THE HOME COOK.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1922, Page 10

THE HOME COOK.

NOVEL SALAD. Ingredients.—o tomatoes, 4 bananas, 1 small gherkin, 1 apple, 1 lettuce, mayonnaise sauce, salt, pepper. Method.—Remove the stalks from tomatoes, which should be fairly large, as much the same size as possible, and not too ripe. Wipe them and cut a piece carefully from the stalk end; remove the inside without damaging the skin. Peel and cut the bananas into small slices: peel, core, and chop the apple; chop the gherkin; mix the bananas, apple, gherkin, and tomato pulp with enough mayonnaise to bind them, season, and fill the tomai toes very gently with the mixture. Wash the lettuce carefully and dish each tomato on a lettuce leaf on a glass dish. Garnish with the heart of the lettuce. If liked, each tomato may be dished on individual plates. MUSHROOM AND POTATO PIE. Boil some potatoes. Drain them. Let them cool a little, and slice them thinly. Butter a pie dish. In the bottom put a layer of mushrooms, which have been washed, peeled, and stalked. Sea- ' son with salt and pepper, and dot them : with bits of butter. Continue the layers till the dish is quite full. Cover | with a light, short crust, and bake in •a moderate oven for about three-quart-i ers of an hour. ; BEEF AND POTATO SANDWICHES. I Take some very thin slices of cold ; salt beef, yolks of eggs, breadcrumbs, j and some mashed potatoes. Fry the [ slices lightly, then spread over very j evenly on each side a thick layer of i the mashed potatoes; press it over ; them, and dip in egg and plenty of i breadcrumbs. Fry in boiling fat to a line brown, drain on paper, and serve very hot. SPONGE CAKE PUDDING. Dried fruits of any kind, cherries, almonds, or raisins. Butter a mould thickly and stick it all over with the fruit. Soak some small sponge cakes in wine and three-parts fill the mould : with the cakes, and top it up with a rich custard. Tie over it a piece of buttered paper, and steam for an hour and a half. Soak the fruit first for three hours. TO GLAZE PASTRY. In reply to Amy: To ice or glaze pastry or any sweet dishes, break the whites of some eggs into a large soup j plate and beat them with the blade of a knife to a firm froth. When the ; pastry is nearly done take it from ;■ the oven, brush it well over with the i beaten egg, and sift pounded sugar over • it —about two ounces. Put it again • into the oven to dry. or set, taking ; care it is not discolored. Another j method is to beat the yolks of eggs land a little warm butter well together land brush the pastry over with it. j When nearly baked sift pounded sugar j thickly over it, and put it in the oven to dry. For raised or meat pies the yolks of eggs must be used. SAVOURY VEAI Take some thin slices of veal—the fillet is the best—a little veal forcemeat, yolks of two eggs, some breadcrumbs, one pint of brown gravy or broth, a few pickled mushrooms, and a few truffles. Score the slices of veal with a knife, rub them over with the yolks of eggs, lay the veal forcemeat over them, then roll up each slice tightly. Tie them round, brush them over with the yolk of the eggs, and sprinkle thickly with the breadcrumbs. Butter a dish and put them in and bake them for half-an-hour qulickly. then put the broth or gravy into a saucepan and add the mushrooms and truffles. Boil it up, put the meat into a dish, with fried forcemeat balls round it, and pour the gravy over. HOUSEHOLD HINTS. Brass fixtures in the house, such as door knockers, plates, and taps, may be kept in good order without undue labor if the following plan be adopted:—First thoroughly clean the article with metal polish. Then every day afterwards just rub it with a rag that has been soaked in paraffin. Finish with a vigorous polish, using a soft, dry cloth. TO REMOVE RAIN SPOTS. Marks, caused by rain, appear on cloth unless steps are taken to prevent this. By far the best plan is as soon as possible to go over the whole of the material with a silk handkerchief, rubbing rather lightly and always in the same direction. Beaver or velor hats that have been spotted with rain should be given a light brushing and then put in a cool, airy place to dry. TO REMOVE MILDEW. All housewives know that ordinary washing of an article affected by mildew has absolutely no effect upon the unsightly spots. The following method has been found most successful: Moisten a tablet of good washing soap and then nib well into the mildew marks. Cover the soaped part with French chalk, or even finely scraped ordinary chalk will do. Place in an airy position in the sun if possible. Leave for about an hour and then repeat the process a second or even a third time if necessary. The mildew marks will be removed altogether in this manner without the least injury to the most delicate of fabrics FOR ACHING FEET. So many women and girls who are accustomed to standing for long periods suffer from weary feet and swollen ankles. Here is a remedy that rarely fails to effect a cure. Bathe the feet and ankles in warm soapy water to which has been added about a couple of tablespoonsful of paraffin. The smell will not be unpleasantly strong, and the feet will be greatly eased. For the girl who does not like the idea of paraffin on account of its odor, a small quantity of sweet-smelling bath I salts may be added to a warm rinsing water in which the feet should be plunged after the paraffin wash. SILK STOCKINGS. It is a good plan to wash stockings before they are worn. And in washing silk stockings care should be taken not to rub them. Put them into a strong hither of hike warm soapy water. Squeeze rather than wring out the excess water, and the quicker they *rt dried the better; but do not place

them in the sun. If they are li-ghtly rolled in a towel for a few minutes, then hung up by the feet, they will soon dry. Ladders from the tops of the stockings may be avoided by sewing round before wearing them. Darns should be put in loosely, as they will shrink in washing, and the stockings have already been laundered. Long ladders may be sewn up with the sewing machine, because the stitch is tighter than hand sewing. Use the water in which macaroni has been boiled as a foundation for soups, sauces, and so forth. Clean copper kettles with a cut lemon dipped in salt. Rinse in clean water, and polish with a soft cloth. Sew some good hat wire firmly round the edges of rugs that curl at the corners. They will then lie quite flat. Nickel that, has become discolored can be made bright again by rubbing with a paste of whiting or a fine scourer. When putting silver away in strips of flannel be sure that the rough side of the flannel is put next to the silver. A crust of bread placed in the saucepan will prevent that objectionable smell of boiling cabbage from penetrating the whole house. Do you know how to melt chocolate in a hurry? Grating takes a long time, so break up into pieces and stand over a jug of hot water. Hands that have become shrunken and soft from being in hot soda water will become smooth and natural again if rubbed with ordinary kitchen salt. By placing chopped parsley in a clean cloth, dipping it in cold water, and then wringing and squeezing tightly, it can be rendered brilliant and fresh green. Add a little borax to the water in which the kitchen towels are washed; it removes the dirt and grease, makes them a good color, and acts as a disinfectant. MEASUREMENT FOR SOLIDS. Exact measurement is absolutely necessary to ensure the best results in gpokery; To avoid error it is wise to take level measure rather than heaped. Where scales are not available, the following table may be useful:— Chie breakfast cup holds half-pint. One pint of liquid weighs about lib. One level cup of flour weighs 4 oz. One level cup of crystalised sugar weighs Soz. One level cup of brown sugar weighs Goz. One level cup of rice weighs Boz. One level cup of butter or dripping weighs Soz. One level cup (well pressed down) of breadcrumbs weighs 4oz. One tablespoon of flour weighs AoZ (bare). One tablespoon of butter weighs %oz (good). One tablespoon of sugar weighs Aoz (good). MEASURING LIQUIDS. One tablespoon of liquid weighs about loz. Two dessertspoons equal one tablespoon. Two teaspoons equal one dessertspoon. Two saltspoons equal one teaspoon. One wineglass equal half-teacupful or half-gill. Four gills equal one pint. J MISCELLANEOUS. Fresh Water Fish.—So as not to taste muddy, these should be cleaned as quickly as possible. Dip in. flour before peutting in pan to fry. The secret is to only have just enough fat, and let the fish brown well in the pan. The browning is what kills the mud flavor. Let Children Masticate.—lt is a great mistake to mince children’s meat in small square pieces, as then there is a tendency for the child to swallow them whole without chewing, whereas the chewnig process is good for him. Of course children who are too young to ent their food must have it minced for them, but it should then be pounded or shredded so that the fibres of the meat are torn asunder. The juices of the stomach are then able to act upon it. A puree of meat—'that is, meat rubbed through a fine sieve or puree cloth—is quite a good way of chewing meat. Red meats , are better for children than are the white meats, mutton and beef being preferable to poultry. Use Rain Water.—Whenever it is possible, use rain, or soft, water when washing baby’s clothes. Hard water contains much lime, which sometimes hardens the fabric and makes it liable to rub the delicate flesh. If hard water must be used, a very little ammonia may be used to soften it. Borax is also a good water softener, this being not quite so strong as soda. Wool Wear.—All baby’s undergarments should be of wool, this being warm, light, and absorbent. The careful mother will either wash baby’s little garments herself or have them cleansed under her supervision, as not only can she guard against shrinking, but she can also . see to. it that the proper cleansing materials are used. Soda and chemical ingredients by which clothing is bleached in some of the large laundries have an ill-effect upon the tender skin. About Friendship.—Friendship is a relation which cannot be upheld without a degree of forbearance being practised on both sides. If you allow your impatience to overrule your affection, and give way to frequent outbursts of temper, you caunot expect to keep the love of any friend. Wear an apron of white oilcloth when washing up. The water cannot get through it, and a quick rub with a damp cloth is all that is needed to put it right when you have done. Queen Alexandra possesses a marvellous faculty for dropping off to sleep whenever she feels that she ought to have a little rest. It is her ability to take a nap at will that her Majesty attributes her excellent state of health. A marble boiled in milk, porridge, custards, etc., will automatically do the stirring as the liquid cooks’, and so prevent burning. Care of a patient.—The brushing of a patient’s t4eth must not be neglected. and it is often a comfort to him to have his mouth washed out every morning by means of a small piece of sponge dipped in a weak solution of permanganate of potash in the proportion of about half a teaspoonful to a half-pint of water. The temperature of a feverish patient may be reduced by a quick, tepid, soda bath, and after a nap or in order to induce one it is often a comfort to him to sponge hands and face in methylated spirit and water. Changing the hot pillows for 000 l ones, gently brushing the hajr, or slowly stroking the hands oftexi soothe and comfort au