EVERYDAY ECONOMIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 45, 16 May 1927, Page 4

EVERYDAY ECONOMIES

THE WITS-END CLUB A new novel may be selected by the winner each week as a prize for the most original household hint or recipe that has been tested and found to save time, labour or money. Many folk might be glad to have the benefit of your experience, so send in your suggestions, addressed to The Homecrafts Editor. Women’s Page, THE SUN, Auckland. The prize this week has been awarded to Mrs. IT. Broadwood for the following- recipe for plum pudding: ECONOMICAL PLUM PUDDING One and a half cups of flour, half a cup of sugar, one cup of currants,. one cup of sultanas, one teaspoon spice, half a teaspoon grated nutmeg, one tablespoon of butter dissolved in onethird of a cup of boiling water, two teaspoons soda disolved in threequarters of a cup of cold water. Mix overnight and steam for four hours.— Mrs. H.B. USE FOR PIANO CANDLE BRACKETS In order to modernise my upright piano I had the brass candle-holders removed. These I placed on the wall at the head of my bed. With shades in

keeping with the colour-scheme of the room they are quite effective, and I have found thorn most useful when desiring to read in bed. —“Sylvia.” FOR HOME WOMEN, A PUDDING RECIPE Often times there are pieces of stale cake left over which are not fresh enough to eat. They can be used to make a pudding which can be very quickly prepared and served. Take 6oz of cake crumbs, 2oz of butter, jSpint of milk, one tablespoonful of castor sugar, loz of ground almonds, two eggs. Butter well some small moulds of ctips. Put milk into a saucepan with butter, when it boils sprinkle in the cake crtimbs, sugar and almonds and mix well together. Let the mixture cool slightly, Uien mix in the eggs well beaten. will the moulds threequarters full with mixture. Bake in a quick oven for half-an-hour, then turn out carefully on to a hot dish, and pour some heated jam round. Cream may be served if liked. —“Mrs. C.” HOME-MADE FLOOR WAX I used always to mix my own beeswax and turps for polishing floors and furniture, but drifted into the easy practice of buying the prepared pastes. Recently, however, I again prepared some beeswax and turps, and made some tests to compare it with the bought waxes. The difference between them was remarkable. The beeswax gave a brilliant, enamel-like polish, and entailed much less rubbing. I noticed also that floors done with it seem to last twice as long as when done with the prepared wax.—“C.N.R.” FOR THE MEDICINE CABINET Much trouble and often some expense may be saved by keeping a little notebook in the medicine chest. When a new prescription for medicine is filed, enter in the notebook the prescription number, name of the chemist who made it up, the date, for what ailment the doctor prescribed it, the doctor’s name, and the name of the member of the family for whom it was prescribed. In the case of small children the same medicines are often needed again, such as cough syrups, salves for eruptions, etc. Do not save the medicine itself without the permission of the doctor, as many made-up prescriptions deteriorate with age.—Kingfisher. SIMPLE COLD CURE A simple and effective way to cure colds in the heads of young children is to wash their feet in warm water when going to bed and rub the soles and toes with eucalyptus oil. It can be used on the youngest infant, and by the morning the cold will have disappeared.—N.L. TO RENOVATE WOOL Economical workers who unravel an old knitted garment and re-knit it are disappointed to find it has not the smooth effect so much desired. But it is possible to remove the crinkles from old wool before it is re-knitted. Wind the wool over a chair-back and lay the skein loosely, just as it is, on a piece of clean paper. Prepare your steamer as for steaming vegetables. Lay’ the wool on the paper in the steamer, and cover with another piece of paper. Then steam over the fire until the wool is quite wet and the crinkles have disappeared. Take out, dry, then wind.—*-C.S.T. SIMPLE MEAT PRESS To make a simple meat press, procure two pieces of board, 11 in by Gin (the ends of a butter-box will do), bore a hole in each corner of the boards top and bottom and pass through these four bolts, Gin long by Jin thick, fitted with thumb-screws to screw down with. Fasten a block of wood, 2in by 2in, securely underneath the centre of the top board. Put the basin with meat or tongue in the centre of the bottom board, place a plate upside down on top of the meat, then screw' the top board down tightly. Be sure

that the block on the top board is in the centre of plate before screwing down. —Mrs. W.F.B. FOR THE INVALID It is convenient for an invalid to have spools of cotton and silk, needlecase, scissors and other sewing accessories strung on a bright-coloured ribbon. The ribbon is quickly seen, and all these little things—which so easily become hidden in the folds of the bedcoverings—can be brought to hand with one effort.—Betty. DAMPING CLOTHES When it is necessary to iron a roughdried garment at once, damp it, roll up tightly and wrap it in a cloth, then wrap in paper and put in the oven while the irons are heating. This will cause it to be thoroughly damped in a few minutes. Care must be taken that the oven is not hot enough to scorch.—“C.T.” HELPFUL HINTS To prevent a new' aluminium cooking utensil from blackening food, slice an unpeeled raw potato into the vessel, fill with water, heat to boiling point and stand aside until water is cold. Then empty it, wash with soap, rinse, scald with boiling water and wipe dry. * ❖ For artificial silk use only a moderately hot iron, and press rather than iron. Any’ but an even, gliding movement will “ruck” the fabric. * * * To make sleeve-links for a young boy’s shirt sew a pearl button on each end of IX inch of tape. * * * A few r whole cloves dropped into the pan when frying doughnuts will give them a delicious flavour. * * * When moulding jellies brush the inside of the mould with the while of an egg and jelly will turn out easily. * * * The smell of onion can be removed from a pan by putting a little oatmeal in it and placing it over the fire until the meal scorches. Then turn the meal out and wipe the pan with a damp cloth. • * * * A little ammonia added to the water when washing new flannels will remove roughness.—“E.M.H.” WHEN POLISHING An excellent labour saving idea when polishing linoleum is to use two old clothes or boot brushes. Use one to put on the polish and the other as a polisher. You will be delighted with the result, and the relief from the worry of keeping polishing cloths, also the saving of polish. Another idea worth remembering is that linoleum will not require polishing so often if you spray it occasionally with kerosene, and then rub it gently with a cloth or brush. For spraying use a blow spray in an ordinary bottle. The same idea applies to stained floors. To secure a high polish on the latter use dark tan boot polish, applied with a brush and removed with another. This will also prevent the stain from wearing off. —H.O.N. “THE BEST PEOPLE” PIQUANCY . . IN WIT AND DRESSING . “The Best People” demonstrated to the full on Saturday evening that they have an unusual flair for wearing intriguing clothes. . . . though for the matter of that, the others in this delightful comedy, who were anything but “best” according to Debrett were equally charming in their perhaps more sophisticated, but none the less chic, frocks. Miss Beatrice Day, who played the part of Mrs. Lenox, the ultra-exclusive and superior wife of a millionaire, made her first appearance in a charming gown of white georgette, inset at the corsage, at the wrists and at the low waist-line with panels of rich lace. The skirt of georgette fell in four panels each deeply bordered with lace, and through them peeped a striking skirt of georgette hemmed with a deep band of black satin. A gorgeous fan of black and white was a striking accessory to her toilette. In her second appearance, her frock was of attractive beech-brown georgette, fashioned on' gracefully flared lines and effectively trimmed with embroidered motifs of green and red and orange on ecru lace. A little note of decided originality was struck by the short little sacciue coat of georgette that buttoned close to the throat, there to be caught with a tiny replica of the embroidered medallions on the skirt. Miss Helen Audiffred, as Marion Lenox, the essentially modern daughter, wore a number of attractive frocks. Apricot and delphinium blue georgette were allied in distinctive manner in her first dress. Diamond shaped panels of blue formed the yoke, the ceinture and the hem, being appliqued to the apricot georgette with a prettily stitched white braid. An adorable evening gown of cameopink taffetas had a little slim bodice, joined at the normal waist line to a bouffant skirt with scalloped hem and a transparent edge of net. A flat bow of deeper pink velvet adorned one shoulder and to its looped ends that fell almost to the hem of the frock was attached a, trail of small roses. A delightful evening cloak of cyclamen panne velvet accompanied the frock. A lining of gleaming silver tissue and ruchings of mauve at the wrist and neck and waist line added to its beauty. A dainty little gown of white crept 1 de chine was worn by Miss Audiffred in the last act. Cherry crepe de chine formed the hem, cut in square scallops, each scallop being adorned with touches of embroidery. Tiny panels of tucked georgette trimmed the sleever and bodice, with here and there a hint of the cherry colour. Miss Marian Lord was a priceless Millie. . . . one of the “preferred” and a gold-digger of the truest type. . .

an over-li'.own edition of the blonde of Anita Loos’ making. Naturally she wore red. . . . one would have been mightily disappointed with anything less colourful for this lady. Her first amusing gown was of vivid geranium hue, an evening gown with petalled skirt, each of the many petals being edged with lace. A frilled vestee of the same pink lace adorned the bodice, while a panel of the frilling fell from the hips to the hem of the gown. A shawl of apricot credd de chine was worn with this creation. In her final scene she appeared in a most “correct” and charming jumper suit of rosewood crepe de chine, and one feared lest she had become as quiet as her attractive frock. . . . but she had not! The skirt of this little suit was box-pleated and the jumper sw’atlied round the hips and finished ir. a big bow at one side. Collar and cuffs and hat were of fawn. Miss Marion Sterly, as Alice O’Neill was a complete paradox. ... a vow demure and shy little chorus girl, girlish frock of ciel blue and silver slu-; taffetas was trimmed in dainty fashion with little silver bows. The frock fell open in front to reveal a panel of silver lace. In the final act her frock was of tan georgette with an overskirt of black georgette edged with small vandyke3. The long sleeves were finished with tiny cuffs of black and a bright girdle of embroidery defined the waist line. A hat of burnt orange felt was a charming addition to her pretty little gown. Among the audience at this amusing show we noticed the following: Mrs. Ernest Davis, wearing a charming gown of Venetian red velvet and wrap of white fur. Mrs. Murdoch-Smith, in a prettilyfashioned frock of black georgette. Mrs. Coleman, wearing a simply-cut gown of black satin. Mrs. H. Gillespie in white georgette with dainty crystal embroideries. Mrs. V. Casey, Sydney, wearing apricot georgette combined with black ninon, and wrap of skunk. Mrs. Herman, gown of black georgette. Miss Marie Gaudin, in japonica georgette with tiny shoulder posy. Mrs. Cecil Leys, in black georgette and satin trimmed with gold lace. Miss Anita Webster, wearing black pailette satin with bands of turquoise blue. Mrs. Scott Colville, in tomatoshaded crepe satin effectively trimmed with black lace. Mrs. Baxter, gown of dull rose du Barri velvet. Mrs. Louisson. wearing black pailette and moonlight blue satin and fur wrap. Mrs. Cyril Towsey, in black and white embroidered gown. Mrs. H. McCoy, in handsome gown of black with iridescent blue sequins.