HELPFUL HINTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 563, 17 September 1932, Page 20 (Supplement)

HELPFUL HINTS.

Suggestions for the Thrifty Housewife. HOLIDAY PREPARATIONS. Get your feet !n good trim before your holiday. Hot towels round the feet will soothe and calm the nerves, and a gentle massage should be given from the instep to the toes, round the instep itself, and then the ankle. For dry feet use olive oil, for moist ones witch hazel or eau de Cologne. Then powder thoroughly with talcum or French chalk. This checks a tendency to blister. There is a pine lotion which is most refreshing to use after a day’s walking. One of the finest tonics ’for aching feet is a bath of moderately hot water into which a handful of ordinary rock salt has been thrown. Simple Exercises. Here are some simple exercises for the feet. Walk round the room on the toes for five minutes. Then stand still and slowly raise yourself on the toes twenty or thirty times, afterwards, rocking yourself back on your heels. Finally stand on one foot and make circles with the other ankle, and vice versa. Repeatedly bending the toes back, as though you were trying to pick up a towel, is excellent. Another suggestion is to lay a round ruler on the floor and press the bare foot hard on it, .rolling it tip to the toes and down to the heels. Try twisting the big toe round in circles from left to right and vice versa; then lift it up and down as far as it will go. Stand on a low, flat-topped stool, or even a low table, and bend the toes downward* over the edge and then up again as quickly as you can. CAKE-MAKING HINTS. Cakes containing fruits should be baked in a very moderate oven after the first half-hour. Soda and cream of tartar will keep cakes more moist than baking powder. Allow uncooked mixture to about three parts fill the tin. Make a large hole in the centre, and when cooked the cake should be quite level. To prevent cakes from sticking to tins use clarified butter for greasing and beef dripping for over sheets. It does not burn as quickly as butter. One teaspoonful of glycerine to lib of flour lightens cakes and helps to keep them moist. Fruit must be thoroughly dry and oven hot at first. Do not use too much liquid or fruit will sink. The lightness of sponge cakes depends a great deal upon the amount of air incorporated into the eggs. A sponge mixture must not be beaten after folding in the flour, nor any cakes that have only a little butter. When beating butter, sugar and eggs add a little flour to prevent the mixture curdling, and then more air can be beaten into mixture. Sieve the flour to remove any lumps and to aerate it, thus lightening the cakes, pastry and scones. Use square pieces of cardboard for scraping out the mixture from cake bowls, etc. To prepare tins for sandwich, small cakes, or bread, rub tins with butter or dripping and dust well with flour. For large cakes, grease paper and place greased side toward tin. Place pieces of paper on tray under pastry or shortbread. Us© knife or egg whisk for folding in flour for sponge cakes, etc. Use an alarm clock when baking a large cake, and you can go about work or go to bed without worrying. If you fear your sponge sandwich or small cakes will stick to tins stand tins on a damp paper for a few seconds. TO WASH CORDUROY VELVET. If washed carefully, corduroy velvet will look like new. Make a nice soapy lather and add to it a little ammonia. Plunge the velvet into it, taking care that the water is not too hot. Wash as quickly as possible without rubbing on any soap, and give two good rinses in warm water with a little ammonia added. Hang at once in the open air to drip; do not on any account wring or squeeze the material.