HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10106, 18 March 1911, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Hot Vinegar will rernoya paint stains from glftSß. When hanging out clothes, hang skirts by the bands,- nightdresses by the shoulders, and stockings by the toes. Waste pipes which have become clogged are cleaned by laying over the sink a large lump of soda. Pour a kettleful of boilingwater over, and it will dispel tho grea3e which generally is the cause of the trouble.

iNasturtium Pickle.—Gather tho nasturtium seeds on a tine, dry day. Place them in a bottle, and cover with cold vinegar. Seasoning- in the proportion of an ounce of salt and two or three peppercorns per pint of vinegar can be added or not according to desire. Dainty lio-Jls—Take one pound of flour aua add a teaspoonfui of baking-powder, on© teaspoonful of salt, two ounces of good best dripping or lard. Mix all with sour milk and make up into twists or rolls. When half cooked, brush over with a little- milk to give a glaze.

To Iron Table-linen.—Even quite cheap table-linen may be mads to look as glossy as fine damask if ironed in the following way;— After the linen has been washed, boiled, and rinsed, wring? it as dry as possible, roll it up in a dry sheat and leave it for an hour. Then iron till it is thoroughly dry. In this way, too, the linen keaps a hotter shape. Plum Wine.—Pour one gallon and a halt of boiling water on thirteen pounds of plums and let it stand for forty-eight hours. Then draw off the liquor, and to every gallon of liquor add two pounds and a half of raw sugar. Pour this into a clean cask, fill up, and when it has done fermenting: fill up again and bung tightly. Bottle after nine months, but do not drink it for a year after that. Blackberry Wine.—Put any quantity of berries in an earthenware or enamelled bowl, pour over sufficient boiling- water to cover them, and.stand in a. warm place for twelve hours, or more, to extract the juice. Then strain through a fine sieve into a suitable jar, and let it ferment fifteen days. At tho end of tha.t time add a pound of loaf Bugar to each gaUon of iiqnor. Bottle in three months, not before. Forced Oysters in Shells.—Blanch tho oysters in their own liquor, and cut e«ch into two. Put thorn into a basin with minced parsley, and anchovy chopped, some breadcrumbs, a little cream, a well-beaten yolk of on egg, a pat of butter, pepper and salt to taste; stir them round in the mixture then fill some well-buttered scallop shells with them. Sprinkle over with flne breadcrumbs, and brown in the oven. Preserved Elderborrius.—Put some 'green papes into a pan oh tho stove, and let them heat very gently till sufficiently tender to rub through a sieve; weigh this pulp, and to each pound add three pounds of olderberries, and for every pound of the mixture allow one pound of sugar. Put this into a preserving pan. and let it all simmer gently till it begins to thicken, carefully removing the scum; let it cool slightly, ana then pour it into glass jars, and cover down. Fruit Salad.—Pineapple, peach, orange, grapes and almonds make a goccl combination. Free all the fruit from skin, pins and p.tones, then cut up into a big glass" bowl. Make a syrup of boiling water and sugar; pour this over tho fruit when quite cold. Il sufficient juice has escaped from the fruit to make a syrup, then merely cprinklo it well with sugar. Last, pile on some whipped cream and decorate with blanched almonds. Many little surprises may be added to a fruit salad, siich as finely chopped-up preserved ginser, crystallised fruits and nuts. A French Savoury.—Cut cold me*t into

thin oblong slices-and put into a saucepan with a good-sized piece of butter. Let this get thoroughly well browned, then add to it salt, pepper and half a cup of soup stock or beef essence. Cover it over and let it boil hard for twenty minutes, llemove the slices of meat and arrange thorn on a platter. Add to tho liquid in the pan half «■ cupful of mushrooms, chopped fine, and the skin of thrco oranges cut small. Let this boil for another ten minutes, when it will be ready to serve. Pour over tho meat and servo very hot.

Stewed Eels.—One pound of eels,, one ounce of flour, 'half a pint of milk, half an ounco of butter, and a teaapoonful of chopped parsley. Cut the heads off the eels and skin them from head downwards. After cleaning, divide into two-inch lengths, and turn into a stew-pan with half a pint of cold water. Bring all to tho boil, skim, and simmer for ten minutes. Mix the flour into a smooth paste with the milk and some water, and boil for five minutes. Just before serving stir in a small lump of butter, a teaspoonfuL of finely chopped parsley, and pour it over tho fish before sending to table. Pear Marmalade—Put six pounds of small pears with a little water into a preserving pan on, the stove. As soon as the fruit is soft take it out, peel carefully, quarter and core, throwing the pieces as they aru done into cold water. Then put all into another pan and boil till ihey are soft enough, to be rubbsd through a sieve. Meanwhile, have four pounds of preserving sugar, clarified and boiled to a syrup. Pour this over the pear pulp, set it on the fire, and then boil together, stirring constantly until the proper consistency is obtained. Marmalade of this sort should be firm when cold.

Mushroom Savoury.—Peel tho mushrooms, cut off the stalks, peel and wash them. Make a sauce with one ounce of butter, and when melted add half an ounce of flour, stirring into it half a pint of milk. Stir well, bring to the boil, and then throw in tho chopped Btalks, a dessertspoonful of finely chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of finely chopped onion, a dusting of pepper, and half a teaapoonful of salt. Simmor tho sauce until it thickens, strain and add some 'browning. Pour tho sauce over the mushrooms, sprinkle some browned breadcrumbs over the whole, and bake in a quick oven for ten minutes.

Unfermented ■ Grape Juice.—Stem ' nine quarts of grapes, put them in a porcelainlined pan, add three quarts .of water, and bring slowly to a boil. Boil up hard once, then remove from the fire and strain. Return the juice to the fire, boil up ones more and pour it scalding hot into bottles set in a pan of scalding hot wßter. Fill the bottles, cork and seal. Sweetened grape juice is. made thus: Take perfectly ripe grapes and heat to the boiling-paint as before. Take from tho fire, and strain. Beturn to the fires adding half as much sugar as juice. Let boil up once and pour into bottles propared as above. Seal at onco. This makes a strong, sweet juice, and may be used in preparing delicious deeserls. Pkima Preserved in Syrup.—Wipe a. sufficiency of ripe, but absolutely sound, plums,, and weigh them. Take three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, crushed roughly with a rolling pin, for each pound of fruit. Placo plums and. sugar in alternate layers in a stono jar. Stand the jar in a. moderate warm.oven, and.leave for several hours. Remove the fruit with a drainer, and place it in jar. Boil the syrup rapidly for about ten minutes. Leave it until it is quite cold, Take tho white of an ogg for every original four pounds of sugar, beat well, and stir into the cold syrup. Place the preserving pan over a gentle lire, and heat the syrup very slowly, removing the scum .carefully as it ■rises. When quite clear strain it through a muslin, replace in the preserving pan (which must have been well rinsed), bring slowly to boiling point, and then ladle it over the plums in the jars. Fasten down, and store in a cool, dry place. Crab Apple Jelly.—Take three pounds of crab apples, one lemon, cold water, throe teacupfuls of sugar to each pint of juice. Wash the crab apples, remove their stalks, and halve them with a silver knife, but do not coro or peel them. Put them into a pan with enough cold water. to float them. They will probably take about three pints. Para the lemon thinly, and add Ihe peel ,to tho apples. Boil tho fruit gently untilit'is quite tender, but not in a mash. Strain off all the juice in a fine hair sieve, or jelly bag. Press the fruit very gently, but on no acoount squeeze, or the jelly will be cloudy. Rinse out the can, measure tho juice.back into it, and add susrar in the given proportion. Boil the jelly quickly until some, when cold, sets firmly on a plate. While it is boiling keep it well skimmed. Pour into dry pots, tie them down securely and keep in a cool place.