HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9273, 27 June 1908, Page 3

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

To clean -wihii© castmere, rub it well -with hot flour, and then brush, •well with, & dean I and dry brush. If the ends of the kitchen sink baps are covered with rubber bands many a nick in the china will be prevented. The uppar leathers of worn-out boots make capital iron-holders with a covering of serge or any other dress material. The leather keeps all heat from the hand. Tan Shoes. — Tan leather shoes which have become ruudrstained can be beautifully c'.eaned by rubbing with a slice of raw potato. When dry polish in the usual way. To preserve bamboo furniture keep it away from th.« fire and rub it once a week with equal parts of turpentine and linseed oil on a flannel. Always polish well with a soft cloih. Before using a new lamp chimney piit it into a pot filled with cold water and bodl it. Let the water get cold before removing the chimney, which will then not be so liable to break when first u«d. Potato Soup. — Ingredients: 41b of mealy potatoes, boiled or steamed very dry, pepper and salt to taste, two quarts of stock. Method: When the potatoes are boiled mash them smoothly, and gradnally add them to the boiling spook; Pass it through a sieve, season and simmer for five minutes, skim carefully before serving. To make candied pee., take out the pulps of lemons or oranges, soak the rinds six days in &alt snd water, and afterT&rds bcil them till tender in spring water. Drain them on a sieve, make a than syrup of loaf sugar and water, and boil ttie peels in it till the syrup begins to candy about them. Then tajce them out, grate fine sugar over them, drain on a eieve, and dry before the fire. Gingertread Pudding. — Half a pound of treac'.e. §lb of flour, Goz of suet, one piece of candied peel, one teaspoonful of ground ginger, half a pint of milk mixed with a tcaspoonful of carbonate oi soda, and one egg. Mix all these ingredients and boil in a mould for two and a half hours. This pud-

ding swells much in boiling, therefore b« careful to tie the cloth on firmly. Servo with sweet sauce. Wheaten Scones. — Take Jib wheaten flour, Jib whne flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful tartaric acid, a small piece of butter. Rub the butter into the flour, and mix all the- dry ingredients very thoroughly; add sufficient milk to make a soft dough; turn on to a floured board, knead lightly, and roll out to the thickness of half an inch, stamp out -with a cutter into little scones, and bake in a fairly hot oven eight or ten minutes Potato Cakes.— Mix together Jib of mashed potatoes and Jib lof flour, add on© teaspoonful of baking powder, and one teaspoomul of salt. Make into a paste with milk, and roll out to the thiokness of about half an inch Cut into email oakes with a cutter, and fry a nice brown both sides in a pan, in which a littlo drippmg or lard has been melted. To be eaten liot with butter. These cakes are delicious and much appreciated lor breakfast on cold mornings. Oysters in Ambush.— Two dozen oysters, two eggs, two tablespoonfuls o milk , on« tablespoonful of flour, loz of butter, a little salt. Make a light batter with the eggs, milk and flour, and add to it the strained liquor from the oysters and a pinch of tag. Dry the oysters caorefully on a oteaa ok>th and then dip them into the batter being careful to cover them complete y. Put the batter into a frying-pan, and when hot and bubbling put in the oysters and fry until '"IT'improvement upon the old-fashioned baby's basket is a small cabinet about fourteen inohea high and eighteen mche B squaxe, fitted with SI drawers. The drawers may be divided into compartments, and a nbbonSovered elastiotfape, stretched l across O» «de of one drawer and tacked at tetervala wiUi brass-headed tack*, wiU hold .BCissors, thimble, brush and comb. Pinoushion may also be attached to one side of the drawer and all the small armies necessary for the baby's toilet may be neatly packed away in ibis little cabinet. . , « Coooanut Sponge Fmg«s.— ltequ^: £"* tablespoonfuls of flour, four tebleepoonfub of FUgarTtwo tableepoonfuls of e"*™£>J*** a teaapoonful of lemon or vanilla imM half a teaspoonful of baking powj«. two «gg 9 . Beat the eggs and sugar till very tfick; stir in the coooanut and flour, and add th<s other ingredient*. Put into a «*•*», wdl covered 6 with bnttered V*** I '™™^ tins well buttered. Bake in a "»*«W hot oven. H baked in a laxge to, cut into fingers, ioe with water icing, oolonr pink, if liked; decorate with oocoanut. Stuffed Flounder—Take , one **gJZ!™*E> two tablespoonfula (sm«ll) of breadcrumbs one aewertopooßfnl butter, half tefvspoonfu. finely chopped parley, one egg or a little milk; salt and pepper. Wash fish and make slit Tight down from head to tail on dark side. iKyosen fI«A from bone on each mdc, forming two pookets. Mix crumbs, sait, pepbuttle melted, beat the c«, reserve « Htffln for brushinsr too fißn, ana aaa remainder to nSten cWnb*. Fill 4op««ta on each side with stuffing P^J^f «* on a bailng-tin or fireproof ateh, brush wi«i eeff and sprinkle with fine brown crumbs. Bake in aTUt oven for about hoi an hour. G^rni* with parsley and serve hot. Sauce may be served with the fish. _ Baked Macaroni Pudding.— Required: On© pint of milk, four long sticks of macaroni, one agg, one tablespoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of . butter, a Just of nutmeg, if liked, a pinch of Break the imSttwii into half-inch .l«nrfh*. Bring tbe milk to the boil, shake in the macaroni and salt, and let it cook slowly until it is q^ite tender-probably about half an hour. To make sure it really is tender, eat a piece, for it is hard, to judge 6^ X m<a^l cutting it Keep it well stored Airine the coX?. Thickly butter a piedish. Add Jto sugar when the macaroni has cooled alogiitly, stir in the egg, put the mixture m the dit^ grate a little nutmeg on the top, and bake ST a dow oven until fb» top » a pal« brown. If preferred, the eggs may be To Cnrl Feathers.— Brush the feather carefully with a very soft brush, so a* to remove any dust that may be lurking in to* filaments. Then warm a blunt patieT-knife— iviry or bone is the best . substance to be employed. Hold the feaffler m your lett hawl, srf place- the thumb of the r^ht ban? (in which the knife must fe beia> ov« &c face of the feather .and May &* Wjde caTofullv up the under-side of each httje filament. Btarting at the stem, pressing down v«y V.if*.tly with the fhumb Repeat thi* action wit* «eh filament until the entire feather is nicely curled. Warm the knife from time to tuoe. At first you may find a slight difficulty in getting the fibres to purl prettily, but a little practice soon bnnfira tlw knack, and there is no Teason why feathers should not be curled as satisfactorily at borne as at tH professional cleaners.