The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking Part 29

MUTTON BROTH.

Made as chicken broth. Any strong stock, from which the fat has been taken, answers for broths.

OATMEAL GRUEL.

Have ready, in a double boiler, one quart of boiling water with a teaspoonful of salt, and sprinkle in two tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal.

Boil an hour; then strain, and serve with cream or milk and sugar if ordered. Farina gruel is made in the same way.

INDIAN OR CORN MEAL GRUEL.

One quart of boiling water; one teaspoonful of salt. Mix three tablespoonfuls of corn meal with a little cold water, and stir in slowly.

Boil one hour; strain and serve, a cupful at once.

MILK PORRIDGE.

One quart of boiling milk; two tablespoonfuls of flour mixed with a little cold milk and half a teaspoonful of salt. Stir into the milk, and boil half an hour.

Strain and serve. If allowed, a handful of raisins and a little grated nutmeg may be boiled with it.

WINE WHEY.

Boil one cup of new milk, and add half a wine-gla.s.s of good sherry or Madeira wine. Boil a minute; strain, and use with or without sugar as liked.

EGG-NOG.

One egg; one tablespoonful of sugar; half a cup of milk; one tablespoonful of wine.

Beat the sugar and yolk to a cream; add the wine, and then the milk. Beat the white to a stiff froth, and stir in very lightly.

Omit the milk where more condensed nourishment is desired.

ARROW-ROOT OR RICE JELLY.

Two heaping teaspoonfuls of either arrow-root or rice flour; a pinch of salt; a heaping tablespoonful of sugar; one cup of boiling water.

Mix the flour with a little cold water, and add to the boiling water. Boil until transparent, and pour into cups or small molds. For a patient with summer complaint, flavor by boiling a stick of cinnamon in it. For a fever patient add the juice of quarter of a lemon.

DR. GAUNT'S RICE JELLY.

Take four tablespoonfuls of rice, and boil it hard in three pints of water for twenty minutes. Let simmer for two hours. Then force through fine hair strainer, and allow it to cool. Place in an ice chest over night.

DIRECTIONS FOR USE.

Dissolve two tablespoonfuls of the rice jelly in each one-half pint of milk.

RICE WATER FOR DRINK.

One quart of boiling water; a pinch of salt; one tablespoonful of rice or rice flour. Boil half an hour, and strain.

TOAST WATER.

Toast two slices of bread very brown, but do not scorch. Put in a pitcher, and while hot pour on one quart of cold water. Let it stand half an hour, and it is ready for use.

CRUST COFFEE.

Two thick slices of graham or Boston brown bread toasted as brown as possible. Pour on one pint of boiling water, and steep ten minutes. Serve with milk and sugar, like coffee.

BEEF JUICE.

Broil a thick piece of beef steak three minutes. Squeeze all the juice with a lemon-squeezer into a cup; salt very lightly, and give like beef tea.

JELLY AND ICE.

Break ice in bits no bigger than a pea. A large pin will break off bits from a lump very easily. To a tablespoonful add one of wine jelly broken up. It is very refres.h.i.+ng in fever.

PANADA.

Lay in a bowl two Boston or graham crackers split; sprinkle on a pinch of salt, and cover with boiling water. Set the bowl in a saucepan of boiling water, and let it stand half an hour, till the crackers look clear. Slide into a hot saucer without breaking, and eat with cream and sugar. As they are only good hot, do just enough for the patient's appet.i.te at one time.

MILK TOAST.

Toast one or two thin slices of bread; dip quickly in a little salted boiling water, and spread on a little b.u.t.ter. Boil a teacupful of milk; thicken with a teaspoonful of flour mixed in a little cold water with a pinch of salt; lay the toast in a small, hot, deep plate, and pour over the milk. Cream toast is made in the same way.

BEEF SANDWICH.

Two or three tablespoonfuls of raw, very tender beef, sc.r.a.ped fine, and spread between two slices of slightly b.u.t.tered bread. Sprinkle on pepper and salt.

PREPARED FLOUR.

Tie a pint of flour tightly in a cloth, and boil for four hours. Sc.r.a.pe off the outer crust, and the inside will be found to be a dry ball. Grate this as required, allowing one tablespoonful wet in cold milk to a pint of boiling milk, and boiling till smooth. Add a saltspoonful of salt. This is excellent for summer complaint, whether in adults or children. The beaten white of an egg can also be stirred in if ordered. If this porridge is used from the beginning of the complaint, little or no medicine will be required.

PARCHED RICE.