WOMAN'S WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 11666, 28 September 1901, Page 7

WOMAN'S WORLD.

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TO CORRESPONDENTS.

" Elsa,"—l think tho trouble must be in the water not boing boiled hard., It is bet-, ter, as a rule, to scald and flour the cloth,, but I frequently flour tho roll well, then flour the dry cloth, and boil' without tho cloth sticking.. Possibly your dough is not stiff enough. "Diana."—l am sorry to Bay I know abso-' lntely nothing of the institution to which you refer, but I »m sure that if you write direet to the superintendent he will be happy to supply you with all the information you require on. the subject. "Troubled."—&pply castor . oil to them every night for'three weeks, and by. that time, the warts will probably have completely disappeared' without lealving any marks. " Bolah."—lt is quite impossible to keep the baby's hair of a golden color. Most children have light hair when young, but it rarely remains the same shade as they grow older. I have heard of people using artificial means with disastrous results, and if you value the health of the Httlo one I advise you to leave the hair alone. Hair dye and hair bleach are exceedingly dangerous, especially to small children. HOUSEHOLD RECIPES. Cherry Syrup.—Dissolve two cups of granulated sugar in two cups of cold water, add two cups of stoned cherries and two cups of cherry juice; cook ten minutes; remove from the fire, strain, return to the fire, and boil until a thick syrup is formed; seal while hot. Serve with shaved ice, weakening with ice water to taste. Other fruits may be used in place of cherries, blackberries being especially nice. Tomato Sauce.—Place two cups of tomatoes and one sprig of parsley, one leaf of celery, one bay leaf, two slices of onions, and two cloves over the lire; simmer for twenty minutes; strain, add one tablespoonfnl each of butter and floor; cook gently until it thickens; season with salt and pepper. Nice with any kind of meat. Orange Meringue.—Wash thoroughly half a pound of the best rice, put it in a sauca pan with plenty of water, and bring it to the boil. Then drain off the water and add one quart of miik, a quarter of a pound of sugar, and the rind of one lemon. Gently cook the rice until almost dry. Peel the rind of six oranges, and put it in a saucepan with some thick syrup made with loaf sugar and a small quantity of water; let the rinds steep for twenty minutes at the side of the fire. Trim off the white pith of the oranges and remove the seeds. When the rice has cooled mix with it the beaten yolk of three eggs. Put a layer of the rice on a flat dish, pile the remainder np to form a kind of wall, place the oranges in the centre, and pour the syrup over. Whisk the whites of the three eggs to a stiff froth with two tablespoonfuls of castor sugar, and spread it over the oranges. Dust a small quantity of sugar over the whole, and bake for twenty minutes.

Hotch-potch.—Use half a carrot, half a turnip, a small onion, green peas, a cauliflower, and a quart of good mutton broth, (•ut the carrot, turnip, and onion into dice, and allow them to simmer in mutton broth till tender. Cook a small cauliflower separately, drain it, and divide the flower into pieces; add to the broth, and then stir in a pill of. green peas. Sprinkle in a teaspoonful of chopped parsley just before serving and season well. Small chops off the neck may be cooked and served in the .hotch-potch if liked. Hashed Turkey.—Take the remains of cold turkey, two slices of lean bacon or ham, half a pint of stock, pepper, salt, a dessertspoonful of flour, a teaspoonful of lemonjuice, an ounce of butter, a lump of sugar. Cut the turkey into neat pieces, put the hones and trimmings into a stewpan with the herbs, -,«tc.; boil slowly for an hour. Melt the butter, dredge in the flour, and stir over the fire; strain in the stock, boil up, and pour over the fowl, flavor with lemon-juice, add the pepper, salt, and sugar, beat, up again. Serve very hot. * liiqueur Pancakes.—Put a quarter of a pound of floor in a basin with a little salt, make a hole in the centre, and stir in one pill of milk until the flour is well mixed. Break in separately four eggs, baiting each one for five minutes; add the others-one by one until the surface is covered with air bubbles, then mix in one tablespoonful of brwdyV one tablespoonful of any, liqueur. <which may be liked, and beat again; whisk , half a pint of cream until it is' a stiff froth, iand stir in the batter. Fry in the usual | "way, roll, place on a hot dish. Serve with ; lemon and sugar. •

Spatchcock and Tartare Sauce.—Truss and half roast a rood-sized fowl, basting very frequently, or, if more convenient, covering St with caul, so that it keeps moist; take it ■up. split, it down the back, arrange it* well fastened in shape with skewers' spread-eagle fashion on a gridiron, season, and broil over a quick, clear fire. Place it on a very hot dish with broiled mushrooms and a little cleiir gravy round, and hand tartare sauce in a tureen. Make a scant half pint of "white sauce, stir in it two yolks of eggs, Beason with white pepper and salt: when ■well mixed beat in sharply some salad oil, dropping it. in till sufficiently thick, then add some finely-chopped shallot, chervil, and tarragon, and enough good vinegar to sharpen the sauce and blend its flavors. Spiced Steak.—Wash and dry a steak weighing nbour two pounds, cut it into eight pieces, and roll each piece in a mixed spice made of equal parts of salt, cayenne, flour of mustard, and saffron; stew them with three cloves and three shallots, a teacupful of lemon-juice or sharp white wine, and two teacupsful of water. Cover the meat with a beetroot cut into very thin slices, five or six tomatoes (according to size), and half a root -of horse radish finely scraped; close the pan tightly, and let the contents simmer slowly for an hour and a-half. A quarter of an hour before serving strew over the top a tea--cupful of brown raspings. Serve very hot. German Pound Cake.—Take one pound of flour, half a pound of butter, half a pound of castor sugar, one lemon rind, a quarter of ;» pound of mixed peel, half a pound of sultana raisins, four or five eggs. Cream the butter, then add the sugar. Then add flour and eggs alternately, and, lastly, the fruit. Bake in a moderate oven for "about two and a-half hours.

(ringer Beer (an old family recipe which has stood the test for years).—fake one pound of loaf sugar, one ounce of bruised ginger, and half a lemon for every gallon of water. Slice the lemon on to the sugar and ginger, then pour the water, boiling, over all; and ■when this has all cooled add enough yeast to make it work (about a dessertspoonful for each gallon), and let it stand for twelve hours, then bottle. This is fit for use the second day, and is very effervescent. If fresh fruit is unattainable, use a tablespoonful of citric acid and a teaspoonful of ■essence of lemon for the fresh lemon.

Savory Pie.—This pie is best eaten cold, ■therefore a good salad should be provided to serve with it. Take some cold roast veal •with some of the stuffing, mince and mix it •with a third of its weight of boiled ham (the sugar-cured hams aro the best for this recipe), pepper, salt, cayenne, finely-chopped herbs, and four well-beaten eggs niixed with a little veal gravy or stock. Line an operttart dish with pastry, till it with the mixture, over which pour two more- beaten eggs, cover with, pastry, trim the edges, Klaze and decorate the top, and bake in a moderate oven till the outside crust is all V/Aked. Turn out of the dish when cool on to a wire sieve, and 'serve on a serviette. Banana Custard.—Mash three bananas to n pulp, add to them three well-beaten eggs, two teaspoonfuls castor sugar, and a few drops of vanilla or essence of lemon ; then •tir in one pint of milk; slightly butter a piedish, pour ia the custard, put a few tiny hits of butter on top. and hake Lemon Sponge-Take' two iemons, two eggs .three-quarters of a pint of water, half an ounce of gelatine, four pounds of sugar, a few drops of cochineal. Put the rind and pieces of lemon, the sugar, the gelatine, and ■water into a saucepan, and'pour over them thes water; stand over the fire, and stir until it boils; boil for five minutes, then strain-into a basin, and let it stand until nearly cold; put the whites of the eggs into a baw'n, and pour in by degrees the lemon I jjiuce, gelatine, etc., and whisk well until of the consistency of a sponge; divide into two*parts,.cover half with a few drops! of cochineal, take up alternately a tablespooniul at a time, and pile high on a glass dish. HINTS. - | Cure for Ingrowing Toenails.—Cut away ■with a pair of scissors as much of the nail as you can, then with'a file (a saw'file will do) file the nail until it ge'fs'aa'thin'ag'j

your fingernails. Bathe in warm water every night. When nails are allowed to became thick they ciiri and enter the flesh at,the sides of the toe.; xrhen they are made very thin they' flatten, and nature soon works her own cure. To banish; the eiriell of stale tobacco smoke, burn a little, coffee on a shovel and carry it through the room. Varnish Stains on Cloth.—To remove thtse first wet the.spots with alcohol two or three times,.then rub with a clean cloth, turning it as it gets "dirty. If the color is injured, spongeit afterwards with chloroform to restore it, unless the color is bine, in which case vinegar should be used. Remember that chloroform must "be used very carefully. To Keep Chamois Leather Soft.—Those who use chamois leather for cleaning and polishing their bicycles may be glad to know how to wash the leather when it becomes dirty. If it is washed with soap and water, and rinsed and dried, it will become stiff and hard, and almost useless; but if it is washed with soap and water, and the soap is not rinsed out, it will dry as soft and serviceable as when new. Sulphur blackens and tarnishes silver, and as egg yolk contains sulphur, this is the reason an egg-stained silver spoon looks dull. A soak in ammonia water will restore the brightness, and if the spoons, when dry, are allowed to lie packed in warm bran or sawdust, the brilliancv will bo retained indefinitely. This applies to all jewellery, whether of gold or silver setting, for these metals are apt to become dulled if worn near the skin, especially if sulphur or other mineral medicine has been taken by the wearer. Mildew stains "on linen yield to soap and pipeclay. Flowers of sulphur sprinkled on them will also kill the mildew fungi. Green stains on stone steps can be quickly removed and destroyed by sprinkling chloride of hme over the places, then swilling as usual. Condy's fluid or similar disinfectants will also remove the green marks, which arj vegetable growths. Fingers are often ink-stained. Lemon juice will remove this, so also will spirits of wine or methylated spirits, or eau de Cologne These three together, with gin or whisky, may all be used to clean piano Keys, m addition to the recipes already given. But acids must not be used for ink stains on polished wood, nor stronc alkalis. Turpentine is the remedy then, .tor wood that can be scrubbed borax mav be used, or salts of lemon (which last is a poison) Oxalic acid will get ink out of tablecloths, but needs care in using. Fruit stains may be got rid of bv ammonia, which neutralises acids, but thev may also be counteracted by use of othef acids, as lemon juice.

To Test Fat for Frying Fish.—An easy way is to drop a piece of bread into the tat. if it browns on both sides while you can count forty (counting fairly quickly) it 13 "P' easier way is to notice whether a bluish smoke is rising from the tat. If it is, it is ready. In frying hsh or croquettes the fat sometimes get? irothy This is because the temperature is too low. It should be heated quickly. Care of House Plants.—lf you want your plants to thrive, don't leave them in'any room while it is being swept, or, if you ao, nave them covered over with newspapers. Dnst closes the pores of the leaves, and when these are choked they cannot possibly thrive. Rubber and plants of the palm variety need sponginj; with milk-and-water once a week; but you should wear gloves to do it, and wipe'the leaves afterwards with a cloth wrong out of lukewarm water and squeezed as drv as you can. *

Dried orange peel allowed to smoulder on a red-hot shovel will cause a pleasant odor, wnich will be most useful sometimes to overpower an unpleasant smell of cookin" lo prevent greens from smelling or tasting strong, place a crust of dry bread in the water in which they are boiled; and to keep the greens a good color put a spoonful of brown sugar into the water instead of soda.

Medicine for the Children.—lf difficulty is found m administering powders to children they may be conveniently given in a chocolate cream. Scoop a hole in the flat side of the chocolate, put in'the powder replace neatly, .some of tho scooped-oub cream, and thexhild will probably eat the' sweet without discovering the concealed powder. For castor-oil a good way is to give the patient first a strong peppermint !rf ng ?; . This deadens the sem* of taste. I hen if the cup in which the oil is to he given be warmed, a tablespoonful of miTk (slightly warm, if not disliked) placed in it then the castor oil, measured from a warm spoon, and lastly a little milk on the top, the dose will bo found less nauseous. DR SCHENK'S THEORY OF SEX. Professor Schenk, of Vienna, whose theories of the determination of sex attained widespread notoriety a couple of veais ago, stated at the Zoological Congress held in Berlin last month that his attention was attracted to the subject twenty years ago, when he kept silkworms. At that time he was poor, and frequently had difficulty in providing for himself, and the silkworms had often to go on short commons. He was struck with the fact that after the period of poor living the worms developed male moths. Afterwards he came across a work of the noted African traveller, Ocrhardt Rohlf, who made the'statement that in the hunger-stricken parts of Africa the majority of the inhabitants were males. He pursued the subject more deeply, and the result of his observations was to convince him that diet greatly affected the sex of the child. If boys are desired the mother must largely diminish the amount of albumen in her food. He could make no statement to the contrary procedure resulting in the appearance of girls. Professor Schenk vigorously denied that he had any connection with a chocolate firm who, it was alleged, boomed his theory for the sale of its wares. He was also indignant at the suggestion that his services had been sought by an Imperial couple whose wedded life hitherto has only been blessed by girls.

WHEN TO .DISMISS A SERVANT. In the 'Lady's Magazine' for Julv there is an interesting article entitled 'Mistress and Maid,' written by a barrister-at-law. In this article he deals, in a simple and chatty way, with the legal relations between servant and employer. A servant may be dismissed without notice, it is pointed out, for wilful disobedience, grossly bad conduct, habitual negligence, dishonesty, incompetence, and for illness of a permanent character. To justify the dismissal of a servant on the spot, without oracr disobeyed must be a reasonable one, and one within the scope of the servant's duties. A domestic, for staying out all night was held to be rightly dismissed without not.ee. Theft would justify the dismisal of a servant on the spot, without notice and without wages. FICTIONS ABOUT FEET.

A sweeping allegation is made in a ladies' periodical, which savs that " the atmosphere of romance wnich wrans the nursing profession is cruelly dispelled* by the knowledge that most of its votaries are flat-footed. Ihe author of this assertion continues: "More honor to those that they Have become so in consequence of their arduous duties; but it is a sad fact, nevertheless, that hospital nurses seldom or never have pretty feet." Tnere are reveral statements in these quotations which are inaccurate. Save amongst people who know nowhatever about the subject, there now hangs no atmosphere of romance about the nursing profession. The idea of a nurses duties consisting of smoothing nillows and brows, and holding cups of sparkling water to fevered lips in a most becoming costume, no longer obtains credence exfiept with tho most ignorant. Secondly, flat-footed nurses are the exception, not the rule It is a trouble which can generally be cured bv ten minutes' daily tiptoe exercise, and few allow it to continue unchecked. Lastly, the contention " that hospital nurses never have pretty feet" could doubtless be easily disposed of by a casual observer at any large hospital. Nurses may not have small feet, but is a foot necessarily ugly because it is encased in a sensible shoe of a size larger than " two's"? Wo fancy not. —'The Hospital' Nursing Mirror.