Household Hints

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 194, 27 September 1909, Page 3

Household Hints

HINT.-i 10 THE CUOK. more pieces and boiled in a small sausepan without losing their rich, red colour, if they are placed in fast boiling water, and kept over a very hot fire until they are perfectly soft.

To make toast well the bread should be carefully toasted a nice brown all over, so as to get out all the water, which makes the bread cold, waxy, and heavy of digestion. Never give hot buttered toast to invalids; there is nothing more injurious to dyspeptic persons.

A little vinegar added to the water in which fish is boiled makes it more digestible; but it should not be added to the water in which salmon trout is boiled, as it spoils the delicate colour. Poached eggs are, likewise, more easy of digestion if a little vinegar is added to the boiling water. To clarify dripping,melt it,and when it is hot add an equal quantity of cold water. Stir the dripping thoroughly and set it aside to cool. When it is firmly set, loosen the cake of solid dripping from the sides of the vessel and take it out. Turn it to the under side, and scrape away the dark-coloured sediment. The dripping is then ready for cooking purposes, but if it is to be used as frying fat the superfluous moisture should be dried off with a clean cloth.

When chopping suet it is a good thing to sprinkle it with a little giround rice or flour. This >vill prevent the fat sticking to the knife and will make it chop quite easily. Before icing a cake rub the top lightly over with flour. This makes the icing stick more firmly. If you want it to stand up round the sides pin a band of oiled paper round before icing.

THE MERITS OF FRUIT. A well known food specialist says, in speaking of the peculiarities of various foods, that: Blanched almonds give the bigher nerve or brain muscle food. Walnuts give nerve or brain food. Green water grapes are blood purifying, but of little food value; reject pips and skins. Black grapes are feeding and bloodpurifying, but too rich for those who suffer from the liver. Tomatoes good as nerve or brain food, no heat. They are thinning and stimulating. Do not swallow the skins.

Juicy fruits give more or less higher nerve or brain, and some few muscle food and waste, no heat. Apples supply the higher nerve and muscle food, but do not give stay. Oranges arc refreshing and feeding, but are not good if the liver is out of ordtr. Green figs are excellent food. Dried figs contain nerve and muscle food, heat, and waste, but are bad for the liver.

Prunes afford the highest nerve or brain food, supply heat and waste, but arc not muscle feeding.

PAY READY MONEY. To the .young housekeeper the following are golden rules which should never be relaxed. They will mean much : peace of mind to her. Let one of your rules be to do your own marketing and another, to pay cash as you go. There arc several excellent reasons for this. In the first place there will be an immense satisfaction in having no bills. In the second place, the shopkeeper, receiving cash, will often be willing > to let you have a little bargain which he could not afford to do if you paid only by the month. You can see for yourself that no one can afford to lose the interest on his ready money, and must make up the waste in some way. A steady regular customer will frej quently get prices on ordinary articles which are never allowed on the temporary customer, or to the one who buys on credit only.

CHILDREN'S SLEEP. A child should sleep in a cot or bed by itself in the room of its parents or nurse; by this means any illness coming on in the night will be detected by the restlessness or delirium of* the little sufferer. From the age of two months to five years a child requires twelve to fourteen hours sleep in the twenty-four and should have it. From the age of two until four a child requires a mid day sleep from eleven to one, otherwise it will become fretful toward the afternoon from brain weariness. After five a child should go to bed at six and get up at seven in the morning. A child should never be allowed to remain up late; late hours exhaust the nervous system and induce habits of sleeplessness.

SMALL ECONOMIES. To economise in the materials which are used in housework will amount to pounds yearly, and many of the old fashioned hints for cleaning, which do not demand so many requirements are | every whit efficacious. Where silver sand is used recklessly for cleaning enamelled saucepans a great saving could be made by utilising old newspapers instead. The soft paper is rolled into a ball, and the inside of the pan, after having been well washed in cold water, is scrubbed with it, the ennmel lining soon becoming as bright and glossy as if polished with sand It is, of course, necessary to wash it finally with soap and watc, and then rinse it before using it for cooking. To utilise bran instead of soap for tbe wainscoting of passages, pantry, kitchen, and scullery is another economy. Bran water makes white or colourpd paint look as bright as new, while,it is equally good for varnished wood panelling, where the surface has become dull and scratched. The water in which tealeaves have been left to steep for an hour or so, is also efficacious. Another use for bran water in the kitchen is as a means of hardening brown glazed ware, which, in cold weather, is apt to become as brittle as porcelain. On buying new earthenware dishes they should be placed in a fish kettle, sufficient cold water poured over tbe top to cover them, and a handful of bran added. Tbe water should be brought slowly to the boil and boiled for five minutes, after which tbe dishes should be removed after cooling fai tbe water.