Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1953-8-26, Page 3;rases TALKS JawAnduecws We pickling time — or just about; so today's column will be inside up with some hints that may be helpful, '!Why do I get soft pickles?" „Why .do I get hollow pickles?" many young house- wives enquire, Softness and hol- lowness may be. caused because the vinegar used was not strong enough, or the brine too weak, cheek the label of the vinegar bottle to be sure the vinegar is 4°k—unless recipe instructs you differently. Pickles such as dills will aim become soft if they are stored in open containers and pickles exposed above the brine. a" * * A note about spices: Wonder- ing how to avoid the darkening of pickles that ground spices are bound to bring about? Use cold kitchen logic and place whole spices in a bag, or tie in a piece of muslin and lower away into the pickle -pot. Merely remove bag before transferring pickles to jars; a * t ' Pickling Statistics, In using coarse pickling salt (not iodized), it is handy, to know that the av- erage weight of a cup of salt is about 10 ounces or % of a pound * * Don't ignore your pickling - time tools; The type of cooking utensils you select will le luenoe the colour of the pickles. For best results, use ..enamelware, aluminum and stainless steel, Spoons? You can't go wrong with wooden, stainless steel or alum- inum. * . n< Utilize dry mustard this pick- ling festival. It's a good cook's trick to enliven winter -bound meals. Here's a line-up of the wide, choice of recipes from which you may select Small Cu- oughly and then rinse, To stern- ize, cover with Bold water, bring slowly to boiling point, boil 20 tl mins: Keep jars in water until ready to fill, Remember too, large mouthed jars are easy to 1111. ✓ s* Are you a "working woman" or maybe just a hard-working woman? Here's a pickling pro- ject that involves little time : and effort, Alternate layers or raw sliced onions and green tomatoes in a crock, add coarse pickling salt and your favorite array of spices. Place a hegvy weight atop this. After several days, turn to them again and drain juice, add vinegar and sugar, What have you created? Crisp, interesting, uncooked pickles. It is always wise to concentrate on one type of pickles in a pick- ling session. Don't try to rush your pickles. Small quantities too, spell pickle perfection, Here's a dependable, delicious Mustard Pickle Dressing to add after the vegetables are prepar- ed; Mix 1 cup flour, 6 table- spoons dry mustard, 1 tablespoon turmeric. Add enough vinegar to make a smooth paste. Add 2 cups sugar and more vinegar (2 quarts in all,) and boil until thick and smooth. * + * Do you realize that you can prepare pickled eantalope just as you can watermelon. Indeed you can—peel cantalope, de -seed it, run for the cookie -cutter once more to create those intriguing shapes from the pulp of the can- talope. Finally cook in similar syrup as that for watermelon pickles. * * * * a Some pickles must be sealed airtight, for instance Tomato Chili Sauce, or Chili Sauce from cumber Pickles, Mustard Beans, Celery Relish, Good Olde Home- made Mustard Pickles, Uncooked Pickle, Tomato Catsup, Carrot Relish and Apple Chutney. b t M Some sure -sugar facts in pick- ling: Sugar is used in nearly all pickles. One of the main causes of shrivelled or tough pickles, stems from adding the sugar too rapidly. Well -cured cucumbers take, up sugar faster than uncur- ed or poorly cured cucumbers and give a better textured pickle. * a* Argument: Why should I make pickles when the store shelves are stocked with them? For the fun of it; for the pride of it; for the art of it. Home pickled goods make unique gifts — buy small, attractive jars that can be put to use afterwards; paint flower designs on them with glaze paints, after the pickles are pre- pared and jarred. * * * To Jar Your Memory: You won't -be a perfect pickier until your technique is perfect in the Jar Department, Kinds of Jars: vacuum sealed metal covers for most pickles (new covers each season, please). • The rubber rings on these jars will also have to be changed each pickling "do". Prepariij'g Jars: Inspect care- fully, discard those with the slightest nick, run finger around edge to detect nick or crack, Test rubber ring by folding the ring double, press finely. Good rub. ber does not crack. , • Washing Jars: do ,this (hoe - MERRY MENAGERIE' "He's going through that 'Ring Arthur-itelghthood' phasel' fruits, and various kinds of rel- ishes. However, pickles such as Mustard Pickles, Dills, Green Tomato, Pickled Onions may be kept in crocks. Although they require a close -fitting cover, they need not be sealed airtight. If you put the above pickles into jars, you may cover them with heavy brown paper and tie se- curely with wet string. They will keep. o a s Vinegar Quiz: which variety is the choice for pickling? Your selection of cider vinegar (made from apple juice) or white vine- gar, is a matter of your family's good taste. Either are ideal far pickling. Cider vinegar hasa mel- low flavour; white vinegar may be preferred when making light coloured pickles such as onions or cauliflower. You must be sugar -wise too, in pickling. Watch your variety and amounts. White granulated is your common friend in autumn pickling, but once in a blue moon, golden brown sugar is preferred in some pickles. Use your own good taste—you'll know when you are seeking a different subtle flavour in your pickles. CAUTION: If 'you are over- generous with the sugar ladle your pickles will be shrivelled. ' • k• t'o ' pireserve vegetables in coarse pickling salt: BEANS -r 1 ib. coarse salt to 4 lbs, titans PEAS -• - 1 Ib. coarse salt to 5 lbs. peas CORN — I lb: coarse salt to 4 lbs. •cern Method: blanch vegetables 3 mins. — at simmering temp, (180 degrees F.) Chill in ice, cold ,water. Cool vegetable to approxi- mately lukewarm (60 degreesF.) Before salting, Drain thoroughly, A layer of salt first on bottom of crock, then layer of vegetable and soon until full, ending with layer of salt, A wooden cover then applied and weighted down with h'eavy object. In a few days brine will form Make sure bring covers vegetables, They will keep in this manner indefinitely, 'When ready to use soak them over= night in fresh water, Cook in usual manner. There's One Bor't Every t2 Seconds Washington The 160,000,000th statistical American checked into the toy of the Department of Commerce on Aug, 10 at two minutes and eleven seconds after 11 A.M. The arrival of this very special citizen was recorded by news- reels and television and witness- ed by curious sight -seers and Census Bureau officials had his arrival clocked almogt to the split second. It took place on a big popular recorder called the "cen- sus clock;" Resembles Speedometer It looks like anything but. a Block, It resembles a huge speed- ometer big enough to take up the dashboard of a car, Mounted over a big, billboard -size map of the United States in the foyer of the Commerce Department, it lighted up with a flashing red, blue, and green lights for dra- matic effect while ticking off the population "mileage" day by day. Generally it attracts only casu- al interest, tourists finding the live fish in the aquarium exhibit downstairs far more exciting than statistical Americans. But this was the day that tour- ists kept the fishes waiting as crowds gathered about the great map and its ticking population "speedometer" which would send Americans over the historic 160,- 000,000 mark. One Every 12 Seconds Cameramen balanced on step- ladders above the crowd, camer- as aimed at the changing figures. Necks were strained tensely as the great mechanical counter ticked off new Americans at the rate of one every 32 seconds. Newsreel cameras whirred as the mechanical -computer turned to 159,999,999. This was it Then suddenly the thing registered 159,000,000. What was wrong? Nothing that a good mechanic couldn't fix. A ladder was quickly propped against •the exhibit, a man quick- ly mounted it, opened a little trap door under the million column, and pulled the 8 and 0. A Matter of Economy It took the word a little time to get around, but it seems that the computing mechanism has never been extended to the mil- lion column as a matter of econ- omy, since this changes only every five months or so. The machine operates on the theory that this country makes a net gain in population of one person every 12 seconds. It was built in 1925 for exhibition at the Philadelphia Sesquicenten- nial and has made numerous fea- ture appearances since on similar occasions. When the actual census was determined by the nose count of 1950, the "clock" was only 80,- 000 off. Faster Than India The Population Reference Bu- reau, a private agency, reports that the population of the United States is mounting at a faster rate than that of India or of the world as a whole, the United Press said. STORM OVER GODIVA Once again Lady Godiva has created a furore—not by riding unclothed through the streets this time, but because the. new clock which represents her, over- looking the city centre, has en- raged Coventry folk, The wood -carved figures of Godiva and Peeping Tom—the one naked on horseback while the other peers from a window, then covers his eyes—have been call- ed "vulgar" and "a slur on our benefactress." But despite the storm of protests the city coun- cil has decided to keep the clock Rufe's Aloof—Rufus the hornbill, restless bird from the Far East, has hundreds of New York re- sidents gawking up at him as he perches 28 floors above Wall Street. The only victim of Rufe's freedom was Joseph Schlesinger of the ASPCA, who chased Rufe for hours, trying Id ,catch the bird and return him to the pet shop. After many hours of free- dom the hornbill was caught when he walked into a pigeon coop belonging to a Manhattan rubbish collector, who held Rufe in captivity until Schlesinger claimed him. Patriot honored—A proud smile brightens the wrinkled face of Madame Aucoufurier as a medal is pinned to her dress by Admiral Auboyneau at Saigon. The aged patriot was honored for assistance to French and Viet Namese forces in Indo-China. Bloody Nose Was Making of Champ Many years ago there lived a fighter famed far and wide as the Nonpareil, the original Jack Dempsey, middle -weight chem.— pion of the world. While in San Fransisco one day, he dropped into the gymnasium of an ex- clusive athletic club for a work- out. Unable to find a sparring part- ner, the Nonpareil sought out the boxing champion of the club and asked him whether he would care to go a few rounds with him. The club champion was a tall slim dignified -looking bank clerk. The invitation from the great champion awed the young man but he eagerly accepted the chal- lenge. It was an opportunity not to be missed, not even by an amateur. For a while the two men spar- red easily with the amateur hold- ing his own against the middle- weight champion. Then suddeg- ly, the Nonpareil brought up a hard right flush to the generous- ly proportioned nose of his ad- versary, The blood gushed from the wounded member. Fists swing- ing wildly, the young man lost his head and sailed into the great Nonpareil, determined to reduce him to powder. The champion cleverly side- stepped, clinched, and pinned his opponent's arms to his sides. "Cool off, son," he whispered soothingly, "I'm sorry I gave you a bloody nose. Come on, let's be friends," The words calmed the amateur quickly, He left the floor for the dressing room • and began to change. A few minutes later the Nonpareil joined him and threw a fatherly arm around his shoul- ders. "Your're not a bad fighter, S011," he said. "You have the spark of a champion. Take my advice and go into the ring. I'in sure there's a great future ahead of you. I'll help you all I can." The twe men became fast friends, They boxed together of- ten and the eager young ama- teur learned all that the Non pareil -could teach him of the art of fisticuffs. The boy was an apt and will- ing pupil. So well did he learn his chosen trade that, in time, he burst upon the sports world with a new kind of boxing magic, the cleverest boxer yet seen am- ong the heavy men of the ring. The day came when the former bank clerk flung out his drama tic challenge to the champion of the world—John L. Sullivan! His impudence was met by jeers, laughter and abuse. This danc- ing master, this dude, this softie, in the same ring with the great John L? Ridiculous! In twenty-one bloody rounds, the challenger stabbed and par- ried, till the champion's face was a bloody mess. Finally the grand old champion went down, knock- ed out by the young upstart. And it was a bloody nose then led the• dignified young bank clerk to that moment in the ring that is every fighter's goal—the cry of the announcer when the champion has sunk into the dust of defeat: "The winner and new champion --James J. Corbett!" PLASTIC VALVE FITTED TO HEART A severe attack of rheumatic fever in her childhood left Mrs. Betty Stilleman, of Beverly Hills', with a defective heart valve "Shortness" of breath and ex- treme fatigue made life miser- able for her, Doctors studied her case, and finally a surgeon performed a new operation involving an arti- ficial valve made of plastic and shaped rather like a bottle. This two-inch "valve" was inserted into the heart to replace the de- fective natural one and performs its job perfectly. Opening to let blood surge through, it then Closes to prevent any backward flow, Iron Curtain Tales An urchin in Slovakia was be- ing catechized by a Soviet in- spector. "Who is your father?". queried the inspector. "The in comparable Stalin," proclaimed, the urchin. "And your mother?" "The incomparable Soviet Union," said the urchin in the same parrot -like tone. The in- spector allowed himself the shadow of a smile, and asked, "What would you like to be when' you grow up?" The urchin answered fervently, "An or- phan." S 0 F A Budapest merchant, travel- ing through Russia and border- ing states, sent his friend a series 'of tell-tale postcards. The first read: "Greetings from Free Mos- cow," the second, "Greetings from Free Warsaw," the third, "Greetings from Free Prague." Then there was a month's silen- ce, after which a final message arrived, postmarked Paris. This one read "Greetings from Free Rabinowitz." Three prisoners at a labor camp in Czechoslovakia engaged in surreptitious converse. Whisper- ed the first prisoner, "I'm here because I was suspected of being in sympathy with Radek." The second reported, "I'm here be- cause I was said to be plotting against Radek." The third pris- oner said, "I'm Radek." ..Plain Horse Sense.. by BOB FLUS -1 Judging by the results of the election Rt, Honourable James G. Gardiner, Federal Minister of Agriculture, must have been right when be said In his cam- patgn: "The farmers never had it so good, they are making more money, than ever before. There are no surpluses and the British markets are not lost," Not only he himself re-elected, butmost of his colleagues with him, Only in Saskatchewan did the farmers really think it was time for a change, although they returned Mr. Gardiner to his job in Ottawa. Benson's Nightmare. This means that Canada's eco- nomy will continue to be geared to that of the United States. It might be interesting therefore to look and see how agriculture is faring South of the 49th parallel. Anthony West in his "Letter from NewtYork" in Saturday Night describes the "nightmare" of Mr. Benson, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, caused by this year's bumper crops of wheat, corn and cotton. He says that the drought (in Texas and Colorado) and the farm surpluses are forcing Mr, Benson to "slap on snore of the controls his party was calling 'creeping socialism' last fall, and pay out more federal aid." Admittedly there is not de- pression—yet—but it is evident "that the slightest deviation to- wards a free market and the re- laxation of Democratic buying and support policies will produce one." Something Dynamic On his return to Washington from a tour through the country recently, Mr. Benson was given a lecture by a group of Repub- lican Congressmen who thought that "he wasn't doing enough to ensure their re-election in '54" and who wanted "something dynamicfrom him to sweeten the voting farmers." Instead of holding up to them their refusal of Mr. Eisenhow- er's proposal to use the huge crop surpluses in Government stores as "propaganda give-away material" in famine and distress areas to fight growing „Commun- ism, instead of plugging for the $150 million appropriation for drought relief, Mr. Benson point- ed to one "principal difficulty which faced him." He wanted legislation enabl- ing him to get rid of the 134,- (100 Democratic employees still in the Department of Agriculture and to replace then by Repub- licans. Then everything would be all right, More than Doubt', All he actually did was'tighten up .the regulations against the importation of Canadian cheese. Mr. West expresses "more than doubt" that a cabinet including men like Benson is "capable of holding off a depression," Canadian farmers may find' in the not too distant future that they have been betting too heavily on the wrong horse, This column welcomes sug- gestions, wise or foolish, and all criticism, whether constructive or destructive and will try to answer any question. Address your letters to Bob Ellis, Box 1, 123 - 18th Street, New Toronto, Ont. Some Doli—The girl above is no midget. She's just dwarfed by one of the "king-sized" marion- ettes which are attracting visitors to Rome, Italy, this year. Up 10 five feet tall and weighing as much as 35 pounds, the dolls have been clashing swords in a show depicting the Crusades. Some of the dolls are valued at $1,000. Bulldog Gets A Nervous :reakdown Because Of Mistress's Driving With deft fingers the white. coated London veterinary sur- geon examined the spaniel the small boy had brought to him with the statement, I think he has a sore back, sir." "Your dog," said the surgeon, "has a slipped disc. We shall have to operate." That afternoon they did, using the technique that surgeons use on human beings with slipped discs. In the same animal hospi- tal a retriever, seriously ill with pneumonia, was being given in- jections of penicillin under an oxygen tent. It is all part of the extension of the benefits of medicine and dentistry to domestic animals. One United States veterinary surgeon has even claimed to have cured an English bulldog of that fashionable complaint of modern life — a nervous breakdown. The cause was a mistress who drove a motor car too quickly for his nerves. In laboratory tests at Princeton University, in the United States, pigs have been made jittery and neurotic after being trained to do difficult tricks. And Professor David M. Levy of the same university tells of a dog that started limping be- cause it was jealous of a new baby in the house and wanted to attract attention. Wild animals are comparative- ly free from disease. Their life is rougher and they have no lengthy old age. As soon as they become unfit for the struggle for life they die or are preyed upon -by other animals. To -day, veterinary surgeons cure dogs of kidney diseases, paralysis, tuberculosis and other illnesses. United States veterinary sur- geons have been transplanting corneas from slaughtered ani- mals to living ones. Birds benefit, too. Canaries have their voids cured with drugs. Soft foods bring on dental caries in animals, Three rows fitted with false teeth were re- cently exhibited at the Al) Union Agricultural Show at Moscow. The cotes were brought from the Ukraine to display the dentures, and Russian papers acclaimed the experiment as of national ini- pertauce. A number of valuable Austral- ian, Merino stud rams, recently developed pyorrhoea, due, no doubt, to a somewhat artificial diet. Dentists were called in and gave the rams, some of them worth up to $10,000, t h e treatment that is often given to human sufferers from pyorrhoea. The dental surgeons performed what is called a gingevectomy— that is, the puffy upper parts of the gums were cut away under an anaesthetic. The rams are now reported to be chewing happily. Before long the old notion of looking for a gun when a race- horse breaks a leg may be dis- carded. The Veterinary School of 'the University of Pennsylvania has been scoring over fifty per cent. successes in healing frac- tures. Even this hitherto miraculous bone mending is antiquated be- side the record of Peter Wehner. a dentist. Just before the war Wehner was attending a race meeting near' Cincinnati. A favourite, Prince Pine, stumbled and broke his left foreleg. There was the usual call for a gun. Wehner's wife found herself running down the track, calling out, "You must not shoot him!" The veterinary surgeon said nothing could be done. When a racehorse breaks his leg there is one recognized way of setting it. The horse must be hoisted in a sling for two or three weeks in order to take its weight off the injured leg. Lungs and liver cannot stand the strain, and the wretched animal usually dies of pneumonia long before the bone knits. The dentist and his wife took up the challenge. They went home in a float with Prince Pine. And there luck played its part, as it has done so often in im- portant discoveries. Wehner set the leg and made a cast for it with the plaster dentists use for making the moulds of bridge -work. It set quickly, and was so hard that Prince Pine's kicking couldn't chip it. And it buttressed the leg so firmly that the horse could set it down within a day. Prince Pine raced again, and all America learned his story. To- day Wehner has twenty horses whose lives he has saved. A novelty in animal surgery reported from Atnerica is the "de - scenting" of skunks. These make charming pets—but for one thing. Now vets are removing the scent glands, and everybody is happy,