The Housekeeper.

Evening Post, Volume LXVI, Issue 16, 18 July 1903, Page 10

The Housekeeper.

HOME HINTS. To Destroy Ante. — Heat together in an earthenware vessel till dissolved half a pound of flour of sulphur and four ounces of potash. Allow the mixture to get cold, and then infuse Mith water and apply to the infested place. Not many ants, will survive a dose of this solution. Another plan is to smear plates with lard, to which ants will go greedily. Place these about, and put some, little sticks round T the, f plate for the ants to climb up. op. Occosionally turn the plate bottom ■up over the fire, and the ants will fall in with the melting lard.. Reset the plate, and the plague will speedily be cleared off. Bead chains are so popular these days that a bright suggestion for keeping them Will be welcomed by many. String them on the finest fiddle strings, instead of silk thread, and they will stand an unusual amount of wear and tear before breaking. Tq Prevent Tarnish.-— A few lumps of gun> capphor in the box or drawer where silver . is kept will, it is said, prevent tarnishing. A Fresh Cold. — It is well to remember that a fresh cold in the head may sometimes be broken up immediately if treated early by sniffing warm salt water up the nose from the palm of the hand. Milk Instead of Soap. — Milk is an excellent substitute for soap in washing dishes. It not only softens the water and gives the dishes a clear, polished look, but it preserves the hands from chapping. It also prevents a greasy scum from appearing on the top of the water. Wood-polishing. — Do not polish new wood until it shows signs of actual deterioration of tone. Too frequent applications of oil result sooner or later in a gummy surface unpleasing to the eye and the touch. Rub the surface every day with a soft dry cloth. For carved pieces a soft brush -with long hairs will be •found necessary. Green Icing. — Several green coffee beans left to soak in the unbeaten white of an egg will colour cake icing a delicsite green. The beans should be removed and the egg whipped and used for the icing. LUNCHEON DISHES. Devilled Lobster or Crab. — Extract the meat from a boiled lobster or a crab, chop fine, season high with ground mustard, salt, "and pepper; stir well until mixed, put into a porcelain saucepan, cover with just enough water to keep it from burning, let it boil up once, then stir in two tablespoonsful of vinegar and a tablespoonful of butter; let it boil up once and serve. Cut a knuckle of veal in pieces, put into a kettle, and cover with cold water; boil gently for two hours, then add an onion, six peppercorns, a dozen cloves, half-a-teaspoonful of ground allspice, with pepper and salt, and simmer one hour longer. Take out the meat, remove the bones, pick to pieces, and put into a mould. Boil the liquor down, strain, and add a teacup of vinegar ; pour it over the meat, and let stand twenty-four hours. When cold, turn out and slice very thin, and eat with bread and butter. A Luncheon Dish. — Where only a light repast is required, you will find a puree of tomatoes just the very thing. Cut into small pieces about four ounces of uncooked ham or bacon, and mix with an onion minced finely, a ' little thyme and parsley, powdered, a blade of ,mace, two cloves, and six peppercorns. Melt an ounce of butter in a stewpan, and fry the mixture until brown. Now 'cut into slices twelve good sound tomatoes, and add to the contents of the stewpan, with a flavouring of Yorkshire relish. Boil up for about eight minutes, rub 'alb through a sieve, add a little castor sugar, and serve while hot. To Bake a Tongue. — Set a tongue in an earthenware pan and spread a few bits of butter'on the top. Cover the pan with a flour and water crust, and bake according to its size in a moderate oven. When done, straighten it out on a board, securing it through the root and tip with, a steel fork. When cold, it should be brushed over with glaze and the root ornamented with a nice frill. Garnish with curled parsley and devices in aspic jelly. .Fricasseed Mutton Cutlets.— Out some nice mutton cutlets, chop the bones off short, and dredge them lightly with flour. Set a- little dripping in a fryingpan, slice into it a Spanish onion, add a few tomatoes, season with black pepper and salt, then fry. Add the cutlets and fry to a good brown, then set in a stewpan with the tomatoes. Strain the gravy from the onions, thicken it with browned flour, boil up and pour over the stew. Simmer gently for an hour. Have ready some boiled rice, as for curry, make a, ring of it on a hot dish, place the stew in the centre, and serve. _ Baked Chicken. —Take a chicken, split it in 'half down the back, and put in a baking-tin with a small quantity of water in it. Season* lightly with pepper and salt, cover with another tin, and baste the chicken constantly with dripping. Dredge with flour constantly, so as to froth nicely. Serve with stewed celery and bread aauce.