Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 1 September 1910, Page 1417

Domestic

By MAUREEN

Potatoes. ~ It « useful to remember in cooking potatoes that, after the water has been strained off, the pot should be given three or four sharp jerks so as to toss the potatoes. This has the effect of making them white and floury. Concerning Entrees. - It pays the housewife well to bestow careful attention on entrees. Ihese are the middle dishes of the meal, and not, as many suppose, the principal course. There ,is a popular notion that the entree is expensive, whereas the reverse is the case. The true entree is a made dish, as distinguished from a plainly roasted or boiled joint. It is served after the second course, or if there is no fish, after the soup. When brought to the table, it is on a dish in small poitions, so that no carving is required, and the dish is usually handed round for each diner to help himself In the preparation of entrees daintiness and taste in decoration, arrangement, and serving are essential if the dish is to please the eye and palate. Children’s Eyes. Nowadays a great deal is being done in many schools to have defective eyesight early discovered and put right. Still there is much more that might be accomplished by the watchful mother. There are many little bad habits which, unchecked, lay up a store of eye troubles in the future. How often are children seen crouched on a stool +i! o V ol fn fire trying to read with no other light than that of the flickering firelight. This is a most injurious habit. Or again straining the eyes to read small print in the waning twilight. Children should only read or sew in a good light properly placed at their backs, so that the ays fall directly on the book or seam and not across the eyes. Sometimes the eyes feel itchy and irritable: in such cases bathing with a little warm water in which powdered boracic acid has been dissolved will give relief. But the mam thing to be remembered is the all importance of taking a child to be examined by a reliable occulist on the first appearance of eye strain. This manifests itself generally by headache, pain behind the eyeball, a sandy feeling at near lids, or & general peering expression when looking at near objects. *=> The Care of Furniture. Nothing makes a house look so deplorable as furniture which has lost its polish; and as long as it is not chipped or broken it can, with the outlay of a few pence, a little time and trouble, be made to look new again. A little reasonable care will keep it fresh and bright for a very Jong time. A washstand that has been in use ten or twelve years, and which, if real mahogany, will have lost the smooth, glass-hke surface that distinguishes all new furniture, and through repeated splashes of water has become mottled and patchy looking, can easily be restored to its original condition. All it wants is a judicious course of French polishing with a plentiful supply of . ‘elbow grease. In the. case of a sideboard of mahogany, rosewood, or polished oak, the same treatment should be applied. it the worker has the patience to rub it with fine sand paper between the first .three applications of polish she will be rewarded with a reflecting surface almost equal to a mirror. 1 ■ . I' l , renovating japanned deal, it will be necessary to restain the article before polishing, and for this purpose every variety of stain can be bought ready prepared in bottles. The method of application is to apply the varnish with a small camel s hair brush, taking' care to work it over very quickly in one direction only. At least twelve hours should be allowed to elapse before the polishing process is commenced, so that the underneath varnish may become thoroughly hard. J Drawing-room chairs with wooden frames and padded seats can be made to look like new by polishing the frames especially the legs and foot rails which get scratched, recovering the seats with furniture brocade, tapestry, printed velveteen, cretonne, or plushette, which are to be had in infinite and charming variety. Great care should be exercised m removing the brass nails which hold the old cover in place, and when the new material is fixed it is better to replace them with new ones of the same size and shape Enamelled furniture can easily be repainted at home but to ensure success the article must be given three coats’ and be allowed to set hard between each coat. ’ Basket and wicker furniture should be thoroughly cleaned with hot soap suds, and if stained, gilded or treated with the now fashionable green varnish, the article will be made to look like new. In the matter of coverings there is a great variety of choice, but showiness should be avoided, and something selected that not only will wear well, but likewise harmonise in color with the surroundings.

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