HINTS AND IDEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 3 (Supplement)

HINTS AND IDEAS.

THINGS WORTH KNOWING. SUN-BATHING. We hear so much about the value of sunlight that many women are apt to forget that strong sunshine is not beneficial to the body, and can be dangerous.. . too. On the sands we see hundreds >f f people indulging in sun-bathing at the hottest time or the day. Those with 3 thick skins may suffer no harm, but the - sensitive-skinned and those who are 1 unaccustomed to exposing their limbs to bright sunlight are sure to suffer from painful sunburn or headaches, sickness, lassitude or irritability. If you > always revel in fresh air and sunshine, k if from your earliest youth you haye 1 been accustomed to spending long hours c in the open air, to walking about hatless 5 and with bare arms and legs, then sun- • bathing won't hurt you; but if you are a city dweller you must use mode- • ration. Sun-bathe before 11 in the p morning and after 4 o'clock in the afternoon—not at midday. Don't expose too 1 much of your skin at a time, and wear [ a large shady hat when the sun is. at its height. Mothers and nurses should ' remember that young children and " babies must be protected from strong, glaring sunlight. Let children have their j walks in the early morning or after tea, J and play in the shade. When children 1 are on a seaside holiday see that they rest and read, or play quiet games in | the shade of some rocks when the weal ther is very hot and the sunlight dazzling. Hats should be worn at the j hottest hours of the day. Probably it is only due to thoughtlessness that so many mothers let their babies lie in ; their prams gazing up at the sun, but it j is cruelty, nevertheless. A baby's skull r is very thin and tender, and he cannot ' stand the fierce rays of the sun. The poor little thing has no escape from the • blinding glare and heat. He cries because i he is so hot and uncomfortable, because • he hate a headache and feels sick, but his • foolish, thoughtless mother takes no notice, and so he runs the risk of having L his eyesight irreparably damaged, as ■ well as getting a sunstroke. All,prams 1 should have a dark canopy in summer, I and be placed in the shade in hot, bright ■ weather. TO MEND AN UMBRELLA HANDLE. Next time the handle of your umbrella comes loose, don't throw it away; keep it and mend it yourself. First fill the cavity of the stick with brimstone, then make the screw of the handle red-hot, and push it firmly into the cavity. When it is cold it will set like stone. You can treat knife handles in exactly the same way, and hot water will have no effect upon them. CLEANING KNIVES. If knives are cleaned in the following way it will be found very easy: Take a short board and cover it with some soft, fluffy carpeting. On half of this place damp knife polish, and apply dry polish to the other. To clean the knives, rub them alternately in the damp and the dry polish, then rub them with a clean, soft rag. WHEN BOILING RICE. Rice for curries will be dry and flaky if it is boiled as follows: Put a breakfasteupful of rice in a large saucepan with plenty of boiling salted water. The water will cease boiling for a few seconds, but as soon as it again is on the full boil, cook the rice for just 13 minutes. Pour it at once on a wire sieve, and put it under the cold water tap for a few minutes, stirring it well with a spoon. Drain, and warm up in the oven. LAST SEASON'S JAM. ' Jam that has been kept a time often < begins to get sugary and caked. When i in this condition a great improvement < may be made by placing the jar in a bowl of cold water and standing both in - the oven. Let it remain till the preserve ; melts and becomes quite fluid. Remove \ and allow to get cold. After this treat- - ment the hard sugar on 'cop will have , disappeared and the jam will be soft and jellylike again. DO YOU KNOW THAT— I If you put a piece of sandpapeA, rough side out, between clamp and table before . screwing the mincer into position, it i will prevent the mincer from sliding. 1 If the flannel cloth which is used to put the metal polish on is kept in a ■ tightly closed tin, it will not be necessary to use polish every time. 1 If, when making plain raisin puddings, a finely grated carrot is used instead of an egg, the puddings will be very light. You can remove a wart with lemon rind that has been soaked in vinegar for a fortnight. Tie a small piece on with a bandage at night; renew next night, and the wart will soon go. Lemons may be stored in dry sand. Place them stalk downwards in the sand, the layers of which must be deep enough not to allow the lemons to ; touch each other. Fruit stains can be removed from the hands by rubbing them with salt moistened with vinegar. Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda when cooking fruit and only half the amount of sugar will be required. A rose-geranium leaf placed under the greased paper in the tin in which a cake is cooked will give the cake a delicious flavour. Pour hot water on a few dried sage leaves and use the lotion when cold as a mouth wash. Rubbing the teeth over with a fresh sage leaf is also good for ! the teeth and whitens them. Parents should warn their children of the dangers of eating the leaves of . plants found in parks and gardens, and , also of eating any wild berries, other ] than blackberries, as many are very ( poisonous. ( To tell mushrooms from toadstools, < peel an onion, and put it with the fungi i while being cooked. If the onion re- i mains white, you can eat the mushroom c with confidence; but if it turns black, i the fungi are not fit to eat. When a level cake is required for icing, a slice has often to be cut off the top. To prevent this waste, make a hollow in the cake mixture before putting it in the oven, pressing it up round the sides fo the tin. Place the cake in c a hot oven, and, as the middle rises s first, the cake will have a flat surface by the time it is cooked. To remove skewers from meat, fasten a a loop of strong string through metal skewers. A sharp tug on the string will a remove them easily. 0 Baking boards and rolling pins will 'V dry quite white if wiped over with a n cloth dipped in a saucer of water that b has been mixed with a tablespoonful of a peroxide -of-hydrogen. a