The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1900-05-05
HOUSEHOLD SUGGESTIONS.
odd Bits of Useful Information for
the busy House
wife.

The accepted idea that macaroni
should be boiled only about 20 min
utes Is contradicted by many expert
cooks. Much nearer an hour is re-
quired to cook it properly, although
30 minutes suflices for spaghetti,
which is less than half its size. The
water into which the paste is put
should be boiling hard. Italian cooks
are careful, too, not 10 break the
macaroni into pieces, but, holding a
handful of the long tubes, they let 1t
slip into the swirl of the water. To
be boiled tender does not mean that
il should reach the sticky point. by
taking the paste up on spoon or
fork ii will be easily discovered
whether il is tender IL should not be
stirred while cooking. A little
loosening from the bottom of the pan
to prevent burning is all that is re-
quired. as Of course il will be pre-
pared in double boiler. After ii is
cooked, banched quickly with cold
water, and drained, IL is ready 10 pre-
pare in any of the various ways de-
sired. A rather unusual use for it is
TO boil il with chicken fricassee, in
which the usual paste dumplings are
omitted from the dish. 1t should be
added TO the stew fully three-quar-
ters of an hour before IL is 10 be
served. This is an excellent dish for
the children's dinner, as well as to
Ill -. -, In far.
strongly favored with beef extract.
Much macaroni served is tasteless be-
cause il Is not sufficiently sailed dur
ing the boiling process. IL requires a
large amount OF seasoning.
Some homemade tally-cards for
progressive euchre seen lately at a
gathering where the game was played
were both pretty and ingenious. On
oblongs of green and red paper, one
for the ladies, the other for the men,
were pasted respectively pictures of
men and of girls done by the favorite
periodical artists Of the moment, and
cut from magazines and weeklies in
which they appeared. Well-known
quotations were divided and placed
one-half under a girls picture and
the remaining half under that of n
man.
The fine-leaved variety of fern, like
the mohair and others, is not TO be
sprinl<led on the leaves, says florist.
House plants of large foliage, how
ever, like the rubber-plant and palms,
need careful and comparatively fire.
quent sponging and sprinklihg with
water. a further suggestion in the
care of house plants is contributed by
n woman who has phenomenal sue
cess with her large assortment III
/ find that plant seems weak and i'll
nourished," she says, 81 give il dose
of castor-oil some morning instead Of
the usual water, repeating IL, per-
haps, after an interval OF week or
ten days, if the improvement does
not seem sufficiently marked. The
suggestion was given TO me by flor
ist long time ago and / have tried
IL repeatedly with excellent results"
French cooks sometimes pour a lit
tie diluted bouillon over the po-
tato that is sliced or diced for salad
before the dressing is added. The
salad is spread out in II sieve or CO.
lander, and the bouillpn, made from
beef extract dissolved in water, is
sprinkled over il and quickly drained
off. This Is particularly to be adj
vised In making n salad with old po-
tatocs, as IL neutralizes the some
a. n. -
vegetables.
To the pin-cushions which arc per-
feet replicas OF fruit and vegetables
has now succeeded an exhibit, not OF
the fowls of the air, but of the fish of
the sea Cushions modelled after
cod, salmon and turbot are shown,
the resemblance being admirably pro-
duced with metal disks OF various
colors sewn on for scales.-N. Y. Post