Evening Star Newspaper, April 28, 1937, Page 32

WOMEN'S FEATURES. THE EVEN NG _STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 19317. WOMEN'S FEATURES. Roast Meat Thermometer Assumes New Importance in Culinary World When Buying Utensils Construction Must Be Given Most Attention Experts Consider This More Important Than the Material of Which the Article Is Made. BY BETSY OMESTIC science marches on, cookbook compilers keep pace CASWELL. , and unless we food columnists and with its swift progress, we shall soon find ourselves hopelessly behind the times in a good many respects. ‘The Bureau of Home Economics of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture is one of the best standbys we have for keeping us abreast of all the new ideas. Just as we know 1i all, the bureau pops Upse with some recently perfected method | or discovery—and we have to go to| school all over again. Anyway, I suppose that is what keeps us young! ‘Today's lesson concerns meat cookery. The old directions about how hot the oven must be, and how many minutes to the T pound & roast should be cooked, * take an awful beating. Cooking is soon going to be like blind fly- ing —all done with instruments—and maybe with mirrors! Here 1is the bureau’s latest: "IF ALL the overcooked and under- done meats in the country were put end to end they would make a line which would reach goodness only knows how far. Fortunately cooks who ‘muddle through' meat prepara- tions are given decent privacy, so that the truth will never be fully revealed. “Science and education, moreover, are collaborating to reduce the high accident rate with roasts and other | meat cookery. One instrument which they have contributed to the cause of Better Roasts for Everybody is the roast meat thermometer. It has taken the guess work out of such cookery. “Before its advent, the housewife | had no way of knowing exactly what | ‘was happening to her roast. Some cookbooks give a roasting time of so | many minutes to the pound. Others advise about how hot the oven should be. A few realize that the cook needs | both time and temperature guidance. “But all such suggestions are quite frankly only rough approximations. | The regulator is helpful but it's not | entirely accurate. The oven thermome- ter is a valuable supplement to the regulator but tells only how hot the oven air is, not how rare or how well | done the interior of the roast in that | oven is at any given moment. “Shape, as well as weight, affects the cooking time. For instance, a rolled rib roast will not cook at the same rate | as a standard rib roast. Hence ‘min- | utes to the pound’ rules and oven heat | recorders are insufficient guides, | “A roast meat thermometer thrust | into the roast’s middle supplies the missing link in the information. A glance at this faithful indicator can tell the cook when that roast has| reached the particular stage of rare- ness or doneness which is most satis- | fying to herself and to her family. * kaix | “QUCH a thermometer is valuable for | roasting any well fattened, tender cut of beef, lamb, or pork. It is per- | haps the greatest boon in preparation of beef roasts where a rare, medium, or well done state is the goal. But| large sirloin tip and rump roasts of | beef are also best managed with such & device. It is no less useful with cured or fresh ham, since it is essential to have such a piece cooked to the center, yet not have it overcooked. “The roast meat thermometer is not | & new instrument. Its use goes back | almost 35 years to the experimental | kitchens of the University of Tilinofs. | Research people there started using Dorothy Betsy Caswell. ® ok ok % | sheet | material. We are about to sit back, and think thermometers in their work with meats to insure accuracy. Then scientists in other laboratories proceeded to use them. “The Bureau of Home Economics people in Washington saw no reason why this helpful instrument should be confined to research work; so 10 years ago they wrote various manu- facturers suggesting that they con- struct a meat thermometer for the housewife. It would have to be much less expensive than the laboratory de- vice and more easily read. “A few manufacturers responded, so that today a reasonably priced meat thermometer is available for home use. “As a meat thermometer safeguards the roast against over or undercooking it is definitely an economy purchase. Overcooking means shrinkage in meats and a resultant reduction in serving quantities. It means loss of juiciness and various other qualities that make the roast savory. If drippings are utilized in some way, much of the food value can, of course, be conserved, but there’s no way to bring back the lost servings and palatability to the roast itself. * ok ok % “AS TO the roaster, specialists in meat cookery at the Bureau of | Home Economics say that it doesn't| matter much what material it is made of. With the approved roasting methods of today the meat itself doesn't come in direct contact with the roaster bottom anyhow. The meat is set on a rack so as to be up out of the drippings of fat and juice, and not stick to the bottom of the con- tainer. “Any rack may be used to set the roast on. It need not have been specially constructed for the con- tainer you happen to be using as roaster. One like that used for cool- ing the cake will serve the roasting purpose nicely. “The roaster, then, may be made of iron, enamelware, aluminum, stainless steel, or tin, as far as the foods specialists care. They are more | particular about the construction of such a utensil than they are about its | The surface of a roaster should be smooth and the corners rounded. A roaster with sharp cor- ners, with sides joined to the bottom at sharp angles, means hours of extra time spent in cleaning. “Roaster covers, except sometimes for fowl, are now little used. A covered roast shrinks more than an uncovered one. For the less tender meats such treatment is, of course, necessary. But the already tender roast should not receive such Spartan treatment. ““Meat specialists are more critical of the utensils for surface cooking of meats and for the oven handling of the less tender cuts than they are for the roasting utensil. Meats which require long slow cooking with steam should always be cooked in thick-walled utensils with close fit- ting lids. “The Dutch oven is still one of the most useful of kitchen utensils for this long, slow cooking. It is so called because the Pilgrims brought it over from Holland, choosing it be- cause of its wide variety of uses. “Some firms recently brought out | a deep, heavy skillet of aluminum | with a tight-fitting lid—a utensil which can serve as a Dutch oven and so do double duty. * * *.” Dix Says Rules Will Assure Girls Plenty of Boy Friends. These Few Simple GROUP of young girls asks me | A to give them a few tips on how to win out with boys. ‘Well, naturally, the first thing about & girl that hits a boy in the eye is her personal appearance. Make yourself as good looking as you can, but in doing that don’t turn yourself into a freak, as so many girl do. It is all right to help nature by using cosmetics if you do it artistically, but don’t paint yourself up like & barn door. Go easy on the lipstick and long lacquered fingernails. Few men want to Kiss lips that look like a slice of raw meat. Women are enough like cats, anyway, without emphasizing the resemblance by growing claws. Don't think you will be mistaken for Garbo if you have a slinky hair cut. It may make you look like the wrath of hades! Study your type and wear the kind of clothes that compliment you, in- stead of something that brings out your every bad point just because it | is the latest fashion. Above all, be neat. Never wear mussy finery or goiled lingerie. And don’t be sparing of soap and water. It will get you a lot further with men than putting perfume behind your ears. * * ok X Dnms prettily, but not extrava- gantly. Many a girl cuts herself out of a good time by looking so expen- sive that a boy feels he cannot afford to take her out. You can’t ask the Queen of Sheba to ride in a flivver, or a girl to go to the movies if she 13 all dolled up for a gala night at the grand opera. Still less can a chap ask a girl to marry him if he figures out that his salary wouldn’t keep her in fancy shoes. Don't pose. Don't pretend. Don’t put on airs. The one thing that every man on earth hates in a woman is artificiality. You can take no surer way of scaring off a prospective date than by telling him how you dote on the Einstein theory or how you pine for the atmosphere of dear Paree (everything is so bourgeoisie in this country), or how you yearn after the whatness of the what. Men like simple, honest, real girls, who are what they are; who don't af- fect to be literary or musical if all they read is the society column in the daily papers, and like jazz; who don’t pretend that the dresses they made themselves are little French models that they picked up at a bargain for $175 and who don'’t lie about stand- ing behind & counter for fun and be- cause they find it so much more thrill- ing than going to parties. Be yourself. Don't copycat some popular girl and imitate her tricks and manners. What's fascinating in her may make you ridiculous. Don't jump around like a monkey on a stick because some other girl is vivacious. A stunt that a little girl can pull off makes a big girl look like a perform- ing elephant. No one girl has a monopoly on charm, so stick to your own line and make the most of it. * x ok x EARN how to talk and how to listen. Some girls talk too much. Others talk too little. Suit your con- versation to your company. If a boy is a monologist, lend him your ears. If he is dumb, babble like the brook that went on and on forever. But always let a man talk about himself, or talk to him about the things he is interested in. No man wants to hear the story of a girl’s life, or to discuss any of the subjects that are vital to her. It is an accom- plishment to be a good conversa- tionalist, but to be able to listen tire- lessly, with an expression of rapt won- der and admiration on your face is sheer genius. Be friendly. When you meet & boy let him see that he has made a hit with you, but don’t gush over him and act as if you thought he was the an- swer to a maiden's prayer. When a boy takes you out, make him feel that you are having the time of your life and that you appreciate all that he is doing for you, but don’t be grateful. That will show him that you are not accustomed to attentions from men and will lessen your value in his eyes. Men are never sure of their own judg- ments about women and always want some other man’s O. K. on one, so if ‘you want to be popular act popular, DOROTHY DIX. (Copyright, 1937.) The Old Gardener Says: If stakes are to be used when dahliag are planted, they should be set in place when the tuber goes into the ground. It is not absolutely necessary to use stakes.| but they give a neater appearance to the garden and prevent the plants being blown down in storms. Good stout stakes, two inches square, serve the purpose well. If painted green, they add much to the appearance of the garden. Where stakes are not easily obtained, plants may be kept dwarf by pinching out the centers when they are a few inches high. This will make them bushy, but will tend to keep them low. Naturally, it is advisable to keep the ground around the dahlias free from grass and weeds. This carr be done by cultivation or by the use of a heavy mulch of peat moss or by surrounding the plants with mulching paper. (Copyright, 1937.) Children Who Fail Need Help Build Up Physical and Mental Health First of All BY ANGELO PATRI “YOU don't mean to tell me that you have another note from the teacher? Poor in reading; weak in arithmetic. Well, you'll just have to stay in and study. That's all Change your clothes and sit right down at that table and learn your lessons.” “I'm tired of lessons. Teacher kept me in all recess time. She made me write all my tables five times over. My head aches. I want to go out.” “If you want any play time you'll have to learn your lessons. The teacher can give you extra work and you can do it Saturday, too. If you don’'t work you'll be left back. You have to study. I mean it It is bad enough for a child to fail in school. He wishes he could suc- ceed and do as well and better than the others, but try as he will he can- not come up to the standard. He feels bad about that. The other children will smile at him and call him Dum- mie and the like behind his back. They pass the word along from home to home until the whole community knows that Tommy Arkley doesn't know anything. Teacher said so. Adding to his humiliation, the pun- ishment of more work which he can- not do, depriving him of fresh air and exercise which might make him more fit, sends him deeper into the slough of despond. He grows duller under the cure instead of brighter. Such treatment doubles his grief, insures his failure. It is unjust and it is cruel. One would not put a double | load on a lame horse, but a failing child is the most overburdened of all the children. Lessen the load of the failing child. Give him fewer and easier examples than those given the other children. | Give him more time for play in the open air. Relieve the pressure of the classroom from him as often as pos- sible. Give him five minutes of cor- dial, intelligent help every day. Praise him for what he can do, and do not punish him for what he can- not do. He will take heart and try again and succeed to a greater degree. The first thing to do in helping a failing child is to build up his physi- cal and mental health. Feed the failing child. Give him plenty of happy play with cheerful companions. See that he gets enough rest. Look him over every six months or oftener, and correct any defects that show. Poor vision, slight deafness, ob- structed breathing passages, malnu- trition, bad teeth, are all contributing causes to backwardness. Equally important is the mental health of the child. Good mental health is shown in the child's atti- tude. If he is mentally well he is happy. He wants to work. He accepts failures, faces them and overcomes them if aided a little by help and encouragement, particularly encour- agement. Mental health is marked by an absence of all forms of fear such as meaningless movements, self- consciousness, stammering, retreat- ing from difficulties, trifiing com- plaints about illness, dread of the dark. Fear is an unmistakable symptom of poor mental health. How to cure it? Physical and mental health are so closely bound together that it is not | possible to treat one without treating the other. Building up sound physi- cal health helps mental health. Teaching & child to think whole- somely, to feel himself adequate, ap- preciated, useful, will help his mental health and reflect strongly upon his physical condition. Build up the fail- ing child and forget about the punishment drills. Mr. Patri will give personal at- tention to inquiries from parents and school teachers on the care and development of children. Write him in care of this paper, enclosing a three-cent stamped, self-addressed envelope for reply. (Copyright, 1937.) Baked Lima Beans. Try baking lima beans the next time you plan a baked bean and brown bread supper. My Neighbor Says: To skin tomatoes easily, place them in a basin, pour boiling water over them and let them stand & minute. You will find that the skin can be removed without any trouble. ‘When fitting pastry into a pie pan never stretch it. Lay it in place and allow at least half an inch on the edges when trim- ming. Pastry shrinks when baked. Rugs may be successfully cleaned on the floor if washed with soap suds applied with a brush. Use only suds and as little liquid as possible. Wipe rugs after washing with a clean cloth. X To give lemon gelatin a deep red color, add cranberry juice to the liquid mixture. (Copyright, 1937.) < early Summer. .4 Brides in satin, lace and cotton will be equally charming this Spring and . At left a classic satin, next a budget bride in starched Chantilly type lace and right an eyelet embroidered organdy. —S8ketched in Washington Bhops. N KEEPING with the vogue for lines which are definitely frilly and feminine, this lovely smock with the shirred yoke and flowing ‘Windsor tie will make you look like a million dollars on an investment of about umpteen cents! What's more, youw'll find it so practical and easy to wear—for office or class room or garden—that you will reach for it in- stinctively when duty whispers and time is short. Whatever else your wardrobs plans inciude for Summer, don't fail to list this smart smock. There is & perky puff sleeve if you prefer the shorter version, 8 handy pocket for odds and ends, and endless protection for better frocks. Tie it at the back as loosely or as snugly as you please. It’s really a knockout and is very easy to make. Barbara Bell pattern No. 1310-B is designed for sizes 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. Corresponding bust measure- ments, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38. Size 14 (32) requires just 31, yards of 35- inch material. Every Barbara Bell pattern includes an {llustrated instruction guide which 1s easy to understand. Bend 15 cents for the Barbara Bell Spring and Summer pattern book. Don’t Fail to Include This Charming Model in Your Wardrobe. BARBARA BELL, The Washington Star. Inclose 25 cents in coins for Pattern No. 1310-B. Size...... (Wrap coins securely in paper). Make yourself attractive, practical and becoming clothes, selecting designs from the Barbara Bell well-planned, easy-to-make patterns. Interesting and exclusive fashions for little chil- dren and the difficult junior age, slen- derizing, well-cut patterns for the ma- ture figure, afternoon dreases for the most particular young women and matrons, and other patterns for spe- elal occasions are all to be found in the Barbara Bell pattern book. (Copyright, 1987.) " Summery Garden Smock America Dictating Fashions Hollywood Rather Than Paris Now Setting Styles. BY ELSIE PIERCE. 'S enough patriotism in this old soul to make me thrill to the thought that America is fast estab- lishing fashion leadership. Once upon & time (if it sounds like a fable, we won't dispute it) . . . anyway, once upon a time our continental cousins looked down on us—literally down. They expected to find fashion only at our feet. They've always admitted that Americans are the most beau- tifully shod women. But now! We're beautiful from head to heels, and head over heels! The other day the buyer for a dress department of one of our largest and smartest stores told me that for 1936 and the pre-Spring sales this year the cinema dress department outsold all imports and their copies by stag- gering proportions. The reason? “More and more women are looking to Hollywood for fashion news, in- stead of craning their necks for news from abroad.” Further discussion revealed that there's sense to this attitude because there's sense to cinema fashions. 8o many pictures portray the average American working girl and our pic- tures are so real that the styles al- ways fit the role. Hollywood ecou- turiers realize that it would be a mis- take to set & pace that is ridiculous. A sane class-consciousness is their guide, and as a result the average young woman can adopt the average cinema styles without a strain or a drain upon her pocketbook. And now, back to our “head over heels” theory. As a pacemaker for hair styles America very quickly passed the cautious, crawling stage. We learned to walk with phenomenal speed and ease. In fact, we're making prog- ress by proverbial “leaps and bounds.” So much s0 that a leading French hair stylist on his recent return to Paris from this country is quoted as saying: “Heretofore I have come to America bringing my Parisian concep- tion of the coiffure. This year, for the first time, I find the hair-dos of Amer- ican women #o chic and tasteful that I am going home to teach some of them to French women.” I have a sneaking suspicion that leading American hairdressers whose creed has become “American hair styles for American women” are re- sponsible for those “chic and tasteful hair-dos.” It doesn’t matter much whether our continental cousins care about adopting our fashions. It does tickle the cockles of this column’s heart that America is dictating, for a change, e b LN Marshmallow Icing. Marshmallows make a simple frost- ing for sheet cakes. Place the marsh- mallows on top of the cake and broil or bake it for about five minutes— or until the marshmallows have be- come browned and puffed. Cleaning Day is Dethol Day POWDER R SPRAY Has the Bride an Open Mind About Choosing One of the New Gowns? There Are Many Styles and Fabrics Other Than the Traditional White BY MARGARET WARNER. O MANY S8pring brides, 50 many lovely wedding gowns, it is hard to make a choice, or may- be it is quite an easy matter after all. Anyway you look at it, it is perfectly thrilling to shop for a bridal dress. The whole atmosphere in these departments seems filled with romance. You see the young pro- spective bride and her mother seated and anxiously waiting to see each model, as it is brought out for inspec- tion, its cotton cover removed and the train let down and spread out in all its beauty. “Isn’t this lovely?” asks the sales person, s0 eager to please both mother and daughter and to find just the right gown to suit each type of bride who comes to her. Has she already decided upon classic satin, or is she open-minded as to the possibilities of other equally suit- able fabrics? Does she prefer the plain classic lines that one always associates with brides, or does she long to be different? Whatever her fancy dictates on these points she will find her wishes easily gratified, for it is definitely a seascn of great variety in wedding gowns as we discovered when we began to investigate in var- ious shops. Satin, lace and cotton all have equally important places in smart Spring weddings this season. THe satin gown in creamy white is probably the most popular choice of the majority of brides. And, of course, the shimmer of it as the bride walks slowly toward the altar gives her a peculiar radiance that is always effec- tive. The points of difference in these gowns are most apparent in the neck- lines, the newest of which is the heart- shaped decollete, which, oddly enough, is not really shaped like a heart, as it is usually made with square lines instead of curves. Narrow at the base of the throat it points out toward the shoulders, then makes a sharp angle and comes in to a point at center front. The plain square neck is frequently employed, being shallow or deep, and often there is some sort of collar of lace around the back to frame the face. This is shown in the sketch above. The high round neck, and the shallow boat neck are used; the Peter Pan collar is very much in evidence, particularly on fabrics other than satin. * % x LEEVES all have some width at the | shoulders and fit snugly from | elbow to wrist. The Princess line is obtained by many different arrange- ments of seaming through the waist; one and two points upward, or & deep point downward at the front, or darts through the sides—there is no set | formaula. 8atin gowns are surprising in their | price range. They may be $25, $50 | or 3100, according to your budget— | always remembering that with thei addition of a becomingly arranged | vell and bridal bouquet, the bride wjll | be a lovely picture in any of them. | As the prices rise, 50 the material is heavier, more richly lustrous, has bet- | ter seaming and the train is longer and more important-looking. The satin gown combined with lace | makes a less severe gown. An old- fashioned, off-shoulder yoke of hand- some lace makes a lovely contrast | and is more flattering to the girl whose features are not perfect than | the more severe lines of a plain satin | neckline. If the face is full, and the | neck short, what could be better than & gown we saw with & V-neckline of lace set into the satin in revere out- line and slightly boned to stand up | st the back. The same idea of inset | lace was used at the wrist with a circular ruffie over the hand. The lace wedding gown is very im- | portant, and one of its most interesting | interpretations is the lace redingote | with train, worn over white satin &0 | cut and made that it may be used later as & separate formal gown. We have seen some beauties, and $50 is & fair price if you are at all particu- lar about the kind of lace that you IF WIVES ONLY REALIZED Classie Satin. get, and, of course, you have two com- plete garments. o ox % HOWEVER. the bride on e small budget may also have a lace gown and look quite charming if she chooses a starched Chantilly-type lace that is cobwebby, dainty and youthful, It is pure white, over a white slip, and is shown in the center of the sketch above. This is the most inexpensive wedding dress that we have found (316.95), and yet it is in good taste and especially suited to the very young, demure type. In the inexpen- sive laces it is better to avoid the heavy, dead white, cottony ones. * x o % N ONE shop they have just received some fascinating white faflle taffeta gowns that are as fresh and beautiful in texture as the petals of an Easter lily. One has the new heart-shaped or Elizabethan neck outlined with a shirred band of the material. The basque fitted bodice points downward at the front, and fs longer in back. Another one has a lace yoke that drops over the shoulders. These are less than $30. The bride in cotton may be as wina some and fetching as the satin bride is sophisticated. The adorable Holly- wood bride in dotted swiss recently shown in a local window display is one of these. Sketched at the right above is & bride in eyelet embroidered organdy with bolero jacket, so erisply o0l looking for a warm June wedding in the garden. Cottons are ideal for Summer weddings and only lack of space keeps us from saying more about them. Then there are all the perfectly precious bridesmaids dresses that we have seen. Those square-necked, puffed sleeved dirndl frocks of mar- qQuisette, in ankle length with very full skirts and ribbons of a darker shade or contrasting color tied around the waist and atitched around the hems. To complete the oostume, wide-brimmed leghorns are being shown with streamers of the same colored ribbon reaching to the heme line of the dress. For information concerning ttems mentioned in this column call Na- tional 5000, Extension 395, between 10 and 12 am. Manners of the Moment 'HIS whole problem of the mam helping his girl friend on with her things is getting as complicated as the subway system. Take the business of | putting on a fur piece. Now there are men who think that putting on & fur Ppiece is like putting on a coat, and they Just love to do it for a lady. But little do they know, the poor old die-hards. Putting on a fur piece, as any woman would tell them, is like arranging s coiffure. And the average man just can’t do it. He gets heads and tails all mixed up, and when he's through the thing looks like an Hawailan lei on a prize fighter. Perhaps we should even encourage these surviving knights to make their gestures. But couldn't they make them by getting the fur pieces from the | racks and handing them to the ladies with nice flourishes? Then couldn't they say, “It's your to drape, my dear." or something like that? And then ocouldn’t the ladies put them on them- selves? The fur pieces, as well as the ladies, would look much nicer. —JEAN. (Copyright. 1087.) the Wonder Wheat Plan helps to keep you glamorously " slender TAKE A MODERATE AMOUNT OF EXERCISE. CUT DOWN ON HEAVY, FATTENING THINGS AND EAT THE PROPER FOODS. ¥ DONT MEAN HARSH- TASTING WHOLE - WHEAT, EITHER! SAT WONDER WHEAT ) BREAD INSTEAD. ITS SIMpPLY DELICIOUS AND 1 GIVES YOU QuICK ENERGY. FOLLOW THIS PLAN Ceontinental Baking Cempany, FOR 30 DAYS AND SEE WHAT AN AMAZING DIFFERENCE IT MAKES. WONDER WHEAT BREAD THE SUCCESSOR TO WHOLE WHEAT