HINTS FOR YOUR HOME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18444, 30 March 1922, Page 8

HINTS FOR YOUR HOME

Salt and vinegar will remove stains from teacups. Cinders soaked in paraffin make splendid firelighters. When cooking a cracked egg. add a few drops of vinegar to the water, and the egg will boil without breaking. A soft chamois leather soaked in cold water and wrung tightly makes an excellent duster. It removes fingermarks and leaves no threads like an ordinary duster.

When the contents of a. saucepan boil over, sprinkle a little salt on the stove, and there will be no smell of burning. To remove any unpleasant odour from the hands, wash them, and before drying rub a tablespoonful of mustard over them. Then rinse thoroughly and dry.

Before serving boiled mutton, remove the fat from the gravy with white paper. The mutton can then lie eaten by anyone with the most delicate digestion. To make flannelette noninflammable, after washing and rinsing the garments dip them into water in which an ounce of sal-ammoniac or alum has been dissolved. Collect all vegetable parings and other scraps from the kitchen and place them in a brown-paper bag. Roll tightly, and place at the back of the fire. They will burn slowly, and keep the fire in for a long time. When cleaning windows in cold weather add a dessertspoonful of salt to the water. This prevents the glass from freezing and cracking. Leaks in household utensils can be stopped temporarily by the application of yellow soap and whiting. Melt the soap and mix it with the whiting to the consistency of a thick paste.

THE RIGHT WAY TO COOK RICE. Rice is often sent up to table looking most unappetising—a watery mash, instead of being dry and snowy with each grain separated. The following method of cooking will ensure success : . • First wash the rice well in several waters to remove the loose starch. Put it into a good-sized saucepan containing plenty of salted boiling water, stir until the water boils again, and then boil quickly, stirring occasionally with a fork, from 10 to 15 minutes or until the grain feels soft when one is rubbed into the thumb and finger. Strain through a hair sieve or strainer into a basin, and keep the water for cereal stock or starch Pour cold water through the rice to separate the grains, then return it to the dry pan, cover with a cloth, and leave the pan by the side of the fire to dry and reheat the rice. Another method of drying is to spread the neo on a sheet of kitchen paper placed on a baking sheet. Put it into a. moderate oven, and stir often with a fork. Points to Remember.—Patna < or Rangoon rice is best for curries. Carolina rice makes the best puddings. Always wash rice before using it, until the last water looks clear. Never allow the rice to boil until it becomes soft and mashy.

TO MAKE LIME CREAM. 1. Take equal parts of nut oil and lime water (full strength), perfume with lemon and citronella oils, and shake till properly combined. Another can be made with almond oil and lime water, and perfumed as desired. The perfume should in each case be added to the oil before mixing with the lime water. The first formula is the cheapest. 2. Take borax ono scruple, lime water half a pint, oil of sweet almonds half a pint; dissolve the borax in the lime water without the aid of heat; place the almond oil in a bottle capable of holding a quart, and gradually add the lime water and borax, shaking vigorously after each addition. When the whole of the lime water has been added and the whole weel shaken, add essence of lemon ioz.; shake well. TO MAKE HOP BITTERS. Quassia in No. 2 powder 1 drachm, dandelion root 2 drachms, gentian 2 drachms, chiretta 2 drachms, dried lemon peel 2 drachms, orange 2 drachms, hops 6 drachms, rectified spirit 4oz . distilled water 20oz. Macerate for a day, then transfer to a pecolator, and collect a pint of pecolator, adding more of the menstruum, if necessary. Fermented: Essence of lemon 1 drachm, quassia chips 2 drachms, chiretta 4 drachms, gentian 20z., ginger 20z., hops 40z., moist sugar 120 z., boiling water one gallon, German yeast joz., burnt sugar a sufficiency for colouring. Place the herbs and sugar with the water in a covered vessel, and infuse for one hour. Strain, and when cooled down to 130 deg. F. add the yeast and essence. Allow to stand for six hours, then strain and bottle. These recipes make an excellent drink, and a large quantity can be made very cheaply. HOMEDYING. With so many packet dyes to be had in the shops, and in every shade you can think of, there is no reason why dyeing at home should not be done with every success. The first thing to do i? to decide on the colours required. Any article which has become faded in streaks or patches should be tinted the same shade a little deeper if possible. Wool most people find not so easy to manage, and I always find more dye is required for it than, for cotton or silk. Test the colour on a small piece of material the same colour as the articmle to be dyed. Dry quickly, and if the shade is too light, allow less water than that mentioned in the directions, and if too deep little more. All articles to be dyed should be free from grease and dirt. It is a safe plan to wash before dyeing, and wrin gout thoroughly. There is no end to the possibilities of home dyeing. Brightly-hued silk or other stockings may be bought at sales for very little, and with dye and a little time and trouble, they can be transformed into lovely black or brown hose. Silk scarves also can be dyed to match a costume at the cost of a few pence. Heavy goods, such as rugs, curtains, or tablecloths, absorb a great amount of dye. So in dealing with these, a good supply of dyes in the shade wanted should be got. White or cream will dye mostly any colour, such as pink, yellow, pale blue, putty or fawn. “You’re really very lucky, old girl,” said Majorie’s husband “Suppose J were the sort of chap who got up in a rage every morning and knocked things about because the coffee was cold.” “If you did I’d make it hot for you, darling,” said Marjorie.