Household Hints.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 132, 18 February 1909, Page 3

Household Hints.

B» • t Salad. Takr* six beets, uniform in size, boil until tender, remove skins. Cut slice off top of beet, .«rr,op out centre with spoon. Chop hr.r twn stalks of celery, small onion, remove centres, mix with mayonnaise dressing. Uien fill b-et cupn and serve or lettuce leaf. If «Jesircd some of the i dressing can be put on tops of cops.

Tomatoes as a Reach. The ordinary tomato can be used as a cosmetic. It is sliced thin, and rubbed on the hands. The juice is allowed-to remain on the skin for two or three minutes, afterward being washed off with a solution of borax and water, one teaspoonful to a quart. This process is good for sunburned skin.

Cucumber Lotion. After cutting the cucumbers into dice, pound these into a paste, extracting the ju ; ce by straining through a piece of muslin. This may be applied to the skin twice a day.

Rules for Cooking Meat.—Meat in soups should be put on the fire in cold soft water, the better to extract its juices; on the contrary, meat to be boiled for table, should be put on in hot water, as this causes the outer surface of the meat to contract, and by that means retains the juices.

To Blacken Tan Shoes.—When your brown shoes get too mucb soiled to clean, use black stain and polish for blacking shoes. Apply stain and then polish. They will look like new black shoes.

Strong Paste. —By putting a teaspoon of sugar into a quart of paste it will fasten labels as securely to tin cans as to wood. Housekeepers may save themselves much annoyance in the loss of labels from their fruit cans when putting up their own fruit by remembering this.

Cooking Economies.—ln these times of high prices when one must economise in order to have luxuries, when making a piecrust mix to a stiffness the flour and fait, roll out enough for one crust, spread over same a teaspoonful of warmed lard, fold the crust as small as you can, flour, and roll out again, and you will have a delicate flaky crust with much less thin half the usual amount of shortening. Proceed with each crust as you do with the first. While eggs are high use one egg and one teaspoonful of baking powder to sufficient pumpkin for two pies. It will be the same as if you had used three eggs.

Quince Honey.—Five pounds granulated sugar, one-half pint of water. Cook until sugar is thoroughly dissolved then add six grated quinces and cook twenty minutes, or till thick as honey.

Scour Without Kerosene. There may be others to whofN kerosene is disagreeable for cleaning purposes on account of its otliness and odour. Here is a good substitute for it in cleaning -namclled bathtubs and sinks: On a soapy, wet cloth pots teaspoonful of dry powdered borax and rub tub or l>n=in therewith. I like this better than any other cleanser for enamelled -.varr. and use it on'cooking utensils as v..;! a« bathtub and sink.

Plant Tonic. A teaspoonful of castor oil poured on the ground around the root? of palms and ferns once a month will give them a rapid growth and make them look fresh and green.

Evergreens Clean Irons. • For smoothing and cleaning flatirons there is nothing superior to small branches of arbor vitae or other evergreen trees. It imparts a more pleasant odour than scorched paper or cloth.

To Freshen Wash Dresses.—When wash dresses are mussed without being soiled, sponge with cold starch and press. The cold starch is made by dissolving a teaspoonful of starch in a cup of cold water to which a pinch of borax has been added.

Starched Black Goods.- When starching black wash dresses and petticoats add bluing enough to make the starch a deep blue and you will be surprised bow nice they will launder without the usual dull gray finish.

Nice Hands. To keep the hands white and smooth while doing your own housework always wash them well with a good mill soap. After drying apply a few drops of glycerine and lemon juice mixed. Get about two ounces of glycerine and put into that the juice of half a lemon, then shake it well. Be sure to rub it well into the skin, and you will be pleased with the result.

For Unstable Furniture.—lf a piece of furniture which ought to stand squarely on "tour castors really rests on only three and tips and wabbles at one comer under pressure, it can easily be made firm, without the unsightly block or cup under the short castor, whether the fault be an uneven floor, a short leg, or the difference of a rug. Remove the castor and slip over the long iron one or more washers made of sole leather, linoleum, or plumber's sheet packing. Determine by trial how many washers are needed; they will not be noticeable and will not interfere with the natural service of the castor.

Sulpbur Preserves Fruit.— Peel peaches, cat in halves and remove seeds; arrange in wooden tub, leaving a hole in centre for vessel that is to contain sulphur. If four gallons of fruit is desired, pare enough fruit for six gallons as this allows for shrinkage. When fruit is in tub place sulphur at the rate of one traspoonful to each gallon of fruit used, in vc.w] in centre of tub, ignite it and rover whole tub closely for four hours. Remove fruit and plac»> in atone jars; cover with a'cloth. Fruit preserved In this way keeps flnt all the winter and tastes like fresh fruit. Apple?, pears, or tomatoes arc delicious prepared this way.

Chicken and Tomato Pattes. -Take a breakfastcupful o r the remains of cold fowl, add to it a t-acup of tomaco pulp, a tab!<-.-p' of cn.-ara. salt and cayenne to taste. Mak-- .some nice patty Crises with pi:rf past' in the usual way. Hake auk r.ut th" soft part in the mi'kk. . Y'.V: with th" mixture, cover wit:: t:>- .-::, a!; pastry top, heat, ani s:erv< "-. a ■';■.>■/.<;:. ("armed tomatoes may i.o us<••;, t .;• wh<-r, the can is once, opened the '■o-.i'-.;- ) :s should be used the same day. 'J ::• remainder of 'the tomatoes may i.• t:s<d in making an om> l'-tti-, as fooo-.vs : Beat well six eggs, reasoned with salt and pepper. Put one o;i:,<'< of i.utter into a particularly ci'-an frying-pa::, h-t it melt; then pour into it a <p;art'-r of a pint of the canned tomatoes. Cook for two minutes, then turn in the beaten eggs, stir gently for three minutes, then let it cook until done, and turn out on to a heated dish.

Fricassed Eggs with Mushrooms. Two tablespoonsful of butter, one tahlespoonful of flour, a sprig of parsley finely chopped, half a dozen mushrooms cut in dice, half a pint of whiteveal or chicken stock, or milk if this be not procurable, six hard-boiled eggs cut in slices, salt and white pepper. Put the butter in the chafing-dish, when melted, add the flour, stirring constantly, then the parsley, mushrooms, stock, and seasoning. Allow these ingredients to simmer together for five or ten minutes. Add the eggs to the sauce, boil up once and serve.

To keep cream sweet in hot weather for any amount of time the best plan is to scald it. Pour it into a perfectly clean gallipot sweeten it very slightly and stand the jar in a pan of water. Heat it very slowly and then let it cool off as slowly as it heated. When absolutely cold pour into a basin and keep in a cool place. A very little boracic acid sprinkled on cream will preserve it for about twenty-four hours in hot weather.

When a decanter or bottle of water becomes muddy from long use, rinse it with water, pour it out, and then put a handful of rough salt into the bottle and give it a good shaking. Soon the salt will become brown and sandy-looking, and the glass clean. Rinse the bottle well with cold water, and polish it with a cloth.

Rice Pin-Cushions. The possession of a rusty hat-pin was almost unheard of in times when two or three pins at the most were all that were required to fasten a hat on the head securely. Nowadays, however, the multiplication of the originally modest collection which fashion demands has resulted in the small museum of fancy and various-headed hatpins, to suit each example of headgear, which everyone possesses, and the problem arises how to prevent the steel of the pin which enjoys casual employment from rusting. Not only can rusty steel be induced with difficulty to work through silk or straw, but it at the same time by no means improves the ribbon, lace, tulle through which it passes. A remedy lies ready to hand, however, in the form of rice, which will effectually preserve the least frequently used pin in working condition in damp and foggy weather. A method of carrying out this idea is that of placing a silver flower vase filled with rice on the dressing table, the hat-pins, instead of impaling a pincushion, being plunged up to the hilt in rice. To prevent an accident it is, moreover, a good plan to close the opening of the receptacle with a tiny cushion filled with sawduet, which will exactly fit it. This will offer no obstacle to the insertion of the pins, while it will keep them perfectly steady, and the vase may be turned over without danger of scattering the grains of rice over the table.