... By ELIZABETH HUGHES HALLETT T The only way to arrive at an average for the housekeeping purse is to keep accounts over a definite period and, by checking up on them, you will find not only what you have spent, but also what you must spend. Certain items in a budget are more or less static, like rent, rates, heat, tele phone. So what you have to watch most closely is food bills. Remember too, ...

... The efficient kitchen is the focal point of a happy home. More kitchens would be more efficient if more housewives knew about current ideas in kitchencraft. Inevitably our knowledge of kitchencraft is wider than that which the average woman can acquire within the radius of her own home. We have special advantages and like sharing them. But since all we know on the subject would fill a book, we ...

... JULIJIU fWtTL J^a/na (t/isjJMld Better Cooking By A. H. Adair AS you travel through a country, the food changes as much as the landscape. Journeying in a leisurely manner from northern to southern France, you keep getting the impression that you have crossed another border. I travelled slowly through France recently on my way to Italy and had another chance of enjoying the changing scenes and ...

... JOINTS IN JU We used to consider June a difficult month for butcher's meat, as most people do not enjoy large joints-- of beef, say-- on a really hot day. Yet you cannot go through the month on small things and poultry, partly because of the expense and partly because you should always aim at variety. Nowadays the problem has been removed by the supplies of that delicious New Zealand lamb, ...

... (f^avouries By A. H. Adair JVhy let those odds and ends of food accumulate reproachfully in the larder when, With a little imagination and ingenuity they can be turned into piquant delicacies f THE perfect savoury gives just that little something extra to a dinner, otherwise short and perhaps not very exciting, which makes all the difference between a commonplace meal and a really good one. ...

... NICE COOE 91U5NKS FOR I NICE HOT HATS Perfect drinks deserve a worthy décor. If taking them in the house or garden, arrange an impromptu bar. Any table the right size will do covered with a gay cloth chosen to blend with your glasses and jugs. Arrange these as you would a dinner table. Don't forget flowers. The glasses should be tidily set out in groups, with a special tray on which you put ...

... By A. H. ADAIR ON this page I am giving a few specimen menus for all meals during the summer, which I thought might serve as a useful guide for those whose business it is to plan meals in advance. I do not mean that all the menus would necessarily appear in the same day, but I think that they give a good idea of the type of meal which is easy to prepare and pleasant to eat during the warmer ...

... By C. E. Hughes Hallett JUST as we are in the midst of our hustle and bustle preparing for the summer vaca tion, the berries for our various jams and jellies seem to ripen and demand attention. With a sigh we pause to think of the long weary time of stirring and boiling and wonder if it is worth while-- yet we are house-proud, and there is something peculiarly pleasing about a beautifully ...

... salads By A. H. Ada i r In my opinion there are only two kinds of salads in summer time a plain salad of crisp, fresh green stuff, dressed in the simplest manner with olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, pepper and sprinkled with chopped herbs like parsley, chervil, tarragon, chives, spring onions; or a really elaborate mixture luxuriously sea soned with a good salad cream. There are some things ...

... Drinks are always important in our lives, especially in hot weather. Let them be long or short, sweet or sharp, with or without a kick. But if they are meant to be cold, see that they are really cold. Here are some exciting summer thirst quenchers. Grapefruit Punch Grapefruit juice. Kia-Ora. Sparkling white v/ine. Castor sugar. Ice. Put a good layer of crushed ice in a large glass bowl and add ...

... BY A. H. ADAIR Garbure Bearnaise Potatoes, carrots, onions. Cabbage, tomatoes, haricot beans. Thyme, parsley, garlic. A ham or bacon bone, bacon fat. Peel, wash and cut up those of the vegetables which require it, washing and cutting the others. Quantities need not be strict, say about a pound of mixed vegetables for four people and a cupful of haricot beans If these are fresh they can be put ...

... Alohe AMD UKt U Too many people who live alone get slack about cooking. They think any food will do. They think it is not worth making an effort to cook for themselves, less worth making an effort to cook for other people. It is easy enough to get into this state of mind which leads to the sausage-on-a-tray-each-night meal which, admirable as it is occasionally, is really rather monotonous. ...