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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1955-01-13, Page 6LE Tk E is dai:1.e Andttews. Most of us love roast beef. We may not agree. on whether it should be cooked rare, medium or well done, but over our pref. erence for beef itself there is no argument. So some hints about how to choose and cook it might not be amiss. * Shopping for roast beef, A good shopping point to remem- ber is that each of the 3 roast beef cuts from a rib section may be priced differently, There are seven ribs in a section (eight are included in some places). The first cut next to the loin— two or three ribs—is the most tender and usually priced ac- cordingly. The center cut is next. Last, the two large ribs next to the shoulder—these are the least tender but still good for roasting, Rib roasts are found in the market in one of three forms: first, a standing rib roast with the full rib bone, measuring about 10" in length. Next is a standing rib roast with short ribs removed.( The short ends of the ribs are cut off, then cut again in serving size pieces. for another dish.) In the third cut, the rib section may be boned, rolled and tied. For tender beef, look for dull red, lean meat The fat is creamy white, ,, with marbling streaks throughout the lean parts For best roasting select a piece of beef 4" high or with at least 2 ribs. For each serving allow is pound of a standing roast, or 1A pound of boned and rolled roast. How to roast beef. Place a standing rib roast, fat side up, in a shallow open roasting pan. The rib end makes its own rack. A rolled roast should be placed on one of the cut sides on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Wipe meat with a damp cloth, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, Roast uncovered in a moder- ately low oven, 325° F. Follow this time guide: Pounds Rare Medium Standing 6 21/4 hrs. 2/ hrs, Rib Roast 8 3 hrs. 31/2 hrs. Rolled 4 21/4 hrs. 22 hrs, Rib Roast 6 3 hrs. 31/4 hrs. If a meat thermometer is used, insert it in the center of roast so it does not touch bone. Roast beef until meat thermometer registers degrees of doneness de- sired -140° F. for rare, 160° F. for medium. 170" F. for well- done beef. To serve. Place standing rib roast on a platter on the largest flat surface, ribs crosswise. A rolled rib roast also has the cut side up on a platter for easy carving. Trim the platter with water cress or other greens. Now make the gravy and serve in a very hot separate dish. Beef Gravy , , , velvety brown, slightly thickened gravy for a roast of beef, 14 cup fat and drippings from roast beef 3fc cup all-purpose flour E cups water Salt and pepper Few drops bottled brown sauce or meat extract (optional) After roast is reproved from baking pan, skin off excess fat reserving the i/4 cup drippings with some fat. Blend in flour; place pan over moderate heat and add water gradually, stir- ring constantly. Continue until all browned drippings are loosened and dissolved. Continue cooking and stirring until gravy thickens. Add salt, pepper, brown sauce or extract to suit your family. Serve in a separate dish along with the. roast. Makes about 2 cups. If a deep brown gravy color is desired and there is not suf- ficient drippings to make it so, do this: After flour is blended into fat, cook and stir over me• dium heat until flour turns car- amel color. Plate or Natural Gravy . actually meat served au jus has a gravy of the natural juices from the cut roast beef. When the supply is not generous. na- ture may be assisted by making a thin good sauce for people who prefer a plain, unthickened beef -juice gravy. 1 11W1 -ounce can beef consomme Drippinrs from roast beef Salt and pepper After roast is removed from baking pan, skim off some of the fat left in the pan; add con- somme to the remaining drip- pings. Heat and stir until brown drippings are loosened and mixed with consomme, Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and serve with roast. Makes about 1 cup. Franconia Potatoes... browned hi pan with the beef for crisp crust. Wonderful potatoes to serve with a roast of beef, 8 medium white potatoes 1 quart boiling water 1 teaspoon salt Peel potatoes and simmer in boiling salted water 15 minutes; drain well. One hour before meat is done, arrange potatoes in roasting pau around meat. Turn 2 or 3 times and baste with drippings. If potatoes are not brown enough when meat is done, place under broiler a few minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, arrange around meat on the platter; Makes 6 servings. Oven Browned Carrots and Onions . , . a tasty way to serve vegetables with a roast, Cook whole carrots 10 minutes, whole small onions 15 in boiling salted water. Drain; follow roasting di- rections for Franconia potatoes above. WORLD'S DEEPEST WOMAN A French midwife has just won the world's depth record for women. She is five feet tall, 30 -year-old Claudine Lecomte, and the other day she climbed down 1,900 feet into a cave in the French Alps. She was the only woman in a team of cave -explorers, some of whom went down as far as 2,950 feet. At 1,675 feet she set up "camp." In the dark, cold and humid cave, lit only by a few electric torches, she cooked meals for the team. An icy draught brought the temperature near freezing point, but she stayed in her under- ground camp for twelve hours. Next time she goes below, how- ever, she says she'll take an ex- tra sweater! Fashion Hints QUIET SIMPLICITY counts for much of the charm of this 'softly tailored Lady Dundee style with its dainty horizontal tucking and small pearl buttons. Designed in Duplan's new blouse fabric that's incredibly soft bi71 not sheer, wrinkle -resisting, easily ironed and with a colour performance that's miraculous because the fabric is woven of Celaperm, the Acetate with the "sealed -in" colour. In clear pastel shades that will never fade or wash out. • She's Tops With "Little People"—Ten-year-old Rosemary Ueckert (center) takes the spotlight on the Jackie Gleason TV show in New York as the grand prize winner of the 1954 NEA Service Lit- tle People's National Christmas Coloring Contest, With Jackie Gleason and her mother, Mrs. Willa Belie Ueckert, Rosemary proudly stands between the certificate she won and and an orig- inal painting by NEA artist Walter Scott, creator of the "Little People" comic strip. "L p ok-ln" Cartons Sell RI 're Eggs Eggs packaged in window -type cartons outsell eggs in the con- ventional closed type by up to 40 per cent, according to recent U.S. tests, Prior studies had shown that nearly a fifth of egg purchasers in supermarkets handled cartons before buying — camparing weights, feeling the tops, or ac- tually opening the carton in making their choice to buy. This, coupled with the trend towards the use of transparent contain- ers and packages for many other products, suggested that egg sales might be increased if customers were able to view the contents of an egg carton. In the experiments "look -in" packages were designed with 25, 40 and 50 per cent of the cover consisting of cellulose film. These cartons had considerably more window space than any other egg carton in current use. Each package was printed with the same brand name, color, size and grade of egg and was dis- played in supermarkets along with similar non -windowed car- tons. The position of each type of carton in the display was changed periodically to remove any effect of position on sales. The package with the most window surface was the most successful, 'exceeding sales of those in the non -windowed car- ton by 40 per cent. Even those with the least window surface sold 19 per cent more than the completely closed carton, Color also plays an important part in egg merchandising. It was found that white eggs pack- aged in cartons with blue in- teriors increased sales, while brown eggs did best when dis- played against white back- grounds. dvic a FFFFd111 y T� ,:ter Almost every driver feels that he is a "good" or "better than average" driver in winter wea- ther. Some special techniques which give this feeling of confidence when driving on ice or snow can be called good driving skills, but unfortunately many of them are tricks which may not always work or which have no factual basis. In an effort to get the right answers and eliminate guess work and misinformation, the National Safety Council's Committee on Winter Driving Hazards has spent years of re- search on special problems of safe winter driving. For driving practices under all kinds of winter conditions, the committee recommends six basic rules essential for safe winter driving. They are: ' 1. Accept your responsibility to de all in your power to drive without an accident. Don't blame the weatherman far an accident. Be prepared and meet the situation. 2. Get the "feel" of the road. Try brakes occasionally while driving slowly and away from traffic. Find out just how slip- pery the road is and adjust your speed to road and weather con- ditions. Remember, you can't stop on an icy dime! 3. Keep the windshield clear of snow and ice, fog and frost. Be sure headlights, windshield wiper blades and defrosters are in top condition. You have to see danger to avoid it. 4. Use tire chains and good tires. Don't rely on worn smooth tires.' Use tire chains on snow and ice. They cut stopping dis- tances about half, give four to seven times more starting and climbing traction ability. But even with the help of chains, slower than normal speeds are a "must" on snow and ice. 5. Punsp your brakes to slow down or stop. Jamming them on can lock the wheels and throw you into a dangerous skid. A little skidding can car- ry you a long"way. 6. Follow at a safe distance. Keep well back of the vehicle ahead—give yourself room to atop, Remember, without tire chains, it takes three to 12 times as far to stop on snow and ice an on dry concrete. Winter adds three important factors to the usual year 'round driving hazards. They are: Reduced visibility, inadequate traction, and temperature changes. The factors of reduced . visi- bility and inadequate traction are pretty obvious and are prob- ably generally recognized, Temperature, however, plays a much more important part on braking distances and traction than mpst drivers realize, espec- ially on ice. For example, when you first remove an ice cube from the refrigerator, it is sticky to the touch and not too slippery. After a few minutes in a :warm room, this same ice cube is so slippery it is difficult to hold. A similar situation faces the driver who starts out on an icy road early in the morning while it's still quite cold. He finds "pulling away" traction and stopping ability fairly good. But as the sun comes out and the temperature rises, he doesn't realize that the ice will become much more treacherous. When he finds he can't stop in time to avoid an accident, it's often too late, The action of ice in response to temperature presents a real hazard to the unwary driver who doesn't continuously heed the caution to "get the feel of the road." How To Stop Tests show that braking dis- tances can be considerably re- duced by pumping brakes so they are alternately applied and completely released. This tech- nique also helps retain steering control important since few car drivers realize that a sliding or spinning wheel provides no di- rectional control whatsoever. On glare ice the pumping technique is one all drivers should use. It's different, but not particularly difficult. It con- sists of a 'series of very rapid brake applications, making sure that brakes are fully applied for an instant and then completely released for an instant. The driver should do this just as rapidly as he can. On packed snow and less slip- pery surfaces, the driver can usually feel'the point at which the brakes lock and the wheels start sliding. On such surfaces, therefore, the preferred tech- nique is for the driver to apply the brakes gently until he feels that the wheels are starting to slide and then release them slightly. However, if he can- not get results, he should start the pumping technique at once. Row To Start On snow or ice, start in second or high gear. This permits a smoother acceleration which will get you moving without sliding. And, letting the clutch out with a jam and spinning the wheels isn't good for tires or chains. A fluid clutch or an automatic transmission greatly helps in ac- celerating gently and smoothly. If your car has overdrive or is of the dual range type, leave it in "low range." It will handle steadier with less shifting. Start slowly and then steadily accelerate. Good drivers practice this in the summer as well as in the winter. Tire Chains Most drivers dislike the both- er of putting on tire chains but tests have shown tire chains cut braking distances in half on both snow and ice. With reinforced chains, traction to get going is increased about seven times over that possible with regular tires on ice. On packed snow, such chains outpull regular tires nearly four times. Reinforced tire chains ' (each link of the cross -chains is rein- forced by projecting teeth or cleats) are very effective on glare ice in reducing braking distances, opposing side skids and increasing forward traction, as compared with regular chains. Particularly noticeable in these improved chains is their much better resistance to side skid. Special Tires Leading tire manufacturers have been doing much work to improve tires so that they give better service the year around. In recent years they have pro- duced many special treads and winterizing treatments designed to increase traction on winter's snow and ice, These special tires serve a purpose under certain weather or road conditions, particularly when snow or slush is soft and not too deep—so that the tread can bear down and grip into the soft surface. In its numerous test projects on snow and ice, the National Safety Council's Committee on Winter Driyirig Hazards has studied more than 25 treads and winterizing treatments specially designed for winter use, The conclusions are that a few of the winter tires reduce braking dis- tances somewhat and improve traction, particularly on soft snow. however, the overall improvement of even the best tires tested is not great enough to warrant less care or precau- tion when driving on slippery surfaces. Considering the haz- ards involved, drivers should al- so realize that a majority of the winter tires tested were poorer or little better than regular tires, Slow Down Unfortunately, when some drivers find they have extra traction and stopping power, they may start driving faster than they should. Repeated tests have shown in order to provide the sante stop- ping ability available on dry pavement at a speed of 50 miles an hour, speed on ice must not be higher than 25 miles an hour with reinforced tire chains or 15 miles an hour with special win- ter tires. On hard packed snow, a speed of 35 mph with chains or 28 mph with special tires gives stopping ability equiva- lent to that at 50 miles an hour on dry pavement. Children dance with glee when the icy fingers of winter fasten round the windows of the home, For, to them, winter means ev- erything from ice skating to Santa Claus and a thousand other joyous things. But winter drivers do not share the child- ren's delight. To them, as to the traffic-- safety authorities, Jack Frost is no welcome guest in the snow belt. They know that Jack Frost is a killer! Bees And Flowers In blossom time, day after day, honeybees forage from sun- rise to sunset, visiting the flow- ers. A honeybee collects nectar or pollen on one journey, never both at the same time. And though each flower in turn is plundered, the bee visits only one species at a time. The bee, clad with many delicate bristles and hair-like processes, becom- es covered with the mealy pol- len of the flowers it visits and, entering flower after flower, leaves bits of pollen wherever it goes, These pollen grains are vitally important to the flowers, for without them they would not be able to form their seeds., The part of the flower that creates the pollen is the anther —the stamen's tip. Before seeds can be formed, pollen must find its way to another part of the flower, called the stigma. The shifting of pollen from anther to stigma is called pollination. Some flowers are able to do this work for themselves, without any outside help. This process is called self-pollination. In cross-pollination the pollen must be carried from one flower to another. Sometimes the wind - carries it, sometimes beetles car- ry it, but very often, as you many have noticed in gardens, fields and meadows, pollen is carried from flower to flower by honeybees. This is the great service that bees render the flowers—full payment for all the sweet liquid they have gathered from the nectaries and for every grain of pollen they have made into bee bread. High Level Talks -This lofty conversation of circus peformers in London, England, is aided by stits and a ladder. Left to right are: Juliet Foster, Jacqueline Revat, a trapeze artist, and "Repo," Juliet's stilt -walking partner. •