DOMESTIC

New Zealand Tablet, 23 August 1917, Page 41

DOMESTIC

■ Fig Jam. Twelve pound figs and 81b sugar, 1 Alb preserved ginger, one and a-half cups vinegar, or six lemons. Cut. off tops of figs and slice them up, also lemons. Sprinkle with about lAlb of sugar, and stand overnight. Boil all together two and a-half or three hours. For Meat Pies. It is an excellent plan to insert two sticks of macaroni into the crust. If you do this you will never have sodden crust, as the steam escapes readily. Moreover, in making game or meat pies, it also allows the gases to escape, which sometime give indigestion. The ordinary holes made in meat v pies often close during cooking, but the macaroni cannot do this, and the pipes may be easily withdrawn when the pastry is cooked. Turnip Soup. One large turnip, 1 small Spanish onion, 1 pintwater, milk, butter, breadcrumbs. Put a good lump of butter in a saucepan, and when melted add a small Spanish onion sliced, and 1 large turnip pared and sliced: cook them in the butter for 5 or 10 minutes, but do not let them brown : now pour in 1 pint of boiling water, or. if you have it, the water in which rice has been boiled, simmer till the turnip is quite tender, then rub the whole through a sieve and return to the saucepan : add a teacup of milk, and a tablespoonful of fine breadcrumbs, with pepper and salt to taste. Boil a few minutes and serve. Household Hints. Coal-dust mixed with salt and water will be found very useful to bank up fires. There is nothing better than ammonia and water for removing grease spots from a carpet. When cooking apples add a pinch of salt. This makes them tender and improves the flavor. Rub the hands on a stick of celery after peeling onions, and the smell will be entirely removed. -

The white of an egg when used instead, of water for mixing mustard poultices prevents the skin from blistering. .. . , : , . ■' ••• • • j-j A good writing-ink " can be made from the wornout copy-ribbon of a typewriter. Put the same in one quart of distilled or rain-water and allow it to stand. When the fluid is used up, add more waterJ< To clean leather furniture wash the leather carefully with tepid water to which a little vinegar has been added. Dry with a soft cloth. Beat the white of an e SS thoroughly, mix with a teaspoonful of turpentine, and rub into the leather, using an old soft rag as a wad. x ' -U lo keep herbs, put them in a dry place, then rub through a sieve and press into bottles. This is special for parsley: other herbs, such as sage, thyme, and mint, should be tied in small bunches and dried in the air, then put into small paper bags and hung in the kitchen. 8 £ When stewing fruit don’t add sugar till the fruit is nearly done, and before stirring it in, stir in just a little carbonate of soda—about as much as will lie flat on a threepenny-piece to a pound of fruit. The soda will lake off much of the acidity of the fruit, and very little sugar will be needed to sweeten it.