AUNT DAISY'S MAIL—BAG

Radio Record, 9 December 1938, Page 46

AUNT DAISY'S MAIL—BAG

Lu the odd household hints that every woman wants to know can be discovered simply by dipping into Aunt Daisy’s mailbag. The first letter this week is an inquiry about a recipe for whitewash :-- Dear Aunt Daisy,-Would you kindly send me the recipe for whitewash, which you have just lately put over the air? I listen in to you every day, but happened to be away when you put the whitewash‘recipe over. A friend heard you, and my husband would like it to do the cowshed. Wishing you and your daughter a very happy Christmas.-Mrs. R.K. {Marton Junction). All the queries we have had lately about whitewash, make me think of the words of that old song: Slop dab dab with the whitewash rus Up and down the plaster walll { put more whitewash on the old woman Than 1 put upon the fowl-house wall. So I would suggest that when Mr. R. K. paints the cowshed, you should stay discreetly away-especially as I have an excellent hint on how_to make whitewash stay on so well, that it even resists rain outside! Whitewash: One lb. of whitening, one Ib. of size, one cake of laundry blue, one tablespoon of alum. Pour boiling water on to the whitening until it becomes a thin paste. Add the size, already melted in a saucepan, the blue dissolved in water, and lastly the alum. ‘Tint, if needed, with red ochre to make the whitewash pink, with yellow ochre for buff, or br bara brunswick green for a green int. Now to make it stay on-for a bucketful of whitewash take 2 cup of flour. Mix it to a smooth paste with cold water. Then add boiling water till it- thickens, stirring all the time. Add this to your ‘bucket of whitewash, also a little washing blue. Stir well. The whitewash will not

rub off now, nor flake, and even withstands rain on outside work. Another good thing to remember is that if the whitewash is mixed with sait and water, it will not powder off. So I should think that the cowshed can be made quite a gay place for spring, and I am sure the cows will be much happier. Talking of cheering the cows, ! know of several farmers who have installed a wireless set in the shedthe cows seem more contented, and give more mitk. That would solve a problem for the farmers’ wives who are milking -when Aunt Daisy’s session is on in the morning-tune in while milking! Gilding The Lily And while on the subject of tinting, and brightening up, here is an excellent way of tinting white arum. lilies: Dear Aunt Daisy,-Thank you for everything-hints, recipes-and for so many cheery hours. This morning you told a member of our big Daisy Chain to use special Florists’ Tinting Powder. I know of a cheaper scheme than that. Just buy coloured chaiks-two for a penny. Powder them, and daub that over the lilies. It is quite successful, and much easfer on our slender purses.-Devonport Dahlia. Christmas Cake Dear Aunt Daisy,-I have been very successful with your ginger ale Christmas Cake, both last year and this. What a lovely big cake it makes, with such a delighiful flavour. I can’t cook it in four and a half hours, though. It takes over five in my gas Oven. Kindly tell me if i could make two smali cakes out of the same recipe, cooking. one after the other, I wondered if the second one would spoil while waiting to be | annbod an aranunt of tha cingear

ale. And that "Wee Wyn Christmas Cake," too, with baking powder in, when divided into two; or the recipe with the fruit juice. I would like to try these latter ones as well. It’s a job stewing away all the cakes.-Peggy of Invercargill. Thank you, Peggy, for your letter. They really are lovely recipes, and I am Gelighted that you enjoy them so much. It makes no difference that your oven takes longer to cook the cake-one can never state a definite time in a recipe, because some people may have a deeper cake tin, and then each oven has its own little ways, and so the time can be given only approximately. One must use one’s judgment, as you have done with your cooking. Yes, it is quite all right to make two cakes out of the one mixture. The second cake will not harm at all while it is waiting its turn for the oven, and could even be left for twelve hours; provided {ft does not have any rising in it, or at any rate, only a little, That is a very useful thing to remember, because sometimes when it is not necessarily a Christmas cake, it is more convenient to cook it in two stages, and as long as there is little or no rising, the cake will not harm. Ginger Beer For Boys Dear Aunt Daisy,-About a week ago, I heard you give a simple recipe for making ginger beer, but being in the car, and listening to the car-radio, I was too pre-occu-pied in driving to write it down, or commit to memory the ingredients or the quantities. So would you be so kind as to let me have a copy of it? I am a man of thirty-four years, and have never missed a session of yours. I think they are most interesting, entertaining and instructive.-Ronald of Lyall Bay.

Well, isn’t that a tribute from a man! Soon, we'll have the men so interested that they will want to do the housework every week-end and give their wives a holiday! Here is the recipe for the ginger beer-we call it ginger beer Linwood, as this particular recipe came from Linwood, and it distinguishes it from other ginger beer recipes. One Ib. of sugar, one gallon of cold water, one dessertspoon of cream of tartar, one dessertspoon of ginger, one dessertspoon of lemon essence or lemon juice, one level teaspoon of tartaric acid, and a handful of raisins. Mix till dissolved, then leave for two days. 'Then strain and bottle. It is ready for drinking in a few days, though it is better if kept longer. The lady who sent the recipe says she made some last Christmas, and that it is lovely now-not unlike wine. There are lot of people who have asked for the recipe of ginger heer from the "plant"-so | will give this too, and you can try both ways and see which you prefer. Use a quart preserving jar, with rubber ring, and a well-fitting’ screw~ top lid. To start the plant for the first time only: Take one tablespoon of ground ginger, and threequarters of a cup of sugar. Dissolve the sugar in hot water, and mix it with the ginger. Place all in the jar, cut 2 clean lemon, slice half of it, and put it in the jar, too. Fill up the jar with cold water, and after screwing the lid on tightly, set aside in a cool place for about two days. Then strain off the beer, and bottle. It is best to strain it through double butter muslin. Return the "grounds" to the jar. This time use one teaspoon of ginger, but the same quantity of sugar as before (} cup), and another half lemon sliced. The strained-off beer is ready to drink at once. Repeat this process every day after the first time. When the beer gets too "hot" give some of the "grounds" away as a starter, If nobody needs it, throw it away. If lemons are scarce, they can be done without. Grass Stains Dear Aunt Daisy,-I have heard you, through the medium of the radio, help quite a number of people out of numerous kinds of difficulties. I wonder if you could solve my problem for me. A young friend of mine, who by the way, Is an enthusiastic cricketer, had the misfortune to fall and badly stain his trousers with grass, and in ordinary washing, the staln would not shift. So as a desperate endeavour, the trousers were boiled, and now the stain is an unsightly brown! . I believe it could have been taken out with gelvearine. Rut now that it

has been boiled in, I am afraid that it will be a work of art to shift it. Hoping you can help me in this matter-Sydenham Radio Fan. It is surprising the number of queries about grass-stains we have at the beginning of the summer every year-small boys falling down grassy banks, and getting large green patches on their shirts and cricket trousers;--little girls sitting on grass,-gsgrown-up men falling down in games of cricket or tennis-they all come to Aunt Daisy for help! Well, the usual method when the stain is fresh, is just to soak it in glycerine-diluted. with a little warm water, and then wash in warm soapy water in the usual way. You think the stain has not moved-for a while it is in the glycerine it seems just as bad-but as soon as it is washed, the marks disappear. Another excellent way is to soak the spot in methylated spirits-some people advocate kerosene-and "e wash, As regards the poor boiled trousers the lady mentions in the letter, | would first soak them for a long time in glycerine, and then wash and dry, and then soak in methylated spirits, and wash again. When washing, if there is ‘still a slight mark, why not try the washing fluid. Buy one and sixpence worth of chloride of lime from the chemist. In a quarter of a gallon of warm water, dissolve four ounces of washing soda, and four ounces of chloride of lime. Leave it to settle, after first ‘stirring well. Then strain it carefully, and keep it in a corked bottle. Use this in the proportion of a cupful to a tubful of water. Leave the articles soaking in it for twelve hours or 50, and then wash thoroughly. A cupful added to the copper of boiling water on washing day, is splendid. It whitens the clothes, and takes out tea stains, and so on.

What The Moths Ate Dear Aunt Daisy,-My husband has a very light-grey flannel summer suit, and much to our sorrow, the moths have eaten quite a few holes in the pants, and I was wanting to know if-there is some way of repairing them without it being too noticeable. I think I have heard over the air of the same thing happening to a navy suit, so perhaps some of your listeners will help me. I may add that the suit is new.-Mrs. T.S. (Grey Lynn, Auckland). Yes, Mrs. T.S., I did have several inquiries about the very same thing, and a lady who used to work in Sydney wrote me thus: "I have worked

many years in a large dry cleaners¥ and repairers, in Sydney, and you know how particular large firms must be to keep up their prestige. A great remedy, and absolutely discern-proof, is this. Just take a scrap of the material from the inside seams, a shade larger than the moth holes, smear the scrap with white of egg, place over the hole on the wrong side, and press well with a hot iron. This is a perfect remedy, and does not. show whatever, and _ wiil go through pressing, and cleaning, eitc., without even moving. So that is well worth remembering, isn’t it? It would do for a little hole burnt by a match, or a cigar-ette-spark, | should think. AUNT DAISY ON FABRICS You know ‘Celanese’ fabrics are simply marvellous. And the newest "Celanese" is the newest in ladder proof fabrics and a revelation of fineness. "Celanese" Mylanit is of superfine quality, exquisite to handle. The new Pearl lustre finish-neither too dull nor too bright-is made in De Luxe quality. . For lingerie, styles which may vary from the strictest tailored to the most attractively trimmed rments, "Mylanit," the newest "Celanese" product, brings new luxury. Believe your eyes. Trust your fingers. "You can ask for nothing more superfine and soft in its texture than ‘"Mylanit," manufactured by "Celanese,’" the eat knitters of Art Silk in the weorl