HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 42, 13 November 1926, Page 18

HINTS FOR THE HOUSEWIFE

DOMESTIC JOTTINGS There is no need to throw away milk that has turned sour. It is actually better than fresh milk for a good many recipes. Cheese, too, can be made use of even when it is old' and hard, and jam that has thickened can be nado into sauce. Sour milk should be used up in scones. It improves savoury sauces, is a piquant addition to liver sausage or minced ham, or cheese sandwiches—especially the latter, if cream cheese is used, jam that has been ignored for some time till it has uegun to thicken on the top shoud be added to a spongecake pudding or thinned down and boiled up with water and made into a jam sauce for a sponge cake pudding, whether it is baked in the oven like a railway pudding o: steamed in dariole moulds. All bits of cheese should be grated down when hard for using for au gratin dishes, cheese straws, and the many savourydishes for which grated cheese 's needed. Leaves of lettuce, cabbage, savoys, etc., that are not perfect enough and too old for salad can be chopped r.p and added to broth. When curling celery retain the outside stalks for soup, likewise the leaves, and remember that if you cook beet leaves like spinach no one will know it is not spinach. Feather pillows should be well shaken and aired daily. It is advisable to cover the ticking with washing covers, to avoid having to renew it too often. If new covers are required, rub the inside 'of the new ticking with velljw soap or with beeswax. This -irevents the points of the feathers from working through. The easiest way of transferring the feathers to a new co .-er L to make an opening in the aid cover the same size as that in the -lew one and sew both openings together. Shake the feathers from the old. to the new cover, tack up the opening in the new cover, then undo the stitches joining the two covers and stitch up the new <.ne This prevents the leathers from hying about the room. A mixture of equal parts of linseed ml and lime water is a. safe '-lire for I urns.

Dried coffee grounds, mixed with a little carbonate of soda, will remove slams from knives.

A dull or spotted looking gnss c m be made bright and clear again by a vigorous polish with a wad of clean tissue* paper. If before using you rub a piece of soap over the surface, your iron will never stick, but run smoothly and easily over the»most delicate fabrics. To Preserve a Toothbrush.—Before you use a new -'toothbrush, .soak it in iiot salt water. This not only cleanses it, but makes it last twice as long. Care of Mirrors.—A pad made of newspaper makes a good polisher for mirrors Methylated spirit and whiting will remove any marks and give a brilliant polish. Ivorv-backed Toilet Sets.—Lemon inice and salt will clean and whiten these. , , , Stains on the Washstand.—French chalk and lemon juice will remove grease or any other marks on marble.

HOME COOK Russian Salad. Cut up some cooked (and slightly pickled) beetroot into shapes. Add Io this a little chopped celery, some cooked turnip, carrot, potato, and cut into dice. Pour some mayonnaise over it all. mix well, and garnish with sprigs of water cress. Potato salad is frequently eaten, and invariably the potatoes are heavy. This is because the correct method in making is not followed. Take sufficient boiled potatoes. Cut them in slices and while still hot at once dress them with oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt. Minced parsley or a little finely chopped onion, or both, may be added if liked.

Butter or cream may be used instead of cil, and some people add finely sliced gherkins ami beetroot, with capers and minced anchovies. For the simple potato salad, however, these are not necessary. This is another salad which should be'served very cold, if possible from the icechest. When prepared as describedit is much lighter than when made up with actually cold potatoes.

Hot Rolls.—Here are two ways of making breakfast, rolls that ■ take little time and will please the family if you are catering for yourself in a seaside house. Drop ’into half a pint of sour milk a teaspoon of carbonate of soda, a teaspoon of cream of tartar, one beaten-up egg, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of sugar, stir well, and then put 'four handfuls of flour into a basin, mix with the liuid quicklv, knead it for a minute or t\vo, make into small rolls, and bake for 15 minutes in the gas oven, which should be lit for three minutes before the rolls go in. Cake Colourings.

Carmine cochineal, heliotrope, violet, green, lemon, orange, blue, and brown are the colours obtainable for decorating cakes. They are all perfectly harmless, and are sold for about 14d. an ounce. Coloured sugar, in the same shades, can also be obtained, but this is castor and •not icing sugar. Icing sugar is generally sold white, the colours being added by the cook as .desired. Vanilla, almond, lemon, and raspberry are the most popular essences, but maraschino, ratafia, noycati, cinnamon, pineapple, and orange are also to be bought. These essences can also be used for making fruit drinks, and if used in conjunction with the colourings many original but tempting summer drinks are possible, especially if ice is also available. Both coloured sugar and essences might be used far more frequently in the making ,f puddings and pies. They improve both flavour and appearance, and it is wonderful to see how much the ordinary milk pudding is appreciated by children if a little pink sugar is scattered over each portion on the plates. Pink castor sugar can be bought from any good grocers and costs very little more than the ordinary kind.