Put four table-spoonfuls of the best grits (oatmeal coarsely
ground) into a pint of boiling water. Let it boil gently, and stir
it often, till it becomes as thick as you wish it. Then strain it,
and add to it while warm, butter, wine, nutmeg, or whatever is
thought proper to flavour it.
If you make the gruel of fine oatmeal, sift it, mix it first to a
thick batter with a little cold water, and then put it into the
sauce-pan of boiling water. Stir it all the time it is boiling,
lifting the spoon gently up and down, and letting the gruel fall
slowly back again into the pan.