Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 13 October 1921, Page 41

Domestic

By Maureen

*. v .. CHEESE SALAD. Salads are always popular, and any novelty in serving them is appreciated. Arrange the salad in a bowl, using lettuce, watercress, etc., and then make a good mayonnaise sauce. Take some soft new cheese and pound it in a mortar, moistening it by degrees with the mayonnaise. When thoroughly amalgamated, pour over the salad, garnish with tomatoes or radishes, and serve. HARD GINGERBREAD. One cup of treacle, one cup of sugar, one cup of butter or margarine, melted in one cup of hot water. Sift two teaspoonsful of ginger and two teaspoonsful of soda with one cup of flour and add to mixture. Then mix stiff with flour. Keep in a cool place, then roll the dough and cut in squares a Jinch in thickness. Bake in a moderate oven. SOFT GINGERBREAD. Melt one-half a cup of butter in one cup of boiling water. Add one cup of treacle and one-half a cup of sugar. Sift in one-half a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda, one-half a teaspoonful of ginger, onehalf a teaspoonful of cloves with two cups and one-half of flour. Lastly add one well-beaten egg, and bake in a good oven. HOW TO PREVENT BREAD AND CAKE TINS FROM STICKING. First rub the inside of the tin thoroughly with salt, then put a layer of salt 1 inch thick in the bottom of the tin. Place the utensil in a hot oven and bake it for one hour. If the oven is only moderately hot leave the tin in the oven for three or four hours. Treat all new tins thii's before they are used, but old ones may be prepared in the same way. The method is simple, and the results obtained more than repays one for one's labor. "HOW TO PREVENT LAMP CHIMNEYS FROM CRACKING. Housekeepers who have been troubled by the frequent cracking of their lamp chimneys, owing to the poor quality of glass since the war, will bo interested to hear of this simple preventative measure. Hang an ordinary wire hairpin over the top of the lamp chimney. When the lamp is lighted, the metal hairpin will heat very rapidly, thereby helping to equalise the temperature of the globe. . . This device has been tried with surprising results, and has saved many pence.

THE VALUE OF FRUIT. _ " -j'..'.'' The value of fruit as a food is in the following order 1. Because it is appetising and is palatable. 2. 'Because it is refreshing and thirst-quenching. 3. Because of itji nutritive properties. 4. On account of its salts and acids. 5. On account of its action on the -kidneys. 6. Its laxative properties. For its appetising value, fruit should be eaten before meals. Fruit soup, a dish extensively used in Germany, but little known in this country,, would serve the purpose very nicely. For its nutritive value, fruit is best taken -as dessert at the end of the meal. I As a laxative, it should be taken on an empty stomach, preferably soon after rising in the morning, instead of before bedtime, as many people are in the habit of taking it. An apple can stay in the stomach for three hours, and, if taken just before bedtime, often will disturb sleep. Laxative fruits are figs, raisins, prunes, apples, grapes, gooseberries, plums, and currants. Fruit should not be eaten to excess, is best eaten at mealtime, and should not be eaten when unripe or overripe. Persons suffering from sour stomach should eat fruit guardedly. Fruits and grains make a good combination at meals; sour fruits and milk do not go together. Fruit always should be thoroughly washed before eating. Dirt and filth are not more esthetic nor less harmful because they perch themselves on the glowing cheek of an apple or the graceful lines of a pear. Cooked or stewed fruit is easier to digest but not so nutritious. v To sum up : Fruit is a good adjunct to the diet. Do not depend upon it to build up the body or to replace the daily wear and tear. Eat it moderately. Take it with your meals or early) in the morning. When you eat fruit, separate it from the dirt first.