Home Circle.

Southern Cross, Volume 20, Issue 27, 9 November 1912, Page 6

Home Circle.

Mothers' Mutual Help Column.

THE PENNY AND THE SUN

"Which is the more important to this world, this penny or the sun?" asked a man of a woman who was pushing herself to an early grave by worry. ~ .. . "Why, the sun, of course, replied the woman. "All right ; now take this penny,put it close to your eye and it shuts out the sun, doesn't it ?"' The woman tried the experiment and replied wonderingly : "Why, yes."

"Well, then, my dear woman, you are allowing a penny in the shape af small worries, to shut out the isun in your life. Suppose, now, the next time a worry comes along you ask yourself the " question : ' lsn ' r t this about as small as a . penny?" The woman did, and it cured her. HELPFUL THOUGHTS. (Contributed by "Vox.") Pleasure is far sweeter as a recreation than as a pleasure. * * * The world needs more people who will do right without waiting to see what others are going to do. * * * Some things after all come to the poor that can't get in at the doors of the rich, whose money somehow blocks up the entrance gate. * * * Do good whenever you can — no matter where,' no matter who. * * Whenever it is dark, light a candle. Whoever needs a lift, give him your hand. * All men desire to have truth on their side —few to be on the side of truth. * « To dream happily, you must ACT happily when awake. * We should always keep a corner of our heads open and free, that we may mal<e room for the opinions of our Sriends. * * * . Our characters invariably, come back from the tomb with the mourners. Good or bad, they refuse to be buried. * * * Hours have wings, and fly up to the author of time and carry news of our usag-e. Little things about the House •Uncooked meat will become tainted if allowed to lie flat on a dish in its own juice. It should be hung up. - When washing dishes which have been used to hold milk or milky puddings, rinse them out with cold water before dipping them into warm water for washing. Vegetable and fruit stains on the fingers can be removed by dipping the fingers in very strong tea for a few minutes and then washing, them in clear warm water. Coffee grounds, which have been thoroughly dried after using, make an excellent filling for pincushions. They do not encourage moths, as so many cushion fillings do. To clean slimy sponges, mix together one tablespoonful -of salt and one tablespoonful of common soda, with enough boiling water to cover the sponge. Place the sponge in the mixture and allow it to stand for 24 hours. Afterwards wash the sponge in warm water until quite clean. To keep bread-and-butter moist put it in a cool place, and cover closely with a serviette ojL clean cloth wrung out of cold water ; many hours after it will be as moist as when cut. Sometimes it will be found convenient to prepare bread-and-butter for afternoon tea in this way. A sewing board to use in the lap, made of a nice, clean piece of white pine or poplar, about lOin. wide by 18 or 20 inches long, will be ai help to the woman who sews a great deal. [Round off the) edges neatly. For basting or cutting, such a board is most convenient. It has an advantage over a table top, as it may be tilted at any desired angle. It is a mistake to wash a frying-

pan. The pan should be placed over the fire to melt thoroughly all the fat which has remained in it, and while this is hot, the inside of the pan should be rubbed with clean, soft paper until it is quite clean : the paper must be screwed up and used vigorously. Frying pans treated in this way will never, burn their contents until they are actually worn out. In order to turn out a pudding which has been boiled in a cloth it should be plunged into a basinful of cold water immediately on withdrawing it from the saucepan in which it was cobk e d. It should then be placed in a bowl which will exactly hold it, the string untied, and the ends of the cloth folded back over the bowl. When the basin is reversed in serving, no difficulty will be experienced, in freeing the pudding. Recipes SAVOURIES. (By a Cook). SALMON (without fish). Boil 4oz. macaroni in salted water till tender ; thick macaroni is the best. While it is cooking, blend 2oz. of flour with loz. butter over a slow lire. Next stir in a cupful of strained tomato. Add seasoning, and stir until the mixture thickens well, then turn it into a bowl. Drain the macaroni when cooked, and mince it, then stir it into the tomato sauce. Stand mixture aside to cool, form into fritters, dredge with flour, and fry in good oil an inch deep. The salmon mixture can be coloured, if desired with a drop of carmine colouring. Serve with parsley sauce. FORCEMEAT PIE. Boil ilb taPioca in 1 pint of water. Make some forcemeat balls as below —lib of breadcrumbs, whites of 8 eggs well beaten, a little thyme, parsley, pepper, and salt.. Mix together with a little milk if necessary and roll into balls. Put a little butter into an oven tin. let it brown slightly, put in the balls and bake. Put a layer of tapioca at the bottom of the dish., cut the balls in slices and put a layer of the balls, then a layer of tapioca, and so on, till the dish is full. Cover with paste in the ordinary way and then bake.; POTATO LOAF. Take some mashed potato, season it with pepper, salt, and a dust of powdered mace, and in a baking dish which can be sent to table in the form of a round-shaped mould. Scatter fine breadcrumbs over, with a few bits of butter on them and bake in a quick oven till' a good brawn. IF WE KNEW. (From A Reader). Could we but draw back the curtain that surrounds each other's lives, See the naked heart and spirit, know what spur the action gives, Often we should find it better, purer than we judge we should — We would love each other better if we only understood. Could we judge all deeds by motives, see the good and bad within, Often we should love the sinner, all the while we loathe the sin ; Could we know the powers working To o'erthrow integrity, We should judge each other's actions with more patient charity.

If we knew the cares and trials, knew the effort all in vain, And the bitter disappointment, understood the loss and gain, Would the grim, external roughness seem, I wonder, just the-same, Should we help where now we hinder, should we pity where we blame ? Ah ! we judg-e each other harshly, knowing not life's hidden force, Knowing not the fount of action is less turbid at its source, Seeing not amid the evil, all the golden grains of good— O ! we'd love each other better, if we only understood.