In the march towards physical fitness, the feet are a contributing factor to the success of the journey, and the feet of the women are really no less important than those of the men. Men, however, are particularly fortunate in that they do not feel the urge to encase their feet in shoes too small for them. Their feet have a freedom which is denied to the feet belonging to women.

Most of the foot ills of adult life are produced through ill-fitting shoes in childhood. It is therefore of fundamental importance that children's feet be given every attention and not treated as a secondary consideration. The tissues of a child's foot are soft, and thus they can be easily cramped in an incorrectly fitting shoe. The child utters no complaint and the feet may be weakened and crippled in a way which makes life a burden later on. This, of course, applies more to the girl than to the boy, as the girl will suffer silently for the pleasure of wearing the shoe which appealed to her at the moment of purchase. On the other hand, could you imagine a boy suffering silently from pain caused by wearing shoes which pinched his feet? Therefore, the fitting of children's shoes deserves close and vigilant attention. The shoes must not be too small, but loose-fitting shoes are just about as harmful as too tight-fitting.

Hammer toes are mainly the result of tight footwear—a case of making the foot fit the shoe instead of making the shoe fit the foot. The foot can never shrink to fit the shoe, and so the shoe is compelled to expand to fit the foot, thus causing friction in the way of corns and bunions.

Some women always have the idea that they must “break in” new shoes. They do not realise that during the process they are injuring their feet—perhaps permanently.

In shoe fitting it is imperative that the shoes should be sufficiently long and that they should provide ample room for the toes to have free movement within the shoe. The shoe should fit accurately and comfortably round the ankle and instep and from the heel to the big toe joint.

Too tightly confined toes inevitably lead to corns, hammer toes and arch troubles, while a too widely fitting shoes allows the foot to spread and tends to cause a flattening of the arch.

Bunions, corns, hammer toes, etc., are, therefore, the product of tight and ill-fitting shoes. High heels are another factor in the destruction of normal feet.

Our aim is to have the “foot of the tramper,” so away with faulty footwear for children and adults.

Slimming.

Drastic slimming brings in its train major and minor disasters.

The body loses its power of resistance to illness, and breaks down under any additional strain. As the body is under-nourished, it usually takes a long time to fight the disease. Drastic slimming is therefore responsible for much suffering.

Boil one cupful of rice in salted water, then strain. Add the contents of a tin of herrings, or herrings in tomato sauce. Mix well and make very hot. Serve with fingers of buttered toast.

Fish with Tomato.

Slice tomatoes round the fish and bake with it.

Fish Custard.

One large cup cooked fish (boned and flaked, 2 or 3 eggs, 1 pint milk, 1 dessertspoon chopped parsley, 1 cup breadcrumbs, ½ teaspoon salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Mix all well together with beaten fresh eggs and turn into greased baking dish. Put a few dabs of butter on top. Stand in tin of boiling water in hot oven, and bake slowly for one hour or one and half hours—till custard is set.

Baked Fish and Bacon.

Put small schnapper into baking dish with 1 ½ cups of milk. Cover the fish with thinly sliced bacon and cook slowly for about an hour. Take out the fish and thicken and season the milk for sauce.

Stuffed Baked Fish.

Clean the inside of the fish, then dry well and rub with a little salt on the inside.

Make a stuffing of an onion, apple, some breadcrumbs, a lump of butter, chopped parsley and seasoning. Parboil the onion, chop finely, also the apple; mix with the breadcrumbs, butter, parsley and seasoning. Have plenty of hot fat in the baking dish. Rub the fish outside well with flour. Fasten to keep stuffing in, and bake quickly for about an hour. Serve with hot apple sauce.

Welsh Rarebit.

Place several thin rashers on roasting dish in oven for few minutes. When half-cooked sprinkle with grated cheese and then break required number of eggs on top, and again sprinkle with cheese. Add a little sauce if desired.

Fish and Tomato Custard.

Half lb. fish, ½ lb. onion, 2 lb. tomatoes, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, salt and pepper.

Grease the piedish and place sliced onion on the bottom. Sprinkle with flaked fish and place slices of tomato on top. Beat the egg slightly, add the milk and seasonings, and pour over the fish.

Stand the custard in a pan of water as for an ordinary baked custard.

Dried Parsley, Celery, and Mint.

Surplus parsley, mint and celery leaves should be well washed, then dried slowly in the oven. When quite dry, the leaves should be rubbed fine and bottled for winter use.

Savoury Meat Patties.

Two potatoes, 1 onion, ½ lb. minced cold meat, pinch of mixed herbs, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder.

Boil potatoes to a mash. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to a fairly stiff dough with cold water. Cut into squares, fill the centre with seasoned minced meat, fold the four corners over, damping a little, and fry in boiling fat until a nice brown.

Stuffed Dates.

Pit the fruit and replace the stone by a piece of candied pineapple, crystallised ginger, or a walnut half, a Brazil nut, a cube of chocolate, a glace cherry, or a mixture of ground almonds and chocolate powder—the more varied the fillings, the better the stuffed dates will be liked.

A Favourite Stuffing.

Chop two large onions, and shred finely, five or six sage leaves. Boil these together for ten minutes, then drain well in a sieve. Now put them in a saucepan with three ounces of breadcrumbs, an ounce of butter, and pepper and salt to taste. Let the stuffing simmer very gently for about twenty minutes, stirring from time to time. Cool and use as required.

Hollandaise Sauce.

To half pint good white sauce add one or two well-beaten eggs and a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice. Allow the sauce to cool a little before adding the eggs. Beat well to prevent the egg curdling. The heat from the sauce will be sufficient cooking for the egg.

White Sauce.

One oz. butter, one oz. flour, one breakfast-cup milk, pepper and salt. Melt butter in saucepan, remove from fire, stir in flour, and add liquid gradually. Return to fire, stir until boiling. Add seasoning.

Cheese Sauce.

One or two ozs. cheese, good white sauce, ½ pint. To the well-seasoned white sauce, add grated cheese and an extra dash of pepper. Do not boil after adding cheese, but beat well until cheese melts.

Quick Mayonnaise.

One tin sweetened condensed milk, equal quantity vinegar, 1 teaspoon mustard, ½ teaspoon salt. Mix well. Will keep indefinitely when bottled.

Ham Mousse Salad.

Gelatine, 1 tablespoon; cold water, 2 tablespoons; minced cold ham, 2 cups; whipped cream, ½ cup; minced celery, ¼ cup; paprika, ½ teaspoon; minced parsley, 2 tablespoons.

Dissolve gelatine in cold water. Add ham, celery, paprika and parsley, and mix thoroughly. Fold in stiffly beaten cream, pour into individual or single large mould. Chill.