Household Hints.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 144, 1 April 1909, Page 4

Household Hints.

It* honey has becomes so opaque and hard that it cannot easily be spread, it -an soon be restored to its original liquid form. Stand the jar in a saucepan of cold water, which reaches halfway up the jar, place the saucepan over the fire and bring it to the boil. Remove the honey and it will remain clear as long as if it were fresh drained from the comb, and when the thickening occurs again the process can be repeated. In boiling salt pork, examine the rind, and if it is very thick, allow extra time for cooking it, as the thick rind shows that the meat is from an old animal. Flavouring essences, which are so costly to buy, can be easily made at home. One of the mo*t useful is ginger essence, which can be made as follows:—Place loz. of freshly grated ginger, and a teaspoon ful *of finely chopped lemon peel into a bottle, and poor over them half a pint of best brandy, or rectified spirits of wine. Shake the bottle daily for ten days»and then filter off the clear essence through chemical filtering paper, or doublej white blotting paper. A few drops of ' the essence are sufficient to impart a

! strong flavour. The bottle must be [ tightly corked when it is not in use, i for, being of a spirituous nature the | essence easily evaporates. Tomato Sauce.—Take 12lbs. toma- ; toes, lib. each of apples, onions, sugar Jib. of salt, loz. each of garlic andall- : spice, Joz. each of chillies, mace, cloves, ioz. curry powder, 1 quart of vineagr. Wipe and break the tomatoes slice and peel the apples and onions, and cut garlic fine. Boil altogether 3 boors, then strain and bottle. Red Tomato Chutney.—Three onions 2 dozen large ripe tomatoes, 6 goodsized tart apples, 3 large lemons, loz. garlic, 14zo. light brown sugar, 2oz. ginger, 6oz. raisins cut fine, 3oz. salt, 2i pints vinegar. Slice tomatoes, sprinkle with salt, and leave all night to drain. Add the apples, onions, rind of one lemon, and the vinegar. Boil till tender, and put through a colander, then add the other ingredients. Boil three or four hours. Add any remains of pickles or sauces. A useful embrocation to be made at home is of great service. Try this recipe: Shake together a raw egg. and a quarter of a pint of vinegar. Dissolve a piece of camphor the size of a hazel not in half a pint of vinegar, and add that to the other ingredients. Shake all well together. The embrocation should be like cream and thickens with keeping. To Black a Ktichen Range.— First wash off all grease spots with soap suds, and if there be any rough, rusty places, or spots where something has burnt on the stove rub well with a piece of sandpaper. Mix the blacklead with vinegar, stale beer, or water, to the consistency of cream. Apply this to the cool stove, and wheon nearly dry polish with a stiff brush. The stove should be always polished when cold, for when hot the blacking bums on and does not polish well. A Nice Lunch Cake.-Mix together four ounces of butter, or lard, four ounces of ground rice, four ounces of sultanas half a pound of .flour, one whole egg, two ounces of sugar, a teaspoonful of baking powder, and sufficient milk to moisten. Bake in a buttered tin for about 55 minutes. Stewed Pears.— Pare and quarter some large cooking pears, put them as you do them into water to prevent them turning black. Place the pears in a stewpan, and (sprinkle enough sugar over them to sweeten; add some strips of thinly peeled lemon rind and a few cloves. Just cover with water and then stew very gently until the froit is tender. A few drops of prepared cochineal will give a nice red colour. Irish Stew.—At no time of the year is Irish Stew more palatable than at this season, but it ia often very indifreently made. It is a great mistake to put beef with the mutton for it turns tough and spoils, or rather alters the flavour of the stew, and not for the 1 better. Cut the best end of a neck of mutton into chops and remove some of the fat, if thick. Allow two pounds of potato to every pound of meat and onions according to taste. Some per- ■ sons wll like a great deal of onion, ! others only a mere suspicion of it. One large onion to a pound of potatoes strikes the average. It should be finely minced and aprinked over the potatoes and meat. The potatoes should be thickly sliced, and a liberal seasoning I of pepper andaaltsupplied. Put a layer ' of potatoes at the bottom of the pan, sprinkle onion over, place a layer of meat above, cover with another of potatoes and onion and so on. Have plenty of potato at the top. Pour in ♦ threequartera of a pint of stock, or ' water. Put the lid on the pan, and ! a immer the whole very gently for two hours. The more gently you stew it the better this dish will be. The pan n»ust never boil or the meat will be i hard. An occasional shake of the •tev.pan is desirable.