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Zurich Herald, 1955-01-20, Page 6TA LE TALKS eicaeLAncittews Every year a big United States flour company conducts a nation-wide cookery , the size of which you can im- agine when. I tell you that $23,- 800 was the grand prize won by a Mrs. I(oteen of Washington, D. C. Before giving you the prize winning recipe I might as well admit that I never saw or tasted sesame seeds -- and never heard of them except in the Arabian Nights (remember "Open Ses- arne?" ) However, some of you may have a greater knowledge of them, and anyway here is the $23,000 recipe. * ,k * Bake at 450° F. for 12 min- utes, Makes 9 -inch pie. PIE SHELL 2 to 4 tablespoons sesame seeds 1 cup sifted flour 3/2 teaspoon salt cup shortening 3 to 4 tablespoons cold water Toast sesame seeds in 9 -inch pie pan at 325° F. for 8 to 10 minutes until light golden brown. Remove seeds, then turn oven to 450° F. Sift together flour and salt into mixing bowl. Add the toast- ed sesame seeds. Cut in shortening until par- ticles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle water over mixture, a little at a time, while tossing and stirring lightly with fork. Add water to driest particles, pushing lumps to side, until dough is just moist enough to hold together, Form into a ball. Flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness. Smooth dough at edges. Roll out on floured pastry cloth, or board, to a circle 11 inches larger than Inverted 9 -inch pie pan. Fit loosely into pie pan. Gen- tly pat out air pockets. Fold edge to form a standing rim; flute. When pick generously with fork. Bake at 450° F. for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Cool. * * DATE CHIFFON FILLING 1 tablespoon gelatin 1/4 cup cold water 11/4 cups milk 2 egg yolks Y4 cup sugar 348 teaspoon salt 1 cup pitted dates, chopped fine a/ cup whipping cream beaten very thick 1 teaspoon vanilla AR Dressed Up—And someplace to go, if they ever put a body on the jaloppy, Actress Ann Miller, one of the reigning queens of the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses, waits for her float to be finished. 2 egg whites 2 tablespoons sugar Nutmeg Soften gelatin in cold water. Beat together milk, egg yolks, the Y4 cup sugar and salt in top of double boiler until well blended. Cook over hot water (or directly over low heat, stirring constantly) until mixture will coat a metal spoon. Add the softened gelatin; stir until dissolved. Chill until al- most set, stirring occasionally, Fold in the whipped cream, vanilla, and dates. Beat egg whites until slight mounds form when beater is raised. Add 2 tablespoons sugar gradually, ' beating well after each addition. Continue beating to make a meringue which stands in stiff glossy peaks when beater is raised. Fold into the date mixture. Spoon into cooled baked pie shell, heaping into fluffy mounds. Chill until firm. If desired, sprinkle lightly with nutmeg before serving. * * * Now for a few good candy recipes, which are a handy thing to have around in weath- er too strenuous to allow the young folks to be out-of-doors very much. k k * When making candy, you are more certain of success if you use a thermometer, although good candy can be made with- out one. A deep saucepan, meas- uring cup and spoons, a large wooden spoon for beating, and pans for cooling are other ne- cessary items of equipment. Then select recipes that lend variety as well as • attractive- ness, and your candy reputation will be made. * * * These uncooked fruit snow- balls will add a decorative note t0 any box or plate of candy. FRUIT NUT SNOWBALLS ? cup shredded coconut 1 cup raisins 1 cup dried apricots 3/2 cup roasted, unblanched almonds 1 tablespoon honey. Confectioners' sugar Toast coconut to a delicate brown in moderate oven. Rinse raisins and apricots and steam 5 minutes. Drain, Put fruits and almonds through food chopper, using medium knife. Add honey and coconut and b l e n d thor- oughly. Shape into small balls; roll in confectioners' sugar. Makes about 24 balls, * * * An old favorite is peanut brittle. This recipe is chock full of peanut meats. Be sure to pour it out in a thin sheet, mak- ing it easy to break and easy to eat, * * * PEANUT BRITTLE 11/2 cups sugar 1 cup white syrup Y2 cup water V2 teaspoon soda 34 teaspoon salt 1 pint shelled peanuts Cook sugar, syrup, and water together until the mixture threads from a spoon. Add pea- nuts and cook until mixture be - c o m e s brittle in cold water (300° F.). Remove from heat. Add soda and salt. Beat thor- oughly. Spread thin in shallow, buttered pan. When cold, break in pieces. Store in covered can. * * * Children may enjoy making this simple cereal candy. PUFFED CORN SURPRISE 1 8 -ounce bar semisweet chocolate, chopped 6 marshmallows 1 eup pre-sweetened puffed corn cereal Line bottom and sides of loaf pan with waxed paper. Melt chocolate over hot water Cut Look To Listen—Powered by a tiny battery to right of dime, shown for comparison, a new -type hearing aid which masquerades as on eyeglass frame is now in production. Clear plastic tube, shown on lower ear frame, conducts amplified sound to the wearer's ;ear: The battery, which screws into oar frame, has a fife -in -use of about 180 hours. Frames may be fitted with clear glass for those with good eyesight who yet want to dispense with para. phernalia of more conventional hearing devices, according to the manufacturer. When In Rome . . . Mrs. Wanda Jennings, "Mrs. America of 1955," tries her hand at preparing a dish of Italian spaghetti, under the watchful eye of a chef at a Rome hotel. She won her title because of her proficiency in cooking, meal planning and • housekeeping. marshmallows into eighths. Pour half of chocolate into pan; cover with marshmallows and cereal. Spread remaining choc- olate over top. Allow to hard- en and cut into squares. Makes 12 squares made in 8x4 -inch pan. * * * Everyone has his own favorite fudge recipe, but here is one that does not require cooking. UNCOOKED FUDGE 4 squares unsweetened chocolate 3 tablespoons butter 3 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 1/.4 teaspoon salt 4 cup hot milk 1 teaspoon vanilla Melt chocolate and butter, over boiling water; remove from. heat. Combine remaining . in- gredients and mix well. Add chocolate mixture and stir un- til blended. Spread in greased, 8 x 8 x 2 -inch pan. Chill in re= frigerator, or let stand at room temperature for several hours or until firm. If desired, 2 to 2/3. eup chopped nut meats may be added before turning into pan. * * * Fondant is the basis for so many decorative candies that you may want a "refresher" recipe for it. Stuff dates or prunes with it. Color it and top it with nuts. Make balls, of it and roll them in chopped nuts. Put halves of pecans or walnuts together sandwich style with it -- these are only a few of its possibilities. * * * CREAM FONDANT 2 cups sugar 3/8 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon light cern syrup 1 cup evaporated milk Mix ingredients thoroughly. Bring slowly to boil, stirring constantly. Then cook over medium heat to soft ball stage (238° F.), stirring all the while. Cool. Beat until creamy. Knead until smooth and plastic. Flavor as below. Set in refrigerator in covered dish overnight to ripen. Makes 1 pound. Vanilla Fondant: After fon- dant is kneaded, add 1/2 tea- spoon vanilla and knead just to distribute flavoring. Let ripen, Maple Fondant: Add 1/2 tea- spoon maple extract in same manner, L F ik stoping Bag ui d Opportunity Six weeks ago Mrs. Phyllis Angel was a Montreal house- wife who knew no more about manufacturing than the average consumer. Today, as one of Canada's thousands of small back on enough hard work and initial sucess to provide the opening chapters for a Mrs, Horatio Alger story. Mrs. Angel entered the light manufacturing business because she couldn't find exactly what she wanted in the shops, After losing a favorite shopping bag. which an aunt had crocheted for her, she was determined to re- place it with one which folded up and slipped into her hand- bag. Trudging from store to store convinced her that she would have to produce it for herself' as her preference in a %hoping bag existed only in her mind. A few weeks later she found her own design so satis- factory she decided to produce it for Others, too. After going through the for - Malities and legalities of chops- ing a name for her business', having . it duly registered and obtaining a permit, she ap- proached her first buyer with her first handmade sample. "I had to make everystitch of it by hand as I didn't even own a sewing machine and I'm a terrible sewer," she recalls. However, she found buyers didn't exactly leap at the oppor- tunity of looking at a shopping bag. Nor did their eyes pop when they saw hers. "I knew there .was nothing really ingenious about my de- sign," she says, "so I simply drew their attention to its main features. Since so many women loathe carrying shopping bags, I tried to make mine attractive selected a heavy . nylon taffeta with a rich sheen, which folds up easily to about handkerchief size. The fabric retains its crispness and a . snap fastener keeps the bag neatly collapsed when not in use." One of the first buyers she called on immediately threw up his hands at the mention of "shopping bag." "Why, I've so - many shopping bags, I would like to sell you some," he said. After finally agreeing to "just look at" her sample, he admit- ted that it filled a need and was unlike any he had in stock. A few minutes later Mrs, Angel left his office with an order for five dozen. Another store which was already carrying a fold -up type, ordered three dozen be- cause it considered hers more attractive. Since then she has sold to two other department stores and a number of smaller retail outlets in Montreal, rented i sewing machine in a factory and en- gaged an operator. To date Mrs. Angel herself has been doing all the cutting and packaging in cel- lophane. She has obtained two small machines for heat -sealing and attaching the dome fasten- ers and plastic tabs. "I find I'm actually enjoying all my business problems and believe me I have most of the problems if none of the organi- zation of a big manufacturer, I must go to a chain store and pay fifteen ' cents each for my car- tons and then carry them away." She has found that getting help is the easiest part of her operation, selling the hardest, because' "stores are very sales resistant these days," and pack- aging the most important. She cautions would-be manufactur- ers against going into business to make money quickly. "If you need money desper- ately," she • says, "go to work, but not for yourself," A new Canadian, she came to Montreal eight years ago with her engineer husband a n d grown-up son, Auburn -haired and energetic, she says this is her first fling at business. Prior to her marriage she was with an English newspaper feature service, but since then has al- ways been too busy taking care of her family and home to give manufacturing a thought until the day she lost her shopping bag. "HAVE -A -LOOK" SURGERY Samaria, an African native, has been renamed "Have -a• Look" by hospital authorities in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. Samaria had a. pain in the stom- ach, so he got a knife and open- ed up his stomach to have a look. Now heis recovering in hospital -- and his stomach is as painful as ever. 100,000 AtFii ne ral Of "Powder Puff Shlek" What was he really like — the screen's fabulous lover, Ru- dolph: Valentino, the "Sheik" of the 1920s whom young men aped and Women went crazy about? "As strange a man as 1 ever met," says Hollywood director Adolph Zukor, who cast the young Italian for the part after he had worked as landscape gardener, dishwasher, gigolo, and "bit '"actor in the studios. He hardly moved his lips when c he sang...His acting was mostly confined to protruding his large, occult eyes, drawing back the lips of his wide, sensuous mouth, baring his gleaming teeth, and flaring his nostrils. Always in Debt Improvident, with expensive tastes, he lived from day to day, and all his life was in debt. Zukor's corporation raised his salary far above the contract terms. This only whetted his appetite, which became down- right unreasonable after "Blood and Sand," with America's lads imitating him, women organiz- ing fan clubs and mobbing the theatres. He rarely smiled, on the screen or off; Zukor cannot re- call ever having seen him laugh, yet he could be charming vrhen he wished. But he could be violently tempermental, too. One day Zukor saw him ar- guing with an assistant director. His face paled with fury, his eyes stared wildly, his whole body quivered, he was near hy- steria. The situation grew worse, and finally he walked out with no intention of returning. Arrested for Bigamy He was married; but the re- lationship did not last long. Later he fell in love with the' beautiful Winifred O'Shaugh- nessy, who preferred to be known as Natacha Rambova. She was art director for Alla Nazimova, one of Zukor's stars, and like Valentino, believed herself to be guided by a super - neutral power. They were mar- ried before his divorce decree was final. Arrested in Los An- geles for bigamy, he got out of it on the plea that the marriage had never been consummated. Natacha appeared cold, mys- terious, and affected Oriental garb and manners, but it was felt that she would be a good influence on him, and she brought him back. But now,. Zukor says in his engrossing memoirs of fifty years 'of film life — "The Public is . Never Wrong"—they had two Powers to deal with. She began. to insert herself into the smallest details, and he backed her in everything. His new pictures, "Monsieur Beaucaire" and "The Sainted Devil," were less successful. $80,000 Trip But the Valentino cult con- tinued, Newspapers poked fun at the sleek hair and powdered faces of the. "sheiks." Things were not helped when he wore a slave bracelet given him by Natacha, but he raged at any suggestions that he discard it. Zukor'e firm did not renew his contszact, partly because Na- tacha wanted even more con- trol over his pictures, so with a new company founded for the purpose he began work on a film dealing with the Moors in early Spain. Author: Natacha. The pair spent $80,000 travel- ling hi Europe for background material and exotic props, then the "`story was shelved and "Cobra" . substituted, with Na- tacha in full charge. It did poor- ly, and the venture folded up, so did the marriage. Shortly after Joseph Schenck of United Art- ists took a chance with "The Son of the Sheik," Valentino's last picture. skikermeteweseermemeisee His publicity became less fay- ourablee the fun poked at the "sheik" increased, and he grew more irritable, He was in Chicago when the "Tribune' had an editorial head- ed "The , Pink Powder Puffs" about a face -powder coin device in the men's cloakroom at et. dance hall. Many of the young men car- ried their own powder -puffs, and by inserting a coin could get a sprinkle of powder. The editorial viewed this with alarm, placing most of the blame on "Rudy, the beautiful gardener's boy" and expressing sorrow that he hadn't been drowned long ago. An earlier editorial had poked fun at the slave. bracelet. According to his business manager, Valentino's "face pal- ed, his eyes blazed, and his. muscles stiffened." He dashed off an open letter " to the Man (?) Who Wrote the Editorial Headed 'The Pink Powder Puffs'," and gave it to a rival newspaper. "I call you a con- temptible coward," he wrote, challenging him to a boxing or wrestling contest, expressing the hope that "I will have an oppor- tunity to demonstrate to you that the wrist under the slave bracelet may snap a real fist into your sagging jaw," and closing with "Utter Contempt." SUICiDE AND RIOTS When Valentino, stricken with appendicitis, died in 1925, Zukor was stunned by the hysteria which followed. In London a woman dancer committed sui- cide, in New York another shot herself on a heap of his photo- graphs. His body was laid in state at Campbell's Funeral Home, New . York, and imme- diately a crowd of 30,000, mostly women, gathered. Rioting began as police tried to form queues. Windows were. smashed. Mount- ed police charged and women rubbed soap on the pavement to make the horses slip. Acrowd of 100,000, mostly women, lined the street for the funeral, at which Zukor was one of the pall -bearers. Zukor is similarly frank about other famous stars - in this well - illustrated cavalcade of film his- tory, written from the personal angle. T. A. Dade :;Ig Profit S - Iling Spiders Cobwebs hanging low over the bar used to be a special attraction in an old-world inn in Herefordshire. But recently health officials ordered the li- censee to take them down. Said the licensee: "We spent years cultivating those cobwebs. The old place won't seem the same without them." A few years ago a young unemployed Frenchman raised thousands and thousands of tiny spiders and built up a business selling them to wine merchants. The insects were turned loose among consignments of new wine so that they could leave cobwebs all over the bottles, making them appear like rich vintage wine. More fantastic still was the use made of cobwebs by the doting and wealthy father of two pretty daughters when they were married in Louisiana, in 1855. He arranged for enormous quantities of a special species of Chinese spider, to be shipped to his mansion.. He also bought in California gold and silver dust weighing 500 lb. The spiders were turned loose in the mile -long avenue of great pine trees and soon the pines were linked in a fairyland of cobwebs. For a whole day Negro slaves blew the gold andsilver dust on to the webs with bellows. Next day the two brides walk- ed slowly under this glittering canopy to the altar. vg 4 Don't Worry, There's A Window Between 'Ern --This squirrel and eat have a noon confab each day at the home of Mrs. Byron Filkins, The, conference, according to Mrs. Wilkins, appears to be friendly and satisfactory to both animals, !Mackie, the cat, is 17 years old.