Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 6, 7 February 1907, Page 33

Domestic

By • Maureen'

Cleaning Chamois -Leather. „ Chamois leathers used for polishing windows, and those; kept for silver, etc., can ,be easily cleaned as follows : First, squeeze the leather in a warm, lather containing . a little ammonia;, repeating the process ..if Lhe leather -is very dirty. Then rinse it- -in another - warm, soapy mixture, but this "time with the ' ammonia,, whea it will become soft and flexible.- Now . squeeze out the water and hang- the leather - out to dry. When quite dry it should be pressed with a-xool iron. - - ' " S Something Girls Should Cultivate. - Neatness is one of the most attractive of femininequalities to a man. It is also one of the' rarest. Early and persistent must be .the training which carries the girl into womanhood, with her ' bump of neatness ' well developed. ., Unless inherently fastidious during -schooldays she is liable to drift into careless habits which she. never outgrows. One girl may have a trick," of leaving shoes about her room. As a mere tot she was ■ permitted, to db- this, and as she. grew older the untidy custom was never, abandoned for the simple reason that she herself did not notice anything- unusual about it, and probably nobody- else""" took the trouble to correct -her. Another- slovenly habit is leaving a Lunch of combings in her comb or on her 'dressing-table. Constant vigpl-a/nce on a woman 1 s part is- necessary in these small traits unless she would be judged unworthy of her birthright of daintiness. " ~ " Care of the .Fingers. Women who are compelled to do a good deal of - housework, and whose lingers are constantly ,in water, should try the plan' of "~ washing their • hands in - the" ordinary way" with soap and water, arid, while wet, of rubbing dry salt well over the cuticle.__ This will remove all grime and stains, and wilt' keep the hands smooth and white. A ,slice of lemon is invaluable- for preserving .the line texture of the skin, and should be rubbed over the hands -while washing. Almond ■ oil massaged, well into the skin of the hands night' "and morning is another simple unguent, and will do nvuch to preserve them in good condition. A pint of rosewater, diluted with a tablespoonful of glycerine, forans another excellent preservative for the Jiands, and will keep them smooth and white if applied each' time afterwashing. — " Cooking Vegetables. • N - -' The wrong way to cook vegetables is to put "them over the fire in water partly boiling- or lukewarm ; throw salt in or not as it? happens ; boil until theyare overdone, and then drain the best- part- down the. sjuik ; the tasteless, water-soaluxl material left in the pot is then dressed- up with salt, pepper, and butter, or - some other High- seasonings, to put in the flavor that has been destroyed by bad cooking. To be quite perfect all vegetables should be put •to 'cook in boiling water. This docs not water that has been boiled and cooled, but it must be boiling rapMly when the vegetables are dropped in. Do not pour boiling wafer .over them, but "put i them, into the water. To green vegetables add salt in 'proportion- of a teaspoonful- to each, half-gallon. Green vegetables and potatoes are rich in potash, salts-; "these salts have a tendency to thickening, as it were, the blood. They are bad for -rheumatic people. Common salt, chloride of sodium, has a tendency to co-rect the influences of the potash salts. Hence 'hy^ienist s use salt- on such vegetables as spinach, cabbage, onions, potatoes, hut not in the cereals or on meats. The .underground vegetables, the- roots, tubers; and swollen stems of plants should - be cooked in unsalted water. Those are rich iir woody fibre; naturally, this fibre is loughened in salt water"; we cook them to soften the fibred and it *s "even better to use soft water if possible.' \ C~- , Turnips are whije, sweet, and palatable, one of the daintiest and most deliGious of vegetables when cut nto dice .and cooked carefully *Sn unsalted water. Boiled in salted .water they are coarse, pink, and unpalatable: