HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1188, 5 September 1874, Page 21

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Whbk no other means are available, common earth is recommended as a handy and efficacious remedy for the sting of bees. The New York Medical Journal recommends the use of borax by singers troubled with an occasional hoarseness. A piece not larger than a pea ia to be sucked ; this causes a free flow of saliva, which effectually moistens the mouth. To colour ivory, feathers, gelatine, &c, a fine red, take a solution of magenta and another of picric acid, to each add a little ammonia, then mix ; the articles are readily dyed by this solution. Slugs are very fond of bran. If handfuls of it are placed here and thei'e in the evening, in the walks of a garden, and removed early the next morning, hundreds, if not thousands, will be found to have been captured. Silks dressed with a solution of gum tragacanth are said not to show rain spots. Macaroons.— Half a pound of Hour, half a pound of moist sugar, quarter of a pound of fresh butter, one ounce of sliced almonds, part of a lemon, the yolk of two eggs and one white ; work well together into a paste, and make into cakes. To Keep Butter Fresh. — Let the dish containing it be filled with cold spring water, to which a little common salt or a very small portion of saltpetre has been added ; keep it covered down, and in as cool a place as possible. First-rate Tooth Poavder. — Mix equal portions of powdered chalk and charcoal, adding a small quantity of powdered curd soap. This simple recipe not only cleanses the teeth, but is a preservative against decay. Mildew from. Linen. — Mix soft soap with starch powdered, half the quantity of salt, and a piece of a lemon, and lay it on both sides with a painter's brush. Let it be in the open air — on grass is preferable, till stain is removed. Rhubarb Tart.— Take the stalks from off the leaves, and peel off the thin skin ; cut them into pieces about an inch long, and sprinkle a little fine sugar into the basin. For a quart basin, heaped, take a pound of common lump sugar ; boil it in nearly half a pint of water to a thin syrup; when skimmed, put the rhubarb into it, and as it simmers shake the pan often over the fire. It will turn yellow at first; but keep it gently doing until it greens, then take it off. When cold lay it in the tart dish with only as much syrup aa will

make it very moist. Put a light crust over it, and when that is baked the tart will be done enough. Stewed Breast op Veal. — Stew it gently till tender in some stock, a glass of sherry, some sweet herbs, as marjoram, lemon thyme, onions, mace, cloves, pepper, salt, and a few mushrooms. When done, strain, and skim the sauce. Garnish with forcemeat balls. * Orab Dressed Cold and Hot. — Empty the shells, and mix the meat with tmtter, vinegar, salt, white and cayenne pepper. Put the mixture into the large shell, and serve. It may also be served hot, by putting it into a Dutch oven before the fire, adding a few crumbs of bread and nutmeg. Brown it nicely. To Boil Spinach.— Pick two basketfuls of spinach very clean, and put it into several waters, until not a particle of grit is remaining ; then put it into a very large saucepan, with just sufficient water to prevent its burning, sprinkling in a large spoonful of salt ; press it down with a wooden spoon several times, and when it is quite tender drain it in a colander, and chop it up very fine; then put it into a stewpan with a piece of butter the size of an egg and a little pepper. Stir it over the fire until very hot, put it into a dish, and garnish with sippets of bread, or press it into a hot mould and turn it carefully out. Lay poached eggs at the top. Brocoll— Cut the head with short stalks, and pare the tough skin off them. Tie the small shoots into bunches, and boil them a shorter time than the heads. Some salt must be put into the water. Serve with or without toast and melted butter. Minced Beep. —Shred the underdone part fine with some of the fat, put it into a small stewpan with some onion or shalot (a little will do), a little water, pepper, and salt ; boil till the onion is quite soft, then put some of the gravy of the meat to it and the mince. Don't let it boil. Have a small hot dish with sippets of bread ready, and pour the mince into it ; but first mix a small spoonful of vinegar with it. To Clean Straw Bonnets. —Remove all trimming and lining. Dip the bonnet into a saucepan filled with boiling soda water. Let it soak for a minute or two, then lay it upon a board, and scour well with soap and water. Hang it in the air to dry when done. When quite dry place it in a box, every holo and cranny in which must be stopped up. Stand the box in an earthen saucer containing sulphur, which must be ignited ; close the lid of the box down tight, and let it remain twenty-four hours to bleach ; then remove it, Dissolve one pennyworth of oxalic acid in about two quarts of water, and steep the bonnet in it ; scrub it again thoroughly, and dry it. Make a glue of parchment cuttings to the consistency of a jelly, rub the whole of the inside of the bonnet with it, and then dry by the fire till well stiffened. Put it in the bleaching box with the lighted sulphur for another twenty-four hours, and then hang it in the air to remove all smell. The bonnet should then be sent to be blocked, the charge for which will be trifling, and it will look when it comes home as good as new. Ehubarb Jam.— Wipe the rhubarb, peel the stalks, and cut them into halfinch pieces. Put into the preserving-pan equal weights of rhubarb and loaf sugar, and the juice of one lemon to every two pounds and a half of rhubarb and sugar ; boil slowly, constantly stirring, for threequarters of an hour, skimming as long as any scum rises, or tili it becomes a smooth pulp and a thick jam, which leaves the bottom of the pan when stirred. Add the grated rind of one lemon to each pound of rhubarb aud sugar. Less sugar may be used, but the jam will not be so good. When done pot carefully, covering the pots with oiled paper. Lemon Syrup.— When people feel the need of an acid, if they would let vinegar alone, and use lemons or apples, they would feel as well satisfied, and receive no injury. A suggestion may not come amiss as to a good plan, when lemons are cheap in the market, to make good lemon syrup. Press your hand on the lemon, and roll it back and forth briskly on the table to make it squeeze more easily ; then press the juice into a bowl or tumbler — never into a tin ; strain out all the seeds, as they give a bad taste. Remove all the pulp from the peel, and boil in water — a pint for a dozen pulps — to extract the acid. A few minutes' boiling is enough ; then strain the water with the juice of the lemons; put a pound of white sugar to a pint of the juice ; boil ten minutes, bottle it, and your lemonade is ready. Put a tablespoonful or two of this lemon syrup in a glass of water, and you have a cooling, healthful drink. Food op Infants.— lnfants fed upon arrowroot and other starchy substances, in place of mother's milk, are, according to eminent medical and chemical authorities of the day, being slowly starved. It appears that a child, for several weeks after birth, secretes no saliva; consequently a starchy diet cannot be assimilated by the little one. Why, therefore, except in the most extreme cases, should artificial food be thrust upon our offspring at all ? Nature has provided an ample fountain, the chemical constituents of which are so perfectly arranged and combined for the nourishment of the infant that any attempt at imitation, dictated by fashion or fancied weakness on the part of the mother, generally ends in melancholy failure. — rood Journal.

Motto fob a Mourning Warehouse. — Pie and let live.