Household Hints.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 153, 6 May 1909, Page 4

Household Hints.

Cabbage Soup.—The majority of English people have a prejudice against any soup which is not made from meat, under the impression that "it does not do you any good." This is quite wrong, and among the vegetable soups there are few more wholesome and palatable, or nutritious than cabbage soup. Wash and cut one into small pieces, throw it into a quart of water add two or three potatoes chopped fine, an onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a couple of ounces of fat pork or bacon. Boil for three or four hours. Serve with sippets.

Lemon Sandwich. —Required: Short crust, the rind and juice of a lemon, half a pint of boiling milk, one cupful of sugar, one ounce of butter, one egg. Take a Yorkshire pudding tin and line it with a good short crust Grate the rind of a lemon and squeeze the juice. Take half a pint of boiling milk, and stir into it a tablespoonful of flour with a little cold milk; add a cupful of sugar, half an ounce of butter, the lemon and juice. Stir while all boils for five minutes, or more if the cornflour does not taste cooked. When cooled a little add a beaten egg, and after half an hour spread on the pastry evenly, cover with another layer of pastry, wet the edges and squeeze together. Bake the pastry till done. When cold, cut into finger shaped pieces, and pile on a d'oyley. Sift caster sugar over, and serve.

Figs For Cake.—Fig cake and fig fillings for cakes are too often only a partial success because the figs are not properly prepared. The figs should be washed and cut into small pieces, then stewed in a little water to which a tablespoonful of sugar has been added. If to be used in- cake the pieces should be rolled in flour before being stirred into the batter, and if to be used for filling should be flavoured with lemon juice ftefore the sugar or eggs and sugar are added.

Turnip Cubes. —Wash and pare the turnips, cut them in thin slices, and then cut each slice into thin cubes. Cook until soft in as little salted water as possible, adding a teaspoonful of sugar after the turnips have been boiling five minutes. When tender turn off any water which may remain in the kettle and add to the turnips three tablesbpoonsful of cream blended with a well beaten egg. When the whole h thoroughly heated serve in a hot dish.

Peppermint Creams. —One povnd of best castor sugar, the whites of three eggs, a tablespoonful of orange flower water, and fourteen drops of oil of peppermint. Put the sugar into a basin, then add the whites of the eggs that have been well beaten, then the drops of oil and the orange flower water, and beat them together, and from a teaspoon drop the mixture upon a wetted paper; put -them upon the hearth to dry. The next day they will be ready for use.

To Charge a Gasogene.—This will be found a very cheap way of going to work: For a five pint gasogene, gat 4 oz tartaric acid crystals, and 4oz carbonate of soda, and use three wineglassesful of the tartaric to two wineglassesful of the soda, and let this tand a full day before using it.

Preserved Pears. —The fruit should not be too ripe, and must be pared, halved an cored. Then, to every four lb. of pears take three lbs, of sugar, with just enough water to cover it well, the rind and juice of one lemon, and a root of green ginger cut in small pieces. Place all together in a jar, and steam until the fruit is perfectly tender when pierced with a straw. Or, if preferred, the pears may be boiled soft in the syrup. Put up in small jars and seal very securely.

To Ice a Cake. —See that the cake is perfectly flat, A good plan is to trim the top so that it will stand evenly, and then turn it upside down and ice the bottom. Place on a tin a size smaller than the cake itself. Then pile enough icing in the middle to cover it and smooth over evenly, with the blade of a knife, using a rotary movement for the sides. A simple icing is made by sifting half a pound of icing sugar into an enamelled saucepan, stirring in very gradually three tablespoonsful water, strained orange, or lemon juice. Hold over a gentle heat, ■tirring all the time until the sugar has melted. Do not let it get too hot or it will become lumpy. The icing must be just liquid enough to pour on the cake and perfectly smooth.

Bedroom windows should never be closed if the owner is in fair health. Even on the coldest night in winter the window should be open an inch at the top.

All mattresses in the house should be thoroughly beaten and set in the sun once a month. We do not sufficiently realise the cleansing properties of sunlight.

Waterproofing For Boots can be made by melting together in equal parts beeswax and mutton suet. Rub this lightly on the soles and edges pf the boots.

To Restore a Waterproof Coat. — Dissolve a handful of best grey iime in half a pail of water, and with this solution wipe the coat at the hardened parts. This should be done twice at intervals of four hours. After this treatment a hardened waterproof laid by as useless for years should be equal to new.

Fish and Macaroni.—This is an excellent way of using up the remains of cold boiled fish. Remove the skin, and bones, break the fish small, and mix with it an equal quantity of boiled macaroni, cut in to small pieces. Season with salt and pepper, and add a few drops of lemon juice. Grease a piedish; put in a layer of the mixture, then arid two or three slices of tomato, r,o:-:t a sprinkling of prated cheese, and ?o on until tlv dish is full. Put a layer of bread crumbs and grated cheese on the top, and a few pieces of butter and bake in a quick oven till hot.