Fill all saucepans with cold water as soon as done with and set aside;
when ready to wash them heat the water and it will be easy to scour
them with soda and sand. Never leave a pan to be dry before washing, as
it will be ten times harder to clean and probably require scraping.
Pour all fat that has been used for frying or baking into a jar
containing a few spoonfuls of boiling water; this clarifies the fat and
causes all crumbs and sediment to fall to the bottom. The fat can then
be lifted off in a cake and used over and over again.
Soup that has been over-salted can be corrected to some extent by
putting in raw potatoes and bringing up to the boiling-point again—not
letting the potatoes break up and spoil the colour of the soup.
Raw potatoes are one of the best preventives of scurvy, and can be
eaten if they are grated, while plain boiled potatoes, eaten hot or
cold, are the best corrective in a diet that contains too much salt
meat.
Sliced raw onions placed about in saucers are excellent disinfectants
where there is infectious sickness about; change at least every day and
substitute fresh onions. Small-pox and other fevers have been kept away
by having onions hanging in the room. Saucers of slaked lime are also
good disinfectants, particularly where there is any damp or bad smell
about.
To take the stains from steel knives clean first with damp earth, then
rub with a cork and some emery powder and methylated spirit, or with
powdered wood ash.