The Housekeeper.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 88, 15 April 1911, Page 11

The Housekeeper.

Tea Stains. — Directly tea is spilt on a tablecloth cover tlie stain with common salt. Leave for a little while, and when the cloth is washed all 6taia will have disappeared. The Useful Crust. — Instead of throwing away crusts of bread, put them into the oven to crisp, vasp them on a grater, and keep them in a .wide-mouthed bottle for cooking purposes. Bleaching Mixture.— To bleach a faded blue bedspread, put 2oz of lump ammonia and the same quantity of lump borax into a copperful of boiling v/ater. Place the bedspread in, and leave for thirty minutes. When taken out it will bo perfectly white. The Value of Hops.— Less medicine would be needed if the value of hops was better known. Use £oz to a pint of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of Epsom salts: Take a win 6 glassful in tho morn•ing before breakfast. This will keep anyono in tho best of health at very little cost. Scorched Dishes. — Scorched fireproof dishes should be soaked in strong borax water till tho unsightly brown marks upon them can be rubbed off with a, cloth. A Clean Kettle.— To keep a kettle clean, always empty out tho water before refilling the kettle. Very often the flat taste of tea is caused by using water that has already beon boiled. Clean Tables. — Ordinary soap, and water is never sufficient to keep the kitchen tables free from grease and 4 stains. Take jib of soft soap, £lb of silver sand, and £lb of lime. Work these together with an old wooden spoon, and keep in a jar. When required to use, rub somo of the mixture on the scrubbing brush with spoon, and j scrub vigorously. Use plenty of warm water to wash away lather. For White Silk.— White silk will turn yellow if washed in too hot water. • It must also be well rinsed, or the silk will fool hard. Stuffing for Cushions. — Odd pieces of flannel, cut small, or old shawls and stockings, washed, dried, ' and unravelled or cut up, make good and cheap stuffing for cushions. Old Stockings. — Old stockings serve' many purposes. ' Cut oft' tho feot and hem -the raw. edge. On a cold day slip them on your legs, and you will bo surprised at the additional warmth they give. VEGETABLE RECIPES. Cauliflower. — Take off the outer leaves of a cauliflower, shorten the stalk, and after letting- tap water run freely through the vegetable, soak it in strongly salted water, with vinegar added, for half an hour. This is important, as insects are prone to lurk in cauliflowers. Tie the vegetable in muslin and jook it, uncovered, in boiling water (adding salt and £>ug'ar) for twonty minutes or longer. Drain it, remove the muslin, and serve hot with melted butter sauce poured over Jerusale^i Artichokes. — Wash and skin the artichokes, shape them neatly, and put each as it is done into cold water (salted), to which a small quantity of vinegar or lemon juice has been addod iv order to retain the whiteness of the vegetable. Young artichokes should be plunged into boiling water, old ones into warm water, when about to be boiled. After half an hour's boiling, drain them, and serve mashed with rich white sauce, or with Hollandaise sauce. Baked artichokes arc treated thus: — Parboil some artichokes in salted water, put them in a tin containing hot beof dripping, and cook them in a moderately hot oven, basting them frequently. Jioetroot. — In cooking a beetroot care should be taken not to break the skin, or the colour and flavour will suffer. Beetroots are usually boiled and served cold : but if baked ir a moderate oven tho flavour is better preserved. Servo hot (cut in slices) with horseradish sauce; they are a piquant addition to roast beef. Tomatoes. — When baking tomatoes, cook them in a buttered tin, baste them frequently with butter seasoned with salt, pepper, and sugar, and take them from the oven directly they are cooked. Serve plain or with the butter in which they have been cooked poured over them, and mash with chopped parsley. Grilled tomatoes should be dipped into warm butter, and grilled on a- well buttered gridiron over a quick fire for from six to ten minutes. Carrots. — Stewed carrots are a pleasant change from boiled ones. Take some large carrots and scrub and skin them; cut them into thick slices and put them into a slewpan, well buttered (using about an ounce of butter) ; sprinkle them with sugar, salt, pepper, and a little powdered mace, cover them with boiling stock, and let them pook gently till tender. Remove them from the pan and keep them hot; then take half a pint of the used stock, add to it 'an equal quantify of boiling- milk, and thicken with a tablespoouful of fine flour that has been smoothly mixed with a small quantity of milk. .Stir the sauce till smooth, then add ti tablespoonful of chopped parsley and, after removing the pan from the fire, add gradually a tablespoonful of vinegar, and pour the sauce over the carrots. '