DOMESTIC REALM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10306, 15 January 1927, Page 4

DOMESTIC REALM

By "MARIE."

HOME PLANNING HINTS. WALLPAPER ADDS CHARM. The word “charm” means more than mere beauty, or harmony of colour. It indicates a certain originality of design and treatment that goes beyond these. To make your home charming it must be a little different from every other on the block, says an American writer. It must show thought and imagination and a desire to depart from the, stereotypes if it is in good taste. There is no way to bring originality into your scheme of home decoration more easily than by using a delightful wallpaper. There are myriads of good wallpaper designs, lovely in color and charming in design, that are both beautiful and original. Their use immediately sets your room apart from the rest, for the large wall spaces covered with well chosen paper dominate the scheme and strike a note of unusual decorative interest that is not duplicated by a plain wall. There are so many wallpaper patterns that there is no reason why any kind of effect cannot be achieved by their use. Wallpaper, is made to simulate many other materials, marble, chintz, linen, velvet, ribbon, tile, wood and others, and the art of printing it has reached such a state of proficiency that sometimes it is difficult after the paper is hung to tell the copy from the original. These papers give many attractive opportunities to the home decorator to make her home different from the general run, and they are adequate expressions of her own good taste and sense of what makes charm.

CAKE-MAKINC. SOME USEFUL HINTS. Always sift the flour, as it makes a cake light. When making rich cakes, like wedding cake or Christmas cake, it is a good plan to mix by hand, as the warmth of the hand and the friction with the fingers brings about a better blending. In cold weather, if the butter, is hard, soften by warming in a cup, then stand the cup in a basin of hot water. Butter should never be (filed, lb is also a good plan to warm slightly both sugar and flour in cold weather Coarse sugar lias a tendency to make a cake heavy. Sugar which is dissolved in milk or water is the best method to achieve a light cake. When using dripping, heat in with the sugar, and add a squeeze of lemon, which quite eliminates the fatty taste. Cakes are often well made, but spoilt in the baking. Fruit cakes require a slow oven, slow halving also helps to darken c-akes. Never open an oven door when once the cake is in. as that is a sure way of making it sink. Also, be careful when the oven door is open that a current of air does not come through the kitchen from open doors or windows. Do not look at the cake for at least eight minutes. It is wise to have a stand for the cake to cool upon, as then it is the same temperature all around it. Before icing the cake, dust with a little dry flour, which will prevent the icing running too easilv.

A DELICIOUS TEA CAKE. A delicious pastry “cake” is made as follows :—Line a fiat, shallow baking tin with thinly rolled short pastry, reserving some for the top lid. Prepare the following mixture and place it between the layers of pastry. Press the edges together and decorate with a_ fork all round. When cold cut into squares for tea. The mixture—One breakfastcupfu! of well-washed currants, the grated rind of half a lemon, one tablcspoonful of warmed golden syrup, one table spoonful of warmed margarine, and one tablespoonful of brown or white moist sugar. Mix all well together, spread between pastry as directed and bake in a quick oven. Sliced and sweetened apples maybe used instead of currants.

OLIVE-OIL

AND THE WONDERS IT WILLWORK.

The very sight of a bottle of olive oil causes us to think of the blue skies and sunny landscapes of Italy, and this thought makes us feel warm even in the cold of one of our typical summer days. The uses of olive-oil are manifold. Probably the best known is as an ingredient of salad dressing, where it sen es two purposes, -for it not onlymakes a salad more appetising, but it keeps the internal mechanism well oiled, and thus keeps at bay that enemy to health which brings so many diseases in its train—constipation.

French cooks realise the value of olive-oil, and use it when frying fish. While this is more expensive than the fats used in this country, the practice has a great deal to recommend it.

Constipation is not the only trouble that is alleviated or even cured I>V olive-oil, as sufferers from gastritis and gallstones benefit- greatly h they take a little about half an hour before each principal meal. Those who cannot take the oil by itself will find that a little lemon-juice will make it quite palatable. To ensure that steak will not be tough when it is cooked it should be well brushed with olive-oil and allowed to lie in it- for at least half an hour before it is cooked. Knees which become rough and sore with too much kneeling can he improved by nightly massage with olive-oil. Undesirable hollows can he filled in if olive-oil is massaged into them regularly. Olive oil is also a great boon to those who have tender skin. The sun is no respecter of skins, but a little olive-oil rubbed—oh, no, not rubbed, merely applied—will restore to normal the most tender epidermis.

HOUSEHOLD HINTS. The finest thing for cleaning sponges is buttermilk. Let the sponge soak in buttermilk for an hour or so, then rinse it well in cold water. To renovate a shabby umbrella, brush it will with a solution of ammonia and warm water. If you have cold halted potatoes left over, don’t throw them away. Dip for a moment in hot water, and then re-balte them till they are vamp ed through, and they will he as good as when freshly cooked. To soften eggs that have been boiled too long, put them into a basin of cold water and leave for .about half a minute. This w;ill not-only, soften them, but improve the flavour ... . -/I - A cut .lemon rubbed, . over fob di-nives-'find'-forks afterHhey .afe' wasTi'U ed will remove the unpleasant odour of fish that invariably clings to them.

Household Hints

After use, pudding, cloths and jellybags should be washed in boiling water, rinsed in cold water, and hung in a draught to dry. »Soap should never be applied to them.

Enamelled pans. can be thoroughly 7 cleansed by scouring with crushed egg-shells and soapy water.

When stewing apples, add a few chopped dates; they are a great improvement.

Upholstery on chairs can be. cleaned with hot bran rubbed on with a clean flannel.

Velvet can be cleaned by rubbing with a cloth dipped in powdered magnesia.

Tar stains may be removed from cotton fabrics by covering the spot with butter and allowing it to remain for a few hours before washing.

You can prevent cakes burning bygreasing the tins with lard, not butter, and sprinkling lightly with flour.

A little vinegar added to stewed prunes improves their flavor.

Newspaper is one of the finest window polishers, and tissue paper is good for cleaning silver.

A Non-slippery Floor Polish.—The following recipe for a non-slippery fioor polish will be found very good. Take equal parts of linseed oil, turpentine, vinegar and coach varnish, and mix together. Simply rub the polish into the floors; no polishing will be required.

Cleaning Tiles.—Washing tiled hearths is not very pleasant work on a cold winter morning, especially if the hands are already cold and dirty. Try cleaning the tiles with furniture polish instead. Rub the tiles well with a rag moistened with liquid furniture polish. Then polish with a soft duster previously warmed. A bright surface results, and the glaze of the tiles will not crack in tlxe heat, as it is apt to do when the tiles are constantly washed. Oxydised silver and copper articles and enamelled parts of the fireplace can be kept in good condition by this treatment.

Bones to be used for making soup will remain in good condition for several days 'if they are baked for a few minutes in a hot oven.

New bread cuts more easily if the knife is dipped in boiling water. Keep a bowl of hot water on the table when cutting bread and butter, and dip the knife in before cutting each slice. The knife will then cut without tearing the bread.

To clean jugs, decanters, etc., fill with cold water, add a raw potato, cut into small pieces, and shake well.

To make a fire burn slowly but brightly, dissolve a lump of washing soda in water, mix coal dust to a paste, wrap it up tightly in paper, and place on the back ol the fire when it is bright.

A small piece of orris.root placed in the copper will impart a lasting fragrance to handkerchiefs.

A brussels carpet which looks shabb'- and faded will be improved ii given the following treatment: Mix a gill of spirits of turpentine with about half a pail of water. Dip the carpet broom in this, shake it out and sweep the carpet two or three times with it.

The oven temperature -for small cakes is 350 deg. F. to 440 deg. F. For leaf cakes it should be 300-deg. F. to 3-jQdeg. F.

To clean a bath, first wipe over with a rag dipped in paraffin, and leave lor about three minutes Then dip tlie same rag in salt and rub again. Wash with hot soapy water.

When washing men's collars at home, a fine gloss can be obtained byusing the following mixture: Pour a pint of boiling water on to L’oz powdered white gum arabic. Next day, pour it from the dregs into a bottle. Cork. A tablespoonful of this stirred into a pint of raw starch will give a fine gloss to the collars.

Paint brushes that arc stiff with dried paint should be soaked for a night in hot water in which a lump of soda lias been dissolved, and washed the following day in plenty of warm soapy water. If this fails to remove the dried paint the brushes must he soaked in equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine.

Coffee stains can be removed from linen by rubbing in pure glycerine. Leave for half an hour, then wash.

Ink Stains on Mahogany.—To remove ink stains from mahogany furniture. put a few drops of spirits of nitre in a teaspoonful of water, and touch the ink stains with a feather dipped in the mixture. Directly the ink disappears, rub over at once with a clean cloth dipped in cold water, to prevent a white mark forming on the wood.

A Good Cleansing Powder—A good powder for cleansing sinks, tiles, knives, hoards, etc., can be made athome by mixing together one packet of dry soap, lib silversanu. no whiting. Mix well together to remove the lumps and. put in a tin. The above quantity will last for months.