HINTS AND RECIPES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19990, 5 November 1927, Page 16 (Supplement)

HINTS AND RECIPES

After peeling onions, wash your hands in cold water, and when celery is available rub a little on the hands. This will remove the disagreeable smell. Never wash pudding cloths with soap, but boil them in strong soda and water; dry them quickly in the open air and keep them in a draw our of the dust. To clean looking-glasses, rub the surface of the mirror with a duster, slightly ‘lamped with warm water, then polish with a clean soft cloth and a little powdered* blue. Fast boiling makes meat hard and indigestible. Gentle simmering will make even the cheapest cuts tender as the most expensive ones. When shampooing the hair, add the juice of a lemon to the final rinsing water. This makes the hair fluffy and shiny. To soften a hard sponge, cover it with cold water, and a tablespoonfur of borax, and bring the water slowly to the boil in a clean saucepan. Then remove the sponge, rub some dry borax into it, and rinse uixier the told tap, allowing the waler to run over it for several minutes. Always burn a newspaper in the ■dustbin when it has been emptied. This Lseps it germ free and sweet. if a deal taele is rubbed over wi£h a lemon, left to dry. and then scrubbed with sand, it will be kept very white. A warmed knife should be used to cur thin bread and* butter from a fresh loaf. Place a jug of boiling water and a cloth by your side, and. before cutting, dip* the knife into the water, wipe it with the cloth, and. while it is still hot, cut the breach When the knife is cool dip again into the hot water. In this way warm fresh bread can be cut as thinly and as easily as stale breuu •To i£eep sandwiches Fresh. To keep sandwiches fresh several nours. put them into an earthenware dish anui place it in a pan of water till the sandwiches are required. Cleaning Glazed Tiles. Constant washing with water and strong soap has a tendency to spoil the glaze of tiles. A rubber soaked in turpentine will cirar the tiles just as effectively and improve rather than ■poi! their surface. To Clean a Felt Hat. To clean a felt hat, first remove all trimming and lining. Then clean any dirty or greasy marks with a clean white cloth dipped in petrol. (This should be *d-onc out of doors). Leave to dry. then rub briskly with a clean, rough, bath-towel. If the hat is not sufficiently clean, dip a clean rag in some fineiy powdered magnesia and rub it thoroughly into the felt. Wrap the hat in tissue paper and put aside till the next day, then brush well to remove all trace of the powder. The Furniture Beetle. A finely polished surface helps to keep away the furniture beetle, for the insect only penetrates surfaces in which there are tiny crannies. If a -hair or table is attached buy furniture lieetles, stand its legs in saucers of paraffin or petrol for a few days. The liquid will gra»j*ually work its way right into the pores of the wood—and kill the beetles. Another plan is to inject naphthalene or even paraffin straight into the holes. To Clean Glass Bottles. Stains in narrow-necked decanters and bottles are very difficult to remove by? ordinary washing. An easy and effective way is to cut a medium-sized potato into small pieces and vigorously shake them inside the article. In a short time the glass will be clear. Potato peelings can be used instead of cut potato. Another method* is to put some course salt in the bottle, add a tablespoon l'u 1 or so of vinegar, and a good supply of small bits of rather stiff brown pepper. Shake well. TKe action i f all three will cleanse the inside perr»*etly. The bo.ties should then be rinsed thoroughly with clean water. Oil Stains on a Coat. Dip a elean cloth in petrol and make a ring with the liquid right round tnc outside of each stain. Then gradually work round and round towards the centre; this prevents the stain from spreading. Repeat the treatment several times if necessary, then leave to dry, and the oil marks should have disappeared. All cleaning with petrol should be done in the open air away from a naked light, as it is very inflammable. Some Different of Serving Plums and Pears. Compote of plums.—lnstead of stewing plums in the ordinary way. make a syrup in the proportion of 4oz. castor sugar to a pint of water, an»i stew the fruit slowly in this in an earthenware casserole, (’rack the stones and add the kernels to the fruit. When cold place the plums carefully in a glass dish and pour the syrup over. Serve with sponge fingers and whipped cream. Surprise Pears.—Stew some pears very slowly, until they are tender, with a very little water and plenty of sugar. Cut a large sponge cake into rather thick rounds. Place half a rooked pear on each slice of cake and fill with jelly such as bramble or red currant jelly, and cover with whipped cream. Sprinkle a few chopped nuts lightly over the whole.

Pear Pudding.—Dissolve 41b. sugar in one pint of water. Peel and core 21b. small pears. Put them into Vho syrup and simmer gently till tender. If stewed very slowly in an earthenware jar in the oven they will become a pretty pink colour. Slice two sponge cakes and lay them in a buttered dish, pour custard over them, bake in a moderate oven till set. Drain pears, reboil syrup till reducai to half. Replace pears in it for a few minutes.

Pile the pears on the custard and pour syrup over. Plum Cream. —Half pint plum puree, half-pint cream, one gill water, lib. castor sugar, loz. leaf gelatine, few drops of cochineal. Make a puree by stirring some plums with plenty of sugar and a little water. Remove the stones and pass them through a sieve. Melt the gelatine in a small saucepan, and make hot very gradually, and carefully strain into the puree. Mix cream lightly into it; colour prettily with the cochineal. Pour into mould which has been rinsed first in hot, then cold water; place in cool place until set.