Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 March 1903 — ALL OVER THE HOUSE. [ARTICLE]

ALL OVER THE HOUSE.

Some of the Aids Employed by the Professional Laundress. Washing is an art and needs to be learned as well as anything else. Everybody can wash after a fashion, but not everybody can so turn out handkerchiefs, eilSc and lace blouses and ties and other washable belongings that a professional laundress would own them os her work. It is emphatically an accomplishment worth learning, If only for the sake of reducing one’s laundry bilL Dissolved soap is a necessity and is made by finely shredding a quarter of a pound of yellow’ soap into one quart of water and boiling it till dissolved. A quantity can be made at one time and kept for uso when required. When washing flannel ana woolen goods, never rub or twist them. Squeeze them about in a tepid lather, to which (for white flannels) a little ammonia is added. Wash thoroughly on both sides, ‘rinse carefully, shake and dry in the -air, not in tlie sun. Iron when nearly dry with a cool iron. White silk, blouses, ties and handkerchiefs are sill washed in tlie same way. First steep them in cold water, with a little borax added, wash in a lather of warm water and dissolved soap, rinse well, pass through slightly blued water, fold in a oiuan cloth, pass through the wringer and iron on the wrong side when nearly dry with a eooi iron. A little methylated spirit added to the lost rinsing water gives a desirable gloss. A dessertspoonful to a pint of water is ample. For colored silk do not steep it in borax wuter or pass it through blued water. If you fear the color will run, steep it in salt and water for a short time, but be careful to rinse all the salt out before washing. Urns For Old Blankets. Half worn woolen or flannelette bed blankets with stripes at the ends may be dyed a dark, rich shade of old gold, wine, olive green or electric blue and made to do servioe a long time as portieres. Peanuts that have not been roosted may be dyed a lighter shade and sewed upon the ends of the blankets for fringe. If one desires deep fringe, run a silk thread through two peanuts (one above tho other lengthwise) and sew to the blanket. These are really very artistic. Bed blankets of light weight also make good nightrobes. Two pairs will make three robes. Two undershirts may be made from one blanket if a yoke of other material is used, and this is advisable to prevent too much fullness over the hips. Often blankets that are washed frequently shrink and become too narrow for a wide bed or any bed which is occupied by two persons. In a house where there are no half or three-quarter width bedsteads the shrunken blankets may be nicely utilized for gowns or petti- | coats. Useful Utensils. Toward aiding tlie housewife the inventors have recently seemed to have turned their energies. Any number of new little devices have appeared in the shops which are to be used to lighten the labors in the kitchen and in doing the housework. For baking there is nn ingenious pan for preventing cakes and delicate sugary concoctions from burning; also a perfect steam cooker in which the housewife can put on beans, stews or viands that demand long cooking and turn to other tasks, assured that the pot will not boil over, stop boiling or boil too fast, as is the case with ordinary boiling kettles. Whsn tha breadmaking day comes around, there is an automatic bread kneader and dough mixing device and also a handy contrivance for beating up tbs raw material of cakes and puddings.

Kitfney Omelet. Trim off all the fat and cut the kidney uHo tiny dice. Put a deo•crtspooaful of butter into a small saucepan orer the fire and when ▼cry hot fry in it a tearnoonful of minced onion until a golden brown. It muit not be allowed to ecoreh. Put in the minced kidney and a half teaapaeafnl of minced parsley tad ocolc for about ten uiiautaa. shaking and it<wi»| ooaatootly. ft U> > drv, add jaat water U keep V. treai burning. When done, tea*** to ia»te, and place it in the center of a plain four egg omelet just before it is ready to fold. Economy In Soupmaking. Soupmaking on a gas stove is such an expensive process that tho city housekeeper often finds it an economy to use beef extruct as a foundation for stock and meat sauces. A careless servant is usually wasteful of beef extract, not using every particle that clings to the spoon and throwing away the little pot without removing with hot water the particles that cling to the sides. If proper care is exercised, a small pot can be made to go a great way.