Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1880 — HOUSEHOLD HELPS. [ARTICLE]

HOUSEHOLD HELPS.

Nut Cake.—One and one-half cups sugar, one-half cup butter, three cups flour, one-half cup sweet milk, three eggs, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one cup of hickory nuts (chopped), one teaspoonful vanilla. Walnut Cakes.—One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, three-quarters of a pound of butter, one and one-half pounds of raisins, one nutmeg, six eggs, one wine-glassful of wine, two quarts of walnuts (before cracked) ; bake in a quick oven.

Oatmeal Blanc Mange.—A delicious blanc mange may be made by stirring two heaping teaspoonfuls fine oatmeal into a little cold water and then stirring in a quart of boiling milk ; boil a few minutes ; flavor ; turn into molds when cold ; eat with jelly or cream. To Clean Hair Brushes.—As hot water and soap soon soften the hairs, and rubbing completes then' destraction, use soda dissolved in cold water. Soda, having an affinity for grease, cleans the brush with very little friction. After well shaking them, stand them on the points of the handles in a shady place. Indian Meal Pudding.—One pint of Indian meal cooked, one quart of milk, half a cup of butter, one pint of molasses, four eggs, with a little cinnamon or nutmeg ; boil the milk, stir in gradually the meal, mix all together and let it stand two hours, add the eggs when the pudding is ready to put in the oven ; let it bake two hours.

Superior Sponge Cake.—One pound of sugar, sifted; half pound of flour, rind of a lemon, grated, with the juice. Beat the yelks very light and mix them well with the sugar ; add the lemon ; beat them well together; add the whites, beaten stiff; shake the flour in very gently—should not be stirred when the flour is well mixed. If in one pan, two hours, if in two pans, one and a half hours.

To Freshen Paint.—Tea leaves may be saved from the table for a few days, and, when sufficient are collected, steep, and not boil, them for half an hour in a tin pan; strain the water off through a sieve, and use this tea to wash all varnished paint. It removes spots, and gives a fresher, newer appearance than when soap and water are used. For white paint, take up a small quantity of whiting on a damp piece of old white flannel, and rub over the surface lightly, and it will leave the paint remarkably bright and new. To Boil a Ham.—Scrape and wash carefully in plenty of cold water. Put it to cook in boiling water enough to cover it entirely, hock end up ; let it remain on the front of the stove till the Jiam begins to boil; then put it back and let it simmer steadily for three hours. Take it off the fire, and let the ham remain in the water it is boiled in till coo] enough to handle ; then skin it; put in a baking-pan, and sprinkle with about three ounces of brown sugar ; run your pan in a hot oven, and let it remain a half hour, or until the sugar has formed a brown crust. This not only improves the flavor of the ham, but preserves its juices.

Nutritious, restorative, quieting, strengthening and purifying are Malt Bitters. A man who had not seen his wife for eighteen years, and believed her dead, found her alive and well in Minneapolis. So far was he from being overjoyed by the meeting that he swallowed laudanum, intending to cause a final separation by death. Feeble and exhausted constitutions restored to health and strength by Malt Bitters. The Postmaster at Victoria, Mo., recognized the handwriting of a rival in a letter addressed to a young woman to whom he also was paying attentions. He could not resist the temptation to open the envelope and read the episfle. His crime was detected, and he was fined SSO.