HOUSES-SOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5567, 16 May 1896, Page 3

HOUSES-SOLD HINTS.

Feather Beds should be banished from all nurseries where the children's health, is considered, for they are unnatural, hot and debilitating. Severe Paroxysms of Coughing. — Give a mixture of pure glycerine and good whisky — a dessertspoonful of each. These ingredients must be well mixed. • For Colds. — Among the best remedies for colds are hot lemonade and flaxse'ed tea, hot or cold, with or without lemon. Both help to drive out the cold and soothe; the patient. To Boil a Tongue Successfully. — j Soak in cold water over night, then drain and wipe dry. Place the tongue in a large pan. cover it with cold water, and when once it boils up, simmer gently from two and a half to three hours. Benzine is one of the best preparations for cleaning various kinds of fabric, but it should be used with great care, well away from the fire or lamp, as it is highly inflammable. When the colour has been taken from the material, ammonia will sometimes restore it. ' Tiled Floors should be washed with I lukewarm water and soap, applied with a J flannel, then be dried with a soft cloth. Once a week it is a good plan to rub the tiles with a slightly oiled rag (linseed oil being used for the purpose), which greatly preserves their bright appearance. To Clean Brass. — Dip a cloth moistened with sweet oil into pulverised rottenstone and rub your braefses with it. Then polish them with dry rottenstone and a piece of dry flannel. When brass utensils are not in use, thoroughly clean them with rottenstone and oil, wrap them up tight in papers ' and keep in a dry place. SroNGE Cake without Eggs. — Take a cupful of sugar, the same quantity of milk, twice that amount of flour, and two teaspoonsful of baking powder. Beat all together thoroughly, and bake in a moderate oven. This recipe is an Australian one, and, in addition to the cake being an excellent one, it is also economical. Vanilla Buns. — Take half a pound of flour, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, and two ounces of caster sugar. Cream three ounces of butter, add the dry ingredients, and lastly two well beaten eggs, into which is stired ten drops of essence of vanilla. Divide into pieces the size of a walnut, and bake ten minutes in a quick oven. When Buying Sheets always select a material which is a few inches wider than is required to actually cover the beds. The reason for this is, that when a sheet wears out in the middle, it should be cut down the centre, the selvedges seamed together and the sides hemmed. The sheet after this process is complete will wear nearly as long as anew one. A Lemon Flavouring which will be found very useful in every household is prepared as follows : — 'Grate the yellow rind off the lemons and squeeze the juice. Add to the juice and rind of every four lemons a pound of sugar, and place it in glass-stoppered bottles. This preparation will be useful for lemonade, as well as for flavouring cakes, "puddings, &c. To Remove Oil-stains prom a Carpet, make a paste of fuller's earth and cold soft water. Lay this on the carpet, where it is stained, let it dry thoroughly, then brush it off with a stiff brush, and all the grease should have disappeared. If necessary, | however, the application should be repeated, for the ingredients mentioned will not injure the most delicate fabric. Fried Beef and Rashers. — Cut some slices of cold roast or boiled beef, brush each over with ketchup, and season with pepper and salt. First cook a few rashers of bacon, and in their fat fry the slices of beef. Make a wall of mashed potato, and arrange the slices of beef and bacon alternately round the centre of the dish. Scatter chopped pickles over and serve very hot. Toilet Vinegar, — Ingredients: Half a pint of Bordeaux or best malt vinegar, half a pint of good brandy, a teaspoonful of essence of bergamot, a pint of rose or elderflower water. Mix the bergamot with the spirit, then add the vinegar, and finally the rose-water. It may be cleared by straining through a funnel lined with clean blotting-paper; but in use it will make little difference whether clear or cloudy. Tapioca, and Preserve Jblly. — Put two ounces of tapioca into a bowl with half a pint of cold water and two tablespoonsful of raspberry or any other sharp jam. Set the bowl in a saucepan of water and keep it boiling. When the tapioca j begins to thicken add half a pint more water, stirring occasionally. Let it boil for an hour, then pour into a mould. Stand till cold, and it will then turn out a thick jelly. Curried Cauliflower.— Boil two goodsized catiliflowers carefully, sq as. to avoid breaking the heads. Take the soft parts of the vegetable, rejecting the stalks and strong green leaves, and arrange on a dish. Have ready a sauce prepared as below, strain it, and pour over the cauliflower : Fry a medium sized onion, and half a sliced apple in butter until brown, mix in a dessertspoonful of pea-flour, and three- 1 quarters of a dessertspoonful of curry powder. Then gradually add nearly half a pint of stock, stir till it boils and the sauce leaves the sides of the pan. I Beetkooot Beer. — Cleanse and scrape the roots and take away the discoloured parts, cut them into small dice of an inch, fill the copper with them," and add enough water to cover. Boil for five hours, then place the beetroot on a" wicker basket to drain, but do not use pressure. Return the liquor to the copper, and to every three and a half pai] s of it put one and a half pounds of hops, boil together for about two hours, then strain through a sieve. When cool enough work with yeast as you would beer. Remove the scrim before putting into a cask. Beetroot beer is perfectly wholesome, and very little inferior to malt beer. To Make Lamps a Success.— The reservoir should be filled every morning, the trick trimmed, and the burners freed from all charred wick. The best quality of paraffin should be used ; not only is it the safest, but it is the cheapest in the end. The bowls of the lamp should be emptied once a fortnight, washed in strong sodawater, and after drying with a cloth should be placed over the rack of the kitchen range to dry thoroughly. If not perfectly dry when refilled with oil the light is invariably bad. The wicks, too, should be constantly washed, for even the best paraffin contains a sediment that will clo£ the cotton. The oil-can should be cleansed and well dried when emptied. The. burners should be boiled in soapsuds at least once a month. When a lamp-wick does not work well, pull one or two threads out of it, and the difficulty will disappear. Keep a box of sand in a handy position for extinguishing fire slkbjM a lamp fee upset