Hints and Recipes.

Matamata Record, Volume XIII, Issue 1111, 3 April 1930, Page 2

Hints and Recipes.

To remove fat from hot soup, pour j the soup through a cloth that has beon i saturated in cold water. j A little olive oil rubbed on tired and , aching feet every night after oatliing will bring relief. If a hot-water bottle is warmed before being filled with hot water it ill stay hot twice as long. To make coal last longer, dissolve a pound of washing soda in a pail of boiling water and, when cold, sprinkle it over the coal. Lot the coal dry be- j fore putting it on the fire. . | Apply a little glycerine to a tea stain, ; and allow it to remain for a few hours. Then wash the article in the ordinary way and the stain will come out. When washing chamois' leathers adcl a little ammonia to the water. This ( cleans them beautifully and helps .o j make them soft and pliable , When making sandwiches plunge the knife into boiling water and it will more easily cut the bread thin and straight. . , When making marmalade or jam rub some butter over the bottom of the preserving pan. The contents will then neither burn nor boil over. Linoleum will not crack if cleaned with oil and vinegar in equal parts, instead of soap and water. . When cleaning windows in cold weather add a handfull of salt to the water. This prevents them freezing and cracking. Pastry-Making Hints. In makinfr flaky or puff pastry be careful that the fold, is always on the same side. If it is not, pastry will rise in an uneven manner. If the oven is not hot enough the .pastry will not rise at all. Always rub in fat with tips of fingers, and as quickly and lightly as possible. Make pastry m the coldest place you can find. A marble or slate pastry-board is ideal. When pastry is cooked do not put m a cold place. Pastry taken from the oven to a cold larder will be tough. Make Your Own Bath Salts. Sweet-scented bath salts can be made at home by thoroughly mixing a dessertspoonful of oil of lavender, oil o± verbena, or oil of geranium into a -pound of sodium carbonate (small crystals). Colouring can bo added if desired. Cochineal will give a pink shade, very strong cold tea will give a creamy tint. Oaly a very small quality of colouring matter should be used. The secret lies in thorough mixing. All bath salts should be stored in well-stop-pered jars. In Making Porridge. Keep to these proportions: Take one pint of water and add to it half a teaspoonful of salt. When the water boils, add gradually a teacupful of oatmeal, stirring meanwhile. When all is mixed, boil slowly for half an hour, stirI ring at intervals. Warm Soups For Cold Days. Leek Soup.— Wash thoroughly a bunch of leeks. Cut the leeks iiito tliin slices, cover with boiling water and simmer for ten minutes. Drain off the water and replace it with boiling stock. Add two tablespoonsful of rice and cook gently until both cereal and vegetable are tender. Pour in half a pint of hot milk, season to taste with pepper and salt. Add half a teaspoonful of well-chopped parsley and a slice of dry toast cut into dice. Mulligatawny Soup.—Required: Two quarts of cold water, lib. beef trimmings, 11b. bones, 2oz. lean ham or bacon, or a ham bone, .1 carrot, 1 turnip, 1 onion, 1 apple; a bunch of parsley and herbs, 1 lemon, 2 cloves, 4 peppercorns, 2 oz. butter, 14 oz. flour, 40z., boiled rice, salt, a little curry powder. Remove all fat from the beef and bones, wash them and cut the beef in pieces, chop the bones, and take out the marrow. Put them into a saucepan, cover with water, and add a level teaspoonful of salt, bring to the boil and skim, then add the liam bone, chopped ham or bacon. Wash and slice the vegetables, peel and chop the apple. Melt the butter in a pan, when hot put

in the vegetables and fry brown; add | the flour and curry powder and fry j for live minutes, stirring all the time. | Add about one pint of the stock from j the bones and make a sauce, stirring it in gradually. When smoothly mixed stir this sauce into the rest of the stock. Add the apple, cloves and peppercorns, stir till boiling, then cover the pan and simmer gently for two hours. Skim and stir occasionally. Strain the sdup through a wire sieve, rubbing through some of the vegetables. Rinse out the pan and return the soup to it. Season according to taste and add a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Cream of Potato Soup. —One tablespoonful of flour, 1 pint of milk, 1 pint of water,. Jib. potatoes, 1 onion, 1 small artichoke or stick of celery, pepper and salt. Peel and cut up the potatoes, the onions, and the artichoke or celery. Mix the flour with a little water, stir it into the milk, add the rest of the water, the potatoes, etc., season, and let it all boil gently till the potatoes are soft. Rub through a sieve, return to saucepan, add a little cream when the soup is in the tureen, with a small lump of butter, and serve hot. Onion Soup.—Steam several large onions till they are quite soft, then place in a saucepan full of milk, allow ing a large cup of milk for each onion Simmer, but do not allow to boil strain, pass the onions through a siev< and mix again with the milk; add sp.l

and a large tablcspoonful of cream; a little wholemeal flour if not thicV enough. This is very nourishing ant. will be found very soothing to sufferers from coughs or colds.