Helpful Hints / Miscellaneous |
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| Miscellaneous Items out of Graceland Cook Book
published in 1922. To Remove Iron Rust - Purchase ten cents' worth of oxalic acid; put in a pint bottle; fill with soft water and set away, ready for use. Do not use until ready to put garment into suds for washing, as it will eat the fabric. Hold garment in the sun and wet thoroughly. It will quickly disappear. Baking Powder - For 1 even tablespoon of best baking soda use 3 even tablespoons cream tartar, and for every teacup of the mixture use 1 even teaspoon of corn starch.. Sift through a sieve several times and put in a tight can. Baking Powder -- Ten ounces cream tartar, 5 ounces bicarbonate soda, 1 level tumbler corn starch. Mix thoroughly, usually sifting several times. This makes one quart of good, pure baking power. Salve Receipt -- One pound resin, 1 ounce balsam fir, 2 ounces bees' wax. 1/2 ounce linseed oil, 1 ounce Burgundy pitch, 1/2 ounce mutton tallow. Melt the resin and pitch in an iron skillet over a slow fire. When melted add bees' wax and tallow. Stir until it boils. Remove from fire, and in a few minutes add oil and balsam fir. When still hot pour into a pail of cold water and pull like taffy. Cut into sticks. Cool in water and wrap in paper. To Remove Mildew From Cloth - Put into a quart of water a teaspoon of chloride of lime. Strain, dip cloth in this solution, and lay in the sun. Repeat if necessary. To Remove Tar - Rub well with clean lard, afterward wash with soap and warm water. Apply this to either hands or clothing. To Keep Flowers - Flowers will keep much longer, it is said, if pounded charcoal is placed in the bottom of the vase. The flowers soon wither and decay when left in foul water, so this idea is reasonable and may be practical. Removing Ink Stains - In 2 quarts of water, previously boiled and cooled, dissolve 4 ounces of citric acid. Add 6 ounces of dissolved borax, which must be strained. To the same amount of water add a pound of chloride of lime. Keep the two separate. Bottle the mixtures and label. To remove ink from paper, cloth, or other absorbent substances, apply a little of the citric acid mixture, placing a blotting paper beneath to absorb the moisture. Rinse out the stain and apply the chloride of lime. Uses of Turpentine - Turpentine and soap will remove ink stains from muslin. A few drops in the boiling water will whiten cloths. Placed among furs and winter goods, will keep moths away. An equal mixture of turpentine and linseed oil will remove white marks made by water on furniture. A few drops placed in a bucket of water is good for brightening carpets when sweeping. When one has a severe cold in the lungs nothing relieves the pain more quickly than rubbing the throat and breast with turpentine. For Moths -- Cedar oil applied with a brush. Fruit Tree Solution -- Dissolve 3 bars of soap in 1 gallon of hot water. When cold stir in fifteen cents' worth of asafetida. This solution would be applied to trees when bark is dry, with a brush, twice a year, about may 25 and August 25. If this direction is followed, you will never be bothered with rabbits, meadow ice, or borers. Hair Tonic -- One ounce tincture blood root, 1 dram oil lavender, 4 ounces bay rum, 2 ounces olive oil, 3 ounces Palma Christa oil, 1 ounce soda borax, 1 ounce hartshorn. Mix well in 1 quart rainwater. Shake well. Excellent. To Remove Ink Stain -- Put at once into milk. Rub gently for a few minutes. If the stain has been allowed to dry use hot milk. For Cloths that Fade -- One ounce sugar of lead in a pail of rain water. Soak over night. |
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| Leon Reporter, Leon,
Iowa, 1896 Asbestos wicks are used for chafing dishes. If possible send out your dinner invitations at least ten days in advance. To light a candle hold the match on the side of the wick and not to the top. For the protection of your table have a covering of white felt or heavy cotton flannel. Clams are in season all the year round. Terrapin is in season from November to May. Bent whalebones may be straightened and made fit for use again by soaking in hot water, then straightened under a press until dry. Silk which has been badly wrinkled may be smoothed by sponging on the right side with weak gum arabic water and ironing on the wrong side. In polishing brass beds no liquids or polishing powders should be used, as either are apt to break the lacquer. All that should be used is a soft flannel rag. Cooking meat at a high and in a dry temperature develops a richer and a more savory flavor, so, when it is possible, it is well to brown the meat before adding water. Cracker jars made from silver or other metal, with a cover that fits closely, will keep the biscuit fresh longer than those made of china. To remove a glass stopper from a bottle, when it is tightly wedged in, hold the neck of the bottle over a lighted match or place in hot water a few moments. Heat will expand the glass. A piece of carbonate of ammonia the size of a small pea put into the water in which vegetables are cooked preserves the color. The ammonia evaporates in the boiling. It will also prevent the odor of boiling cabbage. Beef and mutton possess the greatest nutritive value of all meats. In choosing poultry young birds can be told by their having smooth legs and combs. Always select plump ones. A large chicken or turkey is much more economical to buy than a medium sized one. Here is an excellent method of removing grease spots from a waxed floor. Pour spirits of turpentine on the spot and give it time to soak into the wood. Then cover with powdered talc and press with a warm, but not very hot, iron. The talc will absorb the grease. Brush off and polish the place anew with wax. If clothespins are boiled a few minutes and quickly dried every few weeks it will cleanse them and make them more durable. If a tablespoonful of vinegar is added to the water in which tough meats or fowls are boiled it will tend to make them tender. A paste made of melted india rubber mixed with shellac varnish is the best thing to use for fastening leather trimmings on wood. If a strip of webbing two inches wide is sewed tightly on the under side of a rug, close to the edge, it will prevent the edges from curling. Warm bread and cake should be cut with a knife the blade of which has been heated by standing it in boiling water. Before commencing to seed raisins after the stems are removed cover the fruit with very hot water and let it stand for a few moments. Drain the water off and the seeds may then be removed quite easily. Spirits of turpentine is one of the most valuable articles for family use. Its medicinal qualities are very numerous. For burns it is a good application, and gives immediate relief; for blisters on the hands it is of priceless value; for corns on the toes it is useful, and it is beneficial for rheumatism and sore throats. For a quart of good lemonade take the juice of three lemons, using the rind of one. Peel the rind very thin, getting just the yellow outside. Cut this into little pieces and put with the juice and powdered sugar, of which use two ounces to the quart, in a jug or jar with a cover. When the water is just at the tea point, pour it over the lemon and sugar, cover at once and let it get cold. The "instantaneous" chocolates and cocoas are greatly improved by being brought to the boiling point. To remove a grease spot from wall paper, hold a piece of blotting paper over the spot with a hot flatiron for a few moments. Small cakes are no longer in demand at evening parties. Dainty fruit sandwiches have taken their place. Bread is cut very thin and lightly buttered and then spread with raisins, dates or candied cherries that have been chopped fine and moistened with orange juice, sherry or madeira. Roll and tie with baby ribbons. Lemonade or punch is served with these. According to a wholesale furniture dealer the best furniture polish is made of one-third alcohol and two-thirds sweet oil. Apply with a soft cloth and rub with another cloth. If small branches of lilacs, apple or cherry trees are now brought into the house and put in a sunny window in a pitcher of water the buds will soon swell and blossom. The pitcher should be kept filled, as the water evaporates rapidly. |
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| Pages formatted/reformatted by Conni McDaniel Hall during the 2020 pandemic! |
| Recipes *** Decatur County IAGenWeb |