HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 4029, 2 June 1931, Page 60

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Wooden spoons help you to stir well when you’re cooking. The handle of a metal or silver spoon soon gets too hot to hold with comfort, and one is apt to stop stirring too soon. Also, a wooden spoon won’t scratch the inside of your pans as a metal one will. Always stir right to the bottom of the pan, and when you are stirring sauce, keep the mixture drawn away from the sides, where it is apt to thicken more quickly. It’s easier to make a smooth sauce if you stir melted fat and flour together before adding the liquid, remember. When you’re seasoning soup or stew, add a small quantity of salt and pepper, or whatever flavouring is to be used, then stir very thoroughly before tasting. Otherwise the seasoning isn’t properly distributed, and you won’t be able to judge correctly how much more to add. If you are baking a milk pudding, such as rice, sago, or other cereal, stir it once or twice during the early stages of cooking, right from the bottom of the dish, or the cereal will not get properly soft and creamy. Even if you are cooking porridge in a double saucepan, stir it every now and then; the porridge will be smoother and creamier. Jam stirred with a metal spoon is likely to discolour; a silver spoon won’t affect the colour, but a wooden spoon is more comfortable, and doesn't waste ” heat.

If slices of bread and butter are put away in the bread-pan, they will quickly dry and the butter acquire an unpleasant flavour; but if they are placed between two plates with the edges of the plates touching, they will keep fresh and moist for hours. Any sandwiches left over from tea should be wrapped first in grease-proof paper, and then in a damp cloth; at supper time they will be as fresh as when newly cut. If the housewife finds herself with too much bread, and a loaf or a part of a loaf has become stale, it cn be made like new by holding it for a few seconds under the cold-water tap, and then placing it in a hot oven till the moisture has evaporated. The same method can be adapted with stale crusts with equally good results. Another way of using up stale bread is to cut it in medium slices, dip 'each slice in milk, and bake a golden brown. These rusks will be very much enjoyed. Y- V ¥ Every effort should be made to guard against the careless handling of milk bottles. Milk bottles are usually carried by the rim, over which the milk must be poured. Before unsealing the bottle it should be washed carefully from top to bottom with a cloth soaked in warm soapy water, then dried, and a clean cloth used to wipe the rim. ¥ Y- Y There is no secret about the prevention of skin diseases. Prevention is dependent upon cleanliness of the skin and those objects, such as clothing, which come in contact with it. Continued cleanliness of the skin should be maintined by all. It is not of much value, however, to cleanse the skin if dirty articles, such as soiled clothing, are brought into contact with it immediately after is has been washed. The skin must not only be made clean; it must be kept clean. This can only be done by the exercise of constant care in the wearing of clean clothing (particularly underclothing), by the use of clean towels, clean bedclothes, and clean pillowcases. ¥ ¥ ¥ No home that is cared for should shelter the flea, but unfortunately this insect will get in if there are dogs and cats about the house. Sprinkle napthaline. about the floors and in likely places in the morning; then, at night clean the floors and shake all mats, burning the dust. A spray of paraflin

(1 in 20) emulsified with soft soap and water will also be found effective.

Cockroaches, though they eat smaller insects, particularly the objectionable bed-bug, cause considerable annoyance by ravaging arid fouling food. Since they live in chinks and holes, stopping up such cracks with cement will hinder their depredations. Brushing suspicious corners with crcsote is useful in keeping them away. For killing them, the employment of a beetle-trap is preferable to the use of poisons. Heat some oatmeal in the oven until it smells nicely; put it inside the trap, and set it near the beetles’ haunt. Use carbolic soap regularly to clean shelves and floors. Small boring beetles in furniture, unless they have gained too firm a hold, can be poisoned by the repeated use of turpentine.

Are you satisfied with your feet ’ Any fault in them may be the cause of headaches, backache, poor circulation, unruly nerves, spinal disorder, and also pain often mistaken for kidney trouble, neuritis, or rheumatism. The body is as dependent upon the feet as a building upon its foundations. The commonest trouble is flat foot. This is caused through bad walking, with an improper distribution of the

weight, which should he carried through the centre of the foot, with all five toea used to give the final push forward to each step. Another painful condition is due to concave sole, an agonising pain under the foot being caused by the flattening of the “ anterior arch.” This trouble can only be permanently cured by a doctor. The majority of foot troubles are , caused by faulty shoes. High heels and pointed toes lead sooner or later to gen- | oral ill-health, because they contradict every natural position. Shoes could be just long enough, wide enough, and roomy enough for the toes to lie straight and slightly separate, and for the heel and instep to be snugly encased. A baby’s feet are generally perfect. Every care should be taken during their development. Early walking should bo avoided, and as much fresh air and freedom allowed them as possible. It is important that shoes and stockings fit perfectly from the very beginning.