*TEETH.--Honey mixed with pure pulverized charcoal is said to be
excellent to cleanse the teeth, and make them white. Lime-water with a
little Peruvian bark is very good to be occasionally used by those who
have defective teeth, or an offensive breath.
TAINTED BUTTER.--Some good cooks say that bad butter may be purified
in the following manner: Melt and skim it, then put into it a piece
of _well-toasted_ bread; in a few minutes the butter will lose its
offensive taste and smell; the bread will absorb it all. Slices
of potato fried in rancid lard will in a great measure absorb the
unpleasant taste.
TOMATOES PIE.--Tomatoes make excellent pies. Skins taken off with
scalding water, stewed twenty minutes or more, salted, prepared the
same as rich squash pies, only an egg or two more.
*It is a great improvement to the flavor of PUMPKIN PIES to boil the
milk, stir the sifted pumpkin into it, and let them boil up together
once or twice. The pumpkin swells almost as much as Indian meal, and
of course absorbs more milk than when stirred together cold; but the
taste of the pie is much improved.
Some people cut pumpkin, string it, and dry it like apples. It is a
much better way to boil and sift the pumpkin, then spread it out thin
in tin plates, and dry hard in a warm oven. It will keep good all the
year round, and a little piece boiled up in milk will make a batch of
pies.
*Most people think BRASS KETTLES for washing are not as likely to
collect verdigris, if they are never cleaned in any other way than by
washing in strong soap suds just before they are used.
INK SPOTS.--If soaked in warm milk before the ink has a chance to dry,
the spot may usually be removed. If it has dried in, rub table-salt
upon it, and drop lemon-juice upon the salt. This answers nearly as
well as the salts of lemon sold by apothecaries. If a lemon cannot
be easily procured, vinegar, or sorrel-juice, will answer. White soap
diluted with vinegar is likewise a good thing to take out ink spots.
STARCH.--Frozen potatoes yield more flour for starch than fresh ones.
The frost may be taken out by soaking them in cold water a few hours
before cooking; if frozen very hard, it may be useful to throw a
little saltpetre into the water.
FEATHERS.--It is said that tumbled plumes may be restored to
elasticity and beauty by dipping them in hot water, then shaking and
drying them.
ICY STEPS.--Salt strewed upon the door-steps in winter will cause the
ice to crack, so that it can be easily removed.
FLOWERS.--Flowers may be preserved fresh in tumblers or vases by
putting a handful of salt in the water, to increase its coldness.
WHITE-WASHING is said to last longer if the new-slaked lime be mixed
with skim-milk.
HORSE-FLIES.--Indigo-weed stuck plentifully about the harness tends
to keep flies from horses. Some make a decoction of indigo-weed, and
others of pennyroyal, and bathe horses with it, to defend them from
insects.
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