HOUSEKEEPER.

Lake County Press, Issue 2669, 15 February 1917, Page 2

HOUSEKEEPER.

THE MISTAKE OF ACCUMULATING. There are certain tilings it pays tc accumulate—health, knowledge, friends and enough money to keep one from dependence: but 1o accumulate useless litter, or, if not actually litter, things that give no comfort, and are a constant cause of wasted energy in keeping them clean, is a mistake. Vet there arc numbers of housewives who have a mania for hoarding the useless—it may be furniture or clothing --and hoarding things for the sole purpose, it would seem, of giving tho extra work of constant cleaning, of causing nervous fret, and rendering the living-rooms cramped. How much wiser it would be to got rid of the uon-essen-tials? Possibly they are kept for old associations’ sake, possibly because “they may come in useful some day.” When tho former is the reason, it is truly very hard to part with the “white elephants,” that one would, all tho same, be wiser to relinquish; but when there are no tender memories associated with them and they are retained with great personal inconvenience, on the vague chance that they may bo of service in the distant future, then the superfluous hoards should be got rid of. Besides saving house-cleaning time and extra sweeping and dusting, getting rid of non-essential furniture and bric-a-brac helps to solve the servant problem, which is more easily overcome when we learn to live with few belongings. There are women who accumulate with intent and purpose, others who do so unconsciously—rather from a spirit of procrastination than anything else. They always mean to discard and tear up, but the throwing-a way moment never seems to arrive, and so their accumulations increase

TO BRIGHTEN TILES

In order to clean and brighten til that have become slightly stained, the., should he rubbed with a cut lemon dipped in salt, then left for a few minutes, and washed in the usual way. Afterwards, let thorn bo dried with a soft rubber, and every stain should have disappeared, the result being that the tiles look bright and shining.

THE HOME LAUNDRESS

Unless a garment, after it has been washed, is thoroughly well rinsed, it will not look ns it should do. Rinse it in two waters, roll it up in a dry, clean cloth, and leave it for half an hour to absorb the greater part of the moisture. Wincey, delaine, and such-like materials hold a great deal of water. They will “come up” better if ironed while slightly damp. If rolling them in a cloth does not remove enough mois-

turo to make ironing easy, hang the garments on the line for half an houi in a moderate warm place. Silk garments do not hold moisture like flannel ones, and silk blouses, etc., rarely need more than rolling up and ironing shortly afterwards. A hot iron must be used for delaines, but great care must be taken to avoid anything in the nature of a scoich. When ironing, work as quickly as possible, and avoid taking a back stroke when ironing gathers, or creases will follow. All embroidery or lace should be I ironed on the wrong side over a flannel pad or piece of blanket, to raise the pattern, and care should bo taken to iron all thick parts and hems very thoroughly, as they hold a good deal of water. The edges of lace should be picked out with the fingers before being ironed, and should be very carefully dealt with*

NEEDLEWORK NOTES.

If a glove splits at the thumb or near a seam, a sure and permanent way pf repairing it is to buttonhole the kid on either side of the split; then sow the buttonholed edges together. the result will be a new, firm seam that is not likely to give way. When buttonholing, care must be taken to obtain a good hold of the kid, or tho stitches wall pull out of it. Dressmakers tell us that we should always thread silk into a needle by putting the end of the silk that exists before the silk is unwound from the spool in the eye first. If the silk is put in from the end that is broken off fresh, it untwists more easily than if it is threaded from the other end. This little hint is worth remembering, as it is very annoying to work with silk thread that persists in getting twisted or ravelled.

MAKING STOCK.

Young housewives can learn something from their more experienced sisters as to what to do with left-over roasting bones, such as are often consigned to the dust-bin. From these bones when all the meat has been removed, a delicious soup can be mado, and also a stock for all kinds of savoury dishes. The bones should be cracked and put while fresh in a pot over the fire, with a quart of cold water for every quart weight of bones. To this should be added two tomatoes, an onion, a carrot and also a couple of stalks or celery cut in dice, and a turnip, ''’ben such' vegetables are in season, and the whole should be boiled gently until the liquid has simmered down to halt its original quantity. This shou d be allowed to stand in the pot until cold, then it should be skimmed and strained, and will prove a stock useful for various dishes. ' i

USEFUL RECEIPTS Specially written for this column

HARICOT MOULD (Hot).

Two of sago, four tablespoonfuls of cooked haricot beans, a pint of stock, half an ounce of butter, seasoning to taste. I lace butter and stock in stewpan, add a slice of lemon, half a dozen peppercorns, a good toaspoonful of curry-powder and a shalot. If curry-powder is not liked, season with mixed herbs, or with halt a teaspoonful of good store sauce, lion all together for fifteen minutes, then strain, and return to the stewpan, add the sago and beans. Stir briskly until the mixture becomes thick, then turn it into a greased mould. Stand the mould in a tin containing a little water and bake for half an hour with the cover on. Allow the preparation to cool slightly before turning it out; serve with a border oi spinach or with tasty greens prepared m ihe m amici now'described, or the mould, if allowed to get cold, may be cut in slices and fried.

MACARONI CHEESE

This dish is much improved if layers of crumbs are placed alternately with cheese and macaroni, crumbs forming tho top layer. When making pancakes or fritters of any kind, break the crusts into bits, pour over them boiliu.r water, and let them soak for five minutes, by which time the bread will be soft. Drain off the water beat the bread with a fork, and stir it into tho batter to be used for fritters or for pancakes, which it lightens; its presence is not detected after the cakes are cooked. It need hardly be said that crusts should bo clean and stored m a tin as thev accumulate. Moroovei. as warm weather is here, bo careful not to uso mouldy bread crusts.

FIC PUDDING (Without Eggs)

Required: Half a pound of suet half a pound of flour, half a pound of hgs, ;t quarter of a pound of moist sugar, half an ounce of baking ponder and enough milk or water to mix. Sift the baking powder with the flour, ehop.tho suet extremely fine, cut die hgs into small pieces, add sugar, and mix the ingredients thoroughly together then add milk to moisten. Do not make the mixture over moist. Put it into an oiled mould, and boil for three hours.

fried muffins

Ingredients. —1 lb. flour, 1 oz. butter, i oz. yeast, i oz. castor sugar, Sa Method. --Sift the flour, salt, and sugar, make a well in the centre, scald the milk, pour it gradually on to the butter • add the yeast when it is about lukewarm- Mix' well, beat the egg veil mix it with the milk, pour gradually into the well in the flour; mix well until a very smooth dough- Allow to stand over night to rise Drop a small oinntitv at a time into boiling fat, fry a golden brown, dram Serve W hot. are very nice for breakfast.