LADIES' COLUMN.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLII, Issue 1741, 17 February 1921, Page 7

LADIES' COLUMN.

USEFUL HINTS. Table salt applied with, a wet cloth will remove egg .stains from silver. Linseed oil applied with a soft cloth is the best polish lor dining tables. Brown sugar is sweeter than white, and gives a richer, darker colour to cakes. A troublesome cough may often be eased by dissolving a small piece of borax in the mouth. Never wash a baby's clothes in water containing - soda. This' is a frequent source of irritation and chafing. When washing madras curtains, baste ends together, and they will hang as evenly as when new. Glycerine is the best thing to iise when tea is spilt on a cloth. After washing the mark disappears. Use metal spoons for measuring ingredients, but wooden ones for mixing etc.

After washing hair and tooth brushes, they should be allowed to dry in the open air. A lump of pipeclay dissolved in the water-used for washing clothes saves labour and soap.

Carbonate of soda gives instant relief to a burn or scald. It may be applied either wet or dry to) the burned part .

Tea-stains come out quicker if immersed in cold water first, then cover, ed with borax and afterwards dipped in boiling water. . When old stove and boot brushes get worn, pad them with rags and cover with velvet. They make excellent polishers.

Corks may be made air-tight and water-tight by being immersed in oil for five minutes. A cork will fit any bottle if boiled for five minutes previously.

Wash cretonnes in bran water and put salt in the rinsing water. Wring them through the wringing machine, and jron while still wet. Elderflower ointment is made by simmering the fresh flowers in butter or good lard with an eighth the proportionate quantity of spernjaceti. Ivory knife handles that have become yellow may be whitened by rubbing them with line sand-paper. Polish with a chamois leather. A tin kettle can be boiled over a candle in an emergency. Place a pair of coal tongs across the spindles of a chair, hanging- the kettle thereon. Under the kettle place a lighted candle, raising it with a book if necessary so that the flame almost touches the kettle. It will not take long to boil.

A little soap shredded into boiling water on washing day makes the oiothes a good colour. A small piece mixed with, starch makes ironing easier, and imparts a nice gloss. Soap scraped and mixed with castor oil is excellent for drawing and healing boils and abscesses. Keep all materials for cleaning purposes apart from food. They should have a cupboard, or at least a shelf, to themselves. To prevent dust lines on the paper behind pictures drive a small brassheaded tack in each lower corner of the frame to hold it out from the wall, so that air can circulate behind.it.

When making a fruit cake mix a little cornflour with the sugar before putting it into the fruit. It makes the juice beautifully thick like syrup and prevents it from boiling over. Carpet stains may be removed by an application of fuller's earth made into a paste with cold water, to which a few drops of ammonia have been added. Rub the paste well into the marks and leave to dry. To clean a shabby carpet, damp it, a small portion at a time, with a cloth wrung out in strongly salted water. Then rub dry with a clean duster.' To freshen stale bread hold it under the cold water tap for a minute or two, wetting all sides equally. Then put in a moderate oven for about half an hour.

Nqthing sweetens vessels in which milk has been kept so well as a solution of baking soda and, hot water, in the proportion of a teaspoonful to a quart of warm water. Let the solution stand in the vessel long enough to get cold. Boil enamelled ware that has become discoloured in water, to which has been added small quantities of chlorate of lime and washing soda. After boiling, wash the articles in cold water.

Use newspapers instead of firewood for lighting fires. Twist the paper into long spills, wind them round and round your hand, and then pull the end. through to make a sort of wheel. Three or four of these are sufficient to light a fire. Spots of grease on leather upholstery are best treated with spirits of sal ammoniac. Dab the spots carefully, allowing time for the liquid to act. Then wash with clean water. In the case of grease marks that are of long standing the process may have to be repeated two or three times.

Dealing with Flics.—lt is very unwholesome to allow flies about the house. They are disease-carriers, and th<*y are always contaminating eatables. It is best to give the flies some attraction in the way of food which, after eating, will quickly kill them. Poisonous compounds should never be used in the house, as children someLimes get hold of these. The following two mixtures are absolutely safe, and very effective, seeing that flies eat freely and soon die:—Quassia chips Joz., water one pint, treacle or any syrup. Boil the quassia chips and the water for about ten minutes, and then add the. treacle. The other mixture is:—Black pepper a teaspoonful. brown sugar two teaspoonfuls, cream four teaspoonfuls. Either of these mixtures may be stood about a room in saucers, and the flies soon perish in large numbers. RECIPES. Spinach Savoury.—Take two break. fastcupfuls full of cooked spinach and place in a saucepan with sufficient boiling cream to moisten well; add a little nutmeg, a sprinkling of sugar, and about a teaspoonful of grated :cmon peel. Stir the preparation until very hot. Break up the yolk of an egg and add and serve very hot. Potato Fritters.—Wash, peel, and dry about five medium sized potatoes. grate them on a coarse grater and put the grated potato in a strainer or on a clean folded tea-towel to drain. Mix one cupful of flour, half a cupful of soaked bread squeezed dry, half a cupful milk or cream, and the yolk of 2 eggs. Add the potatoes and season with pepper and salt. Add the whites of the eggs stiffly and fold them in. Fry dessert-spoonfuls of the mixture in plenty of boiling fat. The fritters may be made without the pepper and salt, and be served" with a sharpflavoured ■ jam or jelly if preferred. Another good recipe is as follows: — Grate and drain five potatoes as before, mix two heaped tablcspoonfuls of flour with a little pepper and salt, add the yolk of an egg and half a teacupful of lukewarm water, and mix

.smoothly. Then add a tablespoonful of melted butter and stir well. Let the mixture get quite cold. Then add the white of the egg- stiffly whipped. This batter is improved by making- it some hours before it is required, and letting- it stand. Rub the grated potato as dry as possible, and add it to the butter, and fry dessert-spoon-fuls in plentv of boiling- fat, as before. Tomato and Potato Fie.—Boil a pound of floury potatoes. Beat up well with a fork till well mashed. Then add to them a wineglassful of absolutely boiling milk and a generous knob of butter. Whisk till quite white and light. Wash, dry, and slice thinly a pound of ripe tomatoes. Put three ounces of bacon or pork dripping- in a clean stewpan. Melt it. Add the sliced tomatoes and cook for five minutes. Season highly with minced shallot, parsley, sweet herbs, or grated lemon rind, and pepper and salt. Grease a piedish. Put in a layer of the mashed potatoes and a layer of cooked tomatoes. Continue till all the potato, etc., is used up. I.et tho top layer be of the mashed potato. Scatter breadcrumbs thickly on top. Dust with pepper. Pour the remainder of the fat from the pan on top of the crumbs and make hot in the oven till just touched a golden brown here and there. Have ready a poached egg, one for each person. Place on top of the pie and serve. Cucumber and Tomato Salad. Take 3 tomatoes, cucumber, lemon juice, pepper, 1 bunch raddish, I Spanish onion, 1 head lettuce, 7 cupfuls unsweetened condensed milk, salt. Take fresh tomatoes and cucumber and slice them thinly on lettuce to make attractive salad. A little radish is an addition. Then grate half a Spanish onion, or it may be chopped very, very fine; the onion must be sweet. Add to this the juice of half a lemon and a cupful of unsweetened condensed milk which has been whipped without icing. Season with salt and pepper, using- about hair a teaspoonful of each. Pour the dressing- over the salad and serve at once. Tomato Filling for pies.—■ Tomatoes make a delicious filling for pies if prepared as follows:—Peel, slice and sprinkle with salt a quantity of gieen tomatoes, then vjt them in a cheesecloth bag and allow them to drip over-night. Cook them in the morning with their own weight in sugar until soft; do not add any water. To 71b. of tomatoes add, 3.1 b. of raisins, and season with allspice cjnnamon and mace to taste. Cook only a few minutes after the spices have been added. This mixture will keep a long time if sealed in jars. American Tomato Salad.-For each person allow one large npe tomato one tablespoonful of mayonnaise dressing, four small crisp lettuce 'eaves, and a few chopped capers. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water then take off the peel with a knife Stand on ice or cover witn cloth wrung out in cold water near an open shady window. Wash the lettuce and dry without Chop the capers. To serve anange four lettuce leaves on each salad plate with the stalks \*£*f?£& put a tomato in the middle, and with a sharp knife make eight deep , tactoions Open the quarters and fill with In" mayonnaise. Sprinkle with chopped capers.