HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8112, 10 September 1904, Page 3

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

To Lengthen tho Life of Clothe 3 Lines.— lf new clothes lines nre boiled before using, they will be much stronger and will last much longer. To Keep Mustard Fresh. — Put a few drops of water on -the top as soon as it comes from "iihe table. It will then look and taste quite fresh for some time. , j A Hint in Cooking Apples.— Apples will cook in half the time if they are cut in quarters, in a covered saucepan, and cooked without sugar. They, can bo sweetened aftsrwards. To Keep Butter 'Cool • in Summer. — Fill a box with «and to within an inch of the top, ■and sink the butter jars' in the sand, keeping it constantly wet with cold water. Keep a cover. over the box to exclude the air. When making jam pour a few drops of salad oil into the preserving pan, then with a piece of soft paper rub the oil all over the bottom. This will prevent the jam sticking to the pan if the stirring be not quite as constant as it ought to be. Save Your Saucepans.— An easy way to keep enamel saucepans, piedishes, etc., cleian: — Take a small piece of emery cloth, damp it,. and rub all soiled parts ; rinse well first in soapy, then clean, water, when they will be fouuKl ouvte spotless. Old Brass To brighten much discoloured old 'brass, scrub it with parnffin and powdered bath brick. Use a. .-fairly stiff brush, and when the stain has all disappeared polish with a cloth and finely rubbed, bath brick, and then give a final rub with « wash-leather. Bhubarb Charlotte. — Line a piedish with sporge cake. ' Wei! stew a bundle of ihubarib.. with a good amount of sugar, say, half a pound, and small pieces of candied peel. When cool place in piedish on tho cake, and when quite cold put pieces of whipped 1 cream on top. To Keep Cream Sweet in Hot Weather.— Stand the jug containing cream in a. saucepan of cold water, and gradually bring the water to boiling point. Remove the jug and put it in the coolest 'place available. It will keep sweet till the .following day in ihe hottest weather. » Sardines on Toast. — Split six sardines down tho back and remove oentre bone, lay on a plate and' pour' Worcester sauce over. Make a slice of toast and butter, cut into fingers and lay a fish on each, sprinkle with cayenne pepper, and place under grill for few minutes. Serve very hot on folded serviette. To Cleanse . Slimy Sponges.— The way to do this is to mix together one tablespoonful of sra.it '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 twenty-four hours. Afterwards wash the sponge in warm water until quite clean. Cocoanut Drop Cakes.— Take half a pound of desiccated cocoanut, put in a basin with a quarter of & pound of castor sugar and a pinch of salt, cream two ounces of butter, and beat three eggs into it gradually. Stir into the cocoanut, make little mound* on paper, and bake in a moderate oven twenty minutes. To Prevent Draughts from Doors.— Cover « strip of cardboard with any suitable and pretty material, and fasten it with strong drawing pins or tacks onto the side on which the door opens inwards, letting the cardboard project bo as to .cover the cntck where the draught comes in. Should key or bolt handle come in the way, a hole can be cut to make room for them. . To Clean Linoleum. — Beeswax and turpentine polish for linoleum 13 hard to beat as far as its appearance is concerned, but it has one defect— at causes a slipperiness which may be very dangerous to children and old people. A polish which has no such objection i 3 made of equal parts of linseed oil and vinegar. Apply a little to a. flannel- cloth, rub it well on the linol'eumi and. polish with a clean, dry cloth. To Strengthen a- Kidderminster Carpet. — When m> Kidderminster carpet begins to wear get a ipiece of material as nearly matching it in colour as possible, and cut from it a piece quite a quarter of a- yard larger all round than the hole in the carpet. Make some moderately thick flour paste, brush it over the new material, lay thia at the back of -the worn part of the carpet land iron till the paste is quite dry. German Cinnamon Biscuits.— Half a pound of creamed butter, »■ quarter of a pound of finely-chopped' almonds, a, quarter of a pound, of castor sugar, -ten ounces of fflourr r a aittle powdered "cinnamon and three eggs-. Mix all well together, roll out about an inch thick, and cut out with a tumbler into round pieces. Paint the biscuits with egg, and sprmkl* chopped almonds and sugar on the fop. Bake until a light brown. Glue that is Always Ready for use.—Dissolve glue in •whisky instead of in water, and it will remain liquid. Put the g]ue .and whisky together in * bottle, cork tightlyv and leave for three or four days, when it will Jbe fit for use. Glue- thus prepared will keeper years, and will never need heating except in very cold weather, when tbe bottle containing it should be stood for a little while m warm wat&r before it is used. '■ ' ' , An, Idea fo r Pantry Shelves.— Have pantry shelvoe painted with two coats of ordinary white paint *oid a finishing ooa-t.of white f ll ' B™el.8 ™- el. As coon us the enamel dries. " wssn .tihe Shelves wi+V eeM' waiter, -which wir hoiiden mem quickly. Do nob use paper or other covering to the shelves, and there -will be no cover for

crumbs to collect and no encouragement for mice. The enamel is easily kept clean by wiping over with a damp cloth. Tea Kisses. — Use a- teacup to measure all these ingredients:— Take two cupfuls of flour, two tea9poonhils of baking powder, cream a cup cf sugar with the same quantity of butter, add the yolks of two eggfi and two tablespoonfuls of milk. "When this is mixed, add by degrees the flour and baking powder, previously mixed, and, lastly, the stiffly-beaten whites of two eggs. Grease a tin, and drop the cake dough on it from a teaspoon. Scatter sugar over, and bake for from five to ten minutes. Madeira. Sandwiches.— Half a pound of butter, -half a pound of sugar, four eggs, threequarters of a. pound of flour, three-quarters of a teaspconful of baking powder, half n gill of milk, essence of lemon. Beat the butter and sugar io a cream, j&dd the eggs one at a time, <and' the essence of lemon, then add the milk, and lastly the flour and baking powder- Put the mixture, in. flat buttered tins, .and, bake, in a quick oven. "When cold, cut them through and spread with raspberry jam. Lemon jumbles are a little tiresome- to make, and need careful watching when in the oven, but they are always popular. Cream three ounces of butter with five ounces of stigar, and add' a. beaten egg, then by degrees stir in a. tablespoonful of milk and the juice of two lemons, with the grated rind of one. !M!is half a. teaspoonful of carbonate of soda and a teaspoonful of cream of tartar into fourteen; ounces of flour, and by degrees stir it into the other ingredients <till you have rather a stiff paste; roll this out thin, cut in long strips, roll each, and then coil round and round like a. rope. Bake in. a quick ovea for five minutes. Stew of Lamb and 2few Vegetables. — Take about 2lb of lamb, lib of green peas> 21b of potatoes, six carrots, six turnips, one teaspooniul of mint, <a few young onions, one tablespoonful of parsley, salt, pepper, and'a. breakfastcupful and a 'half of water. Prepare all the vegetables, shell the peas, and, if necessary, halve tho carrots, turnips and potatoes, -wash the parsley and mint, and chop. Put a layer of vegetables in tho bottom of the saucepan (which should have a tight-fitting lid), then cut the lamb into neat pieces, put them on the top of the vegetables, sprinkle the pepper, salt, mint and parsley over the meat, then another layer of vegetables, and the potatoes on the top. Add the water, and simmer ifor two hours, or till tender. Orange Sandwiches. — Take the weight of one 6gg in butter, castor sugar, ground rice and flour. Cream the butter and sugar together, add two yolks of eggs, and then the flour and ground lice, in which a little baking powder is mixed. Lastly add the whites of egg, and beat the mixture lightly for five minutes. Bake in a flat tin in «v sharp oven. • Meanwhile make some orange icing as follows: — Boil, a gill of water with a cupful of sugar until it will string when lifted up on the spoon. Have ready a white of egg beaten stiff, to which add a saltspoonful of cream of tartar. Pour the syrup slowly on tho egg, beating all the time-. Add a little orange juice and the grated rind. Beat the icing till it will spread on & piece of cake without running. Put a layer of this over the cake, and cut into con-venient-shaped pieces. Decorate to taste.