THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12401, 24 October 1903, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

THE TABLE. Braised Mushrooms : Peel the mushrooms, remove the stalks, put them into a small earthem jar with two ounces of butter to a pound of mushrooms, pepper and salt to taste ; put on the lid, and set the jar in, a hot oven ; let it remain for twenty minutes to half an hour; there should be plenty of rich brown gravy, and it should be served with the mushrooms in a very hot dish for breakfast. Breakfast Relish : Melt in a small saucepan a piece of fresh butter the size of a walnut, and add a little salt, a dust of cayenne pepper, a icaspoonful of,curry powder, a dessertspoonful of »milk, and two eggs, which have been chopped rip after ten minutes' boiling-. Mix all well together, and very gently simmer over the lire until thick'. Stir continually to avoid curdling. Serve on buttered toast. Boiled Calf's Head: Remove the brains from half a calf's head, wash them in salt and water; wash the head, then put it in a large saucepan with enough warm water to cover it; let it simmer gently for two or two and a-half hours; tie the brains in a piece of muslin, and cook them separately for half an hour ; take up the head, remove (he tongue, skin it, cut in slices, and put it and the brains round the head on. a hot dish ; cover with parsley sauce ; serve very hot. Kidney Beans in Brown Sauce: Prepare snd cook the beans as if they were to be served plain. While they arc cooking, put into a second saucepan a tablespoonful each of butter and finely chopped ham, and cook for five minutes. Then add a, teaspouuful of Hour, mixing well, and gradually pour in a cupful of good, rich stock. Stir until smooth, seasoning with pepper, salt, and a little onion juice. Strain off the beans, then. put this sauce over them, and cook for live minutes longer.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS. To KEiir Shoe-lacks Tied: Slightly wax them. Only the faintest suggestion of wax is needed, and there will be no fear of them coming untied. When Washing Lace : If lace is ironed directly after washing, first under a cloth, finishing off with nothing between it and the iron; there is no need to starch it. Ironing while wet gives it just the right amount of stiffness. Washing White Gloves: If your white washing gloves have black points before washing them, slightly moisten a little salt, and with your finger rub it well into the points. This will prevent the black from running, which otherwise it is very liable to do. For a Cold : Directly you find a cold coming on go to bed and drink the following mixture as hot as possible— tcaspoonfuis lemon-juice, one teaspoonful sal volatile, half a tumbler boiling water, sugar to taste. Cover yourself up warmly, and in the morning you should feel perfectly right again. Winter Boots: If after being stored during the summer your winter boots are dry and hard, rub a very little olive oil well in. Leave for several days and then clean as usual. An even better plan is to rub the oil in when putting them away. Besides keeping them soft and supple this helps to render them waterproof. Airing Bedclothes : On a fine day it is a good plan to take all bedclothes out of doors, and hang on a line in the sun for a few hours. The French plan of hanging beds and mattresses out of the window so that they may be thoroughly aired before being remade is an excellent one, which we might follow with advantage.

WASHING AND MENDING LACE. EvjinT lady who has experienced the difficulty of having costly laces well and carefully washed, will hail the suggestion' of other gentlewomen taking up lace mending and washing as a business with satisfaction. There 'are certainly lace shops where one can have these necessary bits of restoration done, but they are not inexpensive, and there is often a great risk attached to trusting one's valuable laces to Hands which do not treat them with due consideration. Nothing can be pleasanter or easier as an occupation for ladies than this. The art of washing good lace is soon learnt. Perhaps one of the best methods is to cover a glass bottle with soft flannel, and to wind carefully round it strips of soft cambric, on. which the lace has been exactly stretched and tacked. The greatest pains must be taken to keep the lace stretched flat, and to prevent wrinkles. When the last layer is wound, the linen must be closely tacked down with a needle and cotton, and the bottle is then moved briskly to and fro, in strong soapsuds and warm, bub not hot, water, clapping it with the hand at intervals, to send the water more thoroughly through the folds of lace. Some people prefer dry-cleaning, a more expeditious method, and less likely to break the delicate, threads. For mending," some knowledge of lace stitches is needed, but these can easily be acquired by the aid of a book on the subject. Some lace menders achieve such skill in mending that their own stitches cannot be told from the original ones, und the work is .a- most fascinating one. Fbr point laces, the needle is of course used, but it is well to have some knowledge of cushion lace-making, in order to mend those laces that are framed with bobbins, as it is far more difficult to simulate their stitches with a needle point. Lace mending is not .as rapid an affair as lace washing ; but the lace mender may coni sole herself with the reflection' that it is a more paying business. A good lace mender and cleaner ought to be able to establish a business, once she becomes known, which should be at once remunerative and agreeable.

THE QUIET LOVER'S PROPOSAL. Perhaps at no time does the quiet* lover appear to such advantage as when he >oiiers a proposal to the girl he has honoured with his attention. His former reserved behaviour serves to throw up the declaration of his love in a very rosy light, and the girl feels more highly honoured when lie chooses to speak than if his enthusiasm had been predominant, ever since she had looked upon him as a lover. Then a girl looks upon him as sincere, for when enthusiasm is too prevalent she is just a little suspicious of so great a display of amorous affection. The lover, who is not too enthusiastic is usually trusted, and his love affairs are not really so often marked as failures, for, as he observes precision in other matters, so does he in the choosing of a sweetheart, a proceeding, if somewhat unromantic, at least fraught with good and satisfactory results.

ASSUMED INDIFFERENCE IN LOVE. Indifference in a. girl when she is being wooed often induces a man to be ardent in his declaration. Knowing this she will sometimes exasperate him to desperation ; but a man grows tired of being thus treated, and discovers by-and-bye that her indiil'erence is entirely assumed. Then he grows negligent, and it behoves her to exert herself to bring him to a. normal condition; or if she declines so to act he will gradually cease to admire or praise her, and the courtship may come to an end. It is strange thaisome girls will persist in playing the ice maiden when such conduct hardens their nances to a degree of inattention—often, leading to quarrels-, which pave the way to unhappy marriages.

I'LL GIVE MY HEART. A HEART as soft, a heart as kind, A heart as sound and free, As in the whole world thou caast find, That heart I'll give to thee. Bid that heart stay, and it will stay. To honour thy decree; Or bid it languish quite away, And't shall do so for thee. Bid me to weep, and I will weep, While I have eyes to see; And, having none, yet will i keep A heart to weep for thee. Bid me despair, and I'll despair, Under that cypress tree; Or bid me die, and I will dare E'en death, to die for thee. Thon art my life, my love, my heart, The very eyes of mo; And hast command of every part, To live and die for thee.