The Indian Cookery Book, - [classic books for 11 year olds txt] 📗

on the gloves and wash

them, as though you were washing your hands, in a basin of spirits of

turpentine, until quite clean; hang them up in a warm place, or where

there is a good current of air, which will carry off all smell of the

turpentine.

 

496.—To Clean Feathers

 

To every gallon of water allow half a pound of quicklime; stir the

mixture well, and let it stand a night; then pour off the water that

is perfectly clear, put the feathers to be cleaned into a deep tub,

and pour in as much lime-water as will cover them; let them stand two

or three days, stirring them frequently; then put them into a bag, and

wash them thoroughly in cold water; turn them out on sieves, and wring

the water from them by squeezing them in small portions with the

hands, after which they may be separated, the hard quills picked out,

and the down stripped from the large feathers. When they are thus

carefully cleaned, lay them on a floor where air can be freely

admitted; turn and shake them frequently, and when dry, put them into

bags, and beat them on a knocking-stone with a knocker.

 

497.—To Wash Lace

 

Place the lace in folds, and baste it on each side; lay it in cold

water for a night, and wash it in cold water with the best white soap;

gently rub and squeeze it; wash it in three or four waters with the

soap, and rinse it well in clean water; then put it into thin starch

or rice-water; take out the basting thread, and spread it on a blanket

upon a bed to dry; when it is nearly so, pick it out, and lay it in

folds, and when quite dry, lay it in an old cambric handkerchief, and

then in the folds of a towel; put it upon the rug, or upon a blanket

laid upon a stone, and with a heavy wooden pestle, or rolling-pin,

beat it hard till it looks quite smooth. A scarf or veil, after being

starched, should be pinned out tight upon a cloth on the floor, and

when dry, beaten in the same manner.

 

498.—To Wash Head and Clothes Brushes

 

Put a dessertspoonful of pearl-ashes into a pint of boiling-water, and

shake the brush about in it till it is perfectly clean; then pour some

clean hot water over it; shake, and dry it before the fire.

 

499.—To Clean Gold Chains, Earrings, &c.

 

Make a lather of soap and water, and boil the chain in it for a few

minutes; immediately on taking it out, lay it in magnesia powder which

has been heated by the fire, and when dry, rub it with flannel; if

embossed, use a brush.

 

500.—To Clean Plate

 

Boil an ounce each of cream of tartar, alum, and common salt in a

gallon of water; put the plate in and boil it, and when taken out and

rubbed dry it will have a fine polish. Plate, when laid aside, will

generally tarnish, but if cleaned by this method at stated periods, it

will always look well.

 

501.—To Clean Marble

 

Sift through a fine sieve two parts of common soda, one of

pumice-stone, and one of finely-powdered chalk, and mix it with water;

rub it well all over the marble, and the stains will be removed; then

wash the marble with soap and water, and it will be perfectly clean.

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

airtight 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 Indian Cookery Book by Anonymous