HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9494, 25 April 1894, Page 3

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

THE TABLE. Shrewsbury Cakes.— Quarter of a pound butter, quarter pound sugar, half pound flour, one egg, and a little cinnamon. Beat the butter to a cream, add the sugar and flour, then break in the egg. Make into paste, roll out thin, and cut into round cakes. Stewed Mushrooms.For this "button" or small mushrooms are best. Wipe clean, and place in stewpan with a little water; stir gently for fifteen minutes. Add salt, stir in a little flour and butter till as thick as cream, then boil for five minutes. Before serving stir in a little cream or the yolk of an egg; warm, bub do nob boil. Milk may be added to the water with advantage, as also veal gravy, mace, or other spices. Melon Jam.Cut the melon into dice, and allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to one pound of melon. Let the melon remain in a large bowl for 24 hours after being cut up, and strew a portion of the sugar over it; this will create the juice. Plenty of room should be allowed in the bowl for this purpose. After remaining the allotted time place it on the fire and allow ib to boil till soft, adding lemons cut up as for marmalade, and ginger to taste. This must be left a good deal to your own judgment and taste. When quite soft add the remainder of the sugar, and again allow it to boil till it jellies when a little is placed on a plate to cool. Pour ib into jars, and cover in the usual way. Lemon Sponge.— half an ounce of gelatine in half a pinb of water, add the rind of one lemon pared thinly, and one ounce and a-half of sugar. Strain the juice of one lemon into a basin, add the white of one or two eggs, and strain on to it the dissolved gelatine. Whisk all together till so stiff that a spoon will stand up in it. Ornament a mould with preserved fruits, pour the sponge into it, and let ib stand till cold. Then turn out to serve, and ornament the dish with pink jelly chopped finely. Jugged Pigeons. this the following ingredients will be required: —Four pigeons, a slice of fat bacon, yolks of two eggs and white of one, pepper and salfc, one ounce of butter, one ounce of flour, a little ketchup, and a dessertspoonful of port wine. First, make a forcemeat of the giblets of the pigeons, bacon, crumbs, and hard-boiled yolks of eggs, chopped finely. Season all rather heavily with pepper and salt, and bind together with well-whipped white of eggs. This forcemeat should be divided into four, and used to stuff the pigeons with. Truss the birds in a very compact way, and place them in a jar. Add a teacupful of stock, cover the jar closely, and place it in a saucepan of boiling water. Simmer for two and a-half hours, then pour off the gravy, thicken it with the flour and butter, and add the wino and ketchup to taste. Tha gravy should be poured into the jar again directly it is made, and left till ready to serve. Divide each pigeon into four as you place ib on the dish (keeping the shape of the bird as far as possible), pour the gravy over, and garnish with halfmoon shaped pieces of fried bread. GENERAL.

To Destroy the Odour of Paint.— Slice a few onion 3, and put them in a pail of water in the centre of the room ; leave ib there for several hours ; or plunge a handful of hay into a pailful of water, and leb it stand in the room over-night. To Clean Chamois Skins.—Chamois skins that have been used for cleaning silver, brass, etc., can be made as soft and clean as new by following these directions : —Put the leather into a mixture of six tablespoonfuls of household ammonia and a quart of water for one hour. Work it about with a spoon, pressing out as much of the dirt as possible; then lifb ib into a large basin of tepid water, and rub well with the hands. Rinse in fresh waters until clean, then dry in the shade. When dry, rub between the hands. Chamois jackets can be washed in the same manner, except that there should be two quarts of watertothesixtablespoonfulsof ammonia. Pull into shape before drying. For the Complexion. Wash your own dishes, polish your own brass and silver, sweep and dust, and make up your own bed, water and tend your own flowers ; in fact, keep yourself busy and in good spirits, or take a brisk walk or ride in the afternoon of each day in fine weather. Eat eggs, milk, and digestible food, leaving off everything fried, rich in condiments, and fats. Sleep seven or eight hours in the twentyfour, in a well-ventilated room in which the sun has been permitted to shine two hours each day. Leb the light fall on you. You are like a plant; you need it. And in less than a year your complexion will be better than any lotion or pomade could make it.