HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3145, 20 July 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Caramels.—One pint sweet cream, two pound sugar, one heaped teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Stir gradually while cooking. liet mixture boil hard until it will harden in cold water, and flavour with vanilla. Plain Chow-Chow. —This may be made like mustard chow-chow, except that the turmeric, ground mustard and curry powder are omitted, and that the pickles and spiced vinegar are boiled together for half an hour and then permitted to cool before putting up in airtight jars. in A physician’s remedy for burns and scalds is to immediately cover the injured place wilh clean rag, and keep it constantly wet with a solution of common washing soda dissolved in water. It quickly takes the fire out, and. kept on, will cause it to heal in a lew days.

To Soften the Hands.--Take bifore retiring a large pair of gloves, spread mutton tallow all over the inside of them and all over the hands themselves. Wear the gloves all night and wash, the hands with o.ive oil and Castillo soap next morning. How to Keep Sage Green. —Pick the leaves from the stalks, put them in a large bag, tied up; hang them near the fire, or on the plate-rack until dried. Crumb, c them up small, thou put in a corked bottle; it will |.ecu for any length of time. Peanut Candy. One cup of molasses, ha.fcup brown sugar, one tablcapooaful vinegar, a ~iccn of butler the size of a walnut. Just before it is done, stir in a pint of shelled peanuts. Cook until it will harden m water. IVuir in a tcitleved tin aid cut in b irs. hik.-lains on boards may be removed with either strung vinegar or salts of lemons. Another plan, in case ‘the others fail, is to smnr the boards with sand wetted with water in which a few drops of oil of vitroil have broil mixed, ami then to raise them with soda water. ( hocnlato Cnram-'lm' cup molasses, Inll’-eup light brown M'g.c. half-iu 1 ) milk, quarter-pound chocolate, o e large tab espoonful Im 1 tec lioii until mixture will Irartle.i in cold water. Pour in a flat, buttered tin and bef ire it is hard, mark oIT in squares with, a sharp knife. White Cake.—One enp sugar, goed qnarterimi butter, cream logo.her, aid one cup sweet milk, one teaspoon flavouring, two cups flour, one teaspoon baking powder sifted through the flout three times. This rule wtu ipak,® a

nice cream pie. When cold, lay between and on top whipped cream.

To Fasten on a Broom Handle.—First bore a hole sideways through the handle and just into -the head. Then take a long nail, dip it in cold water, and hammer it sharply into the hole. The nail, being wet, will rust, -and will hold very securely.

Reliable Cure for Palpitation.—When very troublesome, take eight drops of oil of carraw?.y on a little lump of sugar, and use the stairs or steps as little as possible; also a drink of cold water with a good pinch of salt in it is a very good thing. A favourite hairdressing is made of three ounces of 6’ive oil, three-quarters of a drachm of oil of almonds, two drachms of palm oil, half an cunce of white wax, a quarter of a pound of iard, and three-quarters of a drachm of essence of bergamot. This strengthens the hair and prevents baldness. To Clean White Slippers.—For these use equal parts cf powdered alum and fullers’ earth. Mix thoroughly and rub on with a piece of flannel, turning the flannel as it gets dirty. Light kid gloves may .be cleaned in the same way. A rub afterwards with oatmeal sometimes improves the look of them.

Fruit Cake.—One-half cup while sugar, scant half-cup butter, half-cup molasses, ope teaspoon soda stirred in molas-os to foam, half-teaspoon each of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon, one cup stoned chopped rais’ns, halfcup currants, haif-cup citron (flour the fruit), two ard a half cups flour, one cup sour milk. Bake slow.

To Get Up Lace Curtains.—lt- is not at all necessary to iron these, provided you have a spare room in which you can spread them till dry, or, better still, can spread them in the open air. -Spread an old sheet, and, when the curtains are ready for drying, la’y them on this, pulling carefully into shape, and pinning down at frequent intervals Leave till quite dry. Nougat.—One cup pulverised sugar and the juice of one lemon. Stir over the stove until mixture melts like molasses, but do not leave any lumps in it, or it will grain. Add enough chopped almonds so it can bo moulded, place on a marble slab, roll out with a -small rolling pin which has been greased. Cut while warm into any shape desired. A pretty idea is to make a little house of this candy, fastening it with whipped creamHints on Cake Baking—Light cakes require a rather brisk oven to raise and set them. Cakes raised with baking powder also need a quick oven. Much sugar in a cake will cause it to burn quickly, therefore the oven must not be so hot for them. Large rich cakes require long and careful baking. Small sugar cakes need a slow oven. Gingerbread, too, should be gently baked. The oven door should be kept closed until the dough sets; -and all the time the cake is baking the door of the oven should be opened as little as possible, and the door very gently closed, as slamming the door, even to shut it, will make a cake heavy. Pickled Green Tomatoes.—Slice, without peeling, four quarts of green tomatoes and mince six medium-sized onions. Put into an enamelled) preserving kettle with a quart of vinegar, a pound of sugar, a tablespoonful each of salt, of ground mustard and of black pepper, and a half-tablespoonful each of ground cloves and of allspice. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer together until the tomatoes are tender. Seal up in jars while hot, and let the pickle stand a couple of months before it is used.

Pressed Sliced Beef.—For a piece of beef weighing -six pounds, use the following ingredients:—One pound and a half of salt, two ounces of saltpetre, half a pound of coarse sugar; boil all together in a gallon of cold water for ten minutes, let stand till cold, and then rub it on the beef. Turn and rub the beef every day for a' week. Cook the meat very slowly till tender, addling spices to the water according to taste. Pick out the bones and pack the meat in a dish in which you can press it nicely, leave a little of the liquor with the -meat, and apply a heavy weight for several hours. Glaze when cold and garnish with -sprigs of parsley. Sauce for Apple Snowballs.—A very delicate pudding sauce, made without butter, is to scald a pint of milk, adding to it one cup sugar that has been beaten thoroughly with the yolks of two eggs. When the sauce is thick, take it from the fire, allow to cool a few minutes, and add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff foam, and flavouring. Beat the sauce until it looks foamy, then send to the table. The flavour may be varied by adding vanilla, rose, lemon or almond extract; or one tablespoon grated chocolate, melted over boiling water, may be added; or a few spoonfuls currant or raspberry jelly give a nice flavour, or nutmeg or cinnamon may be used.

Old-fashioned Cookies.—One cup molasses, one cup sugar, one scant cup either beef f>r sausage fat, one even spoon sait, two rounded spoons ginger, one heaped spoon soda and one cup hot water. Stir the sugar, molasses and soda together until they foam, then add the hot water and the shortening, which may be melted, if so desired. Stir the salt and ginger into a portion of the flour, and add to the above. Mix as soft as possible. If mixed the day before, the dough rolls better, especially in summer. Roil moderately thick, mark with a crimped rolling pin, and cut into oblong squares Bake in iron pans in a hot oven. Crisp, thin cookies may be made from the same dough by mixing in more flour and rolling very thin. These last should be cut with a round cooky cutter. Tomato Soup.—Required: One carrot, one turnip, one stick of celery, 2lb of fresh tomatoes, a bunch of herbs and parsley, one quart of water, loz of small sago or tapioca, salt and pepper, a little castor sugar, loz buiter. Prepare the vegetables and cut them in small pieces. Melt the butter in a saucepan, put in the vegetables and fry for a few minutes. Next put in the tomatoes cut in slices, also the herbs and stock. Boil till the vegetables are quite soft, take out the herbs, then rub the soup through a hair sieve. Rinse out your pan, pour back the soup, let it boil, then shake in gradually the sago or tapioca. It must now boil till the sago becomes clear and floats. Season nicely with salt and pepper, and if too acid, add a little castor sugar. Serve with neat croutons of bread.