THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14888, 13 January 1912, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

.» ■ . THE TABLE. ••* Mixture for Apple and Cheese Cakes.— Take four ounces of grated apples, four ounces of castor sugar, .three ounces of butter, the yolks of two eggs, and the grated rind and juice of a lemon. Melt the butter in a jar set in a pan of hot water, then mix well with the eggs and other ingredients. Line tart-dishes with pastry, and fill with the mixture when, it has cooled. Jake in the same manner as ordinary cheesecakes or tarts. : Baked Fish with Tomato Sauce.— stuffing as follows: One and a-half cups biscuit crumbs, quarter-cup melted butter, one tablespoon chopped pickles, one tablespoon chopped onion, half teaspoon salt, third teaspoon pepper and sage to suit taste. Fill fish and sew. Cut slits two inches apart on the sides and lay in each a thin strip of fat pork. Place in baking pan on some thin slices of fat pork. Pour oyer it one cup salted, boiling water in which two tablespoons butter have been melted. Dust over all salt, pepper and flour. Quick oven. Baste quite often. When flesh befins to separate from bones it is done. Transfer to hot platter. If you have more stuffing than fish will hold sew the remainder in cheese cloth bag and place beside fish in the pan. Serve with tomato sauce.

Old-Time Bread Pudding.—Two cups of stale breadcrumbs, one quart of milk scalded, three-fourths cup of sugar, two eggs, two sticks of Fry's chocolate, one-fourth teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of vanilla. Add the hot milk to the bread and let it stand for 20 minutes. Melt- the chocolate over hot water and dilute it with a little hot milk, then add it to the bread and milk. Add the sugar, eggs beaten slightly, salt and vanilla. Torn into buttered baking dish and bake for one hour in a moderate oven. Serve with vanilla sauce.

Russian Salad.—Required: Any summer vegetables, the greater variety the better, all boiled separately. The peas must be whole, the French beans cut crosswise, potatoes, carrots, etc., cut in cubes or fancy shapes. Put all (cold) into a bowl, and add ""sufficient salad cream to coat them and make them adhere. Serve with cold meat.

Baked Tomatoes.—: Six large tomatoes, breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, and butter. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise, and lay them cut side upwards on a greased tin. Mix some fine breadcrumbs, pepper, and salt together, and sprinkle over the tomatoes, then put a little bit of butter on each. Bake for seven or eight and serve.

French Beans, Breton Fashion.— quired : French beans, a small onion, butter. Shred the beans and cut crosswise in inch lengths. Parboil them with a tiny piece of onion, drain and put in a stewpan with some butter, cook, shaking constantly till quite tender, then serve. There must be plenty of butter with them to make them nice.

Rolled Herrings,—Five or six white herrings. For the forcemeat, two ounces of breadcrumbs, one tablespoonful of chopped suet," half a tablespoonful of chopped parsely, a quarter of a tablwpoonful of thyme, pepper and salt, ■ egg or milk ,to. moisten. , Brown crumbs. Wash and scale the fish, take off the fins'and beads, cut down the front to the tail, remove the inside, being careful to take out the "silver line," and scrape off all the black rfrin. Take out the backbone, beginning near the head, and any bones you may see. Smooth over with a knife dipped in water. Have ready the forcemeat. Spread a little on each" fish, toil up from the head end, and fasten with a skewer. Dip into milk, cover with brewn crumbs, put into greased tin with a email piece of -dripping on each fish, and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes;

Normandy Beef.— Wipe three pounds of beef, cut from the round, with a piece of cheese-cloth. Sprinkle with salt, and dredge with flour. Cut a one-inch cube of fat salt pork in small pieces, and cook lightly in a hot frying pan. Sear and brown entire surface of beef in fat, turning frequently. Put in a casserole dish and add three cups of cut-up tomatoes, one-fourth cupful, each, of carrots, turnips, onions, and celery, cut in small pieces, three sprigs of parsley, two cloves, and ten peppercorns. Cover, and cook until meat is tender, the time required being about three and one half hours. HOUSEHOLD HINTS. Salt and vinegar will remove stains from discoloured teacups. Lemon juice will allay the irritation caused by the bites of gnats and flies. When starching Holland pinafores, put a little strong tea into the starch to keep the garments a good colour. Castor oil rubbed well into boots and shoes will help to preserve the leather and lengthen the life of the boots. Any oil can be used, but castor oil is the best. To shine boots quickly, do not blacken, but rub with a piece or orange. Let the juice dry in, and then polish with a soft brush, when they will shine like a mirror. When you feel very hot hold the wrists under the tap and let the cold water run on them, when the whole body will become cooled down in a very few minutes without any risk. To save paint and furniture from being knocked and scratched when sweeping, nails pads of velvet or cloth on all brooms and brushes, especially those used for stairs.

Salted meat requires longer boiling than fresh. Put it into cold water, quickly bring it to the boil, then let it simmer. Allow longer time than for fresh meat, as the fibres will be harder. When polishing a grate mix the blacklead with turpentine and a very little water, instead of with water alone. This will give the grate a specially good polish, and keep it from rusting. Stains may be taken out of brown boots by well rubbing a piece of cut lemon on the boots, then polish with brown polish, when all stains will quickly disappear and the boots will look equal to new. Tumblers which have been used for milk should always be rinsed in cold water before they are washed in hot. When this is done the milk does not stick to the glass, and there is no danger of their looking cloudy. Sometimes great inconvenience is caused by the drawers of a bureau becoming stiff and inclined to stick. This can be remedied by rubbing them with a little dry soap. This will cause them to slip in and out without any trouble. To make jam or marmalade look clear without skimming it, add a piece of butter the size of an egg about a quarter of an hour before removing the fruit from the fire. The jam will look quite clear, and will not stick to the jars when turned out for use. '

It is difficult sometimes, when using essences for cakes or sweets, etc., to measure correctly the number of drops required. Try this: Dip the finger in water and wet the rim of the bottle in one place, and the essence will be found to drop quite easily. When travelling, a bottle of eau-de-Col-ogne, a little plain starch powder, and an extra handkerchief should always be taken. By their aid the dust of a railway carriage may be speedily removed, and you will look as fresh at the end of a journey as when you started.' Curtains that are starched with flour will last longer than if the ordinary starch is used, because flour does not rot them the same as the starch does. Three tablespoonfuls of flour mixed to a paste with cold water; then pour boijing water on as for proper starch. This will do two pairs of curtains; besides a few smaller covers, etc.

Few insects can withstand an application of hot alum water, and ants, beetles, and crickets can be destroyed by pouring into their holes the solution made by adding a pint of boiling water to half a pound of alum. Painting the cracks of bedsteads and bedroom furniture with turpentine effectually keeps away any unwelcome insect pests, '". --■■*- -- -