HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10124, 6 May 1896, Page 3

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

THE TABLE.

Hook Cakes.—Alb flour, 2oz butter, 2oz sugar, two teaspoonfula halting powder, Jib currants or raisins, come flavouring, one egg, a little milk ; rub the butter among •be flour,'tidd augur and baking powder and the currants, beat up the egg, and add a little milk to it and the flavouring; mix with this to a very dry consistency, then take two forks and lift the mixture in little rough heaps on to a buttered baking tin, and sprinkle sugar on fclio top; put into a quick oven for a few minutes.

Lemon Chkkskcakes — Simmer together oyer a slow t fire a pound of loaf sugar, 4oz of fresh butter, four well-beaten eggs, and the juice and finely-minced rind of two lemons. Stir one way, and when the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is smooth and of the consistency of honey, pour it into a bowl. When cool it i< roady to put into the pattypans. Time to bake, a quarter of an hour.

GINGKitBitEAD.-IJIb flour, ono teaspoonful soda, 6oz of butter, halt teaspoonful cream tartar, Jib of treacle, one teaspoonful ground ginger, ilb sugar, one teaspoonfill allspice, one teaspoonful cinnamon. Rub the soda and cream of tartar into the flour, then rub the butter and add the spioes, melt the sugar and treacle together with about two cupfuls of boiling water, stir together, pour o?er the other things, and put into a buttered tin. Bake in a modorato oven for one hour and a-half.

Alexasdka Podding.— a pie-dish with puffpaste, and cover the bottom with stewed fruit or apricot jam. (irate 3m of bread, or crumble the same quantity of stale spongo cake, add of cantor sugar, the thinly-grated rind and juice of half a lemon, three well-beaten eggs, a teacupful of milk, and loz of fresh butter beaten to a cream. Whisk the mixture well together, pour it on to the jam, and bake tho pudding for half an hour, or till the mixture has set, and the top is of a pale golden colour. Turacle Podding.—Make a suet crust, and roll it out rather thin. Butter a

pudding-basin, and line it with the paste, leaving a good piece to close the bottom. Pour in a tcaspoonful of treacle. Cut a piece of paste to a circular shape, and largo enough to cover fcho treacle. Put it in and pour in two teaspoonfuls of treacle. Cut another piece of paste rather larger than the provious one, and so on until the basin is full. Turn the edges of the paste over, moistening sliehtly with water to make them unite. Tie securely in a cloth, and boil for two hours. Turn out of the basin on to a, dish and serve.

GENERAL NOTES. Pots and Pass.—The watchword in every well-ordered kitchen should be "cleanliness," and cleanliness, absolute and complete, should be insisted upon by every competent housekeeper in all details connected with the kitchen, more particularly with those which have to do with the preparation of food, This being the case, wo much care cannot be expended on the pots, saucepans, and other cooking utensils. After any pan has been used a little hot water should be poured into it, and it should be put aside until there is time to clean it properly. To do this, a pan-brush with long stiff bristles is necessary, and very hot water and soda. If the pans are burnt or very dirty, it may be necessary to scour them with » little fine sand, and afterwards well rinse them out. The outsides should also bo wiped with a dishcloth kept for the purpose. Pans when kept on a eholf should never be laid flat, or have the lids put on them, for if they are not open to the air they are sure to have a musty smell. Fishkettles, after use, should be well rinsed out and then put in the open air to sweeten.

Polish for Kid Boots and Shoes.— Mix well together and boil slowly until they are thoroughly amalgamated the following ingredients:—Two ounces of fine glue, four ounce* of logwood chips, two drachms of biclfamate of potass, one drachm cf powdered inuigo, t.vo drachms of gumtrw*acanlh, two ounces of glycerine, one pint of vinegar, and half a pint of rain water. The mixture should be strained through muslin or a fine sieve, and bottled until wanted for use. One great advantage possessed by this point) ovor those generally sold in shops is that it is absolutely harmless to the kid, and does not cause it to crack as so many bought polishes do. Paint Brushes. — Paint brushes, on which the paint has been allowed to harden, may be easily cleaned if they are put to soak for a few hours in linseed oil. This will soften the paint, and they can then be rinsed in turpentine until they are clean.