Household Hints.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 18 September 1912, Page 2

Household Hints.

A New Clothes-line should be boiled to prevent it from twisting.

When steaming puddings, or dumplings, put a cloth over the steamer before putting on the lid. This will prevent the moisture settling and rendering' the piiddin£ heavy. If a napkin is wrung out of hot water and wrapped round sandwiches and they are put into a cool storeroom they will, remain as moist as when first spread. To make a low room look higher, let the curtains hang to the. floor. To make a high ceiling look lower use short curtains that hang only to the window sill. Aluminium pans must never be washed with soda water. They can be perfectly cleaned in > a lather of soap and water, and occasionally polished with plate powder. To prevent potatoes becoming black when cooked, put? them into cold water and when brought to the boil squeeze a little lemonjuice in. They will then keep a good colour and be of good flavour. : To remove fruit stains from the hands, rub the stains with a piece of cut lemon before washing in. soap and water. Tomato skins rubbed over the hands are also effective for removing fruit Stains. To Clean Zinc, dip a piece of flannel in paraffin, and with it well rub the zinc, which should then be washed with hot water and soap to remove the smell of the oil; polish with a dry cloth. New leather boots are sometimes difficult to polish successfully. When this is the case it is a good plan to rub over the leather with a cut lemon. Allow the juice to dry thoroughly. Apply blacking in the usual way, and polish with a good hard brush. . A scouring mixture for boards and tables i s this: Work into a paste half a pound of sand, half a pound of soft soapjland a quarter of a pound of lime. Put it on the scrubbing brush instead of soap; then wash the wood with plenty of clean water. In making bedroom slippers, instead of buying soles, cut them from the discarded hot water bags. On the rubber soles lay an, inner sole of soft flannel, and bind them together; on this foundation sew the knitted uppers. You will like the result. Filters must be kept scrupulously clean, or otherwise they add impurities to water instead coi removing them. It is a good plan to have two niters in use, allowing each t 0 Work on alternate days, and on the day when a filter is not at work, exposing its working parts *o sunlight and fresh air. After using a bowl of starch do not throw away what remains of the mixture. Place ori one side, and when the starch has settled pour off the clear water, then place the basin in the oven for five minutes. The starch will be found in a hard cake, and can be put away for use another time, when it will be found as good as that just bought.

The following way to reheat, a roast of beef is given by a European cook1. By it the roast will be, to all appearances and flavour, a first service, unless it has been marred by the marks of. the carving knife: Wrap the roast in tough, buttered paper and put it in the oven. Let it stay until it is thoroughly heated; but do not allow it to cook. Reheat the gravy and serve besides the meat in a hot gravy toast.

To make a tough piece of steak tender, put three tablespoonful of salad oil and one tablespoonful of vinegar on a large flat dish. Lay the steak on the mixture, and let it rest in this way for half an hour. Then turn it over and let it rest for.another half hour in the same quantity of vinegar and oil. it is said that the toughest^ steak will yield to this treatment and be "tender when served. The Right Sort of Oven.—By using the following.^est s one may "be reasonably sure;of, getting the proper heat for the various kinds of baking: For sponge cake and pound cake have heat that will, in five minutes, turn a piece of white paper yellow. For all other kinds of cut cake use an oven that will, i n five minutes, turn a piece of white paper dark yellow. . . For bread and pastry, have an oven that will, in five minutes, turn a piece of white paper dark brown. When the oven is too hot at hrst a crust forms on the bread Dr cake which prevents it rising. It i s betl ter when baking bread and cake to have the oven a little slow at first, and increase the heat gradually. When baking puff paste, the heat should be greatest first and decrease later. This is to keep the paste in shape. , : When the oven is too hot the temperature may be reduced by putting in a pan of cold water. When baking in an oven that is too hot at the top, fill with cold water a dripping pan which is about an inch deep, and place it on.the top grate of the oven. Should the oven be too hot on the bottom, put a grate under the article that is to be baked. i