A HOUSEWIFE’S DIARY

Southland Times, Issue 22961, 6 August 1936, Page 14

A HOUSEWIFE’S DIARY

HINTS ABOUT THE HOME. A GOOD chilblain ointment can be made oy finely grating a carrot and placing in the oven with two ounces of lard. When the lard has melted leave until the lard and carrot are well blended. Allow to cool. Bathe chilblains in hot water before using ointment. Wall-Patch,

Tear and do not cut a piece of wallpaper that is to be used as a patch. The edge, thus produced, is almost unnoticeable if care has been taken to match the pattern. Splinter.

Nearly fill a wide-mouthed bottle with hot water, place the injured part of the hand over the mouth of the bottle, and press lightly. The steam will draw out the splinter. Rugs.

Thick knitting wool can be used to buttonhole over the worn edges of rugs. Bath.

Dripping water sometimes causes a stain on the bath, but such spots will not form if the bath is dried with a cloth mraediately after use.

Door-stop. A cloth-covered cotton reel screwed to the floor makes an excellent door-stop. Skewers.

To remove skewers from meat, fasten a loop of strong string through metal skewers. A sharp tug on the string will remove them easily.

To Keep Lemons. Lemons may be stored in dry sand. ’lace them stalk downwards in the sand, the layers of which must be deep enough not to allow the lemons to touch each other. To Remove Fruit Stains.

Fruit stains can be removed from the hands by rubbing them with salt moistened with vinegar.

To Cook Fruit.

Add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda when cooking fruit and only half the amount of sugar will be required.

To Flavour a Cake.

A rose-geranium leaf placed under the greased paper in the tin in which a cake is cooked will give the cake a delicious flavour.

A Mouth Wash.

Pour hot water on a few dried sage leaves and use the lotion when cold as a mouth wash. Rubbing the teeth over with a fresh sage leaf is also good for the teeth and whitens them.

Cooking Cauliflower. If cauliflower is boiled in a cloth, it can be lifted out of the water whole and unbroken. Mincer.

If you put a piece of sandpaper, rough side out, between clamp and table before screwing the mincer into position, it will prevent the mincer from sliding. Metal Polish.

If a flannel cloth which is used to put the metal polish on is kept in a tightly-closed tin, it will not be necessary to use polish every time.

Light Pudding. If when making plain raisin puddings, a finely-grated carrot is used instead of an egg, the pudding will be very light. To Remove Warts.

You can remove a wart with lemon rind that has been soaked in vinegar for a fortnight. Tie a small piece on with a bandage at night, renew next night, and the wart will soon go.

Thermos Flasks. Rust formation will be prevented if a thermos flack is kept standing upside down, with the cork removed, in a cup. Soil Marks. Soils, but not stains, can be often removed from stiff material by using an ordinary India rubber eraser. For Reels. Cigar boxes come in handy for keeping reels of cotton. Strips of wood can be glued inside the boxes to make compartments for the reels. Clean Bottles. A tablespoon of dry mustard added to water that half fills a bottle and the whole well shaken and left for half an hour will remove odour from a bottle. Give a final rinse in dean, cold water. Easily-made Polish. Odd pieces of yellow soap made into a paste with powdered whiting will polish any bright metal. Flannel Trousers. Faded grey trousers will be improved when washing if a small teaspoon of powdered saxeblue dye is added to the soapy lather. Blinds. Wash Holland blinds without soap in bran and water. If unglazed, stiffen in full-strength bran water; if glazed, use stiff boiling-water starch, iron and polish on glazed side. Little Prince Edward Sets Fashion. Little Prince Edward of Kent is already setting fashions for contemporaries. Smart babies are wearing for their outings on mild days, quilted silk jackets' and matching shoes similar to the quilted white set that was a present to the Prince from Madame Clara Novello Davies and the Royal Welsh choir. The Royal baby’s jacket and shoes were the work of a Welsh quilter and the gift also included a white quilted cushion and cot cover.

Cheese Cream. Cheese cream is easy to make and will keep a long time. Simply grate down a half-pound of creamy Cheddar cheese and thoroughly pound with two ounces of softened butter. Well season with cayenne, made mustard, and a little salt. Keep the cheese in jars and cover with the merest layer of melted butter. Allow to stand in a cool place for several days before use. Old Potatoes. Old potatoes will retain a creamy colour if cooked in the

following manner. A tablespoon of vinegar should be added to the water in which they are to be boiled, and salt put in when boiling begins. Before the potatoes become qute soft, drain off the water and steam for a few minutes, covering with a cloth to dry them well. Pastry Making. Pastry is often a disappointment because, in the making, it has been too heavily handled. The work should be lightly and quickly done and not started until all the ingredients have been prepared and

the oven is at the right heat. Pastry requires a very hot oven. Fruit that is to be used for tarts should be always cooked first by itself j in the case of bottled fruits, bring to a boil with sugar before putting into the pastry. The above does not apply to fruit being used for puddings. Pancake Time. The following is a good recipe for pancakes. Make a batter with a half pound of flour and two eggs. Beat well, and then add one pint of milk and allow to stand for an hour. Melt some lard in a

saucepan and pour enough into' a frying pan to cover the bottom. Proceed to pour some of the batter into the pan; when this browns on one side, toss and brown the other side. Turn on to a piece of paper sprinkled with sugar, sift on a little castor sugar and squeeze over some lemon juice. Roll up and put on a dish with a fancy paper. Serve very hot. Savoury pancakes can be made as above except the sugar is omitted and hot mince of meat is rolled up in the pancake. If a tablespoon of melted butter is added to the batter just before frying, the col-

our of the pancake will be improved. Raisin Cakes. Seedless raisins, half pound; sugar and butter, half a pound of each; flour, 120 z.; two eggs. Boil the raisins and drain away the water. Keep about a' gill of the water. Add the butter and sugar with a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon and powdered nutmeg. Sift in the flour mixed with a quarter teaspoon of salt and three teaspoons of cream of tartar. Beat the eggs, add them; dissolve one and a half teaspoons of bicarbon-

ate of soda in the raisin water, and add this. The completed mixture is then dropped by spoonsful on a buttered baking sheet. Twenty minutes in a hot oven, and the raisin cakes will be ready. Candied peel in cakes is not liked by some people, but if it is finely minced the peel will not be noticed and will improve the flavour 0i the cake. Cooking Fish. Fish should not be plunged into boiling water, as this may break the delicate skin. The water, however, should be very hot. Steam-

ing is more economical than boiling. If fish is fried, garnish it with a little fried parsley. Fish bones are usually thrown away but they can be used for making a simple broth if put into water in which the fish was cooked and boiled for a couple of hours A thickening can be provided by the addition of rice and flavouring by some onion and pepper. Instead of broth, the preparation can be converted into a pleasant drink by the further addition of some warmed milk, in quantity about a third of the other liquid.

■ Cheese Straws. Sift together three ounces flour, half teaspoonful salt, quarter teaspoonful baking powder, and quarter teaspoonful cayenne. Rub in three ounces butter, then mix in an ounce of breadcrumbs and three ounces grated cheese. Blend well, and form into a smooth dough with egg yolk. Turn on to a floured board, roll into a strip an eighth of an inch thick, cut into, thin fingers, place these on a greased baking sheet, paint lightly with egg yolk, and cook in a ♦quick oven until brown.