DOMESTIC REALM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10318, 29 January 1927, Page 4

DOMESTIC REALM

By "MARIE."

HOUSEHOLD HINTS.

Doiling-hot salt and water is the best thing to use for flushing drains'.

When boiling an old fowl or tough meat, add a piece of soda to the water, and let it simmer gently,

A blunt sewing machine needle can be sharpened by rubbing it against the edge of a broken saucer or plate.

The juice ol a lemon mixed with the beaten -white of an egg and_ a little sugar will restore loss of Voice.

Furniture and polished floors will never shine if polish is applied with a soiled cloth.

To remove rust from steel knives, rub them with an onion and then leave for a time before washing them.

before you use a new toothbrush, soak it in hot salt water. This cleanses it and makes it last twice as long.

Yolks of eggs left over when the whites onjy are needed will keep for several u'S'ys if they are covered with cold water.

Grease can be removed from the hair by washing it with warm water, to which a teaspoonful of borax has been added.

Cutting iS'ew Bread—-New bread will be cut quite easily if .tjie bread knife is put into a jug of boiling water before each slice is cut.

Care of Table Cloths—The best damask table cloths are much improved in appearance by being rolled instead of folded.

When making pastry do not let the baking tins cover the oven shelf as the heat cannot rise properly, and the bottom of the pastry will be burnt.

To preserve books from damp and mildew, sprinkle a few drops of good perfume oil in the bookcase. This precaution is unnecessary for volumes bound in Russian leather.

For Wasp Stings—A piece of cut onion on a wasp sting will reduce the pain and swelling. Other simple remedies are to rub the part stung with sweet oil or with a ‘‘blue” bag slightly damp.

To Clean Marble—Remove stains by rubbing with lemon and. salt, allowing some time for this to act; then wash with hot water containing vinegar, using two tablespoonfuls of vinegar to one gallon of water.

To Clean Discolored Ivory—Cut lemon dipped in salt and rubbed on discolored ivory will make it white. Afterwards it should be rinsed with warm water. Marks may he removed from the back of an ivory mirror by rubbing with a little furniture cream and then polishing with a soft duster.

Wending China—White paint such as artists use in oil paintngs can be used for mending china. Use it in the same way as you would glue, then let the mended article stand for 'several days before it is used. China mended in this way may be washed in quite hot water with no danger of its coming apart.

* USEFUL SUCCESTiONS. The Hoading Instinct. Too many women possess that queer hoarding instinct which prompts them to put carefully away the best s*t of china, the daintiest of their table & bed linen, the finest cut glass, because, tney explain apologetically, it is “too good to use." The pretty frock bought at the beginning of the season and the smart hat are folded in tissue paper to ho worn only' on special occasions which seem to be “special” so infrequently, that while the frock and hat are still quite fresh and scarcely worn, seasons have changed and fashions are altered. Why not enjoy nice things before they have grown stale with disuse. All very well to say that expensive china and glass may suffer breakage, linen be exposed to wear, and the clothes not remain “best” for long. At any rate, packed away out of sight and mind they are coming to no good and might just as well not exist.

is not the present just as propitious a time as the problematical “some day” for looking out and putting into use that pretty doll tea-cosy w<T had as a Christmas present last year; for producing the hemstitched iiillow-cases which were among our wedding gifts, instead of buying much needed new ones; or converting that lovely piece of brocade we hesitated to cut for so long into a cushion for the drawing-room this winter Have all your choice and pretty things about you where you as well as otltyjrs can* see and admire them. Wear your nicest clothes while they are still of the mode of the moment; you will find it such an inspiration to feel you are looking your best on the less important occasions, as well as the very special ones. The saving instinct can be indulged where suen things are concerned until it becomes a silly meanness depriving yoursetl unnecessarily of pleasure and comfort.

Dainty Dance Decorations. If you have an “outbreak” of parties and dances at this time of the year, you will find it well Worth while to invest in certain equipment which will help to create the right atmosphere of gaiety on these occasions. Ribbons look wonderfully cheerful and far less tawdry than colored paper streamers, though they cost very ittle more when bought by the roll at the sales. They can he employed over and over again, whereas paper is ‘done in’ the first time it is used. Festoonhd from chandelier to wall scones, and from picture rail (where they may be attached by means of drawing pins) to curtain poles, they create an extraordinary good effect. A few strings of tiny colored electric light bulbs, hardly bigger than a Spanish olive, are well worth securing to hang round a Christmas tree or to place upon a tea or supper table. They possess their own battery and the charge lasts quite an appreciable time. Made on similar lines are the clumps of glass oranges and lemons, which light up within by means of their owp battery. Laid in glass bowls, or across-the arms'of little statuettes, they make gay decorations for the supper-room buffet.”' At this time of the year bazaars are full of tiny glass globes in different bright colors. Knotted on to a ribbon and slung across an archway;) or hanging from the hall lamp, tliev create a wonderfully brilliant effect. Their cost is very small arid.; cero-r fully handled, they can he used a dozen times or more.

Household Hints

Trouble-Sawing Tips. The odour of onion and fish van be removed from a frying-pan by boiling a little vinegar in it; afteru ard/j vrush in the usual way. , To make u cork both air-tight an l water-tight, soak it in oil for ten minutes before using it. Black marble that has become discoloured can be improved in appearance by being rubbed with a btti, 0l If e salt is liberally sprinkled over the stove when milk has boiled o'er, the smell is considerably lessened. When Making Pickles. .Never use metal spoons for stirring pickles; a wooden one is best, and should be kept only for this Purpose Never" put pickles into unglazed jars: either glass or glazed earthenware is the best to use. Ihe formei for preference. Never use pickles until they have been made at least two or tinea weeks. . Never leave the jars uncovered, and after use see that there is suflicient vinegar to cover the pickles, fi not, add some more. Never boil them in copper pans: an enamel-lined pan is the best to use. On House Arrangement.

Now that house room is cut down to a minimum, the combination room has become a commonplace. The bed-sitting room, which lias been always more used more or less on the Continent-, has become firmly established in this country, and the iurrnture, like the room, has to serve a double purpose. The most disagreeable combination is that of the kitch-en-bathroom, now on the increase. Quite apart from the offensiveness of the idea, the arrangement is exceedingly inconvenient, as, in the morning at least, the kitchen and the bathroom are needed at the same time. A much better arrangement is that now frequently used in American houses, the kitchen diningroom. This is only a reversion to "the farm-house kitchen, which was also a living room. In some flats where houses have been converted a large cupboard off the dining-room is converted into a kitchenette, which is also very convenient. but in the newer American houses, and also in some of the French models shown recently, the kitchen is made so bright and attractive that it is desirable as a room for rneals and, if necessary, also, for living to some extent. The sink; which is white and glean ami bright, does not need to be hidden away, and pots and pans become shining or colored, or in any case decorative. Brooms and brushes can be confined to the cupboard. Where labor has to be saved as much as possible the kitchen dining-roor* is a great boon, as everything is at hand and the warmth that has been .used for cooking can also serve afterwards instead of being wasted. Table Bells,

Table bells of brass are again being shown, most ol them in the form of crinolined ladies or little Dutch girls. A long voluminous skirt is so essential to the feminine figurg._bell, and therefore modern fashions cannot be considered. Usually the bells are made in three sizes, of solid brass, from two and a-half to five inches high. They are seen in many patterns, for the difficulty of the skirt has been overcome by creating eccentric little figures, dressed in a style of their own, and giving each a name. They ring with a loud, clear note, but are really more useful as a little ornament for the afternoon tea table than for summoning aid from the kitchen.

OLD BOOKS AND BINDINCS. SOME NOVEL USES. Let me begin by explaining that I do not counsel that any book of real interest or value should be put to the uses mentioned below. The suggestions apply only to books of little import, though perhaps of fine production, of which there have been as many issued in the past as there are in the present day. In the quarters where second-hand bookshops and bookstalls abound, it is often possible to pick up volumes that yield pages of fine lettering, already grown discolored with age. If they are fairly large, these pages folded' concertina-wise make lovely parchment-like lampshades, while smaller leaves similarly treated serve for candle-shades. Books with old maps provide excellent wall-decorations, especially for a smoke-room. The maps must be taken out, framed in narrow scarlet moulding and hung up by means of scarlet cords. If they be colored, all the better; but even in black and white old county maps and naval charts are very decorative. Old bindings of tooled and gilt leather are good for a number of purposes and it is often worth 'while to buv a volume for its binding alone. With the leaves removed, the boards will serve as a cover for a blottingbook for the bureau, while smaller covers will answer the same purpose on the “travelling blotter. ’’ Excellent cigarette boxes anti work-boxes are to be made from old. well-bound books, three cardboard sides being applied after the leave# are removed. The sides should be covered with marbled paper to simulate deckled leaf-edges.

TRIED RECIPES. Cheese Straws—One ounce of fine-ly-grated cheese, loz butter, loz breadcrumbs, loz flour, a f good pinch l of salt, a small pinch of cayenne, and water. Rub butter into the flour, add the breadcrumbs, cheese, cayenne, and,salt, and just sufficient "old water to mix to stiff paste. Roll the paste out to about quarter of an inch in thickness, cut into strips about 3in long, and Jin wide, and place the strips on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a moderately cool oven util crisp, and serve hot or cold. Show in Summer—This recipe is an excellent way of using stale bread. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over Ub of stale bread, and mix in the grated rind. Boil li pints of milk, remove from fire, add the yolks of 2 eggs and 2cz sugar. Pour all over the stale bread, and put in a buttered piedish. Bake in a slow oven for half an hour. When baked cover with any kind of stewed fruits. Whip the whites of 2 eggs with loz sugar, and arrange in rocky peaks. Piace tho dish in a cool oven to set and serve cold. Tomato Balls—Some medium-sized tomatoes—the red,, fleshy kinds are Wst—• some liam.. forcemeat, pastry, and breadcrumbs. Cut the centres out of some tomatoes and re-stmt them with some good forcemeat, made of ham or ham paste, breadcrumbs, herbs, butter, and an egg. Roll each stuffed tomato in a cover-, ing of thin pastry, and drop them into boiling water for about 15 minutes; then take them cut, roll in fine breadcrumb's, and . fry in. plenty of good fat till they "are “a • golden brown. Serve with potato croquets.