THE LADIES’ WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2498, 11 May 1909, Page 7

THE LADIES’ WORLD.

SOUP AS AN ARTICLE' OF DIET

The tost or a cook might fairly bo said to lie in the soup pot, and if the tables of the English people are carefully considered, it will be found that only the very best ooo'ks know how to send up a dish of realty good, nourishing soup. A great deal of arrant nonsense it talked, and food faddists would have us believe that soup is not good for us. A safe answer is that it depends on the quality. The average dish of soup is undoubtedly far from nourishing and sustaining, and much more likely to cause illness than to improve the frame of its consumer. That the average soup does not attract *is entirely tiie fault of the coolc. She, as a rule,' has no idea of preparing stock. She has never learned that anything and 1 everything* may be put into the stookpot, and that it will come out as a clear liquid if she knows how to purify it. Her ideas, too, of seasoning, are utterly crude. Bevond the haphazard throwing in of a handful of salt into the pot, she cannot realise that there are many herbs which o-o to render her liquid, whether clear or thick, a meal of the most appetising. Pease soup in the hands of a skilled cook, and the same thing in those or a tyro are two distinct dishes. It would be impossible to recognise tne puree turned out by the expert as containing exactly the same matei ials as the mass of sodden pulp piaoed too often on the table even of the middle classes. That children in Xjondon while peas, beans, lentils, potatoes, etc., with a lump.of dripping, cost a few pence, is a standing reproach to the domestic management of the whole nation. HOME HINTS. To Clean Satin Shoes. —W bite satin shoes can be kept clean with the aid of spirits of wine. . A good plan is to dip a piece of white flannel in vlie spirit and give the shoes a wipe all over, following the grain, every time they have been worn: This keeps them in a fresh, condition until they are practically worn out. v . Polishing Furniture. It- is not generally known that wringing out a cloth in hot water and wiping the furniture, before putting on furniture cream, will result in'a very high polish that will not finger mark. Old Ribbons New.—Ladies may make old ribbons look as good as new by washing them in cold suds and ironing them just before they get dry. A piece of linen should be placed over them before passing the iron—which should not be too hot—over. , Gilt China.—Don’t use soda when washing china- ornaments with gilding, for soda will in time surely take oft every vestige of gold from the pattern Soap may be added to the water with impunity* and it will do - the work or cleansing without roughening the hands of the operator, who, in cold weather especially, will find soda has.a very bad effect on the skin, , A New Broom. —There is a great deal of common, everyday sense in the old saying, VP A new broom sweeps clean”' beyond its application to a new servant. If you examine a new broom you 'will find the ends of the. straws and the base of the brush square. After it had been in use for some time the straws become as sharp as needles, anci liklv tc injure the carpet. To remoy-e these sharp points dip the luoom in. hot suds and trim off neatly, thus preserving the square shape. To Glean Zinc.—For zinc nothing is better than whiting mixed to a paste with turpentine. Whiting mixed with water and a little ammonia is aho effective for tin utensils. Silver, which is in want of something more than paste powder—if, for instance, it is very greasv —should be boiled m a eoppei with a handful of hartshorn powder added to the water. This addition will cr-ive silveT that exquisite whiteness which well-kept silver has m contrast to the slightly “leady ' look of the m differently kept article.