HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10440, 20 April 1912, Page 4

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

When washing fine flannel add a little powdered borax to every pailful of water. This keeps tho flannel soft. To blacken a brick hearth mix some blacklead with a little soft-soap and water, boil the mixtnro for a few minutes and apply it with a brush. AVhcn choosing a carpot select one with a light ground and a small pattern, im it will not then show eignn of wear so quickly and am bo more easily turned about as required. Chinese Salad.—Take equal parts of cold macaroni cut into small bits, minced ham, lobster and cold boiled carrots, chopped. Mix we.ll and add some good mayonnaise dressing', with a few capers. Washing Hint.—lf ono cupful of vinegar is put with tho water in which coloured tablecloths aro washed it will prevent tho colour from running. Iron when still damp and they will look equal to now. Preserving Parsley.—Proceed as follows: Pour boiling water over somo freshly gathered parsley. Lot it stand a few minutes, drain and spread on a largo dish, and diy in tho oven. Watch wefnllv, ua it soon burns. Bread Sauce—'J'nko half a pint of milk and place, it in a saucepaa with H email

onion and a clove. Simmer for half an hour. Tli en remove the onion, and clove, add s. teacupful of breadcrumbs, and cook for ton minutes.

Art Muslin Curtains.—Art mualin curtains should never be washed in warm water. Make a lather with hot water, and when it is nearly cold waeh tho curtains. If these are green, add a littlo vinegar; if lilao or pink, a little ammonia. Fig Pudding—Take 601 of breadcrumbs, 6oz of finely chopped suet, Ooz of sugar, and half a pound of figs, cut up email. Add a teacupful of milk, and flavour with a equaeza of lemonjuice. Turn into a greased mould, cover over with a cloth, plunge into boiling water, and boil for three hours. Boasting Hint.—Roasting in a gas cooker causes the meat to dry. Gas causes a very dry heat. A simple way to prevent this is to placo a common jampot half full of water in a corner at the bottom of tho oven, and when the water heats up tho steam will keep tho air inside quito moist, and when the meat is done it will be juicy. Lemon Custard.—Take three eggs and separate tho yolks from the whites, bent the whites to a stiff froth. Cream 2oz of butter with 2oz of castor sugar, and the grated rind and strained juice of a large lemon, the yolks of three eggs, one by one, and lastly beat in six tablespoonfuls of cold water, and lightly stir in tho beaten whites. Pour into a piedish lined with pastry,'and hake. Sifi sugar over before serving-. Vegetable Marrow Pudding.—Peel and cut a small marrow in pieces, and boil in Baited water. When tender, drain and press through a sieve. Mix with two tablespoonfuls of flour and a teacupful of breadcrumbs. Boat 2oz each sugar and butter to a cream, and add to other ingredients with the grated rind and juics of a small lemon. Then add yolks of three eggs, and the whites beaten aopaiately. Pour into a well-buttered mould, and bake one and a half hours.

Crab Apple Preserve.—Parboil the crab apples, coring tho unpseled larger,ones, and leaving the smaller ones as they are, Btoms, cores and skin. Place the parboiled fruit in syrup prepared as follows:—Make a syrup with 4lb of sugar and one puit of water: heat carefully, and when clear and thick lay on tho fruit, and cook carefully for a few minutes in this; now lift out the fruit whole, place in jars previously heated, fill up with the syrup, and cover down carefully. Crab Apple Marmalade.—Cook crab apples, and plums, or damsons separately tilt soft enough to rub through a colander, weigh the pulp, and for every throe pints of crab npplo allow one pint of plums; mix together, and weigh, and allow lib of sugar to each pound of fruit. Put into the preserving pan, and cook very slowly till smooth and thick, taking care not to let it burn. Pot in tho usual way. Crab apple and quinces, or ordinary apples may bo used together in the same way. Sweet Pickle of Apples.—For these pickles use three pounds of sugar, three quarts of vinegar—not very strong—and ten pounds of firm, sweet apples. Pare quarter and core the fruit, put sugar and vinegar together, boil and skim, then take out one half of the syrup and put as many of tho apples into the porj as will conveniently boil, and iCOoV till tender. Take out and add apples and syrup till all are done. Add whole cloves and pieces of nutmeg; take up, seal and keep in a cool place. Tomatoes and Bacon^-Remove the stems from six to oight ripe tomatoes, wipe them, then dip each into hot water for a few minutes and skim carefully. Cut half a pound of bacon into thin slices, beat out each slice and roll up in it half a tomato, previously seasoned with salt and pepper and a littlo chopped parsley. Place carefully in a greased paper-bag, fold over tho ends of tho bag and fasten with clips. Place on a grid shelf in a hot oven, and cook for about fifteen minutes. Slit the bag and remove the contents carefully. Place on a hot dish, and serve.

Stuffed Cabbage.—Take a good-sized cabbage, remove the outer leaves and cut off tho stalk. Scald the cabbage In boiling water for ten minutes, make a nice hole in the middle, and fill it and between each leaf with sausage meat. Bind the ca>bbago round carefully, and Btand in a saucepan with some rravy, a slice of ham, and sweet herbs. Let all stew gently, and when done place the cabbage on a hot dish, untie the string, and pour the strained gravy round it. Gar-, nish with balls out from turnips and carrots tho size of a marble. Boil these in salted water till tender. Serve hot. French Pancakes.—Take 2oz of flour, two eggs, 240z of castor sugar, rind of two oranges, loz of butter, one gill of milk, orange sauce. Sift the flour, oil the butter, grate tie rind of the oranges. Put the, flour and sugar into a basin, mix smoothly with the eggs, add the butter and milk and beat well*; stir in the orange rind and set aside for an hour. When required, fry in thin pancakes, dust with sugar, roll and serve hot with orange sauce. For tha orange sauce is required half a pint of water, the rind and juico of two oranges, the juice of one lemon, 2oz of sugar and one toaspoonful of cornflour. Boil tho water, with the_ sugar and orang-e rind, for ten minutes • strain, add the orange and lemon juice, thicken with cornflour and serve hot.