HINTS AND IDEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 70, 23 March 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

HINTS AND IDEAS.

FOR THE HOUSEWIFE. HOME BUSINESSLIKE METHODS. The woman- who, before her marriage, was in business knows the value of businesslike methods. The more a house is run on business lines the more efficient will be the housekeeping. Punctuality, neatness and regularity are good guides. If there is room, it is a good plan to have a set of shelves put up in the kitchen, and' to have pens, pencils, ink, writing paper, blotting paper and notepapcr handy. In addition to cookery books and household books on the shelves, have files for keeping special tested recipes, hints, accounts and receipts. A cookery recipe file is by far the neatest and most convenient means of keeping all your particulai'lv good recipes and hints. A set of cards is provided, with such headings as soups, fleli, entrees, sauces, sweets, with other cards for special cooking hints. The recipes if printed, may be pasted up on the cards or neatly written in. Strong folders, fitted with inside clips to hold the contents firm, are better for filing accounts than the old skewer type. With a dozen such folders, with the information as to the contents written on the outside, it is possible to turn up any account in a few moments. Other files can contain uecessary information about electric light, rates, insurance, gas, how to turn off water at the main and so on.

OUTDOOR BEAUTY. There is no longer any reason why the girl- who loves to spend hours in the open air should ever have a weatherbeaten appearance or a neglected skin. At one time, perhaps, women who went in seriously for sport did not bother sufficiently about their looks; but now most of them realise that daintiness, good looks and skill in games can be combined most successfully. A painted appearance is, of course, most out of place on the golf links or the tennis courts, but the girl who swims and rides, drives a car or cycles, plays tennis and golf and gardens, can have a smooth, soft skin, hands that are not stained and roughened, and a pretty complexion if she just takes ,a little care of herself. Regularity is important. Just a few minutes spent night and morning in brushing the liair, bathing the eyes, attending to the nails and skin, will result in a better cared-for appearance than neglect for days and then an hour or more devoted to beauty treatments. Natural beauty should be the aim of the sports-loving girl. INVISIBLE MENDING. A tear in heavy material may be easily mended invisibly. Cut a square of the same material from the lining or under-side, where it will not be noticed, and fray out the edges to a depth of one inch. Apply the patch to the torn part and tack into position. Work every thread of the frayed edges into the garment with a darning needle, and run through the material with invisible stitches. Do this with every thread, then trim neatly with scissors.

THINGS WORTH KNOWING. Fill the centres of baked apples with almonds and raisins sometimes, or stoned dates and butter and sugar, to improve the flavour and give variety. To remove inkstains from textiles and silk stockings, rub the stain with a cut tomato, afterwards washing them with hot soap and water.

Wrap cheese in butter muslin wrung out of malt vinegar, and then cover witli greaseproof paper. It will keep moist and fresh instead of getting dry and mildewy.

Enamelled saucepans which are burned and discoloured should be filled with water to which borax is added, and the water boiled for half an hour. Afterwards scour with salt on a piece of thick flannel.

Dusters that will take up every 6peek of dust may be prepared in this way; soak the material in paraffin and then hang it up out of doors. When the cluster is dry it can be used in the ordinary way, and it will be found that it takes up all dust with which it comes in contact.

Warm quilts can be made from a couple or more worn blankets, folded over to the required size. Cover the blankets with a pretty washable material, stitching right through the blankets at the corners or along the sides to keep them in position.

When the oven is too hot for any special purpose, the heat can easily be lowered by putting a basin of cold water into the oven. This is then handy for' washing up.

Try cutting rind from bacon with scissors. It saves quite a lot of bacon, and' the scissors do the job more quickly and neatly than any knife.

Rubbing a bruise with sweet oil and then with spirits of turpentine will usually prevent the unsightly black and blue marks which otherwise follow a bruise. A new caeserolo should first be rubbed on the outside with a raw onion to prevent it "sweating," then placed in a vessel of cold water, brought slowly to the boil, and left to cool in the water. Clocks can be cleaned at home ~by placing a piece of cottonwool soaked with kerosene at the bottom of the clock, inside, and leaving it there for a few days. The fumes of the kerosene will loosen the dirt and dust in the clock, so that it will fall down on to the cottonwool.