HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 65

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Wash milky glasses iu cold water before putting them into hot. A shiny coat collar can be cleaned by sponging with a cloth moistened with ammonia or vinegar.

Only half the quantity of sugar will he required to sweeten stewed fruit if it is added after cooking and not during the. process. Potatoes will bake more quickly if they are left lying for a quarter of an hour in hot water before they are put into the oven.

Grates and ranges can be made equal to new' by rubbing with a rag soaked in turpentine, then cleaning with a mixture of blaeklead and vinegar. When making cakes and puddings, a tcaspoonful of gelatine dissolved in a little hot milk makes a substitute for three eggs.

If any boiled starch remains after washing day, do not throw it away. If added to the water with which linoleum is cleaned it will make it shine.

Paraffin cans should always -be kept corked. If left open the oil deteriorates, chars the lamp wick, and gives a bad light.

Steel that is rusty should be cleaned with a cut onion and left for a day. Afterwards it can be polished, either with emery powder and paraffin or with a paste made with brickdust and turpentine.

A large lump of salt in your cistern would prevent the water freezing, unless the frost was very severe. Fresh water freezes at 32 degrees F. r salt water at a lower temperature. Wine and fruit stains on table linen should be treated as soon as possible after they occur. Put the stained part over a basin, apply a little powdered borax, and pour on boiling water. If the marks do not disappear, repeat the process.

Apple blossom, lupines, sprays of laburnum and fragrant lilac all show up best with the wall as their background rather . than standing in the middle of a table. For a satisfactory ar-rangement-a tall, heavy vase is needed, such as an earthenware pitcher from Devon, a plain jug of glazed green pottery, or a pewter tankard. A bowl of floating flowers finds its best setting on the dinner table. There is nothing more aggravating than the effort of dodging flowers when talking to anyone at meals. Full-blown roses that would droop in a vase, or roses with very short stalks look lovely floating in a bowl, their heads resting on leaves. St. Brigid anemones —purple, crimson, and blue—vie with roses when they float. One beauty, gracefully arranged at the side of a black or green bowl, will be all the decoration your table needs. Short-stemmed flowers, like violas and primroses, are always difficult to group. They will fall about and look tired. Here is a pimple way to make them behave. Half-fill your bowls with salver •and, fill up with water, and arrange

' the flowers. The sand will hold the i-'ins firmly in position. Linseed oil is good for cleaning hard •■ood floors. Canton flannel, which has a woolly surface on one side, makes a good polishing cloth. Have a bag of it to fit over your broom, moisten it very slightly with the oil, and rub with i it. Another bag of the same flannel | kept very clean does nicely to fit over I the broom for dusting walls, for the woolly surface catches the dust and clears -it off.

She wove a string of pearls through her dark Eton crop, and her head-dress was voted the prettiest of all the party! But the uninitiated couldn’t understand how the pearls “ stayed put ” —till she explained that they were threaded on a strong, fine wire, the ends of which acted as hairpins, and enabled the pearl string to be arranged in any way she liked. The wire ends were quite unseen beneath the waves of her hair. Any beads, to match your special colouring and dress, can be treated in the same way —turquoise for a blonde, and jade for a red-haired girl would look lovely; though pearls suit most people, and “ go ” with any frock.

HOME INTERESTS. CELERY SOUP. One head of celery, two pints and a-half of white stock, two onions, seasoning, cornflour, half a pint of milk. Prepare and clean the celery in the usual way. The outer stalks, which are not usually put on the table, can also be used. Peel and slice the onions, and cut the celery into short lengths. Bring the stock to the boil, add the prepared vegetables and some seasoning, and cook gently until tender. Then rub through a sieve. Return the soup to the pan, stir in the milk, re-heat, and add seasoning to taste. If necessary, thicken with a little cornflour smoothed in stone milk. In this case, boil the soup for a few minutes, keeping it stirred, to cook the cornflour. APRICOT SOUFFLE. Required: Half a pint of thick apricot puree, ooz of caster sugar, four eggs, one gill of cream, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, six pistachio nuts, cochineal, about two tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Rub about half a tin of apricots through a hair sieve to make the puree. Separate the yolks and the whites of the eggs. Put the yolks ln a basin over a pan of boiling water with the sugar and puree, and beat them together till warm and thick. Dissolve the gelatine in the water and stir it into the “ u *t purees etc. Whip the cream until it will just hang on the whisk, and the whites to a stiff froth, and add these very lightly to the fruit, etc. Strain in the lemon juice, and, if necessary, add a few drops of cochineal. Have ready a china souffle case, with a band of foolscap to come three or more inches above the mould, tied or pinned round outside it. -Pour in the mixture, leave the souffle until set. Then carefully draw off the paper band and serve in the case. Decorate the top with some strips of angelica and some thin shreds of pistachio nuts cut in fancy shapes if you like, in the shape of shamrocks.

PORT WINE JELLY. Required: Half an ounce of leaf gelatine, one g'll port, 6 pieces loaf sugar, rind and juice of half a lemon, one gill of water, clove, -cochineal. In a small saucepan place the gelatine, thinly peeled rind, and the strained juice of the lemon, the clove, ?. I J® ar ; an< l wa ter. Stir over a gentle heat till the gelatine is dissolved. Draw aside for 10 minutes, then strain in the port. The colour will be improved by the addition of a few drops of cochineal. Pour into a wet mould, and allow to set. BOILED CUSTARD. Required : One egg, half pint of milk, one dessertspoonful of caster sugar. Beat the egg till it is light and frothy, and then stir in the caster sugar. Gently boil the milk, and then pour it over the egg, stirring continuously. Pour into a stone jam jar, and place it in a saucepan of boiling water! Stir till the custard thickens. If the patient is a little tired of the flavour of egg and milk, add a few drops of any desired flavouring essence. Special Note.—The milk must not be allowed to boil after the eggs have been added. If it does, the custard will curdle. FRUIT CUSTARDS. Required : About a dozen grapes, one banana, about a pint of good, custard, one gill of cream, one ratafia for each. Peel and slice the banana, arrange the slices and the grapes in some custard glasses. Pour over them a good cold custard, if possible with eggs. Whip the cream, sweeten and flavour it to taste, heap some on each custard, and place a ratafia bn top. If using any of the custard powders, follow the directions given on the box carefully.