous page)

(continued on next page) straight away, and is handy if an unexpected visitor turns up when there is only cold joint. Tomato Paste Half-pound of ripe tomatoes, lb. cheese, 1 egg, pepper and salt, mustard to taste. Cut up tomatoes, grate cheese and beat egg, add salt and flavours. Cook slowly in a double saucepan.