Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-06-22
HOME TOPICS.
Some Useful Hints.

a pretty way to arrange large and
handsome Christmas card 30 that it may
be hung on the wall is to sew with very
short stitches border of large chenille
around it /; tassels may be added, if you
choose, to the two lower corners.
When buying tin covers for kettles be
sure that they have rings of wire on the
top, instead of flat handles soldered on,
as these will not last any perceptable
length of time, and the cover must then
be thrown away.
For washing hands that have become
cracked or blackened, there is nothing
better than Indian meal rubbed on with
the soap. 1t not only remove the dirt,
but softens and whitens the hands MS well.
For men and boys doing farm or shop
work it is excellent, and should be kept
always at hand.
Ammonia water or n damp cloth dipped
in whiting, cleans point nicely. Sapolio
is also good. Cold tea is the best thing
to clean vanished wood with, the tea and
tea leaves saved from the table for several
dsys and STEPPED will usually be sufficient.
1t removes spots, and gives fresher,
newer appearance than when soap and
water are used.
If the carpet needs freshening up after
tacking down, sweep and then wipe with
flannel cloth, wrung out of warm water
with OK gall in it, in the proportion of
one quart of gall to three quarts of wa
ter. The improved appearance of the
carpet will amply repay the trouble if
this is done once in six weeks, MS the rub
bling raises the pile and freshens the col
ors.
A lamp-shade of pale blue may have the
proper aesthetic touch given to it by run
ming fine wire through lace and then
bending it around the bottom of the
shade SO that it forms little hounce.
The lace should be about three inches
deep and should be scant There should
be Just fullness enough to make it hang
gracefully.
The best cockie-tin is simply piece of
sheet iron the size of the bottom of the
oven. Have the edges turned over slight
ly, so that the iron will not lie flat on the
bottom of the oven. Cut round hole at
one end, SO that it may be easily taken
from the oven by putting fork in and
drawing it out ; and this is useful also to
hang the iron up by.
Miscellaneous Recipes.
A cheap dessert is made by boiling two
large spoonfuls of sago in nearly n quart
OF water; add, when boiling, the peel OF
one lemon put in little muslin bag,
and a little grated nutmeg before taking
from the fire remove the muslin bag
then add three eggs and little salt put
in pudding dish, and let 1t bake for half
an hour serve with sauce, or with sugar
and cream.
For nice and economical pudding
take thin slices of stale bread, butter
them on both sides, cover the bottom of n
pudding dish with them, and spread jam
of any kind over them then add anoth-
er layer, and so on until the dish is full.
Have thin layer of buttered bread on
the top. Serve hot, with cream or with
a custard made of pint of milk. one cup
Of sugar, and two eggs flavor the GUS
tard with any extract which will be sin
harmony with the jam.
A fancy dish of potatoes for tea is made
by pressing mashed potatoes through n
colander let them lie lightly in the dish
Just as they fall, then set them in the
oven to brown. They should be we'll
seasoned with butter, pepper. and salt be-
fore they arc put through the colander.
If you like potatoes prepared in this way,
it is time saving invention to have II
colander made for this purpose. Take an
ordinary tin pan, and have holes punched
in the bottom of the size you require ;
| it will then take but few minutes to pre-
pare large dish.
Everybody does not know that fish
baked i'll the oven in water is more satis-
factorily cooked than when boiled in q
fish kettle. Especially this is the case
with cod and other tlaky fish. 1t should
be placed in deep dish with a small
quantity of water, salt and bay leaf,
and covered closely ; then left to cook in
the steum, and it will be found much
tirmer than if boiled in the kettle. A
strainer to fit the dish will be an advan-
tage. BY far the larger proportion of the
dainty fish dishes prepared in Paris are
cooked i'll the oven, care being taken that
it is not overheated. Eels covered with
slices of lemon, and sprinkled with cay
enne pepper, are placed in dish with a
very little water, closely covered and
baked for three-quarters of an hour {
little flour and white wine are then aided
to the liquor, and prepared in this way
they are most appetizing.
Haricot leans can be used in many
ways, all of which have as much to rec
ommend them MS the pork and beans cele
brity. The French boil them in severa
waters till tender, Grain them, sprinkl,
chopped parsley over them, and serv,
with large lump of butter on the top
or they boil them till tender, drain, an,
, then make a white sauce of butter an,
-four into which they return the beans
letting them boil up before serving. Pure
of haricot is also nice for this they ar
boiled till tender in milk, and then rub
bed through tammy sieve. In the thrift.
d bourgeois kitchen soup is made by fry
ing onions in dripping till brown, AM
straining on to them the haricot bean
which have been boiled in readiness. Il
: Germany the beans are plainly cooke
in abundance of water till tender, draine
n and sprinkled with fried bread-crumbs q
r fried onions. When cold they make
). most excellent salad, and many ways c
using them suggest themselves to a goo
/ housewife. They are extremely nourisl
ing, but to make them digestible the
: should be boiled in several waters.
s Cornstarch blanc mango may be varie
. almost indefinitely by adding fruit to il
i Stir the fruit in after the pudding is cool
ed and is Just ready to be poured in til
: moulds. 1t is delicious also with choc,
q late in where you use four tablespoon
), fuls of cornstarch, use two of chocolate
= pour in teacups which you have first w
a with cold water. A nice sauce for this
!. made by beating one egg and adding mil
and sugar to your taste; n very littl
If vanilla improves it, and still does not dil
" Uuiaa tha chocolate flavor
a The perfection to which the drying ar
- evaporating of fruit has arrived may We
u u give the busy housewife pause. The o
n deal of canning fruit which, in additic
" ,"e to much other hard work, is so dreade
X may to great extent be done away wit
,e and supplies of tho dried fruit be provi