EVERYDAY ECONOMIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 87, 4 July 1927, Page 5

EVERYDAY ECONOMIES

THE WITS-END CLUB A new novel may be selected by the winner each week as a prize for the most original household hint or recipe that has been tested and found to save time, labour or money. Many folk might be glad to have the benefit of your experience, so send in your suggestions, addressed to The Homecrafts Editor, Women’s Page, THE SUN. Auckland. The prize this week has been awarded to Mrs. I. Stockens, Avondale, for the following hints: To Double the Quantity of Cream.—lt may not be generally known that by adding the white of a freshly laid egg and whipping it together with some cream, not only will the cream be greatly improved in flavour and doubled in quantity, but it will be extremely light and fluffy. * * * To Cream Butter and Sugar.—To cream butter and sugar in about half the usual time, take one tablespoon of boiling water and add to the ingredients and beat briskly. To Polish Tins.—Brown paper moistened with vinegar may be used successfully to polish baking tins, etc, and will make them shine like silver. To Smooth Table Salt. —Salt that is inclined to be lumpy may be powdered and sieved and mixed with a little cornflour, in the proportion of 3oz. of cornflour to each pound of salt. It will then remain dry and will be quite fine. Care of Knives and Forks.—When it is necessary to store knives and forks they should be rubbed with a drop of oil in order that they will retain their brightness and not rust. Treating Flannelette. Flannelette may be rendered inflammable by soaking it in a solution of alum and water. “1.5.” * * * Cure for a Cold.—The following is a good remedy for a cold and is especially useful in the treatment of irritating coughs. Slice one lemon and place it in a saucepan with one breakfast cup full of water and bring to the boil. Remove and pound the lemon until all the good has been extracted, then strain and sweeten with one teaspoonful of honey, and drink as hot as possible before retiring. “N.A.” • * * Helpful Hints.—Oxalic acid wil whiten table or bench. To clean a burnt saucepan soak overnight in water in which a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda has been dissolved. If boiling water is poured over tomatoes they will skin easily. To remove ink-stains from linen, put under cold running water for a few minutes, then make alternate applications of lemon juice and kitchen salt, rinsing occasionally. Make a final application of lemon juice and salt and leave it on the article for some hours, then wash and boil as usual. A mixture of camphorated chalk and methylated spirits is excellent for cleaning silver. “M.B. • • • FOR USING UP JOINTS When the family is small it is an excellent plan for the housewife to get a leg of mutton, cut it in half, roast one half and boil or steam the other the next day. Good soup may be made from the liquor in which the mutton has been boiled and the remains of the boiled meat may be made into a delicious curry. The roasted half, when cold, may be converted into a savoury minced dish and served with mashed or scalloped potatoes. —“J.A.R.” •‘ • * MARKING LINEN The ink will not run, and the linen will be easy to write on, if, when marking linen, you first dip the particular portion of the article in cold starch and rub over with a hot iron. —M.H. * • * GAS STOVE MAGIC When the gas stove burners and bars get greasy and evil-smelling they are generally cleaned by scrubbing them in a pan of boiling water and soda. Such an accumulation can be cleaned away much more easily, however, by putting them for some time in the heart of the fire. Put them into the kitchen fire in the evening and leave them there till the morning, then all the grease will have been burned away. Since no soda is needed this is also a cheaper way of cleaning them. —L.M.C. MOVING FURNITURE When heavy furniture has to be moved single-handed, use a rollingpin, round ruler or broomstick. Slip the roller under at one end, and it will then be quite easy to roll the article from one place to another.—C.O.R. EASY SILVER CLEANING The weekly silver cleaning becomes a very simple matter if a sheet of aluminium is placed in a basin with hotwater and a spoonful of soda. The action of the soda upon the aluminium produces a chemical which most effectively cleanses the silver, and the articles emerge from the bath with a wonderful polish and whiteness. Used in this way the soda will not harm either silver or electro-plate.—P.T. A LINEN TEST Although it is extremely injurious, lime is sometimes used to bleach linen. To detect the lime, cut off a scrap of linen, put it in a glass and pour on to it some vinegar. Effervescence will indicate the presence of lime—H.R. ECONOMY IN GAS Many housewives turn the gas halfoff at the meter while cooking, but this has been thoroughly proved to be false economy, as gas turned full on brings things to the boil or heats the oven quicker, and with less consumption of gas, than when turned half-on. Also, things cook better when the gas is turned down to just a glimmer at full pressure than when it is turned fullon at half-pressure. My method is always to bring to the boil quickly, then turn the gas very low and let it simmer. If the articles being cooked have to be boiled hard, a slight extra turn higher would be quite effective. When making cakes, pastry, etc., I slope the tin shelf with one side resting on the top ledge, then I light the gas, and turn on full. When quite heated a very low light will keep the oven at the proper temperature. The sloping tin throws the heat down better and quickly browns the articles j being cooked. [ Instead of having one small jet flaring high, with three or four saucepans

round it, some trying to boil, others boiling madly and the contents of others again getting beautifully burned, I bring each saucepan quickly to the boil, then place two saucepans on the long roller burner, with the gas turned low. If there are four saucepans I use both burners turned likewise, after the saucepans have been brought to boil on a smaller jet. When making an omelette I cook it over the long rollers, turned upside down. I make toast while the bottom of the omelette ies cooking, then place the omelette underneath to cook the top, and put the kettle over the burner. The kettle will thus serve to throw the heat down and will also, of course, boil at the same time. When the kettle is boiling, or even hot, I cover it with a special cosy and turn out the gas. In this way I have three items done, with no trouble and little expense.—E.C. If strong brine is used in the bottom pan of a double saucepan instead of ordinary water, greater heat is produced, as brine boils at a temperature 14deg. higher than water. A good draining-pan for wash-day can be made by cutting out one side of a kerosene-tin and punching holes in the opposite side. Fix handles on both ends. If wiped dry after use it will not rust.