Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 24 March 1910, Page 473

Domestic

By MAUREEN

Apple Shape. . Take lib of apples after being peeled and cored. Let the apples cook in as little water as possible keep stirring to prevent them burning; beat to a pulp, and add half a teaspoonful of grated lemon peel. "While they are boiling put into another saucepan fib of loaf sugar, which should be dipped in cold water and dropped bit by bit as you wet it. Boil .until it clarifies and is clear syrup; then add the apples and keep stirring all the time for twenty minutes; then put in a shape. When cold turn into a glass dish and pour custard round it. This is a delicious sweet, and is generally very much liked. Inexpensive Stair Rods. Young housewives with little money to begin with will find, these temporary stair rods a good makeshift, which will answer very well until they are able to replace them with the ordinary brass ones. Buy some halfpenny canes, cut to the required length, and give each one two coats of gold paint. Get from the ironmongers some small wire staples, and knock them into the ends. These will serve for eyes to keep the rods in their places, and the stairs are thus fitted at very little cost. Veils. Veils are so generally used nowadays they form quite a prominent item in the expenditure. A great saving can be effected in this direction by a simple treatment of old veils which renders them almost equal to new. When a veil has lost its stiffness, and looks old and dusty, roll it smoothly on a cardboard roll, and then hold it over the steam of a kettle for a few minutes. It should then be dried thoroughly after this process. Petty Economics. Use bread which is at least a day old, and cut it with a sharp knife, so that it does not crumble or break. Save every scrap of bread that is too stale to be eaten, dry it, and crush it to crumbs for puddings or fish. Increase the milk bill, and you will decrease the meat bill. Steam cheap varieties of fish, and stew the coarse parts of meat with plenty of vegetables. Make good use of the dried pulse foods as a substitute for meat. For the Sick Room. When one's foot is slightly injured and the bed-clothes add to the discomfort, a small hat-box will be found useful. The foot can be slipped into it, and the box supports the weight of the covers. Picture Frames Cleaned. To clean gilt picture frames use the water in which onions have been boiled, as it will restore their brightness. Loose dust that has settled in picture frames and mouldings can best be removed with a broom covered with flannel or cheesecloth, as it will cling to the cloth and not be scattered over the room. Sleep. Lack of sleep, lack of proper ventilation, and lack of proper food lie at the bottom of many scowling, harassed countenances that are as burdensome to the owners as to the world. Women do not attach half enough importance to sleep as a beautifier. One cannot look well nor healthy nor at one's best except when the body has been refreshed by healthy sleep. Better sleep can be obtained with a low pillow than with a high one. Paste for Scrap Books. The following will be found the best and quickest mode of making paste when only a small quantity is required for some immediate purpose: Mix in a teacup a spoonful of flour into a paste of the consistence of cream, with cold water place the teacup in a flat saucepan containing as much hot water as will reach half-way up the outside of the teacup; set them on the fire, and as soon as the water has boiled a few moments the paste (without any stirring being required) will be made, and be found of a beautifully clean, semi-transparent, and adhesive quality. For those cases in which a stronger paste is required, malt-liquor may be used instead of water, and finely powdered yellow resin added; and if required of still greater strength a small piece of glue may be previously dissolved in the water. In order to prevent the ravages of insects, the bookbinders add a little alum to their paste; and to prevent fermentation and mould in small quantities of paste, the addition of a small portion of oil of lavender, or any other essential oil (and perhaps of creosote), will be found effectual.

maurun