Creamless Cream Desserts

From Home Notes, 25th May 1918.

CREAMLESS CREAMS.

Some dainty and inexpensive dishes to adorn the table when “he” comes home.

OF course, my khaki man isn't greedy, but when he was a little boy he had an unholy passion for the pretty dishes at parties, and he has never quite grown out of it.  So when the welcome wire arrived announcing four days' leave, I felt it would be too unkind not to provide some sort of treat; yet, on the other hand, rations are rations, and must in common decency be respected.  Finally, I bought one tin of unsweetened condensed milk, one large plain jelly-square, a few cooking apples and a lemon.  The store cupboard yielded up rice, a modicum of sugar, apricot jam, a small box of crystallised fruits, and a tin of raspberries in syrup.  With these ingredients I produced a succession of amazing delicacies at a truly nominal cost.

Apple Cream was the first item. As a foundation I stewed the apples with the rind of the lemon, thinly peeled, and rubbed them through a fine sieve. I then melted half the jelly in a little hot water, added three-quarters of the apple-pulp, and sugar to taste, and finally stirred in about one-third of the condensed milk. The whole mixture was set in a mould, and, when turned out, decorated with thin strips of the lemon rind and a few crystallised cherries.

Raspberry Delights formed the pièce-de-résistance the following evening.  For these half the remaining jelly was melted, mixed with some of the raspberry syrup and allowed to set in custard glasses —each glass about half-full.  The "left over" apple-cream was thinned down with a little more milk and heaped on the top,  a few whole raspberries forming the decoration.

Dream Rice was my next brain-wave.  I boiled the rice first in water as for curry but without salt. When cold I stirred in the rest of the milk and a large tablespoonful of apricot jam.  This mixture was arranged round a deep glass dish, with the raspberries and syrup in the centre.

Mongrel Memories was the rude title bestowed on my final effort by the khaki man, but judging by the way he polished them off he found them pleasant enough.

I boldly mixed the apple-pulp which I had saved with what was left of the rice, and coloured the whole a delicate pink.  This I piled in the centre of a dish, and surrounded it by the raspberry remnants pressed through a sieve, mingled with the last of the, jelly melted in hot water, and when nearly cold whisked to a froth.  The dish was lavishly adorned with crystallised fruit and looked quite entrancing.

Rations and Health

From Home Notes, May 25th 1918. 

RATIONS AND HEALTH.

Some people talk is if keeping fit on the rations were a very difficult job, but this contributor insists that it's really quite easy if a little common sense is brought to bear on the subject. 

ONCE upon a time a very rich man, worried about his health, went to consult a famous doctor. The doctor's prescription was a very simple one, but I much doubt whether the patient carried it out.  It was, "Live on sixpence a day and earn it!"

People who grumble at the amount allowed them under the rationing system should remember this and take heart.  The great majority of people ate too much rather than too little before the war, and some manage to do so still.  There is absolutely no necessity for anybody's health to suffer, provided a little common sense is used by the housewife when planning out the daily menus —in fact, I believe that many folks are feeling better than they have ever done before under the new régime.

Finding Substitutes. 
Many mothers are finding that the sugar ration doesn't go far with several hungry children about, and worry a great deal because they think that the kiddies must have plenty of sugar if they are to keep fit.  Well, it is a moot point just how necessary sugar is, but in any case children who are particularly fond of it can be given it in other ways.  Carrots, turnips, and beetroot all contain a plentiful supply, and if they are well cooked they are excellent for the little people.

So, of course, are apples, either cooked or raw, but these, alas, are very expensive, as are dates and dried fruits.  If you can get them, though, they are well worth paying for, as the juice can be kept and eaten as a syrup with unsweetened milk puddings or porridge.

Many anaemic people bemoan the milk shortage, and wonder how they are going to exist without their customary pint or quart a day.  These folk, though, really need iron, and as this is not to be found in milk, they can manage quite well without it and should turn their attention to oatmeal porridge and lentils, both excellent articles of diet and still quite moderately cheap.

With a little management the fat ration should be made to do quite well.  Remember to rub the margarine or butter well into the bread — it is much more nourishing this way and goes further.  Let the kiddies have fried bread or bread soaked in bacon fat for their breakfast, it is splendidly nourishing, and will help to save the margarine.

Get Suet Sometimes.
Cocoa-butter is another fat which helps to eke out the rations.  Used as it is for chocolate puddings it is delicious, while clarified it does excellently for frying and many other purposes.

It is well worth while, too, to spend a meat coupon on suet occasionally— suet puddings are very nourishing, and, better still, they’re filling, which is a great thing these days.

And, above all, remember whenever you feel inclined to grumble at the shortages and difficulties of present-day existence, that we are far better off than the German and Austrian people have been for a very long time, and that civilians can do their bit to win the war by keeping smiling.

[Sugar was an important part of most people's diet at that time, and felt to be essential, especially dfor children.]

Libraries at the front

From Woman’s Weekly, May 25th 1918.

BOOKS TOMMY WANTS IN THE TRENCHES.

There is a chance for every woman to do something for our brave fighting men.

I SUPPOSE you have all at times, when you have been thinking of the horrors which our men have to face at the front, wished that you could do something to cheer them and relieve the terrible strain.  That is why I have arranged a little scheme with the Y.M.C.A. so that every reader, even if she has no money to spare, can give some men at the front a few bright hours.

Right up near the trenches, almost the only kind of recreation, apart from the entertainments provided by the Y.M.C.A., is that afforded by books. 

As you may imagine, the Army being composed of men of every class and condition, different men are interested in different kinds of books, and what interests one does not necessarily interest another.  To be sure, therefore, that Tommy is not disappointed in the book which reaches him, one must give him a library of books to choose from.  The Y.M.C.A. have over a thousand libraries connected with their huts in this country and overseas, and I want WOMAN'S WEEKLY to have its own library in one of the Y.M.C.A. huts at the front.

It takes 350 books to compose one of these libraries, but as any possible duplicates would be made use of in other libraries, a great many more than these would be needed.

FAVOURITE AUTHORS. 
ALTHOUGH, as I said before, different books interest different men, there are some authors who are almost universal favourites.  Rudyard Kipling perhaps ranks first, both his prose and poetical works being in great demand.  Running him very close come H. G. Wells, Conan Doyle, Rider Haggard, and Arnold Bennett.  The standard novels of Dickens and Scott are also prime favourites, while Anthony Hope, Stanley Weyman, Thomas Hardy, and Henty all come in for their share of attention.

But works of fiction are by no means the only books that are welcomed at the front.  There are times when Tommy likes to do a little hard thinking.  Someone who has recently been visiting the libraries at the front told me that he was constantly being asked for simple handbooks on electricity, aeronautics, mechanics, natural history, and botany.  These requests, by the way, came largely from men in the Royal Engineers.  Poetry, too—particularly Tennyson's poems —is not infrequently in demand. 

Then, again, it has to be remembered that many of the men are visiting foreign countries for the first time in their lives, and not a few of them want to know the history of the places through which they are passing.  Histories and books of travel dealing with France, Flanders, Italy, Palestine, and, in fact, all the fronts, are wanted.

HE DESERVES THE BEST! 
IT is, of course, impossible to give anything like a complete list of all the books that interest Tommy, but those mentioned above will form some sort of guidance.  All I would say is: Don’t send rubbish.  Remember Tommy deserves the best, whether of fiction or any other reading matter.

The books for the lending Iibraries need not be new, but they should be neatly bound in stiff covers.  If you have any paper-cover books or loose-backed books, you can send them along too, although they cannot be used in the libraries.  Many of the men have to travel via France on the long-distance trains to other fronts, and these books are handed out to them to while away the long hours of travelling.  Just think!  A journey which ordinarily used to take forty hours now takes a whole week!  You can imagine how glad the men are to have something to read on the way.  The only thing to remember is that the books, however old, must not have any pages missing, and they must be worth reading.

THEIR ONLY ONE. 
A MAN came to a Y.M.C.A. Secretary at the front the other day, and handed him a very dilapidated-looking volume, which he had given him. 

"I'm sorry it looks so worn out," he apologised.  "Every man in our platoon has read it.  You see it was the only one we had to read in the trenches!"

Imagine it!  Poor souls!  Reading their only distraction, and yet that one book had to be shared among so many!  Surely, remembering this, none of us can look at our well-filled book-shelves without immediately deciding to make some sacrifice.

If you cannot decide whether you can spare one of the books from your shelves, just remember that Tommy needs it more than you do, and send it along to Y.M.C.A. Tottenham Court Road, London W.C., and mention that it comes from a WOMAN'S WEEKLY reader.

Making Hospital Bags

From Woman’s Weekly, May 18th 1918. 

What Every “Hospital Blue” Likes To Have.

A Way in Which We All Can Do Our “Bit” for Lady Smith-Dorrien’s Hospital Bag Fund.

OUR soldier lads travel pathetically light; I mean, of course, as regards their own personal belongings, for their official kit and equipment is alarmingly burdensome, as we know who so often have them in heavy marching order.

It is only when Tommy is wounded, when he has achieved "a Blighty one," and is being borne carefully and tenderly to a hospital at home, that he is able to carry with him his small treasures and have the satisfaction of knowing that they are beside his cot, ready to hand.

Now, there are so many of us who simply long to help in the great cause, and yet wonder how we can do so; we seem to have so few pennies, so little time.  Maybe we are busy house-mothers, with even more household tasks than usual now that prices are so high and help so scant. Or perhaps we are on munitions, or doing whole-day jobs; or, alas! we are the "laid by" ones of sofa and sick room.

How can we help brave Jack and Tommy when they most need help?

Here is one very practical answer—we can do our share towards that clever and widely spread organisation-of a soldier's wife—Lady Smith-Dorrien's Hospital Bag Fund.  Surely we can each find the necessary piece of material and make one bag to hold all those sacred personal belongings that the sick soldier cherishes so fondly.

When Tommy is in hospital he likes to know that his pet possessions are close to hand.  His khaki uniform and heavy coat are put away, out of sight, but the things from his pockets he is allowed to keep in one of these cretonne bags hanging at the top of his bed.  It is nice to have the photographs of the dear home folk within reaching distance.  Then "somebody's" letter can be taken out of the bag and read over again if Tommy feels a wee bit homesick.

IMPORTANT DETAILS. 
WE need not be skilled sempstresses.  Really, these bags are simplicity itself; all that we must be careful about is so easy to remember.

Make your bag so that it is 12 inches by 14 inches long when finished, and see that it has two separate tape drawstrings.  A single one run round twice is not permissible.  And two inches from the bottom of the bag sew firmly—all round, mind—a label of white glazed calico, measuring 2 inches deep by 4 inches long. 

AS GAY AS POSSIBLE. 
BAGS can be made of any strong, new washing material, but the writer has a little "notion" of her own that you may care to borrow.  You might use old linen shirt collars and cuffs, when available, for the labels.  Choose the gayest and prettiest of cretonne for the material.  Our little diagrams will help you.  ...

If you belong to a sewing party, you might each provide a separate bag for this good cause.  In this case tie the bags in tens, unfolded, and send them to the depot, 26, Pont Street, S.W. 1. From the depot, as you know, you can borrow a pattern bag if you wish.

Just to show how impartial is the generosity of the fund, we would tell you that French, Belgian, Italian, Serbian, and Roumanian soldiers have rejoiced over their gifts of bags, and, of course, so has every soldier of our own race and colonies.

Figures are dull things sometimes— not always.  Send for the leaflet of this fund, and you will revel in such figures as two millions, six hundred thousand, five hundred and ten—when you realise that they mean a bag for the cherished personal belongings of that number of brave fighting lads!

It is sad to reflect that the large demand for these bags still continues—but it is a fact.

Let us all determine to provide at least one during the coming month. There are few women who do not have at least an hour or two every day to spare.  It would be dreadful to think that some poor soldier lacked a bag for his treasures while we could so easily make one in an evening's leisure.

[The tone of this article is much more sentimental than other appeals for Lady Smith-Dorrien's scheme - for instance here.  It's also a bit muddled - it starts off saying that he is only able to carry his 'small treasures' with him when he is wounded - in fact, as the writer says later, the bag was to contain the contents of his pockets, when his uniform was removed. 

'Hospital Blue' refers to the uniform worn by wounded soldiers when they were well enough to be out of bed.]   

Games For The Men

From The Times, May 11th 1918. 

GAMES FOR THE MEN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—Now that all your readers know what D.G.V.O. stands for, may I ask again for one of his activities entrusted to me—games for the men?  To my last letter the girls' schools answered munificently, the boys’ decently, while my old and trusted friend the general public was a surprisingly bad third.  My fault entirely: the public never fails the armies, but I forgot to remind it that every house has one game outdoor or indoor, left—the game I am asking for now.  The fact is these things are a bother to pack.  I know, having got off 5,000 this week.  Still, it can be done, and who cares for trouble to-day?
Yours faithfully,
JOHN PENOYRE.
Address for sending, D.G.V.O.'s depôt, 45, Horseferry-road, S.W.I.

[The previous letter from John Penoyre, which evidently had not received a good response, was published at the beginning of March, here.   The D.G.V.O., for those who don't know, was teh Directory General Of Voluntary Organisations, Sir Edward Ward.]

National Wool Collection

From the Amman Valley Chronicle, 9th May 1918.

NATIONAL WOOL COLLECTION.

APPEAL TO CHILDREN AND OTHERS.

Wool is much needed for making clothing and warm blankets for our sailors and soldiers.  Will children or anyone do this little bit of Voluntary War Work, and help to keep up the supply by gathering the tufts of sheep’s wool left on hedges, moors, and hundreds of other places. 
Last year the collection of wool was a great success, and it is hoped that this season even a larger amount may be saved.  Now is the moment to do this, before the sheep have lost their winter fleeces.  The wool need not be cleaned in any way, but thorns, sticks, and bits of wire ought to be removed.  Wool should be sent to Lady Amhurst, Sheep's Wool Depot, 23, Queen's Gate Gardens, London, S.W.

Shortage of Domestic Servants

From the Illustrated London News, May 4th 1918

LADIES’ PAGE.

CONSCRIPTION for women is "in the air."  It will be cruelly hard upon thousands of people, especially upon elderly delicate parents, whose whole comfort—whose very existence almost—depends on the ministrations of young, healthy women, daughters and paid attendants.  But we must remember that nothing can be anything like so terrible as allowing the Germans to tread as conquerors our sacred soil.  It is all sacrifice, all horror, this awful war!  Lives devastated, homes broken up, the present and the future rendered dark and wretched!  It is all a choice of evils, and we must just realise that everybody has simply got to endure anything rather than see England under the German hoof and England's daughter-nations enslaved!

Meantime, however, as the call for the services of young and strong women for the State is already so heavy, the service of the homes of the country is sadly "under-womanned."  The demands of such women as remain in domestic work have grown exorbitant.  Here is a genuine reply to an advertisement for a general servant for one lady in a flat:  "My age is twenty-five, and I require a salary of £45 to £50, and all found.  Flat must not be too big, and I require a very nice bedroom.  I wear uniform in mornings only, and no caps at any time."  Many houses are quite servantless; and hospitals and asylums, too, are unable to get the domestic labour done, and wards arc closed in consequence.  National kitchens where really refined and good cooking is done may in part be the remedy; and might "come to stay."

There are in London and elsewhere "service flats," where tenants have their own furniture and private rooms, but go to a common dining-room for meals, and have their apartments kept clean by the servants of the proprietor.  In every case, I believe, these are most successful; it is almost impossible to find such a flat vacant, though the terms are very high for rent, service, and food.  The extension of this system and National kitchens may make an immense difference to women's lives in the future.  In the United States, where our present (and possibly only temporary) difficulty in getting domestic workers is chronic and of old standing, service flats—"apartment houses," as they are called in New York—are very numerous, and serve many thousands of people as homes.  Yet there are obvious objections to the system, especially in bringing up a family.

Telephone Manners

From Woman’s Weekly, 4th May 1918.

SMILE WHEN YOU TELEPHONE.

A BUSINESS GIRL’S SECRET OF SUCCESS.

A SWEET voice is much to be prized by its possessor, for one of the most charming social attributes of any woman is a musical speech.
But the commercial value of a pleasing voice is seldom considered. Yet a pleasant voice has its commercial value.
A man who is at the head of a very large business, in speaking of his private secretary, a woman of much poise and initiative, said that he was first attracted to her and made conscious of her good qualities by her pleasant voice over the telephone.  He said that he had had little occasion to speak with her himself, and would perhaps never have thought anything about it had his wife not said to him one day:
"I am so glad that you have got rid of that disagreeable girl who used to answer your telephone. The girl you have now has such a nice voice."
The business man was very much surprised.  He began to watch the new girl, to call her up himself, and he always found her invariably courteous, and her voice over the telephone most pleasing.
"How is it," he asked one day, "that you do not seem to have any telephone temper?"
The girl said:
"If you have ever worked, as I did, on the switchboard of a large telephone company, you would know that there is a real meaning in the phrase, 'When you 'phone, smile.'
"Some people seem to hide behind the telephone to be disagreeable.  So I have tried to cultivate a pleasant voice, for I know that the impression created over the telephone means a great deal.  It is very easy to have your feelings wounded, I know, for I have been sharply spoken to so many times. I used to be very indifferent about it, but one day it came to me that if I would try to be as pleasant as I could be over the telephone, perhaps other people would do the same."
From that little talk a new system grew up in that big business office.  The manager called in all of the employees and gave them a little talk.  He said:
"The war has made it impossible to carry along business on just the same lines as in former years.  Every department must be up to its very best efficiency standard if we are to get the results we should get, and one of the ways to do this is to keep ourselves in a good humour, for good humoured people can always turn out better work than those who are in a bad or an indifferent frame of mind.
"So I have decided to ask all of you to try to mend your office manners.  I do not mind asking you to do this, because I am going to try to mend my own.  I think we have all fallen into a habit of indifference, and at times of insolence, because we have felt that our business is a big business, and that we do not have to cater to trade.
"This is not true, for no business good as it might be, and unless we take a pride in our work we shall certainly lose in the end. "
So, from the pleasant voice of a girl over a telephone a movement was started in that concern which has added greatly to a successful business.  Won't you copy her?