HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9913, 30 July 1910, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

When washing 1 windows, put a little ammonia in the water. It economises labour and give 3 brillianca to the ff.uss. A teaspoonful of vinegar added to the water in which old fowls are cooked will make them tender, but will not affect the flavour.

All dried fruits should bo soaked in cold water for twenty-four hours before cookingi them. This bring-a out uhe flavour and shortens the time required to oook them. Care of a Mackintosh.—A mackintosh should not be hung up when not in use. After being dried it should be brushed, folded and placed in a drawer until required. Hanging causes it to loaa its good properties.

To Glean Carved Ivory,—Make a paste of sawdust damped with water and a few drops of lemon-juice: lay it thickly on to the carving. Let this dry thoroughly, and then brush it off with a soft but firm brush. This process cleans ivory very effectually.

Baked Bananas.—Select largo ripe fruit, cut off all stalk, and set on. a piece of buttered paper in the oven. Bake slowly till the skins begin to split, then remove the skins, set the bananas on a dish, and garnish with a little whipped cream.

The simplest manner of tinting white lace deep cream or pala brown is t'o dip it, after it has been washed and rinsed, in weak tea, or ooft'ee, squeezing it gently a,nd taking care that the tint is ©venly distributed. Remove it from tlxo bath, and hang it over a rail to dry. Dorothy Puddings.—Beat an eg* and then add to it half an ounce of white sugar, on© ounco of sultanas, and two ounces of melted butter or dripping. Boat for sevoral minutes, gradually stirring in sufficient flour to make a fairly solid custard. Fi.l some email greased cups two-thirds full, twist a buttered paper over each, and bake in a qtiick oven. Turn out to serve.

Pineapple Brown Betty.—PHl a baking dish with alternate layers of buttered breadcrumbs, sprinkled with sugar, and grated pineapple, letting the top layer b« breadcrumbs with au extra spreading of butter. Cover with a plate and bake in a slow oven about half an hour, adding a little water if it seems to dry out. Remove the plate and brown on lop. Meat Roly-Poly.—Take about half a pound of remains of cold meat and bacon or ham. Chop all finely,, then Beason it with a little onion, allspice, pepper and salt. Make V, light Buet crust, roll it out thinly, and spread with the mines. Roll it uo, wet the flap and ends so that the meat will not escape. Fold it into a pudding-cloth, and boil for two houra. To serve, pour a thick gravy round. Chocolate Caramels.—Take four cupfuls of brown sugar, hall a cako of chocolato in whole piece, one cupiul of milk, butter lha size of an egg, and a tablespoonful of vanilla extract. Put all in a large pan except the vanilla, and let it boil without stirring' until when dropped in cold water a ball is formed. Then tako from fire, add vaniila and pour into buttered pans. Allow to cool, then cut into sauarea.

Plain Buns.—Dry half a pound of flour, rub into i,t two ounces of dripping or lard, add one ounce of chopped candied peel, one t&aspoonful of baking-powder, two ounces of castor sug-ar, a pinch" of' grated nutmeg, and, if likod, a little almond flavouring. Mix well. Stir in the yolk of one egg and sufficient milk to make a stiff dough. Make into buns, brush over with white of egg, sift sugar over, and bake at once. Brown Scones.-—Take three ounces of butter, one pound of wholemeal flour, a dessertspoonful of su;par, half a teaspoenful of salt, three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and a little milk. Rub in the butter, add the othar ingredients, and mix into a lie lit, soft dough with the milk; roll out, cut into pioces, aud brush over with white of egg or milk. Bake in a. quick ovon. If sour milk is used, it will make the scones much lighter.

Steamed Oysters.—Drain and wash one quart of fresh oysters. Put them in a steamer over boiling water and allow them to oook over a moderate tiro for twenty minutes. Melt slowly half a cupful of butter in a saucopan. Add to it u teaspoonfnl oi gxated horseradish mixed with a iui:o water, a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauco, haj a teaspoonful of salt and pepper. Place the oysters in a dish, pour over them the sauce, and serve.. Sussex Babbit. —Thoroughly clean, dry and joint a rabbit. Put it into a saucepan, cover with cold water, placa over a good heat, and bring to the boil. Skim well, reduce tho water to half, add a pint of milk, and bring! agiain to tho boil. Peel and slice plenty of onions, add to the rabbit, together withy a few dice of pickled pork, if this latter ingredient be liked. Allow to simmer gently. Make a few suet dumplings the size of a walnut (one for each person is sufficient). Pop them into the saucepan, and leave to simmer gently for an hour and a half. Thicken with cornflour mixed with a little milk, season to tasie with pepper and suit, and serve.

How to Clean Silvor.—Mis together n teaspoonful of liquid ammonia und three tablespoonfuls of v'.ter, and stir it slowly into soma very liniiTy-powdered whiting-, until a smooth pasts is obtained. Give the sLver a ™ood coating of this mixture, and rub it well m with a leather. Use {mother leailior, which, must be absolutely dry, io remove ths whiting, and polish off well. A good wuy of preventing silver trophies from tarnishing! after they have been cleaned is to give them a coating with a thin solution of collodion dissolved in alcohol. The liquid wi 1 dry hard immediately. The coating- can bo romoved at any timo by washing the article in hot water.

To Wash a Woollen Shawl—Make a lather of soap.and warm water, in which tho hand can be borne comfortably, and squeeze tho shawl in this until it is clean. Soap should never bo rubbed on knitted articles of any description. Then rinse it in several waters of about the same temperature as the suds, squeeze tho water out or run it through a wrinaer (don't wring it with tho hands), and let the shawl lie in a heap on a clean cloth to dry. Move it about now and then. "Whan it ia nearly dry, spread a cloan sheet o;i the floor and pin. the shawl out on this to ita proper size. It will dry to whatever shape and* size it is pinned. When dry it will bsi as soft and fluffy as when new. .Never hang iv shawl on a line to dry, ns this will stretch it. Macaroni Cutlets.—Four ounces of macaroni, four ounces of grated choose, one ounce of flour, half an ounce of butter, half a pint of millr, one teaspoonful French mustard, breadcrumbs, one egg, cayenne and suit.

Boil tie macaroni in water until it is quito lender, then cut it into pieces ol half an inch in length. MeIV the butter in a stewpan, add the flour gradually, stirring: until there aro no lumps, add the milk and stir over tho fire until the sauce thickens. . Mix the macaroni, cheese, mustard, pinch of cayenne and aalt to taste, with the sauce, then turn out on to a plate and leave until cold. Form into cutlets or small rolls, roll in breadcrumbs, then dip in beaten cgr, and asrain roll in crumbs. Fry the out.ets in boiling fat until they are a golden brown coloui° then serve with a garnish of fried parsley. ■