FEMININE REFLECTIONS.

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 277, 13 February 1928, Page 5

FEMININE REFLECTIONS.

EVERYDAY ECONOMIES THE WITS-END CLUB | A new novel may be selected by the winner each week as a p/ize for the most original household hint or i recipe that has been tested and found I 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. This week the prize has been given to Miss K. O’Brien for the following suggestions: PUDDING HINTS Yorkshire pudding will be lighter, and need less beating, if you mix the i batter a couple of hours before cooking. Another useful idea is to put j greased paper instead of a linen cloth ! over a boiled pudding. If you tie it j round with a string, making a loop each side, you will be able to lift the basin from the saucepan more easily. A box-pleat on the top of the cover will prevent the water from getting into the pudding. K. O’B. MAKING “SOMETHING USEFUL.” When the kiddies begin to learn knitting at their kindergarten school, let mother make the lessons really interesting! At school, in the very first stages of plain garter stitch, it is a case of just knitting. But at home, mother can give them all the odd lengths of wool she may have left over from her own work, and set the needles going quite happily over a really romantic task! Romantic, because all kiddies love to think they are emulating the grown-ups in the matter of definite jobs with an exciting objective. And with their knitting needles and their odd bits of wool they can make something at once pretty and useful. Let them cast on fifty stitches, and knit to an fro in garter stitch till they have a square. When they have made enough squares—of any colours—mother can sew them all together for a covering for their bed, or for baby’s cot. And the little workers will be awfully thrilled about it! LINSEED OIL FOR BRASS I have discovered that very few housewives know that linseed oil is as invaluable for the cleansing and preservation of brass as of fine old furniture. The oil, applied with generous “elbow grease,” imparts an increasing brilliant polish with each successive application.

TO STIFFEN FLIMSY FABRICS An excellent stiffening agent for such materials as fine organdies and muslins is gum arabic crystals dissolved in hot water in the proportion of two ounces to a quart of water. A still weaker solution gives just the right stiffness to fine silks. But it must be weak enough only to give the necessary “weight” to the fabric; otherwise the texture is spoiled. UNEXPECTED VISITORS Most housewives know what it is to have surprise visitors calling—and no cake for tea. Here is a well-tried and proven recipe for delicious little gateaux that require only five minutes’ cooking. Mix well together in a basin two eggs and three tablespoonsful of castor sugar. Add, slowly and gradually, four tablespoonsful of flour, a pinch of salt, and baking powder, together with a few drops of lemon essence. Bust a sheet of white paper with sugar, and drop the mixture on it, in finger shapes, by spoonsful Sprinkle with sugar, and bake in a hot oven for five minutes. Lift off the paper, spread with raspberry jam, and press two fingers together. These little sponge fingers are magically light—and quite delicious in flavour. POTATO SURPRISES One of the difficulties of the young housewife is to find different methods of using up cold meats in such a way as to give variety to the menu. Stews are not always popular, but potato surprises are usually appreciated and can be quite easily prepared. Scrub four fairly large potatoes and bake them in their jackets. When cooked, carefully cut off a small piece at the end of each and scrape out almost the whole of the inside. Mash this, and add 2oz. of butter, a dessertspoonful of parsley, 2oz. of finely-chop-ped cold pieat, one teaspoonful of sauce,’ pepper and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly with £ of a pint of milk and refill the potato skins with the mixture. It will be found that al- ' though additions have been made to the original filling it is still quite possible to get it all into the jackets. Fasten the ends on with beaten egg and cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot with gravy. The Cook’s Corner QUEEN’S PUDDING Take the crumb of a one-pound loaf and make it into breadcrumbs which will soak in about three-quarters of a pint of boiling milk. Whisk the yolks of three 1 eggs and add them, with a good tablespoonful of sugar, a tablespoon-

ful of butter, and a little lemon peel or cinnamon. Mix well, put in piedish and bake in a moderate oven. When nearly cold put a layer of apricot jam on the top. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth with a cupful of sifted sugar and the juice of a lemon; Cover the jam with this meringue and replace the cake in the oven for the meringue to dry—not brown. APPLE BONFIRE Arrange in a pile some peeled and cored apples that have been carefully cooked in syrup so as to remain whole. Fill the centres with jam and a few chopped nuts, and cover the apples with thin jam sauce or the reduced liquor in which they have been stewed. Have a little rum heated in a sauce tureen; light it just before serving and pour over the apples as you would over plum pudding. A PILLOWCASE HINT When your pillowcases are wearing thin (and going brown) in the middle, turn them inside* out and cut the seam off the bottom. Then turn the sides to the middle and run a new seam. The worn parts are then at the side and the tapes do not need altering. TO WASH A BLANKET Bissolve an ounce of glue in a pint of water, standing it on the stove in a jug. Meanwhile fill a bath with hot water and stir in the glue water. Then put the blanket in the bath and* leave for half an hour, stirring occasionally. All the dirt then will have come out. Wring, then rinse in hot water, and wring again. Hang on the line, and when dry it will be beautifully clean and fluffy. FRYING BACON Soak the rashers in milk for a few minutes, then dip in flour and fry. This method is economical as the bacon does not shrivel up in frying and so goes further. GRASS STAINS Soak a little glycerine on the stain /before washing, and it will come out easily JAM HINTS Jam is much better if not skimmed in the making. When you skim the jam you take away the gelatinous substance which makes it “jell.” Clarify the jam this way: For every 41b, of fruit put in half an ounce of fresh butter half an hour before the jam is ready. There is no need for skimming. A very simple and effective cover for -jam pots is made by wetting tissue paper with milk and spreading it over the top of the jars when the jam is hot. The heat makes the paper stick and no strings are required.