The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-03-07, Page 16)g'ag'e 2—Crossroads—March 7, . 494
dlelIgbt dinners
abright!dea
"The starry tapers down-
ward burn . . ." That line
(from Walter de la Mare, I
think) leapt years ago from
the pages of my. Grade 9
English text and fixed itself
in my mind. I loved candle-
light then and 1 love it now.
All through our house,
stained table tops and singed
furniture bear witness to this
wicked obsession.
Most of my friends are
equally daft. Funny, isn't it?
For some reason it is con-
sidered a socially elevated
activity to dine in, the dark.
Certainly eating by candle-
light conceals a multitude of
sins, like fold of skin where
there used to be dimples, and
spotty tablecloths.
How can you tell a good
plain food eatery from a
restaurant with pretentious
of grandeur? A friends says
the plain places are staffed
with, waitresses who say
"Would youse like something
from the bar?" Fancy
places, he insists, hire wait-
resses who ask, "Would
youse care for something
from the bar?"
I say you can separate the
beaneries from the high-
priced clip joints by the size
of the menu and the style of
the lighting. A small bill of
--fare with coffee stains, and
fluorescent tubes in the ceil-
ing indicate Bill's Grill. En-
large the menu and put tas-
sels on it, rip out the over-
head fixtures and spot
candles on each table and
you have Chez Guillaume.
There are some, who, after
a hard day at the office,
carrying pieces of paper
from one desk to another, re-
sent coming home to a din-
ner table that is wreathed in
Stygian darkness. Some -
HEY KIDS! LEARN TO DRAW
WITH DANNY COUGHLAN
times, one is simply too
weary to _smell the mashed
potatoes to make sure they
are not horse radish. One
relative, fed up with feeling
for his food, is reported to
have produced a flashlight at
table so he could get the salt
and pepper on right.
One could argue that if
eating in semidarkness is a
good thing for western
civilization, then perhaps
breakfast would be the time
to do it. At that time most of
us are unwashed and semi-
conscious and greatly in
need of concealment.
But no. Breakfast, that
cruelest of meals, we illu-
mine with sufficient intensi-
ty to conduct brain surgery.
To lunch by candlelight
seems silly if not sinful, and
suggests that you are plan-
ning to do something down-
right naughty after lunch.
I have a friend who packs
white linen, tall goblets and
an enormous antique silver
candleabra when she goes
picnicking up the shore. She
and her spouse enjoy the ex-
pressions on the faces of
those who come round the
point by boat and discover
what looks like a centrefold
from Canadian Hotel and
Restauranteur right there on
the pre -Cambrian rock.
What started me thinking
about candles was a sale
held recently in a downtown
store which featured nice
long candles — 12 of them,
for two bucks. ( Not a fire
sale actually. A flame 'sale. )v
This news set off a stampede
as all the local romantics.
came out of the closet and
waxed thrifty. I bought a
box. My husband bought a
1. Here's Danny's complete drawing.
box. Some of my friends
bought boxes. We have years
of candlelight 'lining ahead
of us.
We noted that the sale can-
dles were made in China. I
don't know what to make of
this. I have dined in many
Chinese restaurants — all
the way from the Delightful
Food in Vancouver to the
Star Cafe in Halifax. Never
have I seen candles on the
table in a Chinese restaur-
ant. Good thing, too. As
much as I love candles I
would not trade one for a
dish of creamed cauliflower
with crab meat, or ginger
chicken. When it comes to
Chinese food, I don't mind
eating in full daylight. It is
all so good.
At any rate, this would in-
dicate to me that the Chinese
do not, as a regular habit,
dine by candlelight.
But they are clever at
divining the needs of others,
the Chinese. And they then
set about filling those needs.
When they found out we
were fond of wanton destruc-
tion, they sent us gunpowder.
When they heard • that we
were obsessed with eternal
youth and everlasting sexuai
vigor, they gave us ginseng.
They recognized our' -t "ror
of obesity and gave us «low
peas and bean sprouts.,
Now they have caught on
to our national anxieties
about looking old and run-
ning out of energy. Vola!
Shiploads of candles.
Now — if they can produce
calorie free pecan pie or a
cigarette that cures bald-
ness, they can conquer the
world, as long as they buy
our wheat in exchange.
By Louisa Rush
If for some reason the edge
of a bedroom wMdow shade
becomes soiled, torn or
generally in need of repair,
why not use a border of cro-
chet? I saw an excellent
example of crochet used in
this way in a lovely bedroom
which had been exquisitely
furnished with antiques.
I immediately thought of
my pattern number 7703. It is
featured as the border trim -
MICROWAVE MAGIC
Your favorite -beef
By Desiree Vivea -
Today we have two beef
recipes , for your microwave,
one for chuck roast, the other
for ground beef .
FAVORITE BEEF
POT ROAST
3 to 4 lb. beef chuck roast
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
'/2 tsp. salt
I/4 tsp. pepper
5 allspice, whole
1 small bay leaf
8 medium carrots, cut in one -
inch lengths
8 small potatoes, peeled and
'quartered
6 to 8 small onions
Pierce meaton all sides
with sharp tined fork.
Dredge roast in flour, and
placein 5 -quart glass casser-
ole or cooking bag set in bak-
ing dish. Sprinkle meat with
remaining flour. Add water,
wine and seasonings. Cover
tightly or tie cooking bag
loosely with a strip of plastic
cut from end of bag.
Microwave at 50 per cent
power ( medium) for 30 to 35
minutes per pound, turning
roast over and adding vege-
tables after half the cooking
time. Let stand, covered, at
least 10 minutes before serv-
ing. Serves six to eight.
CHILI BEEF
WITH RICE
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 medium green pepper,
diced
1 clove garlic, minced
crossroads
Published every Wednesday by Wenger Bros. Limited as the lifestyle and
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Times, The Mount Forst Confederate and The Milverton Sun. Members of
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•
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prior to publication date.
Advertising and Production
The Listowel Banner
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P.O. Box 97,
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The Wingham Advance -Times
Josephine St.,
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NOG 2W0
The Listowel Banner -1660. The Wingham Advance -Times 357-2320
The Mount Forest C nfederate 323-1550. The Milverton Sun 595-8921
1/2 cup long grain rice
1 lb. ground beef
1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes, with
liquid
1/z cup whole pitted black
olives
1 tbsp. chili powder
11/2 tsps. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Preheat a 91/2 -inch brown-
ing skillet/on high setting for
41/2 minutes. Saute onion,
green pepper, garlic and rice
in oil for three minutes, stir-
ring once every minute.
Crumble in beef and micro-
wave, uncovered, for three
ehet which gives a very pret-
ty effect with the tight on.
With warmer weather in
the not too dlg.tant f uture (we
tin ) why not;er aet
selfa ummer handbag this
yea r` Three very pretty
styles are given On leaflet
No. 7158, you can even add
beads to one of ..the designs
for added glamour 1
if you would like a crochet
tote bag, more in style with
today's younger look — in-
structions are on Leaflet No.
7457, while on No. 7351 there
are instructions for a very
attractive shoulder " style,
crocheted with the aid of
curtain rings, giving a dif-
ferent and unique appear-
ance.
Many readers have writ-
ten asking for crochet basket
instructions, and I do have
two leaflets. No. 6852 is a
very pretty design having
ribbon threaded through the
handle. No. 7365 is a slightly
taller basket in the pineapple
design. Both off these baskets
would hold real flowers pro-
viding you use a slimbud
vase. Or if you want to use
the plastic or silk flowers,
they will look equally attrac-
tive.
I should mention here No.
6864 which I consider a
rather unique design, being
in the shape of a water -lily.
The green leaves are spread
on the table, while the flower
petals, which can be cro-
cheted in either ecru or pink,
form a cup which can hold a
small pot, either a plant of
flowers.
0- 0 0
• This week's pattern is for a
darling little crochet dress
for the young Miss of 4-6-8
years. If you begin now, it
will be ready for Spring and.
who knows we may have a
warm Easter!
To order Leaflet No. 0381
send 75 cents plus a stamped
selfaddressed return envel-
ope. If you do not have a
stamp or envelope, please
enclose an extra 50 cents to
cover the cost of handling
and print your name and ad-
dress. Send to: Louisa Rush,
"Craft Talk", 486 Montford
Drive, Dollard des Ormeaux,
P.Q., H9G 1M6. Please be
sure to state pattern num-
bers correctly when ordering
and to enclose your stamped
envelope for faster service.
ming for a long hostess
gown, in the popular spider
web design. 'A)this particu-
lar border is six and th ee-
quarter inches deep, it w uld
be ideal for using for an e ge
to a window shade, nd
would look rather pr t y with
the sunlight shi ' through
the patte
Anothe border crochet
pattern which would be suit-
able for the same idea is No.
7704 shown as trimming for a
lampshade. The lower
border has the crocheted
bobbles, which would make a
rather interesting border for
a-s'harde.
By the way, for those . of
you. that have inquired
• whether, I.. have-- another
crcheted lampshade pattern,
I do have two others. No. 7453
is trimming for a Tiffany
lampshade, with the long
deep fringe. No. 7564 is an
overall lacey design in cro-
• 0
ORM.4.110 N
.L REMEDIAL MEASURES
- moval - Air Seal
- Heat Exchangers
-Insulation
= Gov't. grants available
Call 338-2510 Collect
David. Howes ® Representative.
Reitzel Bros. Holdings Inc.
.
minutes longer, stirring fre-`
quently. Stir in remaining in:
gredients, cover and micro-
wave nine to 10 minutes until
meat and rice are tender.
Let stand, covered, 10
minutes, then fluff with fork
before serving. Garnish with
parsley and more black
olives, if desired. Serves
four.
Recipes in this column are
tested in 625- .to 700 -watt
microwave ovens. Foods are
cooked on High (100 per cent
power) and uncovered un-
less otherwise. specified.
FLU ALERT
On Feb. 19, 1979, the Cen-
ter for Disease Control
alerted all state health de-
partments and the ' World
Health Organization to
watch for flu virus that
might be related to the virus
that caused the great flu
pandemic in 1918-10..
H. GORDON
(;REE'N
Remember the crokinole
board? I saw one in the win-
dow of a second hand store
the other day — a perfectly
good old-fashioned crokinole
board such as we had back
home when I was a boy. And
I could have shed tears of
genuine poetry about it be-
cause if I remember it cor-
rectly there was one Christ-
mas at our house when a
board such as this one was
the only gift of consequence
that our family allowed it-
self. Indeed t think I can tell
you to within a dime what
that board cost in Eaton's
catalogue — $6.95 complete
with those red and black
discs you snapped with 'a
middle finger in the hope of
making a bull's eye.
Even though you could use
those same red and black
discs to play checkers, $6.95
was an awful lot of money in
those days, but at our house
at least it was money well
spent. We played on that
board for ten years thereaf-
ter, maybe more, and if a
guest should unexpectedly
op in out of the evening, we
never. had to worry about
how to entertain. A pot of
green tea, an apple pie or
two and that crokinole board
would furnish enough hospi-
tality to warm the coldest
night or the coolest neighbor.
I've been giving some
rather sorrowful contempla-
tion of late to this 'natter of
family fun because it seems
to me that of all the lament-
able things this lush and
tipsy age is doing, to our
children, none is quite so tra-
gic as what we are giving
them under 'the label of en-
tertainment now. My radio
listeners must be a little
tired now of hearing me pro-
testing the increasing vari-
ety of horror shows on televi-
sion, and the endless number
of kill toys now being -urged
upon them. But I haven't had
my say yet about the fantas-
tic greed about the toy indus-
try as a whole, and the deter-
mination of this industry to
make a luxury trade out of
the toy business.
According to- an article in
the Saturday Evening Post
the making of modern toys is
now a ten billion dollar a
year business, and that arti-
cle was written before the
birth of the Cabbage Patch
dolls! And that ten billion
figure is the result of the fan-
taCtic dumber of ridiculously
priced toys which the indus-
try has somehow been able
to sell to the public. ,
Among the items an ador-
ing adult can now lavish
upon a child are such things
a§ a scale model Rolls Royce
for something less than $300,
a three horsepower model of
a Model T Ford for $500,
complete with a sure enough
gasoline motor; (incidently
that $500 price tag would
have bought the real thing
when the Model T was still
king of the road). In Mon-
treal this last Christmas one
very exclusive toy shop fea-
tured a pin teddy bear that
sold for $350 and which was
so big no ordinary child
could get his arms around it!
At a convention of Ameri-
can toy makers recently one
manufacturer revealed that
the mere designing of to-
day's toys has now become a
major industry, and another
forward looking proponent of
the free enterprise system —
a man whose firm special-
izes in the making of horror
plaques, declared optimistic-
ally that he foresees a time
in the near future when the
industry will have convinced
the buying public that
Christmas is by now means
the only time for the buying
of toys. "We are going to
take Christmas right out of
the toy business ! " he told his
fellow manufacturers, "and
instead we will hail the day
when children will get into
the habit of expecting new
toys all year round!"
Now I ask all you parents
who really care for your
youngsters, won't that be
just too wonderful ?
Portraits to
celebrate
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23 color portraits for only
includes
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:Photographic package includes two 8x10's,
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Studios located in most larger Sears retail
.stores.
Also-avaiiable in addition to package:
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Instant Passport Photos
Offer for 'portraits taken Mon. March 5
• thru
Sat. March 10
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met, mama wean =MN masa amain warn Mama assam..1