HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17218, 8 December 1923, Page 9 (Supplement)

HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE.

To Keep Suet.—Remove all kernels, glands, and discoloured portions, and bury the suet in flour. It may be kept in the flour barrel, as it- will impart no flavour to the flour. To Keep Lard. Put it- in a covered basin or crock, or melt it down, make hot, then pour into a crock or jar: cover with paper. To Keep Butter.—Put it in an earthenware crock, covered first with cheese cloth or muslin wrung out in salt water, and then with the lid. A large quantity of butter should be packed very tightly into a crock, which it must fill. Cover with muslin and then with the lid. which must be fixed on very firmly. Store in a dry, cool To Keep Cheese. —It is advisable to turn constantly a large piece of cheese or a whole cheese, and to wipe the rind with a cloth when it appears moist. Cut cheese should be kept in grease-proof paper in a piece of damp muslin or cheese cloth, in a receptacle which allows of ventilation. Thus if it is kept in a dish with a cover, or in a covered jar. see that the cover possesses a small hole. To Store Eggs.—lf only a small quantity are bought keep them in a box or basket. If. however, two or three dozen are to be stored, they should be kept in a proper egg stand, or in a wooden box packed in bran, so that the eggs do not touch each other. To Clean a Sink.—Paraffin poured down the drain will often clear a soul- „ ierv sink that is stopped up. After some time a large jug of boiling water. ii\ which a handful of soda has been dissolved, shout'd be poured down the sink. To Make Corks Airtight.—The corks should be dipped in a mixture made by melting one part of beef suet with two parts of white wax. The process should be repeated three or four times, the corks being well dried between each dipping. Dripping as a Substitute for Butter. —If dripping is substituted for butter it does very well in cakes of a light nature, hut when used in pound cakes the flavour is too pronounced. 1 In any cake recipe, where there is twice as much flour, or more than twice as much as butter, dripping can 1 safely substitute the butter. Same rules exactly apply to dripping cakes as others as regards the baking. To Keep Butter Firm. When no butter cooler or refrigerator is at hand, an ordinary flower-pot makes a useful receptacle in which to keep butter firm in summer. Put the butter into a basin placed in a large, deep saucer filled with water. Cover with a well-scrubbed flower-pot-, which must rest in the saucer. The water gradually permeates the porous flowernot and keeps the butter delightfully firm. Change the water in t-lie saucer daily.