Household Hints

(from the book by Angela Kay) 1 Hints on making a Souffle. Beat whites stiffly, but fold in gently. Use greased dish. If it is a sweet souffle, sprinkle sugar over margarine. oven heat should be right.

2 For a crispy crust on fruit and mince pies, halfway through cooking, remove from oven, paint with beaten egg white, sprinkle sugar, return to oven.

3 For a perfect custard, stir with a plastic or wooden spoon, not a metal one.

4 Screw a few cup hooks inside the cupboard door to hang up strainers etc.

5 Mint topping for Ice Cream. Melt a few chocolate peppermint creams and pour over Vanilla Ice Cream.

6 Never add water when cooking Spinach. Enough water clings to its leaves when you wash it, to keep it moist, and prevent it from burning, so don’t add anymore or you will dilute its very special flavour.

7 To crisp celery, plunge into bowl of iced water, and keep it in the fridge for a few hours.

8 Why is flour sifted? To introduce air into the mixture, making a lighter end product.

9 If you drop an egg on the floor , and cause a mess, do not try to mop it up immediately. Sprinkle it with salt, and leave it until the salt has absorbed most of the moisture. It is then much easier to clean up.

10 Bake orange rinds in oven till dry and hard. Crush and use it to flavour cakes and puddings.

11 Crispy Roast Potatoes. Parboil them and drain. Dip in egg batter and then roast. 12 A sprinkling of grated lemon or orange rind makes an intriguing difference to hot buttered spaghetti or macaroni. 13

Roll pastry covered with a layer of transparent plastic film to prevent it sticking to the rolling pin. 14

Hang a slate/whiteboard in the kitchen to make a note of foodstuffs which are running low and need replacing. 15 Paper clips are useful for holding a hem in place for sewing ,and much quicker than tacking.

16 Rub soles of new shoes with sandpaper before going out in them , to make them less slippery.

17 A mountain of grubby germ laden hankies: Soak overnight in heavily salted water. Then wash in the usual way.

18 Cure for Insomnia. sprinkle pillow with Eau De Cologne which refreshes and somehow relaxes.

19 Blocked Sink. Pour a large handful of soda crystals around sink outlet area, and pour onto them a kettle full of boiling water. The soda will clear the grease faster.

20 Rusty curtain hooks can be restored to shiny brightness again, by soaking them overnight in vinegar. Rinse well. Dry in low oven.