HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10148, 3 June 1896, Page 3

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

THE TABLE. Liver and Onions.— some lamb's or call's liver into slices. a third of an inch thick, and pour boiling water over all. After a few minutes drain the liver dry, dredge it thickly with flour, and season with pepper and salt. Parboil some chopped onions, and fry the liver in butter till brown. When the liver is half-cooked, put the onions over it and lob them fry till brown. To serve place the onions in the centre of a dish with the sliced liver round it. Make some good brown gravy and pour over all. Gingkr Rolly-Poly.—Mix a good teaspoonful of powdered ginger with half a pound of brown sugar. Make some light suet pastry and roll it out thinly, spread it with the mixture of sugar and ginger. Roll the. pastry round and round, wet the edges of the paste and squeeze them together. Place the roll in a floured cloth which has been previously wrung out in boiling water. Plunge into a pan full of boiling water, and cook two and a-half or three hours. Baked Fig Podding.—First stew some small dried figs till tender with a little lemon peel •' and sugar. Take two eggs, their weight in butter, flour, and sugar. Boat the butter and,' sugar to a cream, add the eggs, and lastly the flour, which has had half a teaspoonful of baking-powder mixed with it. Butter a shallow pie-dish, spread it with a layer of the steved figs, Sour the batter mixture over, and bake for alf an hour. The pudding will be equally goad hob or cold. 'Mutton - Podding. —We ore often puzzled to know what to do with the long bones of the neck of mutton left after trimming cutlets. I have used them constantly in Irish stew, curry, and brown stew, but found no way so good as a pudding. Mine is made as follows:—Line a basin with a nice suet crust, take the meat off tlie long bones, cut it into two-inch lengths, flour and season each piece well. Fill the basin with the meat, and pour some good stock over it, cover with a crust, and boil slowly for four hours. This long boiling is necessary bo as to cook the skinny parts thoroughly and make them tender.

GENERAL NOTES. The Cark of Carpets.—Of late years the manufacture of carpets has been so enormously developed, that it is now possible to buy a carpet for a sum which formerly would not have bought a good rug. This being 90, there is no reason why people with the mOst modest incomes should not have a'carpet in every room in tho house, if they wish, and although, of course, a cheap carpet cannot be expected to have the beauty and strength of a more expensive one, yet with proper care it will lasb for several years and look well to the end. It is a mistake to purchase very cheap carpets, for, although they may look all right for a short time, they are liable to wear quickly into holes and look shabby. The great point to remember in connection with carpets is that they require to be well swept every day. Dust is their greatesb enemy, and to keep this at bay as much as possible is the aim of every good housekeeper. Many people adopt the plan of having a square of carpet in the centre of the room, and the boards stained round, and when this method is followed, it is easy to keep the carpet clean. Every day it should be carefully swepb with a hair broom or brush, and occasionally it should be carried into the garden and well beaten. After doing this, spread ib out on the grass, and sweep it with a stiff broom. Before laying it down again spread sheets of brown paper or newspaper on the boards, previously having: washed them over with water to which turpentine has been added. When putting the carpet down burn it about, so that) it may be equally worn all over. In order to brighten the colours wring oub a flannel in ammonia water, and wipe the carpet over with ib. In the case of carpets that fit rooms and are nailed down, ib is impossible to take them out bo be shaken very frequently, but they should be taken up at least once a year— during the spring cleaning is, of course, the usual time— thoroughly swept and beaten. Urease marks may be removed by putting a piece of blotting paper over them and pressing it with a hob iron. The heat will cause the grease to soak into the paper. Another way is to make a paste of fuller's earth and cold water mid spread on the marks. It will absorb the grease and can tlion be swept up and thrown away. Should moths by any chance get into the carpet, as may happen if the house is left unoccupied for any length of time, the best way to get rid of the pest is to iron the whole carpet with a hot iron over a cloth wrung out in water or ammonia and water. The steam generated will destroy any moths or eggs there may be in ib, and the ammonia will freshen the colours of the wool.