Evening star., 1944-12-14
Report to the Housewife

According to a number of dealers
q fair supply OF turkeys should be
available in local markets to take
care Of the Christmas demand. They
won't be plentiful, by any means
but by dint of luck and persistent
searching you should be able to have
q proud bird gracing your holiday
table. One trouble, as I see 1t, Is
that a good many Of the larger
poultry houses are contemplating
shutting up shop entirely while the
freeze on chickens from the Del
Mar-Va. Peninsula is in force. They
can't get chickens enough from
other areas to keep them going, and
OF course, If they are closed, they
will not be selling turkeys, geese
ducks or anything else in the feath-
cred line.
After splurge in various cuts OF
beef last week, many markets find
themselves very low on that meat
this week end. However, more is ex-
pected to be available before long
Lamb and pork continue scarce, for
the most part, but there Is little
more veal on hand. Some Of the
speciality markets have the rather
expensive green" pork sausage, both
In the link and bulk type, but In
general sausages of all kinds. in
cluding the familiar dog" are few
and far between.
Despite winter storms and labor
difficulties, fish continues to reach
our markets in good shipments. Raw
and cooked shrimp are being fea-
tured again this week, and other
recommended buys include Spanish
mackerel, porgies, croakers, trout,
rock, bluefish and the flleted fish.
Cranberries for your Christmas
dinner "just ain't," at least not at
this writing, except few, expensive
ones in the fancier stores. 1t seems
doubtful, too, that there will be any
canned cranberry sauce on hand.
Canned pumpkin, however, is to be
had. Mincemeat is a bit scarce,
but there are adequate stocks of
plum puddings and fruit cakes. The
ingredients for fruit cakes are in
very light supply. There will be
plenty Of nuts of all kinds, and
there seems to be a bit more candy,
especially the hard kinds, than we
mad year ago. Stem raisins,
dates, figs and some mixed dried
fruits are to be had-at a price.
A few dealers report receiving
shipments of fine lima beans, (ex-
pensive), from Florida-others claim
there isn't lima bean on the mar
ket! The answer is-I've seen some.
but wouldn't recommend paying the
price for them! Good caulif1ower,
broccoli, and various kinds of cab
bage, together with Brussels sprouts
are worth noting. Greens include
rape, collards, kale, turnip salad
and spinach. Artichokes - the
globe type-from California are bet
ter than they have been, but to-
matoes, which are exceedingly
scarce, are poor in quality, high in
price, and totally lacking in flavor.
Both Boston and iceberg lettuce are
light in supply, as are peas. Egg
plants are scarce this week, but Gu
cumbers are coming in nicely, along
with all kinds of squash, and green
peppers.
More avocados are being received
now, and of finer grade. There
are all sorts of apples on hand, in
Guiding the tiny lady" apples. We
are still waiting for those straw
berries we mentioned last week!
Good pears, grapes, pineapples, all
the citrus fruits except lemons and
lines, papayas, persimmons and
rhubarb are recommended.
Here and There: If you can't
find d small turkey for your Christ
mas dinner, why not halve larger
one with friend or relative? To
roast half turkey, season the cavity
made by the cutting, put the half
bird cut side down on a rack in an
open pan. Brush with melted fat
and roast uncovered in a slow oven
for 21a to 3 hours-for 6 to 9
pound half turkeys, or for 3 to 31z
hours for 9 to IL pound half tur-
keys. -. Newest method of cake mix
Ing is said to be a time saver. 1t
eliminates creaming of the shorten
ing, sits dry ingredients all together
over the shortening, adds eggs and
half the liquid with / minute of
beating, then the remaining liquid
Is added and the batter beaten for
2 minutes longer -. If you will
write to the Children's R,,rea,, ne-