WOMEN’S INTERESTS

Grey River Argus, 12 February 1938, Page 11

WOMEN’S INTERESTS

HINTS FOR THE HOME

[BY

“TOHEROA”]

In the Kitchen

Bechamel Sauce: For bechamel sauce, take 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon flour, J pint of milk, salt, grated nutmeg pepper. Melt the butter, remove from heat, mix in the flour, stir for five minutes over low heat until cheesy, cool slightly and add one cup of cold milk, a pinch of salt, sprinkle with pepper, and grate of nutmeg. Mix well, then put back on low heat and bring to the boil, whipping constantly .with a wire whip until thick. Cook for about 15 minutes, adding a little more milk if necessary, and a piece of butter just before serving. *******

Strawberry Shortcake: To make strawberry shortcake, take 11b. flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 2 teaspoons sugar, pinch of salt, all sifted together; Hb. of butter, i cup milk, 1 egg, strawberries, cream. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, beat egg, add to milk. Mix sugar with flour, then add egg and milk. Divide in halves and bake in two prepared sandwich tins about 40 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with strawberry jam or puree, put the halves together, cover with whipped cream and decorate with a few whole strawberries. ******* Fish Savoury: Any cold, left-over fish makes this ‘‘on toast” savory. Melt loz. butteri in a pan, add a breakfastcup of flaked fish, 2oz. breadcrumbs, I pint milk, andl a teaspoonful of anchovy essence. Simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, then remove from heat and add a beaten egg. Stir until thick, but do not allow to boil. Pour over hot buttered toast and serve at once. Chicken Mousse: Take 1 cupful white chicken meat. 3 egg-yolks, 1 cupful whipped cream, t cupful heated chicken jelly, li cupfuls milk, 1 dessertspoonful gelatine, lettuce leaves, tomatoes. Beat the eggyolks. Add the milk. Cook mixture in the top of a double boiler until like custard. Cool and add chopped white chicken meat. Soak gelatine in the hot chicken jelly and dissolve, season custard to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika, and add chicken jelly and gelatine. Whip cream until thick, measure, then gradually fold into mixture, when beginning to set. Turn Into a round mould rinsed out with cold water. When set, turn out into a glass dish lined with lettuce leaves. Garnish with quarters of tomatoes. ****** Salads: In preparing salads, wash and dry all' the green leaves thoroughly, and for children, it is advisable to serve individual ones, making them as dainty and attractive as possible. It is quite a good plan to serve a salad with brown toast and butter, followed by the protein part of the meal, in the form of a sweet omelet, at dinner, when a lighter type of food is wanted. ******* Vegetable Salad: Take some lettuce, tomatoes and cooked vegetables, e.g., carrot, potato, beetroot, etc. Arrange lettuce leaves on separate plates and cut the cold cooked vegetables into dice. Allow one tomato to each salad, cut pieces from the top and scoop out the inside: mix this pulp with the diced vegetables, add a little salt, then return to the tomato cases. Place a stuffed tomato on each plate. *«*■««* Orange and Watercress Salad: For this salad you will require lettuce, watercress, oranges and lemon dressing. Allow one orange to each salad. Remove the peel and pith, then cut into sections lengthways, avoiding all skin. Shred the prepared lettuce and watercress, put on small plates, then arrange the orange sections on top in the shape of a sunflower. Pour a little lemon dressing over; this is made by blending a teaspoonful of honey with a tablespoonful of olive oil, together with a pinch of salt, then gradually working in one tablespoonful of strained lemon juice. ****«« Vitamin Salad: Lettuce, spinach leaves, grated carrot and small heart of cabbage form the ingredients of this dish. After washing and drying the required vege tables shred them very , finely. Arrange a border of these on separate plates, then fill the centre with grated carrot. HOUSE DECORATION. If you are planning any redecoration in your home, do not forget to take into consideration the mental needs of the inmates of your house. Modern psychology recognises the importance played by the surroundings of the mind. A specialist warns that irritation is set up,when there are spots, stripes and flowery or conventional patterns all together in a room. Curves and draperies are restful. They are relaxing to the eye and therefore to the min'd. Have wavy patterns in wallpapers, curtains and covers and curved edges to the furniture when possible for the room to rest in. The colour scheme was mainly biege and tobacco brown, with touches of terracotta and jade. The soft beige walls were adorned with paper panels in the same shade, stencilled with conventional trees in brown and jade. There was a panel behind each of the most important pieces of furniture, and one between the two long windows, this showing two leaping deercut from brown wrapping paper and pasted beneath the tree! * . * * .* . * * * Linseed OiJ: .Half a pint of linseed oil will go a long way towards renovating furnish Ings. It feeds, nourishes, cleans, polishes, tones, brightens and renews worn surfaces. When the leather of a desk or of dining-room chairs begins to look the worse for wear, or threatens to flake away in layers, feed it from time to time with linseed oil. At first it may merely drink up .the oil. without taking on a polish, but repeated doses will make it gradually absorb all it needs and repay the attention by, showing the surface gopd leather: should show, *

Advice is frequently sought on the subject of tiles that have become dull and stained. Linseed oil is the answer. Colour that has gone pale through injudicious applications of soda solutions will re-appear in time. Make a practice of oiling instead of washing in future, and the colour will, remain. When the varnish has vanished from woodwork and the surface is looking worn, a gentle massage with linseed oil.will restore the shine, This applies especially to bathrooms and kitchens where the steam soon takes Ihe original lustre from th.* paint.

Pfpier mache trays and furmlur' 5 respond quickly to rubbing with a rag soaked in linseed oil, and parquet may be treated in the same way. Carved wooden frames and furniture that have collected dustbin the crevices can be cleaned by soaking a scrap of cotton material in the oil and gently working it into the nooks and crannies. It will bring out al) the dirt that has hitherto appeared Impossible to remove. MAKING FLOWERS LAST. If flowers never last well in your rooms it can’t always be because they are not fresh. More probably you don’t know how to treat them. If they look tired put them in water hot enough to steam, and stand them in a cool place for an hour. A piece of gum camphor, half the size of a shilling, will bring new life to the most wilted blooms. The water must be changed daily, and when the flowers begin to droop you can keep them for several days longer by putting a small piece of charcoal in the vase, or a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, or even a good pinch of salt. Delicate flowers with thin petals can be revived in 20 minutes if spread on a table, sprinkled with cold water, and left under a large pan excluding air and light. Cut flowers with a sharp knife, as scissors are apt to pinch the ends and prevent easy breathing. Trim them under water to avoid air entering the stems.

Household Hints

Tie all odd lengths of string together, roll into a ball, and knit into a foot square. This makes an excellent dish-cloth. When the oven is too hot for your cake, open the regulator, and place a dish of cold water under the cake in the bottom of the oven. «**•*• Any water in which green vege■taables have been cooked should be thrown away out of doors as soon as possible. This is often impossible, but if it has to be thrown down a sink, turn the cold-water tap on and leave it to run for a few minutes to carry off the smell. If stock or gravy is required in a hurry, mc»t a teaspoonful of some meat extract in half a pint of hot! water and bring to the hoil and season. If time permits, a piece of onion, a spray of parsley, or a tomato added to the water gives flavour. • ••••• Paint the hooks and taps in the kitchen and bathroom with white enamel, and towels and cloths will not get rust-marked when hung up wet. When the plug from the bath or wash-basin is mislaid, just slip a penny over the outlet hole, and the pressure of water will keep it in place. Folded newspaper makes a good padding for kettleholders. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of sugar in the baking dish before putting in the meat, and the gravy will be nicely browned. • «****• To cool jellies quickly, take a small handfuLeach of salt and soda and put into a bowl of water; stand the jelly mould in this. If you rub your bathroom mirror with a cake of new soap' and polish vigorously with a dry cloth, it will not “steam.” ******* When making cakes or pastry, spread a newspaper on the floor just where you stand. This will catch any flour that falls. Try cleaning stained marble with a little sour milk; allow to div and then wash off. ******* Iron feet of woollen socks with warm iron just before they are dry after washing, and they will not shrink and keep a good «shape. An onion peeled from the root end causes less tears. Peel the potatoes last, because they help to remove the unpleasant onion smell. So does washing the hands in very cold watei after handling onions.