ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 26, 27 June 1891, Page 115

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

• Bertha.’—The best way to get rid of the annoyance is to boil the green vegetables' in two waters. Have yon ever tried an old-fashioned plan of having a small piece of bread put into the pan in which the vegetables are being cooked ?

‘ M.E.F.’ —The following recipe for spiced beef I know is a very good one, and the quantities are sufficient to spice a piece of beef weighing from twenty to twenty-three pounds : —First of all, rub the beef all over with half a pound of coarse, brown sugar, and let it remain with the sugar on it only for two days. Mix two ounces of saltpetre, threequarters of a pound of common salt, a quarter of a pound of black pepper, three ounces of allspice, and four ounces of bruised juniper berries, twelve fresh bayleaves, and a little thyme. These ingredients should be pounded, and all mixed together before being rubbed over the beef, and the addition of a little carmine will improve the colour. Every day the beef should be rubbed and turned for three weeks, and at the end of that time the pickle must be washed off it, and it can be braised or baked. To cook it in the latter way. cover the top with finely chopped beef suet, and then cover the meat all over with a water paste, and bake it in an earthenware or tin pan in the oven for five or six hours. When cooked remove the paste and press the beef until cold, then glaze and garnish with aspic jelly. Of course a much smaller piece of beef can be spiced in the same way. The cooking should be done very slowly.

‘ Rolf.’ —The process of crystallising alum on baskets, etc., is very simple. To every quart of hot water, add 21bs of alum, and stir till dissolved. The object to be treated must first be covered loosely with worsted, then immerse in the warm solution, and leave till cool. See that the solution completely covers the article, which should not touch the bottom of the vessel. The solution may be coloured to any shade desired by the use of Judson’s dyes. ‘ Ellen.’— Dip the pieces of coral to be cleaned into a mixture of equal parts of nitric acid and water, or hydrochloric acid, which is cheaper ; afterwards rinse well inclean water, then with water in which some carbonate of soda has been dissolved. Another method is to expose the coral to the glare of the sun for eight or ten hot days in summer, saturating it twice daily with water to which a little sulphuric acid has been added.