HINTS FOR THE COOK

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7852, 14 July 1911, Page 11

HINTS FOR THE COOK

Hint About Soups.—Always remove the cake of fat that settles on the top of cold soups; if allowed to remain, tho soup will turn sour more quickly than it otherwise would. Salt will curdle- Hence, in preparing milk porridge, gravies, etc., the salt should not be added until the dish is prepared. . . Millr kept iu a shallow basin will remain sweet for a longer time than if kept in a deep jug. . When cooking cabbages a email pinch of carbonate of'soda in the water in which cabbages are boiled preserves the colour of the vegetable and lessens the unpleasant odour whilst cooking. Salt for table use should ho mixed with a small quantity of cornflour to prevent its forming into lumps. Hint for Cooking Rice. —Rico has a finer flavour if washed in hot water instead of cold before cooking. THE CLEANER'S ART To clean white furs at homo is not difficult, and it saves a good deal of expense. Take equal ports of flour and salt and put them in the oven in a iar till hot. (Take care not to brown the flour.) Spread the fur put on a large sheet of paper, and rub in the flour and salt. If the garment be not wanted at cnee, lot the flour and salt be wrapped up In it for a day or two, after which it should be shaken out thoroughly. Tills method gives little trouble, and is most satisfactory. To clean ribbon, make a warm, very sudy water, softened with ammonia," and in it wash' the ribbon. Rinse it in warm water, lay it wrong side upwards on a table, and then rub it well with drv cloths .until nearly dry. Cover over with tissue paper, and press with a hot iron. Black silk may be cleaned by spoil rang tho dirty parts with tho water in which potatoes have been boiled. To clean silver lace, sew the lao© in a clean linen cloth, boil in a pint of water and two ounces of soap, and then wash it in .cold water. If the lace be tarnished, apply a little warm spirits of wine to the tarnished part. To jCfioan White Feathers. —Use olive soap for this, and make a warm bath for the feathers. Any shred soap may answer for tho jelly if it is free from caustic Crystals. Add a tableepooniul—loz —of commercial fluid ammonia—i-e., of the ordinary retail strength, to the soapy water. Now dip tho feathers in, and stroke them from stem to tip with tho finger and thumb to work out the dirt. When they look clean, rinse in warm water. It should not be too hot or it will destroy the feather, and yet it should bo warm enough to get the soap off the feather sprays.' Now very slightly blue one pint of water and mix in a teaspoonful of cornflour. Stir it well, dip in the feather, and shake till dry in a warm room, and hold before the fire or a stove when nearly done to “plume” the feather. This last operationtion gives it the full, fluffy appearance that new feathers have. Clean Brown Boots.—To clean brown boots when they have gone a dirty, almost black, colour is to mb well with a piece of soft cloth dipped in benzine. This will have the effect of making them almost their original colour. Clean Straw Hat.—-First scrub it well in warm water, softened with a table* spoonful of boras to a pailful’of water, use a clean brush, and if the hat is very much soiled use a little soap. Then sponge the hat all over with a weak solution of borax, using a teaspoonful to a basinful of water. Bleach In the sun for two or three days, spong ing the hat frequently with the borax Hater. If the hat is very yellow, a little lemon juice or diluted oxalic acid is good to eponge with while bleaching.

Gather flowers, not thorns. How much our thoughts we spend upon the things that vex us I How wo ponder over some one's unkind words or perhaps mistakes wo could not have avoided —a loss we could not have averted; whereas, the less attention we give to these disquieting things the better, for it is wiser to save ,our thoughts and time for that would give us confidence and courage. Is it not wiser to pick flowers than make a collection of thorns?

ON KINDNESS Do you wish for kindness? Be kind. Do you ask for truth? Bo true. What you give of yourself, you find. Your world is a reflex of you. For life is a mirror. You smile. And a smile is your sure return; Bear hate in your heart, and erstwhile All your world with hatred will burn. Set love against love; every deed Shall, armed as a fate, recoil. You shall gather your fruit from the seed You cast yourself in the soil. Each act is a separate link In the chain, of your weal or your woe; Cups you offer another to drink, The taste of their dregs yo shall know. AN OLD FASHION REVIVED The beauties of Paris have discovered a new way to accentuate their charms. It is their custom to surround themselves with ugly, deformed servants and to have us their constant companions the most hideous pits imaginable. Mile. Mistinguette, for instance, a favourite dancer, is waited on night and day by a Hindu servant with ringed ears ana a face altogether calculated to give one the creeps. Milo. Jlanou Loti, unequallycelebrated beauty, keeps a hideous dwarf “with a tremendous head, a malevolent expression, and hardly any legs." THE PERFECT WOMAN SANDOW’S IDEAL PEOPOETIONS. Inches. Bound neck (top) .. 13 liouud neck (near shoulders) 13i Chest £ 36 Waist 231 Across shoulders (back) 12 Neck to waist (front) Shoulder to elbow 14 Elbow to wrist 11 Outside arm 25 Inside arm 20 Wrist - Cl Middle of neck (back) and middle of waist (front) 23 Length of back to waist 1 15 Length of skirt (front) to floor 44 Length of skirt (side) to floor 46 Length of skirt (back) to floor 451