Housekeeper.

Lake County Press, Issue 2348, 27 October 1910, Page 7

Housekeeper.

DOMESTIC HINTS. When a Pie-Dish or anything used in the oven becomes burned or discoloured, rub with a piece of waste emery-cloth or with powdered bathonck.

Rancid Butter can be restored to freshness if broken up into small pieces and put into a bowl of new milk. Let it remain there for about an hour, then drain it, wash in cold salted water, and form into pats again.

To Remove Finger' Prints from Paint, rub them, with a soft damp cloth dipped in prepared chalk. Never use soda in cleaning paint; it injures .he colour and .dries it, making it liable to crack and peel off.'

Small Children need no meat whatever. Their dietary should consist df milk, cereals, fruit, and vegetables. Eggs are good for children, but should not be fried for them, but simply boiled or poached, or eaten in the form of custards.

To Remove Irbn-Mduld or rust, the best way is to.stretch the spots over a bowl and moisten with salts of lemon until the spots disappear. Then the soiled part should be thoroughly rinsed in warm water to remove ,the acid.

Articles of Food that arc damp or juicy should never be left in paper. Paper is merely a compound of rags, glue, lime, and similar substanqes, with acids and chemicals intermixed, and, when damp, is unfit to touch things that are to be eaten.

Irons require to be kept very clean, but in the case of their becoming rusty through long disuse, the following will be found a very good way of cleaning them: Make the iron fairly hot, and then rub it over with a little beeswax tied up iri a piece of rag or cloth. When the rust has been removed by this application, wipe the iron over with a clean cloth.

Holes in walls, caused by nails which have been taken out, are exceedingly unsightly, and it is not always possible to conceal them by means of.pictures or ornaments. They may,l however, be rendered hardly noticeable by filling them with fine sawdust mixed into a thick paste with glue. Apply this while it is wet, and when dry it may, if'liked, be painted over with the same colour as that used in the room.

AIR IN BEDROOMS. It has been proved by experience that a layer of air lies against the wall, which is subject to very little movement, even when there is a circulation in the middle of the room. It is therefore important (says the “Family Doctor”) that a bed should not be placed close to the wall. If kept there during the daytime, it should be moved at least several inches out into the room at night. Alcoves and curtains should be avoided. In an alcove enclosed on three sides a “pool” of air forms, which may be compared to the stagnant pools often observed along the margins of rivers. The lack of appetite for breakfast is often due to the breathing over and over again of the -.ame air in small bedrooms.

HATPINS. “Chantcclcr” is having a marked effect upon the new hatpin fashions. Beautiful little enamelled affairs, either the head of a cock or a perfect pheasant in miniature are seen mounted on long pins or on short safety pins and bars for fastening the vcil._ Thcre are also the metallic and luminous feathers of the cock and the pheasant used as pins and other ornaments. The feathers arc made into buckles, too, for the waistbelt. Besides these little trifles there are some new neck ruches called the Chantecler ruche, which consists of a threeinch band of glossy feathers with a drooping tail for one end and a small brilliantly coloured head for the other. They fasten closely about the throat, and as the bands are shaded in delicate tones of greens and blue they are very becoming.

QUEEN ALEXANDRA’S CHOICE OF TITLE. Queen Aleaxandra’s choice of title of “Queen Mother” is strictly in accordance with precedent. Queen Adelaide, the widow of William IV., was known as the “Queen Dowager,” be cause she was not the mother but the aunt of the succeeding monarch, Queen Victoria. The last Queen Dowager before her was Catherine of Braganza, the widow of Charles 11. She was invariably prayed for during the reigns oi James 11. (her husband’s brother) and of William and Mary and Queen Anne (her husbands nephew and nieces), as “Catherine, the Queen Dowager.” Mary of Modena, James ll.’s queen, was ignored after her husband’s “abdication.” For a case parallel to that of Queen Alexandra, whose son succeeds to the 1 throne, we have to go back 25Q years to Queen Henrietta Maria, the widow of Charles i. After her son Charles 11. married she was known and prayed for as “Mary, the Queen Mother.” This is the precedent that is being followed in the case of Queen Alexandra.

RECIPES.

Specially written for this Column.

HAM OR TONGUE TOAST. j ; I Chop about four ounces of ham or tongue as finely, as possible, put it in a stewpan with half an- ounce of butter, a pinch of coralline pepper, and a little mustard. Make the ham hot, then stir in the raw volks of two eggs that have been mixed with two tablcspoonsfuls of cream; and nicely seasoned; Stir on the fire till , hot, but do not allow the mixture to *• boil. Pour it on to small squares of hot buttered toast, sprinkle the top with chopped parsley, and garnish

round with quite small rings of fried bread. LAMB FILLETS. Dip the fillets in crumbs, egg and crumbs, fry in deep fat and drain on brojvn paper. Arrange on a serving dish and pour over the- following sauce; —Cook two tablcspoqnfuls of. butter with one slice of onion until slightly browned; add 2J tablespoonfuls of flour and stir until well blended, then continue the browning. Pour on gradually, while stirring constantly, one cupful of stewed and strained tomatoes. Bring to the boiling point and season with oncrfourth of u teaspoonful of salt and a few grains of paprika. In straining the tomatoes the first time, they should be forced through a puree strainer. GREEN TOMATO SOUP. Take half a can of tinned tomatoes, teaspoonful of soda, one quart of milk, one or two- slices of onion, four tablespoonfuls of flour, one tcaspoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, and two tablespoonfuls of butter. Cook the tomatoes with sugar and butter for fifteen minutes, add the soda, and then rub the whole through a sieve; scald the milk in a double boiler and thicken it with the flour, first mixed with a little cold milk to a smooth paste; cook for twenty minutes, stirring constantly at first, then combine the mixtures, and the butter and seasoning. Serve very hot. STEAK AND KIDNEY PUDDING. This will make an exceptionally tasty pudding and enough of it for five people or more:—i lb. suet cut up very .fine, 3 small cups or more of flour made into a paste to line basin and for top crust, 1} lbs. shin of bee f cut small, 2 sheep’s kidneys, J bul lock’s kidney, and good sized onion cut- fine, pepper and salt in plenty, fill basin with water, put top crust on and tiq up. Boil 4 or 5 hours.—Miss A. Bertram, Hove.