HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 2280, 29 September 1899, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Poultry is considered to be in perfection when just at full growth. Old birds, though sometimes cheap, are dry, tou»h, and unprofitable, and should be avoided. A young fowl has smooth legs and short spurs, the comb is bright and soft without being flabby, and the toes should break easily when turned back. Poultry should be plump, with firm, clear flesh and unbroken skin, and quite odourless ; it is advisable to avoid a bird which has been floured, as this is usually done to hide some defect. Darklegged fowls are to be preferred for roasting, as the flesh is moister and the m<>at is considered to have a better flavour than that of a white-legged bird ; the latter does very well for boiling.

Grease spots may be readily removed from silk by covering the spot with a paste made of French chalk (powdered) and lavender water. Let the paste remain for twenty-four hours, and if the grease does not come away with the scraping of the chalk, put on some more dried French chalk without the lavender water ; then hold the spot over a tin vessel filled with boiling water. This will dissolve the grease, which will be absorbed by the powdered chalk. The latter should be shaken or brushed off. Whenever the chalk has to be icraped off the silk, do it with an ordinary visiting card, bo as to avoid injuring the ailk-

A capital tomato soup is made thus : —Put two pints of bone-stock in a stewpan with four large crusts of bread, six spring onions, one pound of tomatoes cut into slices, some celery Bait, and a sprinkling of pepper. Boil the stock until the vegetables and bread are quite soft, then rub the soup through a colander or sieve. Boil the soup up again, and send it to table with tasted bread cut into dice.

To extinguish a fire in a chimney, be careful to keep the doors and windowß of the room closed to destroy the draught ; then throw a few handfuls of salt on the smouldering mass, if possible. If this be not possible, throw a handful of flowers of sulphur on the fire in the grate, and hold a wet blanket before the fireplace. The vapour will choke the fire, but it is unpleasant, if not dangerous, to breathe.

A Savoury Toad-ir.-the-Hole.—Beat three eg2B lightly into six ounces of flour ; add a pinch of salt ; then gradually stir in one pint of milk ; grease a baking-dish, and pour in the batter. Into this put some well-seasoned lean chops and a few well-cleansed mush rooms ; bake for one hour and a half in a moderately heated oven ; and, when the meat and batter are sufficiently cooked, send them to table in the same dish in which they were baked.

It is not generally known that onionß and flowers of sulphur boiled together in water have a marvellous effect in cleansing and restoring the colour of gilded picture-frames. Lightly sponge the frame over with the strained onion and sulphur water, and gently wipe with a soft cloth.

Never clean your teeth with cold water, and be careful to rinse off any powder or paste you use- One of the simplest dentifrices is precipitated chalk.