The Housekeeper.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 134, 3 December 1910, Page 11

The Housekeeper.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS. Seasonable Hints. — The beds should be taken to pieces and the frames or wood work washed and carefully dried. All the eiderdown quilts should be hung out of doors to be well aired. Stains on mattresses may be removed by making a paste of Fuller's earth and water, to which Scrubb's ammonia in the proportion of one teaspoonful to half a pint has been added. Lay this over the stains, rub slightly in with fingers, and leave till it is dry. A second application may be necessary if the stain has not been removed. To improve tho appearance of a shabby black iron bedstead, rub it with a cloth dipped in kerosene, then polish with a soft, clean duster. Sparo blankets should be washed, well dried, folded, and wrapped in anti-moth sheets. Moths are very destructive, but dryness and cleanliness are two great antagonists to them. All hangings, suoh as curtains and draperies, must be well shaken when they are taken down to free them from dust. The most delicate fabric can be successfully washed at home by using soap jelly with a little ammonia and rain water. A clear day must be chosen for tins operation, and coloured articles must be dried in the shade to prevent fading. It will generally be found advisable to remove trimmings and treat them separately. The great improvement in appearance will amply repay the extra labour. Jj'lour Items. — There is one very important rule in regard to flour that must be observed to have a cake satisfactory. The flour should be sifted twice ; once, before adding tho baking-powder, and again after it is added. On a wet or foggy day flour is damp and olaminv ; set it in a warm place a fow minutes, and it will be dry and fluffy again. If the top of a cake is sprinkled with flour as soon as it 16 turned from the pan the icing will spread more easily, and will not bo so likely to run. Before the cake is iced most of the Hour should be wiped off. Squeezed Lemonß. — \Jse them for cleaning brasses and dish covers. Put a pinch of whiting op the article to be cleaned, then rub it well, using the lemon as you would a sponge. You will be surprised how much dirt you remove in this way, and hpw easily. Squeezed lemons, too, are useful to clean stained and much soiled hands. Rub the hands with the lemon, paying Bpecial attention to the finger nails, then rinse away the juice and finish off with soap and water. To Repair a Water Bed. — An ordinary crack can be repaired in the same way as tho inner tubes of bicycle tyres are treated. The first and most important item to do is thoroughly clean all round the rent with sandpaper, say 2in all round. Obtain a piece of good rubber the same thickness as the bed rubber, which must be large enough to cover the crack and over the part cleaned. This must also be rubbed over with sandpaper. Buy a small tube of rubber solution at any cycle shop, and thoroughly cover both surfaces with the solution. Having fixjtfl the patch, put some suitable weight oh it andj leave for a few hours. It is then ready for use. Grease on Table.— Where grease is ipilled on a kitchen table or floor, pour cold water on it at once. The cold will harden it. It may then be taken up with a knife and is not allowed to soak in. If ribbons are limp, dip them in a solution of hot sugar and water— four lumps of white sugar to a pint of water. Lay them between, two clean cloths and press thorn with a very hot iron. Take cars not to move the iron backwards and forwards, or the ribbon will acquire a shiny surface; stamp with the iron, exactly as you do when marking- off * transfor patTo Clean Glass Globes.— lt is diffioult

to keep flower vaseß and the glas globes for gold fish perfectly bright. Vinegar will remove all dulness and stains. RECIPES. Marrow Soup — Well wipe the marrow and cut up into quarters; remove the seeds and put it unpeeled into a steamer. When soft remove the peel and put tho marrow into a, bowl. Mash it up, adding a quart of white stook and a pint of boiling milk. Season it to taste and boil it up together. Savoury Filling.— The following makes a fine filling for sandwiches. Grind together a dozen sweet peppers and a dozen onions (using the onions before they get full strength) Cook for 15 minutes in a pint of vinegar. AJd half » oup of brown sugar • a teaspoonful of celery seed (or a little chopped celery) and a pinch of salt Simmer very slowly for an hour. Use cold in sandwiches, or as a relish with meats. Grilled Sole. — A double gridiron should be used ; but if not obtainable, the fish can, with care, be turned while broiling on a single grill. Skin a large sole, trim it, brush it over with oil or melted butter, place it on the gridiron, and grill ifc over or in front of a brisk but clear fire. The bars of the gridiron should be slightly freased and warmed before laying on the sh. It will take about ten minutes fco cook, more or less according to size. Serve the solo on a hot dish ; garnish it with a few slices ot cut lemon and parsley. Almond Cakes. — Beat up the yolks of three eggs, sprinkle in gradually as you beat half a pound ground almonde and sugar to taste ; then stir in the 6tiffly whisked whites of the eggs. Butter some Datty pans, drop some of the mixture in the centre of each to half fill the pans ; bake in a moderate oven till lightly browned. Two Easy Savouries. — Sardine Pyramids — Ingredients: Four sardines, anchovy essence, a little butter, toasted bread, parsley or watercress. Bone and skin the sardines, and pound them with the butter, anchovy essenoe, and tho seasoning until smooth. Then form into pyramids on toasted bread out into diamonds, garnish with the parsley chopped fine, and sprinkle with red pepper. Servo in a small dish on a bed of watercress. Anchovy Eggs — Ingredients : Two anchovies, anchovy sauce, two , eggs, cayenne and parsley, watercress to garnish. Boil the eggs hard, halve them, and tako out the yolks. Pound up the anchovies and yolks together, and add a little cayenne and anchovy _ essence. Refill the whifcas with this mixture, and sorvo on toast. Irish Cakes. — Thinly roll out some fine puff paste, lay in a square tin, cover it equally, within an inch of the edge, with grated coconut, a layer of jam, and then more coconut. Roll a second piece of paste to the same size, place ifc carefully over the other, having first moistened the edge with water. Press them, together, so that the proserve may not oscape. Slightly damp the top with water, sift sugar thickly over it, mark the paste into the form of vine leaves with a marker. Bake the cakes in a well-heated oven for about twenty minutes. When it is done, out out the leaves while still hot. Screen each one with freshly-grated coconut. Set them on ornam V^al papers, in a glass dish, before sending them to table. Haricot Bean Soup. — This is a very economical and homely recipe, and will do for a dinner where there are children, as the soup is thick and substantial, and the pork can be used for the Becond course, with potatoes. Required : A quart, or less, of small white beans, lib salt pork, a bunch of fresh herbs, 3 cloves, salt if necessary, croutons, cold water. Mode : Soak tho beans over night, changing the water twice. Drain them, put into a pofc or saucepan, and cover with cold water; boil them slowly for three hours, and as the water evaporates, add hot water. An hour before the beans are ] cooked add the salt pork, the herbs, cloves, and salt, and when done pour the soup through a sieve, first removing the pork and seasoning, and rub through into a basin. Add the pulp to the stook, taste it to see whether it is seasoned enough or no, pour the soup into a tureen and serve with croutons. Some people prefer a ham bone to tho pork.