The Housekeeper,

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 13, 16 January 1909, Page 11

The Housekeeper,

HOME HINTS. The Kitchen Sink. — Tho kitchen sink is a most important part of the house, and in many houses should receive more attention than it does. Once a week at least the following mixture should bo poured down it: — Into a gallon of boiling water put two tnblespoonful? of soda, and one of household ammonia. This will keeis the pipe clear, and if tho sink itself is brushed round with the mixture, all greases will be removed. Mending Linen. — Damaged table linen is best mended with embroidery cotton of a number to correspond with the quality of the cloth. Under the ragged edges of the tear tack a piece of stiff paper, and mako a network of fine stitches back and forth over its edges, carrying the stitchej about an inch beyond the tear. Thin placos and breaks in linen may be run with flax or embroidery floss, and towel* should bo mended in the same way. Flavouring Soup.— When flavouring soup avoid powdered spices, as they form a sediment at the bottom of the plate and spoil tho appearance. Whole cloves nnd other spices should be stuck into the vegetables while boiling. Long pepper is superior to ground, but it requires several hours' boiling. Where to Put your Bed. — It h important that a bed, even if kept against the wall during the day, should be moved out a few inches at night. A layer of air lies against the walls, which is subject to little movement even when thore is strong circulation in tho middle of the room Placo the head of the bed to be shielded from the strongost daughr, but let a good current of changing air play over it. *>. SOME COLiTdISHES. Potted Hoad. — Procure half an oxhead, break it up, soak it in cold water for a few hours, and wash it carefully. Put it on to boil with sufficient water to cover it, and one ieaspoonful of pepporcorns. Boil it slowly for about five hours, lift it out, and remove all the best parts of the flesh. Return the bones to the pan to boil for ono hour longer. Cut the meat in very small pieces, or chop it, and put aside. Strain the liquid, re move all the fat from the top, return it to the pan with the chopped meat. Salt and black pepper to season, also a pinch of cayenne, pour into basins, and put aside to firm. An ox foot may be boiled along with the head. It must first be broken, all fat removed, then put on n» cold water. When tho water boils lift out the foot and scrape it. It is then put' on with the head and boiled until it is tender • it may take longer than tho head. Remove all the best of the gristly parts, chop them up, and put aside with the meat, to be added later when tho stock is strained. It is a good plan to strain the stock and leave it all night. Next morning tho fat can bo easily removed, and you can tell if the stock is a jelly, os it should be firm. I! at all liquid put it on to boil until it is reduced a little. This does not often happen, .13 five hours' steady boiling usually reduces the stock sufficiently. The head should be ordered from the butcher the da;r before it is required. Christmas Snowballs. — Have some pieces of cheese-cloth about six inches square, and dust them thickly with flour. Have one for each ball required. Put one cup of rice into one quart, of milk, cook it slowly in a double boiler until the rice has absorbed the milk, and all the grains «ro swollen. Then take two tablespoon fuls of the rice, put it in tho centre oi the cloth, tib tightly, so that the rice will be just the form of a ball, stand this in a stoamcr, and steam for fifteen minutes. Untie the cloths and thu rico should be in perfect balls, and as white as snow. Stan's Delight — Make a layer cako. Slice six nice ripe sound bananas, and cover ench layer thickly with them • sprinkle with powdered loat su<?at, and pou» two tablospoonfuls of sherry over each. Put one upon the other, and pour 'cream or «oft custard ov«r all. Chicken Patties. — One cold boiled chicken, half-pound ham or tongue, flaky pastry, one tea^poonful parsley nutmeg, pepper and snir gravy. Cut all tho moat from the chicken, and put tho bones into sonic ot the liquid in whfch il, was boiled : slice in some vegetables, and let it boil till well reduced and strong, rhon mince up the chicken and ham, season well, and pour over it about half a pint of the gravy or ju« enough to moisten it well. Line some pattypans witl- thin flaky pastry, put in a sufficient quantity of chicken mixture, cover over with round of pastry, finish off neatly, and make a hole in the top. Brush over with egg, and bake in a quiclc oven for about twenty minutes. Dissolve two shoots of gelatine in a little of the gravy, and pour it in with a small funnel. Have ready a few parsley loaves, baked beparately, lay one on the top, and servo cold. If these patties are carefully made and nicely seasoned they will be appreciated. A bird between three and four months old may bo considered a chicken. Lady Violet Greville writes in the London Graphic on the Actress-Peeress: — The fact that yet another musical comedy actress has been added to the ranks of prospective peeresses and the apparent epidemic of aristocratic marriages among them, denotes a condition of Society which cannot be ignored. Every effect has a cause, and the cause of this matrimonial tendency has not yet been discovered. There were always pretty girls on the stage, but men of high position did not &ingle them out for their wives, and, in the rare cases where noblemen married actresses, they were women of great talent as well as beauty. But the brides of the present day are, as a rule, only figurantes in the chorus or mere show-girls. What, then, is the power of beauty, possibly not even real overpowering beauty, but mere good looks, which tempts men to leave their own class, and ally themselves to girls with little education or intellect '( Firstly, perhaps, the glamour of the footlights and the fact that their beauty is made the most of ; secondly, the enormous advertisement given by photographs and tho press nowadays to young actresses ; thirdly, the fact that the girls are clever enough to desire and insist on marriage ; and, lastly, the want of attraction of girls in Society. The latter do not lay themselves out to please men, as they used ; they are too engrossed in (Jieir own amusements and games to care, and they associate so much en caraarade with their male friends that the glamour, the mystery, the aloofness which is carefully •cherished by tho stage has disappeared. The Australian girl who marries a dairyman (and tho practice is quite common) takes on a. very hefty contract. With a well-intentioned but fatally-mistaken notion of "helping the farm along," she starts right away to milk, side by aide with her husband. She lias no servant to do the housowork ; so this is what 6he is attempting: — (1) To do a, man's work on the farm ; (2) to do a woman's work in the house ; (3) to rear her family. For tho 'average woman the last two are any amount of responsibility. To try and tack the first on to it is murderously unfair both to Iho mother and to^ the baby. After about three hours' hard labour in the cow-yard, the woman faces a solid day's housowork. As a rule, Blie does her own baking, and, of course, her own washing. Then, at 5 o'clock, just when she is done, in both senses of the word, comes anothci two and a half hours or three hours in the muddy cow-yard. It is no wonder then that a majority of the youngfarmers' wives are old before they are young. It is pleasing to hear (thp Bulletin observes) that there is a steadily-grow-ing prejudice amongst the better class of young dairymen against allowing their ■\vive9 in the cow-yard at all, save 011 emergency Still, a few weeks ago, a girl at Kyogle was married one day, and the next day went out with her husband to milk a held of 72 cows. A famous editoi was reproached with having mutilated a leading article written by j newspaper proprietor, why. hail been nu unmeees->ful maker of carpet. 1 ' ''1 lia\e road ninny leaders," liomplsinerl the proprietor, "and Hunk I can wriln one." "I have walked on many a carpet, but never dreamed I could maka oiip," was the hearttass ictort. "llou many sprvunts docs yom motliPi keep*" n&kort the lady who had just movpd into the neißhbourhood. "None, replied little Janet, "but we hire lotß.'l