HOUSEHOLD.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 31, 2 August 1890, Page 14

HOUSEHOLD.

E have reached such a highly-educated age that it is no wonder that we try to guide our whole lives on the highest scientific principles. The latest idea in London is that we waste too much time on cooking. There is scarcely a lady in New Zealand who has anything to do in the culinary depait merit who will not at once exclaim, ‘So we do!’ We quote from a recent article :—- The man or woman who drinks too much is pointed at with the finger of scorn. The man—or woman—who, tempted by high-class cookery, eats too much, and upsets his liver, provokes no public notice. If the eating of madeup and unwholesome dishes caused a man to stagger and talk thickly, we should have much less outcry about'good cooking. \\ hat we really want is nice cooking of plain and wholesome food. But that our wives and daughters should spend hours in manufacturingdainty dishes (forit takesmuch longer to make them than to eat them) to tempt their male relatives to eat more than they need, is nothing less than barbaric, though we are in the habit of looking upon it as the highest civilisation. For the men and women of the present generation there is little hope; they must go on as they have begun, beginning their dinper with hot liquid, capping it with ice, and interleaving it with a quantity of mondescript food that does more barm than good. When I see those entrees being handed round, I always think of a friend of mine who led a busy life in her father’s parish trying to prevent the mill hands from drinking too much. One day she called on a family who had given up their evil ways, and found a large jug of beer on the supper-table, which they were regarding somewhat sheepishly. She promptly proposed to pour the beer down the sink, and, to her surprise, they agreed cheerfully. They all guessed it would be better there than ‘ inside o’ they.’ And nine-tenths of our entrees and soups would be better in the ash-pit than ‘ inside o’ we.’ The proper cooking and serving of necessary food is one thing, but ‘ high-class ’ cookery is quite another. And I cannot see that it is desirable for our girls to expend their time and health in learning to make entrees and chocolate cakes that only make their parents, or husbands, groan with dyspepsia. The conclusion of the whole matter seems to be : Cook plain but varied food perfectly, and be content with that. Above all train children to’simple tastes. Put pickles, sauces, and flavourings as much out of the question as brandy. If our young people, instead of being trained to ‘high-class’ cookery, were trained to simple habits and simple food, it would be an immense boon to posterity. A laundress of large experience writes that the ironing of shirt bosoms may be made highly successful by observing the following procedure. Enough cold starch to last several months may be made of one ounce of white wax, two ounces of borax, one teacupful of water, and three teacupfuls of starch. The boiax and wax are dissolved in water sufficiently heated for the purpose, but not hot enough to scald the staich ; into this mix the pulverised starch after passing it through a fine sieve. In using, take a teaspoonful of this prepared starch ana dissolve in water that is not cold enough to prevent the wax from softening. The hot starch is not made very thick, and a teaspoonful is allowed to a shirt bosom ; the hotter the liquid is, the better. Apply a tablespoonful at a time, nibbing in well before putting on more, and after the right side will take up no more, apply to the under side. Unless the starch is well rubbed in, the iron will stick, and specks and blisters will appear. The hot starching is done first, the bosom is allowed to dry, and then the cold starching is done by dipping the bosoms in the liquid, wringing out and rubbing slightly. After an hour or so, iron, first rub the bosom carefully with a cloth wrung out in hot water, to equalise the starch on the surface, and lay a thin cloth on, the first time the iron is passed over it. When this is removed, damp the surface of the bosom a little, and finally iron carefully until the finish is satisfactory. Let the outside cover of the ironing-board be woollen cloth, and the bosom will not stick to it. Gloss and stillness can be produced on collars and cuffs by first putting them through a pretty stiff, clear boiled starch, and then drying them, after which they should be damped with the following solution :—One ounce of fine raw starch, one quarter ounce of gum arabic, one pint of water ; heat the water to dissolve the gum, let it coo], and then stir in the starch, and add the white of one egg ; beat the whole well together before using. Apply lightly with a sponge, and use a polishing or box-iron properly to develop the gloss.