Mother's Remedies by Thomas Jefferson Ritter (positive books to read txt) 📕

time her work is done she is bound to be in a healthy glow. If she does not do housework she must go outdoors, and walk, and indeed, a little walking is desirable even for the housekeeper.

254. Putting Screens Away.—If screens were carefully put away last fall there should be little difficulty in getting them in place on the first hot fly-breeding day. The wise housekeeper writes on the top of her screen, where it is hidden from view by the upper sash, the room and window where it belongs. She also covers the wires with a coating of vaselin and stores them in a dry place with a cover thrown over them. Should the wire have become shabby and rusty looking it can be freshened up with a coat of paint. If the wires have gone into holes and are badly bulged, replace with copper wire netting. It costs more than the ordinary kind, but does not wear out nearly so soon.

255. Attractive Living Room.—The living room is sure to have a cheery atmosphere if provided with a wooden seat at either side. The wooden shelf is a good place for the clock, candlesticks, and a few simple flower vases.

[MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 883]

256. Finger Bowl.—A finger bowel should always have a few flowers or a leaf floating around on the surface.

257. Raw Oysters.—Raw oysters are further improved by sections of lemon or sprigs of mint among the cracked ice.

258. Cheerfulness at Meals.—Meals should be something more than the consumption of food. All work stops at those times and people meet together. Nothing that can be done should be omitted to make it an occasion of agreeable interchange of thought and conversation, and when this is done, not only the body, but the mind and nerves are refreshed.

259. To Keep a Rug from Curling.—The edge of the heavy rug will not curl if treated to a coat of shellac on the under side.

260. Grease Stains on Silk.—For grease stains on silk, rub the silk with French chalk or magnesia, and then hold it to the fire. Thus the grease will be absorbed by the powder, which may then be brushed off.

261. Ironing Centerpieces.—When ironing centerpieces of tablecloths, see that the iron moves with the straight grain of the cloth. If this method is followed the circular edge will take its true line.

262. Tucking Children's Dresses.—When hand tucks are to be used on children's dresses, they should be very carefully made, and the first one kept perfectly straight to use as a guide for the others. A good way to do this is to loosen one thread, not to pull out but sufficiently draw it to show the straight line, and crease the tuck in this line. After the width of the tuck and space between each is decided use a notched card as a measure for all the other tucks.

263. A Neat Way to Mend Table Linen.—A neat way to mend table linen is to darn it with linen threads off an older tablecloth. It will look much neater than a patch sewed on. It is advisable to keep a piece of a discarded tablecloth in the mending basket for that purpose.

264. A Good Substitute for a Toaster.—If the toaster is suddenly lost, you can find a very good substitute in the popcorn popper. It can be held over the gas or before the coal fire, and the bread will toast in a few minutes.

265. To Prepare Cauliflower.—To prepare cauliflower remove all the large green leaves and greater part of stalk. Soak in cold water, to which has been added one teaspoonful of vinegar and a half teaspoonful of salt to each quart.

266. Preserving Dress Patterns.—Some women, after they have used a pattern, just roll it up and tuck it away wherever it happens, and when they want to use it the next time, it curls up and acts so that there is no doing anything with it. If they would just lay the patterns out flat and put them where they might stay that way, all this trouble would be avoided.

[884 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

267. Lace on Centerpieces.—Lace that is used on centerpieces is not fulled, but is just held in enough to lie flat. The best way to get this flatness is to draw the thread of the lace and fasten one end to the linen, leaving enough to make a neat seam, and then to adjust fullness so that it lies evenly. When right side is up one cannot see that any fullness exists.

268. Uses of Mop Handles.—Most women have found the mop handle with the handy clasp, a general utility tool. There is a great deal of unnecessary bending of the knees to the household gods. It is a painful attitude, and work that can be done just as well in a standing position, should never be done in a kneeling one.

269. Iron Holders Made from Asbestos.—Iron holders made from a piece of asbestos the desired size, and covered with drilling or heavy unbleached muslin are light and keep out the heat. There should be a ring or loop sewed to one corner to hang up the holder.

270. Washing Quilts.—To wash quilts a housekeeper gives the following directions: Dissolve a bar of white soap in a cupful of water. Run into your bath-tub sufficient water to cover one quilt; make a good suds, and put in the quilt, and let it soak for a few minutes. Do not rub, but use the washboard, top end down, to press or pound out the water and dirt. Never wring but with the wash-board press out the water. Rinse several times. When you have pressed out as dry as you can pin the quilt closely on the line to drain. When thoroughly dry, whip with a carpet beater until fluffy, before removing from the line. This method is especially fine for tied quilts. The bath tub is preferred, because of shape and water conveniences.

271. Shrinking Dress Goods.—Before making the white linen dress skirt, or any material that is liable to shrink, fold the goods carefully and place it in a tub and cover with water. Let it get thoroughly wet, stretch the clothes line as tightly as possible, hang the goods through the center, and pin perfectly straight on the line. When dry, let two persons stretch the goods as curtains are stretched, fold it with the wrong side of the material out and iron double with the seam running through the center of the goods on the length of the material. In shrinking colored prints add turpentine to the water, and it will set the color. A teaspoonful is used to a gallon of water.

272. Fixing Worn Corsets.—For stitching over worn corset stays, a wide white tape is unequaled.

273. Cooking Breakfast Food.—Don't leave the tin lid on the saucepan if you start the cereal in the evening for breakfast. It will rust and the moisture drip into the food.

274. Tough Meat to Make Tender.—Tough meat can be made tender by adding a teacupful of lemon juice to the water in which it is boiled.

275. To Preserve Pineapple.—To preserve pineapple allow only three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of pineapple.

[MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES 885]

276. Hemstitching Underclothing.—Hemstitching forms a dainty finish for the household linen and underclothing, but the busy woman often will not undertake it because of the difficulty of drawing the threads. If a piece of white soap be rubbed on the underside of the cloth, where the hemstitching is to be done, the threads may be drawn with ease, in half the time that is usually required.

277. To Boil Eggs Without Cracking Them.—To boil eggs without the risk of cracking, hold them in a spoonful of boiling water before immersing them.

278. Save the Basting Thread.—Basting threads, when saved, should be wound on a spool, otherwise they get hopelessly tangled and are not used again.

279. Threading Needles.—Thread will knot less easily, if the end that is broken from the spool is run through the eye of the needle.

280. Measuring Dress Goods.—Do not measure dress goods and laces with a tape line, as it stretches the material. Use a yardstick.

281. Do Not Use Coarse Thread.—An expert needlewoman says that the reason why so much embroidery does not look attractive is that too coarse a thread is used for the work. It is not a bad rule to use a cotton a number or two finer than is recommended, unless the advice comes from one who understands embroidery perfectly.

282. Putting in a Temporary Hem.—The hem of a dress that must be lengthened after it is laundered should be turned perfectly straight and stitched with number one hundred thread. It can be easily ripped and the fine threads will not leave the usual stitched lines that one often sees when a hem is lowered.

283. Serviceable Child's Dress.—A quaint little frock that will be serviceable, can be made from a remnant of demi flouncing hemstitched on the embroidered edge. This placed at the hem, of course, and the top is gathered in Mother Hubbard style into a neck band edged with a little frill. The sleeves are in bishop style confined with bands trimmed to match the neck.

284. Convenience for the Sewing Room.—A good sized waste basket should be continually close to every sewing machine. Then it is easy to form the habit of dropping all scraps into it just as the scissors make them, instead of leaving them to litter about the floor.

285. Buttons for Future Use.—When buttons are removed from a dress for future use they should be loosely strung on a thread before being put in the button box. This is a time-saver as well as keeps the buttons from getting lost or several of a set from being used.

286. Basting Long Seams.—When basting long seams, if the edge of the material is slipped under the machine needle and the needle is lowered it firmly holds the two pieces, and one can more quickly do the work.

287.—Mending Table Linen.—A woman who is expert in mending table linen does it in this manner: A piece of linen is coated with white soap, to make it stiff and the patch is evenly trimmed. This is placed under the hole in the damask after the edges around the hole in the tablecloth are soaped and trimmed to remove the rough edge.

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288. Washing Cooking Utensils.—All the cooking utensils should be washed with soda immediately after they have been used, which will remove every trace of grease.

289. To Make Soft Soap.—Soft soap made from half a pound of shaved hard soap and two quarts of water will save the soap bill at cleaning time.

290. Separate Night and Day Pillows.—If separate night and day pillows are not used, as is now generally done, the bed will look neater if special pillow slips are kept to put on over the wrinkled pillow cases by day.

291. To Keep An Iron Sink in Good Condition.—To keep an iron sink in good condition, scrub once or twice a week with hand soap and kerosene. Every night put a little chloride of lime in the strainer and pour through it a kettleful of boiling water.

292. Steaming or Boiling Pudding.—In steaming or boiling puddings, as the water boils away add more boiling water. If cold water is added, for a short time at least, the foodstuff will not be boiling, and this state of affairs may prove disastrous to the pudding.

293. Cooking Peas.—When cooking peas do not shell them. Wash the pods and put them on to boil. When they are done the pods will break and rise to the top of the kettle leaving the peas at the bottom. They have a better flavor cooked this way.

294. Troubled With Ants.—When troubled with ants in your pantry and kitchen pour kerosene around on the edge of your shelves and on your doorstep. They will soon disappear.

295. To Exterminate Roaches.—A housewife says that a few drops of turpentine sprinkled around where roaches gather will exterminate them at once.

296. How to Economize on Gas.—More gas is wasted in the oven than elsewhere. Often one burner will suffice after the oven has been well heated. It is better to run one burner than to burn two low, as they frequently go out.

297. Less Noise in Washing Dishes.—If your cook insists in washing the dishes in the pantry while the family is still at dessert, insist upon her placing the dishes to drain upon a heavy turkish towel. It will lessen much of the clatter.

298. A Useful