RECEIPTS FOR FOOD AND DRINKS FOR THE SICK.
_General Remarks on the Preparation of Articles for the Sick._
Always have everything you use very sweet and clean, as the sense of
taste and smell are very sensitive in sickness. Never cook articles for
the sick over a smoke or blaze, as you will thus impart a smoky taste.
When the mixture is thick, stir often to prevent burning. Be very
careful, in putting in seasoning, not to put in _too much_, as it is
easy to add, but not to subtract.
The nicest way to flavor with orange or lemon peel, is to rub loaf
sugar on the peel till the oil is absorbed into it, and then use the
sugar to flavor and sweeten. Herbs and spice, when boiled to flavor,
should be tied in a rag, as they will not then burn on to the vessel at
the edges.
Always have a shawl at hand, also a clean towel, a clean handkerchief,
and a small waiter when you present food or drink. Many of the articles
for desserts and evening parties are good for the sick.
_An Excellent Relish for a Convalescent._
Cut some codfish to bits the size of a pea, and boil it a minute in
water to freshen it. Pour off all the water, and add some cream and a
little pepper.
Split and toast a Boston cracker, and put the above upon it. Milk with
a little butter may be used instead of cream.
Ham or smoked beef may be prepared in the same way. For a variety, beat
up an egg and stir it in, instead of cream, or with the cream.
These preparations are also good for a relish for a family at breakfast
or tea.
_Several Ways of Preparing Chickens for the Sick._
_Chicken tea_ is made by boiling any part of the chicken, and using the
broth weak with only a little salt.
_Chicken broth_ is made by boiling a chicken a good deal, and skimming
very thoroughly and seasoning with salt. A little rice, or pearl barley
improves it, or a little parsley may be used to flavor it.
_Chicken panada_ is made by pounding some of the meat of boiled chicken
in a mortar, with a little broth, and also a little salt and nutmeg.
Then pour in a little broth and boil it five minutes. It should be a
thick broth.
_Milk Porridge._
Make a thin batter with Indian meal and wheat flour, a spoonful of
each, and pour it into a quart of boiling milk and water, equal
portions of each. Salt it to the taste. Boil ten minutes.
_Rice Gruel, and Oatmeal Gruel._
Make a thin paste of ground rice or Indian meal, and pour into boiling
water, or boiling milk and water. Let the rice boil up once, but the
corn meal must boil half an hour. Season with salt, sugar, and nutmeg.
A little cream is a great improvement.
_Arrowroot and Tapioca Gruels._
Jamaica arrowroot is the best. Make a thin paste, and pour into boiling
water, and flavor with sugar, salt, and nutmeg. A little lemon juice
improves it.
Tapioca must be soaked in twice the quantity of water over night, then
add milk and water, and boil till it is soft. Flavor as above.
_Dropped Egg._
Salt some boiling water, and drop in it a raw egg out of the shell,
taking care not to break the yolk; take it up as soon as the white is
hardened. Dip some toast in hot water, and put salt or butter on to it,
and lay the egg on the top.
_Wheat Gruel for Young Children with weak stomachs, or for Invalids._
Tie half a pint of wheat flour in thick cotton, and boil it three or
four hours; then dry the lump and grate it when you use it. Prepare a
gruel of it by making a thin paste, and pouring it into boiling milk
and water, and flavor with salt. This is good for teething children.
_Another Panada._
Boil a mixture of one-fourth wine, and three-fourths water, and flavor
it with nutmeg or lemon. Stir in grated bread or crackers, and let it
boil up once.
_Herb Drinks._
Balm tea is often much relished by the sick. Sage tea also is good.
Balm, sage, and sorrel, mixed with sliced lemon and boiling water
poured on, and then sweetened, is a fine drink. Pennyroyal makes a good
drink to promote perspiration.
Herb drinks must often be renewed, as they grow insipid by standing.
_Other Simple Drinks._
Pour boiling water on to tamarinds, or mashed cranberries, or mashed
whortleberries, then pour off the water and sweeten it. Add a little
wine if allowed.
Toast bread very brown, and put it in cold water, and it is often
relished. Pour boiling water on to bread toasted very brown, and boil
it a minute, then strain it, and add a little cream and sugar. Make a
tea of parched corn pounded, and add sugar and cream.
_Cream Tartar Whey._
Warm a pint of fresh milk, when scalding hot, stir in a teaspoonful
of cream tartar, and if this does not turn it, add more, till it does.
Strain it, and sweeten with loaf sugar. Those who cannot eat wine whey
can eat this without trouble, and it is good in fevers.
_Simple Wine Whey._
Mix equal quantities of water, milk, and white wine. Warm the milk and
water, and then add the wine. Sweeten it to the taste.
_A great Favorite with Invalids._
Take one third brisk cider and two thirds water, sweeten it, and crumb
in toasted bread, or toasted crackers, and grate on nutmeg. Acid
jellies will answer for this, when cider cannot be obtained.
_A New Way of making Barley Water._
Put two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley into a quart jug, two great
spoonfuls of white sugar, a small pinch of salt, a small bit of orange,
or lemon peel, and a glass of calve’s foot jelly, and then fill the jug
with _boiling_ water. Shake it, and then let it stand till quite cold.
It is best made over night, to use next day. When the liquor is all
poured off, it may be filled again with boiling water, and it is again
very good.
_Panada._
Take two crackers, pour on boiling water, and let it simmer five
minutes; beat up an egg, sweeten and flavor it to your taste, and then
put the cracker to it.
_Arrowroot Blanc Mange._
Take two tablespoonfuls of arrowroot to one quart of milk, and a pinch
of salt. Scald the milk, sweeten it, and then stir in the arrowroot,
which must first be wet up with some of the milk. Let it boil up once.
Orange water, rose water, or lemon peel, can be used to flavor it. Pour
it into moulds to cool.
_Rice Flour Blanc Mange._
Four tablespoonfuls of ground rice and a pinch of salt wet up with a
little milk and stirred into a quart of boiling milk. Rub the rind of
a lemon with hard, refined sugar, till all the oil is absorbed, and
use the sugar to sweeten to your taste. Boil, stirring well, for eight
minutes; then cool it, and add the whites of three eggs cut to a froth.
Put it on to the fire, and stir constantly till boiling hot, then turn
it into moulds, or cups, and let it stand till cold.
_Another Receipt for American Isinglass Jelly._
One ounce of gelatine, or American isinglass.
Three pints of boiling water.
A pound and a half of loaf sugar.
Three lemons, cut in slices, leaving out the peel of one.
The whites of four eggs, cut to a stiff froth.
Soak the isinglass half an hour in cold water, then take it out and
pour on the boiling water. When cool, add the sugar, lemon, and
whites of eggs; boil all three or four minutes, then strain through a
jelly-bag, and add wine to your taste.
_Tapioca Jelly._
One cup full of tapioca.
Wash it two or three times, soak it in water, for five or six hours.
Then simmer it in the same water in which it has been soaked, with
a pinch of salt and bits of fresh lemon peel, until it becomes
transparent. Then add lemon juice, wine, and loaf sugar to flavor it.
Let all simmer well together, then pour into glasses to cool.
_Caudle._
To rice, or water gruel, add a wine-glass of wine, or ale, and season
with nutmeg and sugar.
_Sago Jelly._
Soak a tea-cup full of sago in cold water, half an hour, then pour
off the water, and add fresh, and soak it another half hour; and then
boil it slowly with a pinch of salt, a stick of cinnamon, or a bit of
orange, or lemon peel, stirring constantly. When thickened, add wine
and white sugar to suit the taste, and let it boil a minute; then turn
it into cups.
_Spiced Chocolate._
One quart of milk.
Two squares of chocolate.
One stick of cinnamon.
A little nutmeg.
Grate the chocolate. Boil the milk, reserving a little cold to moisten
the chocolate, which must be mixed perfectly smooth to a thin paste.
When the milk boils (in which the cinnamon must be put when cold, and
boil in it), stir in the chocolate, and let it boil up quickly, then
pour into a pitcher, and grate on the nutmeg. Rich cream added to the
milk, will improve it.
_Barley Water._
Put two ounces of pearl barley to half a pint of boiling water, and
let it simmer five minutes; pour off the water, and add two quarts of
boiling water, add two ounces sliced figs, two of stoned raisins, and
boil till it is reduced to a quart. Strain it for drink.
_Water Gruel._
To two quarts of boiling water, add one gill of Indian meal and a
heaped tablespoonful of flour, made into a paste and stirred in the
water. Let it boil slowly twenty minutes. Salt, sugar, and nutmeg to
the taste.
Oatmeal makes a fine gruel in the same way.
_Beef Tea._
Broil a pound of tender, juicy beef ten minutes, salt and pepper it,
cut it in small pieces, pour on a pint of boiling water, steep it half
an hour, and then pour it off to drink. Another way is slower, but
better. Cut the beef in small pieces, fill a junk bottle with them,
and keep it five hours in boiling water. Then pour out, and season the
juice thus obtained.
_Tomato Syrup._
Express the juice of ripe tomatoes, and put a pound of sugar to each
quart of the juice, put it in bottles, and set it aside. In a few weeks
it will have the appearance and flavor of pure wine of the best kind,
and mixed with water is a delightful beverage for the sick. No alcohol
is needed to preserve it.
The medical properties of the tomato are in high repute, and it is
supposed that this syrup retains all that is contained in the fruit.
_Arrowroot Custard for Invalids._
One tablespoonful of arrowroot.
One pint of milk. One egg.
One tablespoonful of sugar.
Mix the arrowroot with a little of the cold milk, put the milk into
a sauce-pan over the fire, and when it boils, stir in the arrowroot
and the egg and sugar, well beaten together. Let it scald, and pour
into cups to cool. A little cinnamon boiled in the milk flavors it
pleasantly.
_Sago for Invalids._
Wash one large spoonful of sago, boil it in a little water, with a
pinch of salt and one or two sticks of cinnamon, until it looks clear;
then add a pint of milk, boil all well together, and sweeten with loaf
sugar.
_Rice Jelly._
Make a thin paste of two ounces of rice flour, and three ounces of loaf
sugar, and boil them in a quart of water till transparent. Flavor with
rose, orange, or cinnamon water. It can be made also by boiling whole
rice long and slowly. A pinch of salt improves it.
_Sassafras Jelly._
Take the pith of sassafras boughs, break it in small pieces, and let
it soak in cold water till the water becomes glutinous. It has the
flavor of sassafras, and is much relished by the sick, and is also good
nourishment.
_Buttermilk Whey._
One quart of good buttermilk. When boiling, beat up the yolk of an egg,
and stir in, and, if it can be allowed, some thick cream, or a little
butter. Then beat the white to a stiff froth and stir in. Sugar and
spice if liked.
_Alum Whey._
Mix half an ounce of pounded alum with one pint of milk. Strain it, and
add sugar and nutmeg to the whey. It is good in cases of hemorrhages,
and sometimes for colic.
_Another Wine Whey._
One pint of boiling milk.
Two wine-glasses of wine.
Boil them one moment, stirring.
Take out the curd, and sweeten and flavor the whey.
_Mulled Wine._
One pint of wine and one pint of water.
Beat eight eggs and add to the above, while boiling, stirring rapidly.
As soon as it begins to boil it is done.
_Tamarind Whey._
Mix an ounce of tamarind pulp with a pint of milk, strain it, and add a
little white sugar to the whey.
_Egg Tea and Egg Coffee_ (_very fine_).
Beat the yolk of an egg with a great spoonful of sugar, and put it to a
tea-cup of cold tea or cold coffee. Add a half a tea-cup of water, cold
in summer and boiling in winter, and as much cream. Then whip the white
of the egg to a stiff froth and stir it in. It is very much relished by
invalids.
_Cranberry Tea._
Wash ripe cranberries, mash them, pour boiling water on them, and then
strain off the water and sweeten it, and grate on nutmeg.
_Apple Tea._
Take good pippins, slice them thin, pour on boiling water, and let it
stand some time. Pour off the water, and sweeten and flavor it.
_Egg and Milk._
Beat the yolk of an egg into a great spoonful of white sugar, or more.
Add a coffee cup of good milk, then beat the white of the egg to a
stiff froth, and stir it in. A little wine, or nutmeg to flavor it.
_Sago Milk._
Soak one ounce of sago in a pint of cold water an hour. Pour off the
water, and add a pint and a half of new milk. Simmer it slowly till the
sago and milk are well mixed. Flavor with sugar, nutmeg, and wine.
_Tapioca Milk._
Made like sago milk, only not boiled so long.
_Bread and Milk._
Take a slice of good bread and soak it in milk, and then put on a
little butter, and it is often very acceptable to the sick. In some
cases sprinkle a little salt on instead of butter.
_Egg Gruel._
Beat the yolk of an egg with a spoonful of white sugar, and then beat
the white separately, to a stiff froth. Pour water when boiling to the
yolk, then stir in the white and add spice, or any seasoning, to suit
the taste. When a person has taken a violent cold, after being warm in
bed give this as hot as it can be taken, and it is often a perfect cure.
_Ground Rice Gruel._
Take two tablespoonfuls of ground rice, and a pinch of salt, and mix
it with milk enough for a thin batter. Stir it with a pint of boiling
water, or boiling milk, and flavor with sugar and spice.
_Oatmeal Gruel._
Four tablespoonfuls of _grits_ (coarse oatmeal) and a pinch of salt,
into a pint of boiling water. Strain and flavor it while warm.
Or, take fine oatmeal and make a thin batter with a little cold water,
and pour it into a sauce-pan of boiling water.
_Simple Barley Water._
Take two ounces and a half of pearl barley, cleanse it, and boil it
ten minutes in half a pint of water. Strain out this water and add two
quarts of boiling water, and boil it down to one quart. Then strain it,
and flavor it with slices of lemon and sugar, or sugar and nutmeg.
This is very acceptable to the sick in fevers.
_Compound Barley Water._
Take two pints of simple barley water, a pint of hot water, two and a
half ounces of sliced figs, half an ounce of liquorice root sliced and
bruised, and two ounces and a half of raisins. Boil all down to two
pints, and strain it. This is slightly aperient.
_Cream Tartar Beverage._
Take two even teaspoonfuls of cream tartar, and pour on a pint of
boiling water, and flavor it with white sugar and lemon peel to suit
the taste. If this is too acid, add more _boiling_ water, as cold, or
lukewarm water, is not so good.
_Seidlitz Powders._
Two drachms of Rochelle salts, and two scruples of bicarbonate of soda,
in a white paper; thirty-five grains of tartaric acid in a blue one.
Dissolve that in the white paper in nearly half a tumbler of water,
then add the other powder, dissolved in another half tumbler of water.
Syrup mixed with the water makes it more agreeable. It is a gentle
laxative.
_Blackberry Syrup, for Cholera and Summer Complaint._
Two quarts of blackberry juice.
One pound of loaf sugar.
Half an ounce of nutmegs.
A quarter of an ounce of cloves.
Half an ounce of cinnamon.
Half an ounce of allspice.
Pulverize the spice, and boil all for fifteen or twenty minutes. When
cold, add a pint of brandy.
_Remarks on the Combinations of Cooking._
The preceding receipts have been tested by the best housekeepers.
In reviewing them, it will be seen that there are several ways of
combining the various articles, all of which have, in the hands of
good housekeepers, proved successful. Still it will be found that some
methods are more successful than others.
In most cases, the receipts have been written as given by the ladies,
who endorse them as _the best_. But it is believed that the following
general rules will enable a housekeeper to modify some of them to
advantage.
In using _the whites of eggs_, it is found, as shown by several
receipts, that various combinations are much lighter when they are cut
to a froth, and put in _the last thing_. This is so in batter puddings,
and several other receipts. It seems, therefore, probable that in all
cases, cake and pies, and puddings that will allow it, will be lighter
by adding the cut whites of the eggs _the last minute before cooking_.
Sponge cake especially would most probably be most easily made light by
this method.
In using alkalies with acids to raise mixtures, the poorest is
pearlash, the next best is saleratus; bicarbonate of soda is still
better, and sal volatile is best of all.
But one thing must be remembered in reference to sal volatile, and
that is, that the lightness made by it is owing to the disengagement
of the gas by _heat_. It is mixed with the flour, and when set in the
oven, the heat volatilizes and expels the gas, and thus the lightness
is induced. Of course _hot_ water must not be used to dissolve it, as
it would expel much of the gas. Sal volatile must be kept powdered, and
closely confined in glass bottles with ground glass stoppers. It is
certain to make any mixture light that can be raised by anything.
Cream tartar is best bought in lumps, and then pulverized and kept
corked.
When saleratus is used with sour milk or buttermilk, the flour should
be wet up with the sour milk, and then the alkali dissolved, and worked
in. This makes the effervescence take place _in the mixture_; whereas,
if the alkali is put into the sour liquid, much of the carbonic acid
generated is lost before it reaches the flour.
In all cases, then, where saleratus is used with acid wetting, it would
seem best to wet up the flour with at least a part of the sour liquid,
before putting in the alkali.
When the alkali is a light powder, it may sometimes be mixed thoroughly
with the flour, and then the sour liquid be mixed in. The experiment
can be made by any who like to learn the result. A lady who understands
chemistry may often improve her receipts by applying chemical
principles. All the lightness made by an acid and an alkali is owing
to the disengagement of carbonic acid, which is retained by the gluten
of the flour. Of course, then, that mode is best which secures most
effectually all the carbonic acid generated by the combination.
Cooking is often much improved by a judicious use of _sugar_ or
_molasses_. Thus, in soups, a very little sugar, say half a teaspoonful
to the quart, gives _body_ to the soup, and just about as much
sweetness as is found in the juices of the best and sweetest kinds of
meat. It is very good when the meats used are of inferior kind, and
destitute of sweetness. So in preparing vegetables that are destitute
of sweetness, a little sugar is a great improvement. Mashed turnips,
squash, and pumpkin, are all of them much improved by extracting all
the water, and adding a little sugar, especially so when they are poor.
A little molasses always improves all bread or cakes made of unbolted
wheat or rye.
A little lard or butter always improves cakes made of Indian meal, as
it makes them light and tender.
The careful use of _salt_ is very important in cooking. Everything is
better to have the salt cooked in it, but there should always be a
_little less_ salt than most would like, as it is easy for those who
wish more to add it, but none can subtract it.
When the shortening is butter, no salt is needed in cakes and puddings,
but in all combinations that have no salt in shortening, it must be
added. A little salt in sponge cake, custards, and the articles used
for desserts, made of gelatine, rice, sago, and tapioca, is a great
improvement, giving both _body_ and flavor.