INFORMATION EXCHANGED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23592, 28 February 1940, Page 4

INFORMATION EXCHANGED

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS BY NOMINA "Grateful" (Hamilton) asks how to revive a brown leather coat which has become dull and shabby. Mop Oil A request for a recipe for a mop oil to be used on linoleums and woodwork has been received from "M.O-" (Hamilton). CookiDg Queries

"M.W.N." (Hamilton) wishes to know how to cook dried beans so as to make them tender and produce, tin* best flavour; how to make the most nutritious pea soup; and how to scramble eggs to make them tasty, nutritious and easy to digest. Polishing Paua Shells

"M.H." states: —First smooth the surface down to an even level with a file or by rubbing with a small piece of grindstone, if the shells are very rough or crusted over. When the surface is even, smooth it further with coarse emery paper, then with < fine emery paper. The last process is usually all that is needed for the inner face. Finally go over the whole surface with roug© powder on a cloth or a bit of soft leather, rubbing until a good polish is obtained. : . Drying Apples "L.D." (Remuera) sends tho following recipe:—Coro apples, but, it is not' necessary to peel them.. Cut in rings and drop in a light brine of one teaspoon of salt to one gallon of water to prevent discoloration. Place in a tray in the sun for several days, or until dry. if the sun is not hot enough, finish otf in a very cool oven, and then press down in screw-top jars. They need not be air-tight. ' "E.M.T." (Papaluira) sends general instructions for drying fruit as follows:—Take sound fruit, ripo but firm, the larger the better. Wipe off fur, halve and stone. Spread on oven racks covered with chicken netting (this, for an electric oven). Two racks can bo placed in tho oven at a time. Have both switches turned to low and tho oven door slightly open. Keep changing about the racks every few hours. Tho process takes 12 hours. The writer would, herself, be grateful for information on how to keep the fruit once it is dried. She finds that by keeping ifc in a box it is inclined- to go bad at tho end of six months and wonders if screw-top bottles are safer. Another recipo has been supplied bv "C.H.C." (Tc Kauwhata), who has used this method for hundreds of pounds of apples. Peel, core and slice the fruit 'overnight, as it should be put. out as early as possible and tho preparation is lengthy. Cut in slices about Jin. thick. Lay old towels or sheeting on a sheet of corrugated iron, and spread the fruit so that it does not overlap, moving tho entire sheet to a covered place overnight, or when rain comes during tho day. Dry without turning until there is no whito streak to bo seen when a slice is torn in half. In good weather the drying should take about three days, but if wet weather sets in the fruit may be left in a shed. The fruit must be washed and soaked overnight before use.