DOMESTIC REALM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10230, 8 January 1927, Page 4

DOMESTIC REALM

SUCCULENT SALADS.

IMPORTANCE OF DRESSING

Salads are most popular dishes at this time of the year, being more appetising than substantial . meals. With all the necessary ingredients to hand, it should not bo difficult to make a simple mixed salad quite successfully. Yet so few have tins skill.

GREEN SALAD. The most simple green salad is one made with cos lettilce and watercress as the foundation, to which is added, a 'head of endive, beetroot, spring onions, radishes, cucumber and tomatoes. The only cooking needed is the boiling of eggs, which should be sliced uu with, the rest or the ingredients. A flavourless salad is, of course, to be avoided, and it is a knowledge of the choice blending of many flavours in the dressing which brings the salad to a state of perfection. An oil seasoning is made lrom three parts cream to one of vinegar. Mustard and cream make a good seasoning, when they are used in the proportions of a tabiespoonful of mustard to a pint of fresh, thin cream, with the juice of a lemon, and salt and pepper. . . Another excellent dressing is made from the yolks of two eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful ol mustard, a little sugar, salt, cayenne, with half a teacupful of vinegar. Mix the mustard, salt, cayenne and vmegar, and beat up the yolks of the eggs and add to the teacup. -Attei melting the butter in a saucepan add the mixture, which is stirred till it thickens, just as does custard. It is then left to cool and thinned with milk This is a rather more elaborate dressing than the others, but is well worth the trouble, for, with it, a salad is delicious.

WITH POTATOES. A good potato salad is made by slicing a dozen cold, boiled potatoes into a salad bowl, with six tablespoonsful of salad oil, four tablespoonfuls of vinegar, pepper, salt and a little minced parsley. Three or four sardines, and a couple of audio vies, or a little anchovy paste, might be added. Recipes for good salads could be enumerated without end, hut it is much better to experiment one's self, adding more of one vegetable and less of another, with much or little seasoning, till it suits to a nicety the tastes of the people for whom you are catering.

HAPPY THROUGH EATING There is no subject on which more nonsense is talked than food, say s Sir James Chrichton-Brown. Granted that some individuals are unable to tackle certain foods, too much faddism is bad for the system, and may even end. in gastric debility. The, .digestive apparatus is Hiere to he used,'unless it is given something to work on it will refuse to function Again, all food consists of fats, proteids, carbohydrates, and so on, so it is mere foolishness to make so many faddy distinctions between dit> ferent substances. Where most people make the big mistake is not in what they eat, hut in how they eat. . It' is very seldom that a sufficient interval is allowed to elapse between meals. Some people think that the world will come to an end unless they have three or four good meals at short Consequently the digestive system is never given a rest. - It has no sooner tackled nine o’clock breakfast than it is called upon to cope with one o’clock lunch. Then cine tea, a substantial dinner, and perhaps a late supper. N willing and hardworking digestion should he expected to dispose of all these meals within the twentyfour hours. Most people are so hound by convention that they think it incumbent on them to sit down to a meal, whethcr they want it or not, just because a gone; lias been sttuck. In point of fact, most people would be better for missing an occasional meal. Nature has the best dmner(roin"; and 1111011 you are ready to* another meal the same will be signified in the usual manner.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS. If salad dressing curdles, add a little cold water and stir quickly. Alter using vour egg heater wash it in cold water. Hot water will simply “cook” the egg on it.

A mixture of equal parts of linseed oil and lime water is a safe cure for burns.

Table silver that is washed daily in very hot soau-fiake lather, rinsed in hot Water, and dried at once rarelv needs any other polishing.

Mix a little ammonia with the beeswax and turpentine used for floor polishing. The wax will then dissolve quickly.

An excellent method of removing the smell of onions from a knife is to dig'the knife two or three times m some earth.

When making cakes without eggs remember that the mixture should be somewhat drier than when eggs ai e used.

With a little ingenuity, substitutes can often be found for missing knobs of kettle lids or various other missing parts. Corks or pegs of wood whittled to the right shape are very useful.

A folded cloth on the drainingboard will prevent many chips and cracks ,so will a bit of rubber tubing slipped over the “spouts” of taps while you’re washing up at the sink.

Prints should never be sprinkled but if allowed to become rough, they should be ironed under a damp cloth. Tt is best to launder them when washing, starching, and ironing can he done without delay.

Empty two-pound syrup tins with light lids make good containers for barley, peas, a»d rice. Wash and drv thoroughly; paint the initial letter or the contents in front, so that you v i know where-to find what you want.

Before washing the hair, rub some olive oil well into the scalp, then wash the Jiair with warm water and pure unscented scan, being sure t rinse very thoroughly. To clean a “rusty flat-iron, heat it and rub over it. some beeswax tied in a piece of linen. Then rub the iron on some coarse salt. Repeat u til the iron is quite smooth. To keep the steel of a gas stove bright with very little trouble, rub it over with' an -oiled, rag _aftor, time the oven is used arid whilo the stove is still hot.

Household Hints

By "MARIE."

U is often found jUffi™* pressing a seam, no 0 avo id. this, IT, °n '&&££■*& dampened, SdrC t along ’the opened seam. . Then. press in the usual ay. j

When cutting bars of soap, if a piece of table knife it the edge ot an ordinary ta*>io ■nrevents the soap bticKing , knife and a clean cut can Be made.

The rubber rollers of a wringer often become ie ro ji ers a s tie. turpentine Kajes the rl white us when new. y \ be rubbed over with a clean cloth oe iuimeu uv y f the turpentine, temove any trace or me L *

Never fill a kettle overnight to save time in the morning, or with water direct from the tap. that has been in lead or iron pipe - night is not wholesome.

Broken china should be mended as soon as possible after it is blok ®“.» allowed to lie about the fine points lr edges get rubbed or broken, and the joking will hot be so close.

When. stoi ing potatoes put a quantity of powdered charcoal in the bottnm of the tin or barrel. Jais uni preserve their flavor and P re^, f sprouts shooting out as early as y otherwise would.

Old cotton sheets free from holes mav be dyed at home to make casement curtains. They hang we 1, can b‘> dyed any color desired, wil a long time, and are quite worth th trouble.

To find out whether or not a potted plant requires water, give the side ot the pot a sharp knock with the knuckles. If there is a dull sound, no water is wanted, but a clear ring de notes that moisture is required.

To stop a leak in a water-pipe temporarily until you can get hold ot a plumbpr, tie a mixture of soap and whiting over the part where the water leaks through—this little hmt may save you. much inconvenience.

T-o save unnecessary wear and tear on your carpets, see that the castors of your tables and heavy chairs are frequently oiled. Never suffer the agony of a squeaky wire-door or cupboa rd-door hinge, when a touch of oil will stop the squeak immediately.

If you put teapots away with those rubber spouts slipped over the china or earthenware ones, you’ll have fewer damaged pots. The spouts, more often than not, get broken while the pots are in the cupboard, or being taken in or out

When peeling potatoes hold each one over a bit of waste paper so that the peelings fall on to this. This is simpler than dropping them into a bowl of water, for they can be wrapped up in the paper and burnt at once.

When two glass tumblers become fixed, one inside the other, pour some cold water into the inner glass and stand the outer one in rather warm water. The inner glass will contract and the outer one will expand so that the two can be easily separated.

When ironing lace pin it downwards to the ironing board, taking care to keep the shape of the lace — that is to say, the straight edge must be pinned so on the board. Cover the lace with muslin, and iron with a moderately warm iron, but not too hot or the lace will lose its softness and appear to be starched. Lace, before storing away, should be rolled round a cardboard tube between lavers of blue tissue paper.

A Good Mixed Pickle. —Ten pounds of green tomatoes, 21b of onions, l|lb of garlic, 4 gallon best vinegar: 1 cupful light plum jam, 1 cupful of butter beans, 2 cupfuls of sugar, 1 oz of spice, Icz of ground mace, 2 tablespoonfuls of curry, 2 tablespoonfuls of mustard, loz of tumeric, loz cloves, I oz of peppercorns, 1 small cupful of flour* salt and cayenne to taste. Scald vinegar in enamel saucepan, take peppercorns, cloves and garlic. Boil well and strain; add the liquid to other ingredients, then mix well together and pour into the saucepan of scalding vinegar. Boil all together until vegetables are tender. Cool and bottle.