HINTS AND RECIPES.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 121, 18 February 1926, Page 2

HINTS AND RECIPES.

Freshly-killed meat requires longer cooking than meat which has been well hung. The French method of administering castor-oil to children is to pour the oil into a pan over a moderate fire, break an egg into it, and stir up; when it is. done, flavour with a little salt, or sugar, or currant jelly. If you moisten your tooth paste with a few drops of lemon juice your discoloured teeth can quickly be whitened. When scissors get blunt, sharpen them by opening and moving backwards and forwards on a piece of glass. This will sharpen the bluntest of scissors. Cut an onion in thick slices, and with these rub chilblains thoroughly for two or three nights before a good fire, and they will soon disappear. If your new shoes should happen to rub a blister on the heel, take a piece of soap and wet it. Apply this to the heel and let it dry. This will prevent and case blisters. When putting away a silver tea or coffce-pot, which is not in use every day, lay a stick across the top under the cover. This will enable the fresh air to gain access, and prevent the mustiness of the contents so often noticeable.

To Make Boots Waterproof. Melt together loz. of mutton suet and 2oz. of beeswax. Smear this over the boots—especially round the soles — as soon as it is getting cool. Leave till 4 next day and then wipe off. They will polish perfectly well after this treatment. Save Old Kid Gloves. For ironing day. Sew a pad made from the left glove on the palm of the right one, and you will find your hand is saved from becoming blistered, while the fingers and the back of the hand will be protected from the scorching heat which is so damaging to the skin. To Renovate an Umbrella. If you have an umbrella that is rather the worse for wear, and want to restore it, dissolve a teaspoonful of white sugar in a saucer of waim water. Brush your umbrella with a clothes brush, and then take some black material, dip in the liquid and rub the umbrella well. Leave it open to dry. | Oil In a Lamp. Should not be allowed to get down to less than one-half the depth of the reservoir. The wick should be soft, and completely fill the space for it, and without crowding. A lamp should be

I neither suddenly cooled nor exposed to the draught. In extinguishing the flame J the wick should first be turned far • down, and then a sharp, quick puff j blown across, and not straight down I upon the flame. The Value of Salt. I Coal sprinkled with a strong solution of salt and water will last much longer on the lire, and its heat-giving properties will not be affected. The colours of a carpet that has been sprinkled-with salt before sweeping will “come up ’ ’ well. A tablespoonful of salt dissolved in a tumber-ful of luke-warm water is a simple emetic. A handful of it thrown on the fire when the kettle has boiled over will prevent a disagreeable odour. Added to the bath, salt gives an invigorating effect. The Ironing-Board Cover. If you ironing-board needs a new cover, cut two pieces of old blanket the size of the top, arid allow just enough to feomo over the edge, but not under. Ef you haven T t any old blanket to use for this purpose, place two layers of house-flannel on the board and tack it smoothly over each edge. From an old sheet make two or three covers the size and shape of your board; hem them all round, and, at distances of four or six inches, sew strong tapes long enough to reach under the board and tie securely. When one cover is soiled it is easily removed and a clean one ad- * justed. Save Your Soap. Old soap scraps make an economical and useful soap-jelly ,which is valuable for numerous purposes. Take a large stone jar and shred therein the soap scraps. To each handful of scraps add a small piece of household soda or rock ammonia of about the size of a walnut. Fill the jar up with boiling water and still well. When the soap is cold it be-

comes a thick jelly, and a small quantity of it used in scrubbing- paintwork or plated goods considerably - lightens the work. Birthday Cakes. Birthdays are always with us, and everyone, grown-up people as well as children, like to have a birthday cake. No child would consider a birthday complete without one. Rich cakes are all the better if kept in an air-tight tin a few weeks after making. Here is a good recipe:— Cream well 4oz. of butter and 4oz. of castor sugar in a warm bowl till like whipped cream. Add three eggs, one at a time. Beat well after adding each egg till nice and soft. Now stir in Soz. of cleaned currants and sultanas, 2oz. of chopped peel, and lastly, Soz. of flour and two teaspoonfuls of good baking powder. Beat the mixture well and pour in a tin lined with paper. ■ and bake in a moderate oven for one and a half h urs or rather more. If a small teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda, dissolved in half a tablespoonful of vinegar, is used instead of baking powder, the cake will be darker. Almond Paste.—Eight ounces of icing sugar, lemon juice, and the white of an egg! Press lumps out of the icing sugar, make a well in the centre, and put in’ the lemon juice and the white of egg. Beat all till smooth and glossy, and spread evenly over the cake. Put aside to harden. Here is a richer cake:— French Pound Cake.—Necessary jngiedients: XOozs of flour, Soz of castor - sugar, Soz of butter, 2oz of peel a I lemon, Jib of sultanas, and four eggs. First, beat the butter and sugar to a ere„m, add the flour, sifted, by degrees I (Continued in Next Column.) I

ami the beaten eggs one at a time Beat well. Have the sultanas picked over and dried, and the peel cut very small. Beat these into the batter with a wooden spoon, adding- the grated lemon rind. Line a cake with buttered paper, putting two thicknesses of it at the bottom, pour in the cake, and bake for two hours in a 'moderate oven When baked, turn out on si'ev to" cool thoroughly, and afterwards keep in a tin.