Household Hints.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 99, 18 September 1908, Page 3

Household Hints.

jy A Favourite Soda Cake. —Into one pound of flour rub six ounces of butter, six ounces of currants, a teasponful of ground ginger, and a quarter of a nutmeg. Mix these ingredients with two well beaten eggs and half a tcacupful of warm milk in which one tcaspoonful of carbonate of soda has been dissolved. Place in a cake tin lined with greased paper and bake in a moderate ovan for nearly two hours. Chocolate Icing. — Place in a saucepan quarter of a pound of icing or castor sugar, one ounce of grated chocolate and a tablespoonful of water, or a little more if necessary, stir over a moderate fire until the icing becomes as thick as cream. Lay this evenly on the cake with a knife, which should be dipped occasionally into boiling water. When finished place it in a cool oven for a few minutes. To preserve the bright colour of pickled cabbage, use cold unboiled vinegar flavoured with spices and cayenne pepper, or mix in with the cabbage a few slices of uncooked beetroot. This pickle should never be kept very long, as it soon loses its colour and its crispness. Flowers kept in art pots require special care, if they are to flourish. The pot should be sufficiently large to allow the air to circulate around the inner pot. The plant should be watered by standing the inner pot in a pail of water until the soil is soaked. On no account should the pot be allowed to stand in stagnant water, and from time to time the outside of the earthenware pot should be scrubbed with warm water to remove deposits of fungus and dirt;

Sham Bride's Cake. —Three-quarters of a pound of butter; s]h. of moist sugar; Jib of treacle; 6 eggs: IMb of flour; 2 cups of currants: 2 pieces of lemon peel; 1 cup of warm milk: 2 teaspoonsful of cream of tartar; 1 teaspoonful of baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Beat the butter to a cream, add the sugar and treacle., and beat all well together. Then break in the eggs. one at a time; add the milk, currants. and peel, and mix well. Lastly add the flour with the soda, cream of tartar, and salt mixed in it. Bake in a steady oven for two hours or longer.

The yellow pickle for your onions is prepared as follows:—To each gallon of best vinegar add one ounce and a half of turmeric and three ounces of sliced garlic. Boil all together, while the liquor is still hot pour over the vegetables, which have previously been salted for three or four days. Let the pickle remain for ten to fifteen days near the fire, the top of the jar covered closely with paper; by this time the vegetables will have become quite yellow and have taken up a large quantity of the vinegar with one ounce and a half of white pepper, one ounce and a half of mace, and a half each of nutmeg, cloves and long pepper for ten minutes. Skim well and. pour over the pickle. Tie the jar down tightly with bladder.

To Soften Hard Water. Into four gallons and a half of water put one ounce of quicklime, stir this thoroughly, and when it is settled pour off the clear solution off and it will be suiiicient to add to two barrels of hard water.

Never take a sleeping draught without the doctor's orders. To induce sound sleep, see that the air in the bedroom is kept fresh by an open window, avoid a late or a heavy supper, but on the other hand do not go to sleep feeling'hungry.. Finish off the day with ouiet occupation, such as sewing, knitting, netting, or a game of patience. Avoid a hot bath; but if a bath is taken at night, let it lie moderately warm. Keep the head as e-e] as possible, and let it lie rather high, and draw the blood away from the head by wearing bed socks, or by using a hot, water bottle nt the bottom of the bed. Tea, coffee, or alcohol, tend to wakefulnes. but a cup of hot milk or soup assists sleep.

Apply glycerine to a scald 'Ureetly the accident happens, cover it up with strips of rag soaked in glycerine. I•' the glycerine is not at hand apply salad oil in the same way.

Fire Khidler. —Take a piece of pumice stone, about the size 01 a lien's e.e'rr. Fix on it a wire handle 9 inches lone;.

This dipped in kerosene gives a nice flame six inches long and lasting about a minute. The kindle;: will last indefinitely.'