Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 2 November 1911, Page 2217

Domestic

• o By Maureen.

Food Values of Tomato and Banana. The tomato is of American origin It was grown in Europe in the sixteenth century as a garden ornament. Parkinson (1656) tells of its being grown in England for this purpose. It has sprung into popularity in Great Britain during the last twenty years. The scare created some years ago by the circulation of a report that tomatoes bred cancer has been dispelled and denied by the authorities of the Brompton Cancer Hospital. The tomato contains citric and malic acids, some salts, water, and oxalate of potash. It is, therefore, not supposed by some to suit those who suffer from a tendency to gout or uric acid disease. For those who have a tendency to biliousness the tomato is invaluable, as it promotes the flow of bile. Tomatoes are excellent, uncooked, or mixed in a salad. The banana is considered useful in affections of the chest and urinary organs. It contains about half an ounce of albumen in a pound, also starch, sugar, etc. Three or four large bananas are equal-to one pound of bread. In America, the unripe fruit is often dried in the oven and eaten as bread. Some years ago, Dr John Dougall, of St. Mungo’s, College,“in a letter to the Glasgow Herald, on the banana as food, quoted from Stanley’s In Darkest Africa, that for infants, persons of delicate digestion, dyspeptics, and those suffering from temporary derangement of the stomach, the flour, properly prepared, would bo in universal demand. During Stanley’s two attacks of gastritis he states that ‘a slight gruel was made of banana flour, mixed with milk, was the only material that could be digested.* How to Wash Blankets. Although it is difficult to clean blankets, it can be done at home. Prepare a tubful of soapsuds, made of pure soap and lukewarm water. Move the blanket gently up and down in this suds until it looks clean. Then put in another tubful of lukewarm soapsuds. A third tubbing of soapsuds ought to show the blanket clean and soft. Do not rinse the blanket in, clear water, for therein lies ruin. Clear water, or water that is too hot or too cold, makes the blanket stiff and likely to shrink. Lift it from the last tubful of soapsuds, and, with help, for a wet blanket is surprisingly heavy, press and squeeze from it all the water possible. Some clothes-wringers are big enough to take blankets with safety, but care must be used not to stretch or tear the blanket m the wringer. Hang the blanket to dry over a heavy line, and change its position frequently to keep it from stretching or pulling .out of shape. Dry it quickly but do not hang it directly before a hot hre Blankets should never be ironed. Washed and drmd in this way, blankets will not shrink. The threat difficulty, in fact, is to keep them from stretching. However, if cave be taken to shift the weight from one corner to another and from side to side several times during the drying process, the blankets should not stretch. A Useful Mixture. , Keep a wide-mouthed pickle bottle, in which to put the small pieces of soap that are generally wasted, lo a pint of these add a teaspoonful of powdered ammonia, and make up the quart with warm water, ibis mixture is good for washing paint, taking grease iiom clothing, and all similar cleansing. Cleaning a Mirror. The best method of cleaning a mirror, ' whether new or antique, is that of rubbing it first with a sponge saturated with methylated spirits, and then sprinkling the surface of the glass with powdered indigo. If this is left for a few minutes and then dusted off with a clean leather a good polish is obtained.