HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4902, 17 March 1894, Page 3

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Never Polish Taps with any gritty substance, for it is apt to work into the joints and put them out of order. Clean ths Dirty Ends ob* your Couch by rubbing the cretonne wifch warm flour, using a piece of new flannel on the hand. When clean, brush off the flour with a clothes-brush. Another method of cleaning soiled parts of cretonne is to apply a thick paste of fuller's earth and water. Let it lie five minutes, and when dry brush off. Two or three applications may be necessary. Stale Bbead. — Cut some slices of bread, quarter of an inch thick, and form them into rounds. Make a frying batter with three tablespoousful of flour, one egg, a pinch of salt, ditto baking-powder, and mix to aßtiff batter with a little milk; add Bugar to taste. Take two of the pieces of bread sad spread one with a layer of thick preserve, press the other on to it. Spread the batter all over the outsidea of this sandwich, place in a frying basket, and fry a golden brown in boiling fat. Chicken Jelly is a useful and dainty way of using np the remains of a cold fowl. First cut the scraps of meat from the bones, break the bones and place them in a saucopan with the liver, neck, etc., an onion, and some herbß, wrapt in a bay leaf. Steve gently for three houra. Strain the stock carefully, remove the fat, add the chicken, and Bimmer gently for half an hour. Grease a mould, and line it with slicaßof hard-boiled eggs, arrange the meat in it, panr in the stock (nearly cold), put a plate over it. and set to cool. Turn outwhon cold, und jrarn ; sh prettily. To Ensure Having Good Tka and Good Cofi?eis, among other things, be careful that no water is used which haa been standing in tho tea-kettle for hours. Empty all the water out and fill with freßh

water, juat long enough bsforoyou want to make tne tea and coffee to bave the water boil. The instant tbe vahsc boils up thoroughly, pour it, bubbling hot over the tea or coffee. Many fill tbe tea-kettle overnight and set in on the stove or range, where a alow tiro is, improperly, kept ready to start up quickly ia the morning, and thus expedite the boiling of the water, and breakfast a. the same time. -Never was greater folly or a surer recipe for poor tea and coif cc. Method in Housekeeping, we see, as we grow older, ia more and mere essential in maintaining a comfort*ble home. Besides tuere being a day set apart for cleaning each room, bright ware, &c, there should be one when the housekeeper devotes a couple of hours to consider the menu for the week, writing down at tho same time what will be necessary to order so as to carry out all plans successfully. Thiu method will £_ye a great deal of troublo in the Ion 1 ? run, and will also ensure a greater variety of food being placed on the table. Where thia little j suggestion is not followed, I see the came j staple dish appear at table far too frequently. It would be useleES here for me j to offer a week's menu to my readers, for, on account of the various babit6 of living, etc., etc., it would be impossible to do ie satisfactorily. I would strongly urge upon my rejdera who gi<re this suggestion a trial, to collect; all tbeir cookery books together, and note on the wesk'a menu the book and number of p3ge from whence such a recipe ia to be obtained. Ifc is also a good plan to have a different kind of cooking each day, if possible ; thus, a atew, left over from one diy need not be served the nexb, but kept for a day or two, when it will appear an a new dish. The same applies to many di.hea, meats, and puddings. Where there ia a family of ohildren I would urge the housekeeper to boar in mind that b.iiled and baked suet puddings ara excellent in every way for young people.