HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1956-12-19, Page 6Chicken Pie
For areakfast
Really Fat
While the radio blared, its
incessant bleating about over-
weight, the chap sitting next to
us in the Dlits Club hoped his
mother-in-law might be listen-
ing.
"She's so fat," he Perelained,
"that whenever she falls down
she rocks herself M sleep trying
to get up, When My father-in-
law was courting her One night
he thought he was really neck-
ing', But all the time he only
had hold of her finger,"
"She was really that fat, eh?"
"Nhen she got married," he,
rambled on, "she weighed 300'
pounds. It took her six brothers
to give her away, I took her out
one day to play golf, and what
a problem! When we put the
ball where she could hit it, she
couldn't see it, And when we'
put it where she could see it, she
couldn't reach it to hit it. She's,
even afraid of her shadow. She-
thinks a crowd is following her."'
"She ought to reduce," we
suggested,
"Yeah," he agreed:, "if she
could only cut out the soldier
food."
"Soldier food?"
"Yeah, everytheng she eats-
goes to the front, ...The asked her'
doctor for a diet •and his, main
suggestion waas to stop eating-
bread. 'Cut out bread,' she
snarled, 'how am I gonna soak
up the gravy?' When she was
seriously ill she turned to my
father-in-law and said, 'If I die
and I find out you're runein'
aroun' with other women, I'll
turn over in my grave.' Ha
looked, at her and said, 'Mollie,
even then the exercise will do
you good.' "
nations were the key to the
mystery. But nobody has ever
found out where Mrs. Ford went,
It was believed by the Weal,
police that someone might be
shielding the murderer. Up and
down the country inquiries went
on and more men were inter,
viewed. Fee; a long time the
'Police investigated a suggestion
that the murderer might have
been a man who made, a practice
of ceiling on housewives, posing
as a man who• had come to in-
spect the electrical equipment
because of complaints about in-
terference with television sets.
When the man obtained entry to
a house, he made improper sug-
gestions to women. It appeared
that a 'man was found and was
questioned but no charge was
ever made.
Then yet another twist was
given to this amazing murder
mystery. It was stated that the
police 'wanted to question a
young, girl who had vanished
after baying lived for a time
with a man of handsome appear-
ance who said that he was a
salesman, People reported to the
police that about the time of
the murders they had seen a
youeg girl walking about as if
waiting for somebody, very close
to the house where Mrs. Ford
was murdered, but, again, there
was no result.
There were several Adjourn-
ments of the inquest on Mrs.
Ford, each time presumably in
the hope that information might
be fol•thcoming.
Whet 'killed this woman? The
public was worried. Allover the
country since the end of the war
there had been more and • more
cases of women murdered,, and
the murders remained unsolved.
In August, 1954, eight months
after the crime, schoolboys of
fourteen and 'fifteen were being
questioned by detectives who
worked on a time chart of the
movement of boys who cycled
near the home of the murdered
woman. Bat again there. were
no tangible results.
Two years later, during August
,of 1956, detedtives made anoth-
er bid to unravel the mystery.
They ,questioned a man in Lone
don for two hours, after it was,/
found that he had been work-
ing in Coventry at the time of•
the .murder. t •
But at the time 'of writing'
there had been no developments.
HOLLOW LEG—
HOLLOW TALE.
BIRTHDAY PORTRAIT—This official birthday picture of Sir Winston. Churchill, who was 82 on
'Nov, 30, shows him In his home in London with his wife. Photographers reported that the
former Prime Minister was his usual critical self as he'.examined the large number of prints
taken and ordered all but the' one above scrapped.
TABLE TALKS
eiamAnatte.ws.
This Couldn't Happen
But Did !
One-legged Ralph Pattison, of.
Los Angeles, was escorted to
police"headquarters and charged
with street. bookmaking. Indig-
nantly, he protested his inno-
cence and, .insisted that he was
a poor' man.
Unsympathetic police search-
ers examined Pattison's wooden
leg, and-in a hollow cavity found
S' considerable, remount of paper
money,
Yoe discreet people with die-
eerning propensities, I highly
recommend the chieleen pie for
Thanksgiving breakfast — a
refinement being more and more
igeered as the crowding years
effect those metamorphoses
known as, progress, I had a
chance net long ago to tilt with
one of these,, patent, Machine-
made thicken pies of commerce,
pasted oe a, foil platter and the
cover welded on with the Bes-
semer process,, and I thought of
the god chicken Pies that mold-
ed my character.
Somebody ought to do some-
thing to perpetuate the, architec-
tural lines of a real chicken pie.
What bothered me th'e most was
the comment heard about its
money-malting successor around
the companionable board, "Umm,
these really aren't bad at all, are
they?"
As a matter of outspOken
treth, they were pretty bad.
This goes to show.
A chicken, pie ehouId not be
a quick-style slap-together, in-
tended to appeal because it is
e a s y, convenient, reasonably
priced, and can be brought to a
boil and served straightaway.
A chicken pie should be esteem-
ed. It should be stood off from
with respect, viewed as a work
of art, prornpting love, detail,
time, and care, and if people
are really after speed, simplice
itee, and convenience, let them
steam a hot dog.
I hesitate to insist that a
chicken pie should have chicken
in it, The evidence is against
me, and too many people know
better. You can step into any
emporium of profit and find
chicken pies waiting to be
bought up, all labeled so you
can be sure, and hardly any
chicken in them at all.
It would be interesting to
know the mileage of a four-
pound bird in a modern, hygien-
ic pie factory. The syStern must
be a lot like the routine Bije
Michaelson had for hiring a cook
at the Railroad Hotel. When the
applicants came for an inter-
view Bije would take them into
his office one at a time and say,
"How many servings can you get
from a ten-pound roast of bull
beef?" The -Man who came up
with the largest number was
hired.
In my opinion, unpopular
though it may be, chicken, pies
should be made on' the basis of-
how many chickens you can get .
into each, not 'on how many pies
oteeen,,,get erorn aee.hielien. This
would pietalily bankrupt our
pie ,economy, but it'would pro-
duce fewer and better: pies.
Best results are had from old
hens. Yeti parboil, about' three
Of ',them and get' them so the
Yep, they really dolt! We mean
getting out on a limb and then
sawing off the wrong end. This
corny accident happened to
.Benjamin Morris of KAILSRS
„City, Mo. A tree limb blowing
against his' window as annoyed
Ihn that he got out of bed in
the middle of the night to out '
off., Soon he wns back In 'bed
u-n hospital bed; that -
of flour, adding enough cold
water to make a stiff dough; no
other ingredients are permis-
sible.
Make the dough much stiffer
than- for other breads, beat
.t steadily half an hour by the
clock. Cut with a biscuit cutter,
making each biscuit not quite
half an, inch thick as 'they rise
in baking. Do not let theni touch
in the-pan and bake in a very
hot oven until done. Delicious
served with fried chicken.
Short'nin' Bread
4 cups flour
1 pound butter
1 cup light brown sugar
Mix flour and sugar, and add
butter. Place on = a floured sur-
face and pat to 1/2 -inch thick-
ness. Cut into desired shapes
and bake at 350° F. from -20 to•
25 minutes.
* *
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Sift together 1 cup flour, 3
'teaspoons baking Powder'and 1/2
teaspoon salt. Add 4 tablespoons
'fat and 1 cup cooked mashed
sweet potatoes. Add milk enough
to snake a stiff. dough. Roll and
cut into biscuits and•bake ,in hot
oven 20 to-30 minutes.
* *
Spoon Corn Bread
1 cup corn meal
2 .eggs
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon soda if milk is
sour
2' teaspoons baking powder
is milk is sweet
1 tablespoon bacon grease
or butter (melted and
added last)
Pour the batter in a well-
greased baking dish and bake,
Serve with a spoon.
meat falls of when YOU eStri,
cafe them from the Pet. There's
a lot Of meat on Ptemi, and a
good deal better than we are
taught by modern dietitians
who stress the young and ten-
der,
I realize the big trouble is
With our stoves. Everybody eau
give you forty-leven reasons why
the old-fashioned kitchen range
is evil, but it did haVe the gen-
eral habit of being continuous.
You could h'ist the cover occa-
sionally and insert a couple of
fresh ticks of hard wood, and
while three old hens parboiled
all, afternoon, you. didn't have
that down-cellar clickety-click
of the gas meter, or the mad-
dening whir of geometrically
progressing kilowatts making
you a bankrupt.
By Thanksgiving time the
dawn is retarded, and to have a
really' good chicken, pie for
breakfast you had to arise in the
dark. Society has largely given
this up as a barbaric custom.
Anybody who stumbled out of
bed to do a barnful of chores be-
fore breakfast had no illusions
about the late riser's orange
juice and dry toast, Too bad
that so many millions of com-
fortable, prosperous, ease - be-
decked people are unable to ret
late how it smells when you
come in from the milking on
the, kitchen aglow with the
olfactory evidence of chicken
pie.
Now, there's another thing.
Lard. I know all about the bet-
ter things which have rendered
lard into the limbo of lost
causes. But the plain, and sup-
portable, truth is that lard, is
what makes pie crust. You have
to know how to use -it, and the
direction you're heading, In a
world made better by vegetable
oils, this is a rash remark. Every-
body knows better. But the kind
of chicken pie I'm talking about
was made with lard, by some-
body who knew how, and you
can talk all night and never
convince me.
The potatoes and carrots and
onions and so on, which aid and
abet the chicken, plus the three
old hens, call for a vessel of
,some size. You don't make my
chicken pie in a tin-foil bite-size.
nappy. The setting pan for milk,
also ostracized some time since,
was just right, Being extensive
in the circumference, it created a
structural problere which was
solved by inverting an ironstone
mug in the center, to support the
crust.
This was standard procedure
in rabbit, chicken, and other
meat pies back when acreage
counted. Then you laid her up,
ingredients equitably and judie
ciously disposed and the ade-
quacy of the chicken meat be-
ing above' ,suspicion. The crust,
a drawn to thin delight, was, be-
cause of its fragile natureewrap-
ped several times around the
rolling pin, and the master
builder would skillfully unwind
it se it fell into place intact.
You, couldn't just pick that crust
up and flop it doWn. And into
the oven it would go before day-
break on' Thanksgiving morning
ere the ruby rays of the rising
sun had, gilded the peak of the
barn. •
The thing about this pie was
its suggestive power, It sug-
gested Thanksgiving. It made
you glad. It set the pace' for the
whale day. We had such` pies
often; but we never had one for
breakfast except on- Thanktgiv-
ing, and this Made it different
and notable. Jolin Gould
in the Christian Science Monitor.
•
, y
SALLY'S SALLIES --
in Britain, women as well as
men were being questioned.
Nine women, some holding
shopping baskets, .were lined up
at Coventry police headquarters
for an identity parade. While
they waited patiently in a queue,
a Coventry housewife came into
the 'police courtyard. She had
told the police that she ,had seen
a woman 'hovering about" near
„the murder house. But when the
housewife faced the identity
parade, she was unable to identi-
fy any of the women as the one
she had seen.
The police continued to ques-
tion people up and down the
country. A detective went, to
Blackpool, to interview a man.
After the interview the detective
said that the man had "volune
teered some information," but
whatever that was it did not bear
any fruit.
' Five months- before Mrs. Ford
was murdered, Superintendent
Walter Groom retired from the
'Coventry City About a
fortnight after the murder, •when
• the police did not seem to be get-
ting anywhere, ex-Superietend-
ent Groom was called in by a
newspaper to see whether he'
could suggest anything 'to for-
ward inquiries. e
His statements after he had,
been on the job for a little
while were certainly 'enlighten-
ing. He said 'that 'the Ceventry•
police had found out these things
,concerning Mrs. Ford. She was
,house-proud and careful • about
her appearance. She dressed
very elaborately to. attend, some
'of the old tyre dancing= club
festivities and was known ' as"
"The Duchess."
Until a few months before-she
was murdered she, was a:merriber
of, the. Townswomen's Guild. She
had two sons; the, elder son, 's•
sixteen-yeat-old, was .apprentie-e,
ed to a, barber; the younger son
was the one who tried 'to ,:enter
the house on that fatal day. 'Mrs.
Ford looked after her family well
and was the, foster4nother, to 'an
eight-year-old tire. , • About two months before. she
was murdered, Mrs. Ford, 'who
was slimly built and so :Short-
sighteii 'that she could' not •see
Without her spectacles,' stopped
attending ;the meetings of', the
guild. She returned her „foster-
child to a children's home arid
started going out, to some ,un-
known afternoon. 'destination.
'She was. out et least three after-
noons a. week.,
Mr. Ford.liad.eold.the Scotland,
Yard that several titiies he ,had:
returned from' work to firid, that
his , wife was not at home, ,She.
did not tell, him' where She; had
been. Probably those settet
Still Unsolved
Murder _Mystery.
The 'boy 'Was just hoMe 'item
school and wanted his tea, but
the house was .-locked and there
Was no answer 'as he knocked
and rang. Where was his rnother4
Again and again, the fourteen-
.year-old rapped oh the dbor,
just in case she had the radio oh
and &AIM not hear. Still there
was no reply.
He waited nearly an hour, un-
til his father, came home. The
''door was :opened. The boy' ran
'into the houee, then he gasped
in horror, for sprawling in an
atenchair in the dining-roOM was
his' rnother, her head battered.
She had also been stabbed many
times with a carving knife, taken'
from her own
The knife was Still lying on.
her 'chest, but there was no sign
of the Weapon that, was used
to batter' her head.
Mr, and MrS, Ford (I .am tiding
fictitious names out' of eonsiciere-
tieri for, relatives) were enthtisi-
eatic members of a . Ideal old-,
fynie dancing elUb, and the
papers of Sahnety, 1054, were
soon headlining the "old 'TYrrie
Murder Mystery.''
There WaS no indicates-reef et&
sett of motive. Very soon there
Was a leant of eighty detectives
searching for the murclefereittele
drede Of people were ctlestiethed,.
The murder hunt spread front the-
Midiaeds thrOughetit the country.
Who' killed this woman? That
was the 'riddle to Which there
apheated id be rid answer,
From the Very beginning the
Pollee believed that the murder
could • just as well' have been
thremitted by a woman aa b3i
rriaii56 in February{ month'
after° the murder was dOrninitted e
when by now detectives all beer
the country Were caltying eist.
the biggest operation Of its type
.
PACKED-WITH POWER—The Ontos, an eight and one,-,half ton,
hit,tind4Urr monster, depends on its loW silhouette, maneuver-
ability and Speed for gunning its target and making a fast
getaway. It Mounts six, 105 mm. reeoiless rifles, one ..30 Cali-
ber Machine giin and four .50 cdlib,dr spotting rifles.
The following recipes may not
be practical for every day life
but they are an index to the
time when cookery contributed
much to gracious living and mak-
ing good bread was considered
an art.
An earlier article, "Do It Your-
self Bread," by William C. Hall
describing his bread-making ma-
chine reminded me that my mo-
ther had one of those machines
about 50 years age. It was the
first labor saving device she own-
ed and I have no idea what be-
came of it. •
Interest in *home baking is en-
joying a revival and a well worn
cookbook, written in the 'fash-
ionable Spencerian writing .of
the latter part of the nineteenth
century, is a treasured heirloom
in our family. It contains recipes
which have been favourites for.
generations.
Homemade Yeast Cakes
My mother made delicious
bread and rolls in her bread ma-
chine. She also made her own
yeast cakes. These were made
by taking a cup of sponge used
in making bread and working
it into a stiff dough, using corn
meal in place of flour. The
dough was then rolled very thine
cut into' cakes 'with a, biscuit cut-
ter, and allowed to dry for 2 or
3 days or until they became per-
fectly dry writes Mary Wall
in. Christian Science Monitor.
The cakes, were then stored in
a covered jar or placed,. m a
small sack. When Mother was
ready to make bread, she soaked
one or two cakes of this "yeast,"
'depending on the amount of
sponge needed, in a cup of luke-
warm water and' this was used
in the same way, we now use the
dry commercial yeast.
* * *
- 'Rusk
Mother made a„, bread which
she called "Rusk," that was a
favourite with the; 'family, She
took a piece of. dough large
enough to makea loaf of bread,
made a dent' in it in which, she
broke two eggs, put in a cup,of
sugar and a' cup of .raisins and
worked them well into the
dough. Sheethen let it rise, to
double its bulk and baked it for
30 or 40 Minutes or until &me.
This makes delicious tease
*
Salt Rising Bread
At noon -the day before you
make bread, 'thee 2 medium-,
sited Irish potatoes into a ,eitiart
`jar, add 2 tablespoons white
corn meal, 2 tablespoons sugar,
,and a small pinch of soda,. Pour
2 ettps, of boilieg Water into' jar,
put oh top but do not' screw
doWn.
Set away in a warm place Until
Motning When there should be
about• an inch of Main arid you
will notice ski odd odor. If
, there is no foam er odes', do
hot use it. The success of the
Salt rising bread depends upon
the yeatt
Scald but do not boil 1 quart
sweet Milk, add ;2 tablespoons
sugar, a small pinch of soda and
1 Clip el liquid drained eroin the
jar containing yeast.
Add enough flour! to make a
hatter and set iri a Weenie place
to- until`: it doubles its btilk.
Add salt, lat about :the size of
en egg, and 1 tablets Of
Sugar, Knead, 20 minutes. Melte
into 'loaves, place in greased,
PatiS and let rise hcititS, 'Sake
in a Moderately het oven) (350
F.) Until done, '
*
Reetesi Medea
Ili. Making beaters theta at-
*ays use one teaspoon salt, a
Vice of lard the size of oh egg
atill a teacup' of Milk to A quart
"At least, sire les one, way of
balancing our ledger:"
Glin.--,Paur-year-old Marlene thaen straightens wit the
tongue Of h.br to y dog during a photagraphing session. Mare
terse it the/ 1957 United States March Of Dimes Poster' Girl, A
pailo Via& since 1955, Marlene) Win" He seen an the patted'
kvitinirict Jan., 9y 1957.
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