HOME HINTS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 499, 11 September 1912, Page 3

HOME HINTS.

Windows should never be cleaned when the sun is streaming full upon them, as the heat then dries the glass before it can be properly nolished.

A simple disinfectant can be made by cutting an onion into four parts and placing them in the room with the patipnt. They will absorb all the infection.

A cheap quilt can be made by stitching two layers of brown paper between pieces of unbleached cotton and covering with satin. To clean bronze ornaments rub with a soft flannel dipped in sweet oil. Polish with a soft duster, and then give a final rub with a chamois leather.

It is a good plan to keep a supply of newspapers for spreading on the kitchen table when doing dirty work. Old exercise books or trade catalogues, also come in very useful for standing pots on when cooking. The soiled pages can be torn off as they are used. When boiling meat, place a tablespoonful of vinegar in the water. Tlr's will make the toughest meat tender. Many people dislike stoning raisins because of the unpleasant stickiness. This can be quite prevented by rubbing a little butter on your finger and on the knife before beginning. Floating specks before the eyes may be treated by giving two drops of dilute solution of perchloride of iron in a tumblerful of water once daily, if the patient is anaemic, or by giving a dose of blue pill (four grains) occasionally, if he is billious. When soot falls on the carpet, cover the soot quickly with salt, ihen sweep it up at once, and no trace will be let.

A simple way to remove the skin from a dried haddock is to hold it in front of the fire and gently pull the skin away, starting from the head downwards, when the skin will come off without breaking the flesh.

If you are doing white work which ycu particularly want to keep clean, powder your hands occasionally with fuller's earth or any other white powder. On the hottest day your fingers will not soil the work if you follow this plan. Skim milk is very good and economical for cooking purposes if used before it becomes sour. If milk be on the turn, a small pinch of caronate of soda put into it beore boiling often prevents it from curdling. Sour miik makes delicious cakes and scones. Destroy the Flies.—Common household flies are responsible for a good deal of illness in summer, and the csreful mother destroys them whenever possible, and washes down the windows and shelves of the larder in water in which a few crystals of permanganate of potash have been dissolved. The mixture makes a wins coloured fluid, which is an excellent disinfectant for domestic purposes. Buy a few penn'orth of the crystals, and put in a pint bottle and fill up with water. A tablespoonful of the mixture may be added to a dish of water and used for cleaning purposes. Flies carry the microbes of disease, so cover up food as much as possible from them. Handy Disinfectants.—Some kinds of disinfectants should always be at hand. Some pleasing ones are easily made. The following is a refreshing one for.a sick room or any room that has an unpleasant odour pervading it. Put some freshly ground coffee into a saucer and in the centre place a small piece of camphor. Light it with a match. As it burns allow sufficient coffee to consume with it. The perfume is very pleasant and heatlhful. It is far superior to pastilles and very much cheaper. Powdered charcoal is another good disinfectant. It is very prompt in absorbing effluvia and gaseous bodies, and renders harmless and even useful those bodies which are easily changed. A third is common copperas, called sulphate of iron, which in its crude state is quite cheap. It should be dissolved in water in proportion of one pound of copperas to two gallons of water, and thrown over ill-smelling places. It is one of the simplest and most convenient deodorisers and is very useful to flush out sinks.

Sardine Sandwiches. The bread must be cut smooth and very thin, then buttered. Bone and make each sardine into a nice fillet, and place the two pieces side by side on one si ce of bread, lay upon them tarragon or hervil leaves, cover with another slice of bread, press flat with a knife and cut into ringer lengths. Sandwiches cut in his manner are so much easier to eat. Always cut ham and also tongue sandwiches in the same way, for nothing is more disagreeable than when biting a sandwich to have a long piece of ham, or whatever it is made of, dragged away from the bread especially if you have light gloves on. Another reason is it is more economical, as the small pieces can all be utilised.

Six Cup Pudding.—Sift a cupful of breadcrumbs, put them in a bowel with a cupful of flour, a cupful of sugar. a P cupful of finely shred beef suet, and a cupful of marmalade, also a pinch of salt. Use the same cup for measurements, Mix the ingredients thoroughly. Put a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda on a platter; with the poin of a knife crush out all the lumps, then add the soda to the mixture; moisten it with a cupful of milk. Turn the whole into a well greased basin, and tie a cloth over. Boil the pudding without stopping for three hours. The pot will need uccasional replenishing with boiling water to make up for that which is lost by evaporation.