THINGS WORTH KNOWING

502.—To Make Stale Bread Fresh

If stale bread be immersed in cold water for a moment or two, and rebaked for about an hour, it will be for the time in every respect equal to newly-baked bread; but the deception will be found out in the course of a few hours.

503.—How to Select and Keep Coffee

In purchasing coffee, always prefer the Mocha—a small roundish berry of a bluish tint. Never buy it roasted; a coffee-roaster can be procured at a reasonable price, and the trouble of roasting and grinding it at home is not very great. Let it be kept in a plain tin canister, and when roasted and ground transfer it to a smaller air-tight one, as nothing deteriorates coffee so much as exposure to the light and air after it has been roasted.

504.—Lettuce Salad

Salads should be very fresh, carefully washed, picked, and dried in a clean cloth, cut up separately, and put into the bowl only just before they are required for use. The salad mixture should be placed at the bottom of the bowl and the salad on top; if mixed, the leaves lose that crispness which is so delicious. Slices of beet, eggs, or boiled potatoes are placed on the top to garnish.

505.—Substitute for Cream in Tea or Coffee

Beat the white of an egg to a froth, and mix well with it a very small lump of butter; then add the coffee to it gradually, so that it may not curdle. If perfectly done, it will be an excellent substitute for cream.

506.—Another Way

Beat up, separately, the yolk and white of an egg; transfer them into a large cup, and pour over it sweetened coffee, scalding hot. Skim away the froth, and fill the coffee into a cup of the required size.

507.—To Protect Bed Linen and Curtains from Burning

Add an ounce of alum to the last water in which the linen and curtains are to be rinsed, and they will be rendered inflammable, or so slightly combustible that they would take fire very slowly, if at all. This is a simple precaution, and is recommended where there are children and in the sick chamber.

508.—To Prevent the Smoking of a Lamp

Soak the wick in strong vinegar, and dry it well before using it; it will then burn both sweet and pleasant, and give much satisfaction for the trifling trouble in preparing it.

509.—Transparent Paper

Paper can be made as transparent as glass, and capable of being substituted for many purposes, by spreading over it on both sides, with a feather, a very thin layer of resin dissolved in spirits of wine. Fine thin post paper is the best for the purpose.

510.—To Take Impressions of Leaves

A very beautiful and cheap way of taking impressions of leaves is to take a small quantity of bichromate of potass (say a teaspoonful), which may be had at any druggist’s or colourman’s shop; dissolve it in a saucerful of water, and pass the paper on which the impressions are to be taken through the solution; while wet press the leaves lightly upon it, and expose it to the sun, which should be shining powerfully. When perfectly dry, remove the leaves, and perfect facsimile will remain in a light lemon shade, while the rest of the paper will be of a dark brown tint. Bichrome, as it is generally termed, is in dark yellow crystals, which should be powdered previous to using it.

511.—To Take Impressions of Leaves on Silk, &c.

Prepare two rubbers by tying up wool, or any other substance, in wash-leather; then rub up with cold-drawn linseed oil the wished-for colours, as indigo for blue, chrome for yellow, &c.; dip the rubbers into the paint, and rub them one over the other, so that too much may not remain upon them; place a leaf on one of the rubbers and damp it with the other; take the leaf off and apply it to the silk, satin, paper, or other substance you wish stamped; place a piece of paper on the leaf, and rub it gently, and there will be a beautiful impression of all the veins. Leaves can only be used once; they should be nearly all the same size, or the pattern will not look uniform.

The End