Evening star., 1944-01-13
Report to the Housewife

Citrus fruits are the "big noise"
IN the produce line this week
with plenty of all kinds of oranges,
tangerines, kumquats, grapefruit,
lemons and lines heaped high in all
the fruit stalls. Relatively mex
pensive, juicy, delicious and jam
packed with vitamin G, they are
highly recommended buys for the
wise housekeeper. -
Other plentiful fruit items in
clude avocados-there seems to be
no end to them, and mighty good
they are, too-apples, better than
they have been, for some reason,
Bose and d'Anjou pears and pine
apples. Some of these last come
from Cuba, also. Strawberries are
excellent in quality, if costly. Grapes
are about over for the moment,
but a few are still to be found in
some markets, along with cram
berries and bananas. Coconuts
from Jamaica and chestnuts from
Portugal add touch Of the exotic
to the lineup.
A cold snap in Florida seems to
have had a damaging effect on the
quality OF some vegetable items from
that State, but there is plenty of
variety from which to choose. Tiny
new potatoes, to be boiled in their
skins, and dressed with chopped
chives and margarine, leeks, snap
beans, some baby limas and good
cabbage lead the list. Beets from
Texas, carrots from California, and
lettuce, romaine, chicory and esca-
role from Arizona and the West
Coast are also good buys. Greens
include spinach, kale and collards.
Acorn, hubbard and "summer"
squash, are good, as are brussels
sprouts, broccoli and caulifiower.
There are some peas to be found, in
light supply; eggplant, onions and
okra are very scarce. There will be
plenty of that fine green Pascal
celery, that boasts extra vitaminS
for your we'll being, as well as extra
color for your table. Cucumbers are
mostly hot house, now, but are de-
liciously crisp and tender. Good
supplies of artichokes are on hand,
and the usual turnips, satisfy, par
ships and so on.
With the dividend" on pork due
to expire on Saturday, many dealers
are offering choice cuts OF fresh
pork for a "last fling" this week
end. There will also be good
supply of beef available, especially
such items as chuck roasts. Veal
sweetbreads are being featured in
some markets, and you will find them
delicate and tasty-especially II
parboiled, then broiled with strips
Of bacon.
Frying chickens should also be a
good buy, from present indications.
Eggs continue to be plentiful, and
prices more reasonable.
Cheese and butter continue almost
nonexistent, and even margarine
has been somewhat hard to obtain
in some stores this past week. Use
any that you can get as sparingly
as possible.
Fish is bit easier this week-with
roe and buck shad heading the list.
Surprisingly enough, the shad ] pur-
chased last week had really sizable
roes-unusual for this early in the
season. There will be more filleted
fish available. with the exception
of sole: you will find on hand flllets
of mackerel, haddock and perch
In reasonable quantities. Whiting,
porgies and croakers are good
although the croakers are mostly
frozen now, as is rockfish-which is
still expensive. Supplies Of sea bass
and trout will be adequate, but
Spanish mackerel, oysters and crab
meat will be very limited. There'n
be raw shrimp on hand but mo-
cooked ones. In some markets you
may find red snappers, king mack
erel, bluefish and few founders.
And speciality dealers have crawflsh
tails from Florida.
Grocers tell us the cheering news
that the soap flake and soap powder
situation Is easing up bit and
more supplies are due in. That
will really be welcome information
to those of us who have been strug-
Cling along with shaved bar soap
or any cleanser that we could lay
our hands on, by fair means or
foul. And haven't we all?
X X
Here and There: WA has
announced that about 100000
mounds of cheddar cheese (ratl