HOME HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19241, 1 December 1930, Page 4

HOME HINTS.

THINGS TO REMEMBER. To “pull” bread take the inside crumb from a French roll. Pull it -with the fingers—do not cut it—into small pieces, and put these in a slow oven until a delicate golden-brown colour. To make an egg garnish boil an egg hard and separate the yolk from the white. Rub the former through a wire sieve and use it for sprinkling over various savoury dishes. Chop the white or cut it in fancy shapes. Never scrape or clean aluminium with a wire brush; soda water turns the vessels black. No foods containing soda should be cooked in one of these pans. Sand For Aluminium.

Silver sand is a good medium with which to clean aluminium. Well rinse in warm water and dry thoroughly. A daily rub on the outside with a duster is a good plan.

To keep sandwiches wrap them in butter muslin, which has been wrung out in cold water. Wrap them in a table napkin and put them in an earthenware vessel. In this way they will keep fresh for a long time. If sandwiches are wanted early in the morning, they can be cut at night, treated in this manner, and they will be quite fresh when wanted.

If a fruit preserve will not jelly, try boiling a little longer, and if this has no effect add some apple juice and boil up. Apple juice is made by boiling some apples, with their peels and cores, in a little water until the apples are soft. Strain oft the liquid and add it to the preserve. When flower stems are too short, try wet sand in the vase, instead of water. This is particularly effective in a floating bowl. Gadgets For Grease. You can say good-bye to greasy water, greasy bowls, and greasy pots and pans if you use the right gadgets when washing up. You cannot cook without grease. In fact, nearly all the food we eat involves fat of one kind or another. It is the aftermath of all this fat that causes trouble when it has resolved itself into cold, unappetising grease. It clings to your baking tins, gleams in your washing-up water, and often refuses to be dislodged easily from pots and pans. How do you cope with this bugbear when washing up? Do you just fling a great handful of soda into the water and hope for the best? If so, the best will certainly be bad. You really only want a small quantity of soda, but borax will be equally good for the sink, and better for your nails. Clearing a Choke.

A» rubber force-cup, plunged up and down briskly over a, stopped-up waste pipe opening, will suck up the air and effect a clearance of the pipe.

The way you wash-up makes all the difference, too, in dealing with grease! Use a plate scraper to remove bits of fat and food from the plates before they go into the water. Choose washing-up mops carefully. If you use a long-handled mop from start to finish you need not put your hands in the water at all, but, for safety’s sake, wear rubber gloves.

BOWLS AND VASES NOW COPY PRECIOUS STONES.

Bowls and vases are apt to be dull and all of one pattern, so I was delighted to see some graceful ones of every size, carried out in coloured glass, finely veined and shaded to imitate semi-pr6cious stones. There was a deep blue set called lapis-lazuli, and a curious bowl, like onyx, which would give value to white flowers, while the cornelian vases have a rosy glow about them, and should stand where they can reflect the sunlight. Jade and amber are both cleverly copied in glass, as well as many other less known, but no less lovely, stones. For summer one needs a larger handbag, to house the tennis bandeau and comb, as well as the extra silk stockings for a day in the country, and in case of a ladder! _ I have seen some excellent ones in plaited straw, very summery and gay. They are suited to tennis frocks, and have a neat zip fastening. Remember that a bulging handbag spoils your whole appearance, and that too large a one can look top heavy and ridiculous. In these days of pretty bags there is no need to carry a fierce “ reticule.”

Everyone knows how unpleasant a room becomes when half a dozen smokers have failed to crush the stubs of their cigarettes properly, in spite of ash trays.

If they "are given the new glass crushers, like little seals, they will have no excuse! This is such a clean and simple idea. Why not use the stoppers of your old scent bottles, or of a decanter that is not in use? Put one on each ash tray, and fine anyone who fails to stamp his or her cigarette in this way.

TO PRESERVE WINTER CLOTHES FROM MOTHS.

If you want to preserve winter clothes for another season’s wear, don’t wait until you see the moths flying about. By that time they may have started their destructive campaigns by depositing eggs in the folds of your favourite woolly frock, and these eggs will eventually hatch out into the tiny white larvae that feast upon fabrics, with a preference for soiled areas. Remembering this, it is an excellent plan to launder all washable garments before storing them away for the summer. Each garment should first be examined carefully for spots and stains. Ordinary spots will readily dissolve in warm soapy water. If it is necessary to use a special stain remover, care should be taken to wash out all traces of the chemical as soon as it takes effect or it is likely to rot the fabric. It is well to rinse in water containing bi-carbonate of soda. It is not necessary to iron garments which are to be stored. Roll each one separately, place it in a box and seal the box by pasting pieces of gummed paper over the openings. Some housewives advise rolling in newspaper. For an additional safeguard camphor balls or some reliable moth repellent may be placed in the box. Garments which cannot be washed should be drycleaned or brushed thoroughly and hung outside on a sunny day before they are packed away.