Hints and Recipes.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 274, 7 February 1929, Page 2

Hints and Recipes.

Use skim milk to clean linoleum, instead of water. It keeps it glossy, and does not rot it. A. small piece of soap mixed with the starch makes ironing easier and gives a splendid gloss. Before washing heavy curtains give them a good brushing with a stiff clothes brush. To keep the hands white and soft use glycerine and lemon juice m equal quantities. Bub this m after washing. Allow the lotion to dry into the skm. Two ounces of Puller’s earth boiled in half a pint of vinegar and the juice of three onions is splendid for removing scorch marks from linen. A knifeboard with the leather worn out can be renewed with a piece of good unpatterned linoleum.

The bristles of hair brushes that have become soft through repeat3a washing may be stiffened by dipping them in a strong solution of alum, and then drying them speedily. When Making Pickles. pickles and cliutneys only sound vegetables and the best vinegar should be used. The bottles must he clean and perfectly dry. To give a crispness to pickies add a pinch of alum to a quart of vinegar. A Tonic For The Hair.

An excellent tonic for the hair ir> j made by mixing together equal parts | of castor oil and eau de-Cologne. \ Bottle the mixture, and shake well be- J fore using. When applied to the j scalp it nourishes and stimulates the t Toots of the hair, and Ft is also a useful » and simple means of preventing preuv.- ( tnre greyness. When Cooking Pish.

J£ fish breaks when cooked it has been cooked too fast or it is overccoked. Fish should be boiled or baked quite slowly. If fish is badly broken when being cooked remove the bones and skin, flake the fish, and coat it with sauce. Garnish with cut lemon or parsley. Rich Fruit Cakes That Improve By Keeping. Pound Cake. —Ingredients: slb. of self-raising flouj, -Jib of butter; -Jib o». raisins, of sultanas, £lb of Berner tra sugar, <tlb. of candied peel, 2oz. of sweet almonds, quarter of a teaspoon ful of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, four eggs, one talkie spoon ful of milk t r brandy. Beat the butter to a soft cream* Mix the salt and cinnamon with the flour and sift them. Blanch and slice the almonds. Slice the peel. Stone the raisins.. Whip the eggs. Add the sugar to the creamed butter and beat them together, then add the flour and eggs, a little of each alternately until all are used. Beat for twenty minutes, then add the fruit and the almonds, milk, or brandy. Turn into « Gin lined with two thicknesses of buttered paper, and bake in a slow oven. Cover with greased paper as soon as it begins to brown. It will need four hours if baked in one tin; if baked as two smaller cakes three hours will be sufficient. Store in a tin when quite cold, and keep for some time before cutting. This cake will keep fresh aal moist for a month if it is stored in an airtight tin. ,

Currant Cake.— lib- of flour, 3.1 D. of butter, £lb. of castor sugar, five eggs, 2ozs. of ground almonds, ilb. of currants, 2 lb. of mixed peel, rinds of two lemons, one teaspoonful of baking powder. Sieve the flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt into a basin, add the ground almonds, rub the butter finely into it. then add the sugar, cleaned currants, chopped peel and the grated rinds of lemons. Beat up the eggs thoroughly, add them to the mixture and stir them lightly in. Pour into a cake tin which has been lined with two or three layers of greased -paper and bake in a moderate oven for about one and a-half to two hours. Take out of the tin, remove the paper and leave cake on a sieve untSy cold.

A Large Plum Cake. —Ingredients: lib. of castor sugar, lib. of- butter, of currants, lilb. of sultanas, ilb. of glace cherries, -Jib. of ground almonds, lib. of plain flour, £lb. of selfraising flour, six or eight eggs, grated rind and juice of one orange, graied rind of one lemon, salt-spoonful of mixed spice. Mix butter and sugar to a cream, then add yolljts of eggs, ground almonds, orange and lemon juice and rind and spice. Well beat whites of eggs to a stiff froth, add them and the sifted flour alternatively, stirring well. Lastly, “ add all the fruit, mix I thoroughly, and bakq in a slow oven for ) four hoars. \ Birthday Cake. —Ingredients: of | butter, slb of castor sugar, six eggs, £lb. j of flour, one level teaspoonful of bicar--1 bonate of soda and one level teaspoon- * Pul of cream of tartar mixed with two

teaspoonful of ground rice, sifted together several times; ,£lb. . of mixed cadied peel, ilb. of sultanas, lib. of candied peel, -Jib of cherries, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg and three tablespoonsful of brandy or cooking sherry. Cream tbe butter, add the sugar, separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs, beat in the yolks, add the brandy or sherry and beat that in, then fold in half the flour and mix the other half with the bi-carbonate of soda, cream of tartar and rice; sieve well together, and mix with the well-dried fruit and chopped peel and stir gently into the cake mixture. Have ready the whites whisked to a very stiff froth, and fold them in lightly. Put into a well-but-tered tin lined with three thicknesses of paper and place greased paper on top, and bake in a moderately hot oven. After the first hour the gas may be lowered. It will take about two and a-half hours to bake. Let cake remain in the tins until cold, then take it out, wrap in greaseproof paper, and store in an artight tin. It should he ' kept two or three weeks before being cut. The above quantities will make about 41b. of cake.