SICK-ROOM COOKERY

Mustard Poultices. — Dry mustard, cold water.

Mix enough cold water with the mustard to make it into a thick paste ; when quite smooth spread it upon a piece of thin old linen, or cotton ; sew it round so as to form a bag. Be careful not to make the poultice larger than required ; hold it to the fire for a few minutes, so as not to chill your patient ; time, from fifteen to

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thirty minutes ; have ready a piece of clean soft cotton, or a piece of clean wadding, and when you take off the mustard poultice, put on the wadding or the cotton.

Bread and milk poultice. — Stale bread, cold milk.

Boil bread with enough milk to make a thick pulp ; spread it on a piece of soft cotton, and apply it very hot. This poultice is often applied without a cloth between it and the affected part, but poultices put into a bag are cleaner and easier rewarmed. Bread poultices are cleansing and soothing.

Linseed meal poultices. — Linseed meal, boiling water. •

Put sufficient meal to make the poultice the size required into a hot bowl, and pour on boiling water enough to make a soft paste ; beat quickly for three minutes, or till it looks oily. Have ready a flannel, or cotton bag, the size required ; pour in the paste, sew up the mouth of the bag quickly. Apply the poultice to the affected part as hot as can be borne.

If ordered with mustard, mix a tablespoonful of dry mustard with the meal. Good for inflammation.

Fomentation of camomile flowers. — Two ounces camomile flowers.

Put into a jar with 2 teacupfuls of water, cover jar very close, let it come to the boil, and infuse for fifteen minutes, keeping lid close on jar all the time; strain off the hot liquor, keep it hot, dip pieces of flannel into it, and apply externally to the part affected. Good to allay swelling and inflammation.

Bran poultice. — Make it like porridge, and put it into a bag. Be sure not to make it so soft that any water will trickle down to annoy the patient.

Linseed or flaxseed jelly for a cough. — One pound linseed, 1 large lemon, one-fourth pound raisins, one-half pound sugar.

Boil the linseed in 2 quarts of water, then let it simmer for three hours ; strain ; return to the pot with raisins and pulp of lemon, and simmer, without boiling, one hour ; strain again, add the sugar. Take a teaspoonful (two or three times a day). This is very good.

Gruel. — Two tablespoonfuls of oatmeal, 2 cups of cold water, half teaspoonful sugar, pinch of salt.

Put the oatmeal into a bowl with the cold water, let it stand for fifteen minutes ; then with a spoon press all the water from the oat- meal, and pour into the pan, leaving the meal as dry as possible ; put the pan on the fire, and stir it till it boils ; then simmer for ten minutes, add the sugar, and serve hot.

38 COOKERY FOR WORKING-MEN'S WIVES.

Some prefer gruel without sugar, and some with milk instead of water, or a little butter and a scrape of nutmeg.

Barley water. — Two tablespoonfuls of barley, 2 quarts of water, 1 tablespoonful of sugar.

Wash the barley well ; put the barley and water into a sauce- pan and bring it to the boil ; then boil very slowly for two hours, strain it, add sugar, and let it cool. Barley water is very cooling and nourishing. The barley may afterwards be used for a pudding, or put into soup.

Beef tea. — One-half pound gravy beef, 2 gills water.

Cut the beef very small; put it into a jar, sprinkle a very little salt over it to draw out the juice of the meat quickly, add the water, cover the jar with paper twisted close over it ; let it stand for half an hour; place the jar in a pan of boiling water; keep it boiling for half an hour, and you will have good, nutritious beef tea, easily digested by an invalid.

Veal tea. — One pound veal, 1 large cup of water.

Cut the veal up very small, sprinkle a very little salt over it ; put it into a jar, add the water, cover closely with paper ; let it stand for half an hour; place the jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and let it boil for two hours.

Suet or milk porridge for invalids. — One tablespoonful suet, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 1 teacup of milk, a little salt.

Mince the suet very fine; mix milk and flour till smooth, then put into a pan ; add suet and a pinch of salt ; boil very gently for ten minutes, and serve hot. This is very good and nourishing, especially for those who can not take cod liver oil.

Fish for an invalid. — One small fish, a small sprig of parsley, 1 tablespoonful of milk.

Get a nice, fresh white fish ; clean it well ; put it into a small jelly jar with the milk and parsley well washed, cover very closely with paper, and set it in a saucepan of boiling water at the side of the fire for half an hour. This is a very light way of cooking fish for an invalid. It can be skinned and boned if preferred.

Egg with tea, coffee, cocoa, or milk. — Break the egg into a tea- cup, beat with a fork till well mixed ; pour in the tea, coffee, cocoa, or milk, gradually stirring all the time. This is very nourishing, and good in cases of exhaustion from overwork or strain.

Lemonade. — One lemon, a large cup of boiling water.

Roll the lemon on the table to soften it ; pare the rind very thin (for the white part is very bitter), squeeze the juice into a jug, taking care not to let any pips in, as they are too bitter, add the

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lemon rind and the boiling water, cover the jug; let it stand till cold, strain and use. Very cooling.

For a pleasant drink add a teaspoonful of sugar ; but not in cases of sickness.

Breadberry, or toast water. — One slice bread, a large cup of boiling water.

Toast the bread on both sides till quite dry and a nice brown, but not burnt; break it, and put it in a jug, pour the boiling water over it, and cover ; let it stand till cold, and strain. Cooling.

Koumiss, or milk wine. — One quart buttermilk, 2 quarts sweet milk, 4 teaspoonfuls sugar.

Mix the buttermilk and sweet milk together, add the sugar, and stir till melted. Let it stand near the kitchen fire for twelve hours covered with a cloth, then bottle. As it is an effervescing drink, the cork must be tied down and the bottles kept on their sides. When the koumiss is opened it should be used.

To ascertain the length of time required for roasting, weigh the meat, and allow a quarter of an hour to every pound, and one- quarter of an hour over. If, however, the piece of meat is very thick, allow half an hour over. Young and white meat (veal, lamb, pork,) requires twenty minutes to each pound, and twenty minutes over. They are unwholesome when underdone.

Before beginning to roast sweep up the hearth and make up a large fire in a well-polished fireplace an hour before it is wanted, so as to have it bright and glowing. Do not let the fire go down while the meat is roasting; add small pieces of coal or large cinders occasionally so as to keep it up. Hang the meat, by the small end, to the hook of the jack. When there is no jack the meat may be hooked to a skein of twisted worsted, suspended from a hook projected from the mantel shelf. Wind up the jack, or twist the worsted, so as to make it spin slowly. Place the dripping- pan under the joint. If you have a meat screen, see that it is bright (so as to throw back the heat upon the joint), and place it before the fire. Meat should be placed for the first ten minutes as near the fire as possible, without scorching ; the great heat hardens the outside, and keeps in the juices. Baste it as soon as the fat melts. Basting prevents the meat from becoming dry and scorched. Then withdraw the meat 18 or 20 inches from the fire, and baste it very frequently while roasting with the dripping pro- duced by the melting of the fat. If the meat is lean it must be

40 COOKERY FOR WORKING-MEN'S WIVES.

basted with dripping melted for the purpose. The meat may be dredged with flour a quarter of an hour before it is quite ready, to make it browner and to thicken the gravy a little. When it is ready and placed on the ashet, sprinkle it with a little salt. Before making sauce of the brown gravy pour away the dripping from the dripping-pan (keep this dripping for other purposes) ; add a little boiling water to the brown gravy left in the pan ; mix well ; add a little salt, and pour it round the roast, not over, or it will sodden the meat.

To roast meat in the oven. — Place the meat in a baking tin, in a very hot part of the oven, for five minutes, to harden the outside and keep in the juice. Baste it as soon as the fat melts ; then re- move it to a cooler part. Place beside it a cup, or basin, of water to keep the air of the oven moist without cooling it. Baste the meat frequently. For the length of time required, see preceding directions.

All ovens in which meat is cooked should be properly ven- tilated, in order to allow the escape of an injurious vapor produced by meat when cooked in a close oven. Meat roasted in the oven is not considered so digestible as when roasted before the fire.

Roasting in the pot or saucepan. — This way of roasting is espe- cially suitable for small pieces of meat, and is far more economical, because of the small quantity of fuel required. Melt and heat a tablespoonful of dripping in a pot. Brown all sides of the meat in this, so as to harden the outside and keep in the juices. Then draw the pot to the side of the fire and let the meat cook slowly with the lid on, basting it frequently. Time required, same as in previous directions.

To fry a steak. — Having got your steak, which must not be thinner than half an inch, and not thicker than an inch, take the suet, which is always given with the steak, chop it fine ; see that your pan is perfectly clean and dry. Place the pan on the fire with the suet; let it remain until the suet is melted and rather hot. Take hold of the steak at one end with a fork, dip it in the pan, and keep it for two minutes; then turn the other side for two or three minutes, according to the heat of the fire; then turn it. It will take about twelve minutes to cook, and requires to be turned on each side three times during the cooking. Take care that the pan is not too hot, or it will burn the gravy, and perhaps the meat, and lose all the nutriment; you must not leave the pan,

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but carefully watch it all the time. If not turned very often it will be noticed that the gravy will come out on the upper surface of the meat, which in turning over will go into the pan and be lost, instead of remaining in the meat. Always, in lifting, insert the fork in the fat. Serve on hot plates with salt, pepper, and the gravy round it.

To fry a mutton chop. — Get some nice loin chops, cut the same thickness all through. Have your frying-pan very clean; put in a little dripping or lard ; let it get rather hot. As soon as it begins to smoke take the chop with a fork by the small end and dip it in the fat for a minute; then turn it and let it fry for three minutes ; you can turn it several times, it will take ten minutes to cook a chop an inch thick with a good, clear fire. Add salt and pepper; have a nice hot plate, and lift carefully, always putting the fork in fat. Pour the gravy round it.

To broil a rump steak. — Get your steak three-quarters of an inch thick (if it should be cut rather thicker in one part than another, beat it well with a chopper). Before cooking a steak stir up the fire (say half an hour before you intend to use it) ; clear away the ashes ; stir all the dead cinders from the bottom, and in a few minutes you will have a clear fire fit for the use of the grid- iron. Place your gridiron, with the steak, about 5 inches above the fire, and keep constantly turning the steak, to keep the gravy in. Put the fork, not into the lean part, but into the fat to turn it. One pound of steak three-quarters of an inch thick will take about twelve or fifteen minutes to cook with a nice clear fire. Serve hot on a hot plate.