FOOD FOR THE SICK

Crust Coffee — Toast bread very brown, pour on boiling water, strain and add cream, sugar and nutmeg, if desired.

Wine Whey — One pint of boiling milk, two wine-glasses of wine ; boil a moment, stirring well ; take out the curd, sweeten and flavor the whey.

Acid Drink — Take a handful of dried currants, pour over them a pint of boiling water, let them stand a few minutes without stirring, then drain off the water, strain, and set away to cool. Dilute it for the patient's drink.

To Remove Grease from Broth — After pouring the broth into the dish, pass clean wfhite wrapping-paper quickly over the top of the broth, using several pieces, until the grease is removed.

Parched Rice — Cook in custard kettle a half-cup parched rice in one pint of boiling, salted water ; when done, serve with cream and sugar.

Egg Gruel — Beat the yolk of an t.gg with a tablespoonful of sugar,, beating the white separately ; add a teacup of boiling water to the yolk, then stir in the white and add seasoning.

278 ' MEDICAL.

Sassafras Drink — Take the pith of sassafras boughs, break \\\ small pieces, and let soak in cold water till the water becomes glutinous. This is good nourishment for weak people, and much relished.

Raw Beef — Chop fresh, lean beef, very fine, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put between thin slices of Graham or white buttered bread.

Oatnzeal Gruel — Put two heaping tablespoonfuls of oatmeal into one quart of cold water ; stir it till it commences to boil, then cook one hour, stirring occasionally ; do not let it scorch. Season with salt and sugar and spice, if desired.

Milk may be given in almost all cases of disease. When it occasions nausea add four tablespoonfuls of lime-water to a pint of milk, and give in small quantities.

Milk Punch — Beat up an t.g^ with a tablespoonful of sugar ; add sufficient milk to fill a goblet : grate on top a little nutmeg ; to this may be added, if a stimulant is desired, a tablespoonful of St. Croix rum, or a teaspoonful or more of brandy. Serve hot or cold.

Milk and Wine — Put in a pan over the fire a tumbler of milk, and as it comes to a boil add a glass of sherry wine ; stir it around once ; remove from the fire and strain ; sweeten and ice it.

Milk and Rice Gruel — Take two heaping tablespoonfuls of ground rice; make a paste with cold milk ; add one quart of boiling milk and boil ten minutes, stirring constantly ; season with salt, sugar and nut- meg ; serve warm with cream.

Sago Milk — Three tablespoonfuls of sago soaked in half a pint of cold water for an hour ; three cups of boiling milk ; sweeten and flavor to taste with vanilla ; simmer slowly half an hour.

Chicken and Ceylon Moss — Cut a small fowl into small pieces and put over the fire with three pints of cold water, four ounces of Ceylon moss (bought at drug store), and half a teaspoon of salt. Boil an hour and strain into cups or jelly mold.

For Fever Patient — Break ice into very small pieces and mix with the same quantity of lemon jelly, also cut up small. It is refreshing.

Beef Sandwich — Scrape very fine two or three teaspoonfuls of fresh tender uncooked beef ; season with salt and pepper ; spread between thin slices of bread and butter ; cut off the crust and cut in shapes of diamonds or stars. It is very strengthening, and the patient need not know the beef is raw.

For a Weak Baby, — One teacup of oatmeal in two quarts of boiling water, slightly salted. Let it cook two hours and a half, then strain. When cold, to one gill of the gruel add one gill of thin cream and one teaspoonful of sugar. To this then add one pint of boiling water, and it is ready for use. This can be digested when milk and all else fail.

Beef Sandwich — Scrape one or two tablespoonfuls from a broiled tc iderloin ; season slightly and spread on a thin slice of bread. Fold the bread ; cut off the crust and divide the slice into two pieces.

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Cocoa Shells — Put two tablespoonfuls of cocoa shells into a little cold water ; add to them a pint of boiling water, and boil for one hour ; strain, add a pint of rich milk ; let it come to a boil, then sweeten to the taste and serve. If liked stronger, add more shells in making it. This is a nourishing and palatable drink when tea and coffee are not allowed.

Z^;«<?«^— When the patient has sick headache take a tumbler two- thirds full of finely crushed ice, the juice of one lemon and one teacup- ful of white sugar. This mixture, eaten by degrees, or all at once, will allay the feverish thirst and quiet the disturbed, qualmish stomach, as it is not sweet enough to be nauseous.

Panada — Grated bread or rolled crackers may be used. To one ounce of bread add one-half pint of boiling water ; let it boil a few minutes, then sweeten with loaf sugar and flavor with wine and nut- meg.

Toast Water — Brown slices of toast without burning, and pour over them enough boiling water to cover. Cover closely and let them steep until cold. Strain the water ; put in a little lemon juice and sweeten to the taste. Serve in a small glass with a piece of ice in it.

Milk Toast — Cut slices of stale bread half an inch thick, toast quickly and dip each slice, as toasted, in boiling water ; butter and salt slightly and lay in a covered dish. Have ready in a saucepan enough boiling milk to cover all well. Melt in it a little butter and salt and pour over the toasted bread. Cover closely and let it stand five min- utes before using it.

Iceland Moss Jelly — One handful of moss washed in several waters and soaked an hour; one quart of boiling water; juice of two lemons ; one wine glass of sherry ; one quarter teaspoonf ul of cinnamon. Soak the moss in a very little cold water ; stir into the boiling liquid and simmer until dissolved. Sweeten, flavor and strain into molds.

Chicken Broth — Wash half the breast and one wing of a tender chicken ; put in a saucepan with one and a half pints of water a table- spoon of riee or pearl barley ; let it simmer slowly and skim ; season to taste. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, take it out and serve the broth in a bowl with a bit of dry toast or crackers. If barley is used it should first be cooked several hours.

Beef Jelly — Take one pound of round steak, free from fat ; cut into small pieces and put into a wide-mouthed bottle (or what is better, an earthen jar); barely cover the meat with cold water; set the jar in a kettle of water and let it boil one hour ; add to the juice thus obtained two wine glasses of best sherry wine, the juice of one lemon, and a quarter of a box of gelatine, or enough to set the jelly ; pour into very small cups or molds and turn out upon a saucer when ready to serve.

Beef Extract — Chop a pound of lean beef (the round is the best) ; put in a wide-mouthed bottle without water ; place the bottle in cold

2S0 MEDICAL.

water and let it come to a boil ; boil slowly for two hours ; skim all particles of grease from the top when done. It may be given cold or warm. A pound of meat will furnish about three or four tablespoons- ful of extract which will contain all the nutriment of the meat.

Beef Tea No. i — Scrape one pound of lean beef into fibers on aboard; place the scraped meat in a saucepan and pour half a pint of boiling water over it ; cover closely and set on the fire for ten minutes; strain into a teacup ; place the teacup in a basin of ice cold water; remove all the fat by means of immersing a piece of blotting paper or by skim- ming; pour into a warm cup and serve. This is a quick way to make beef tea.

Mutton Broth — Put two pounds of mutton and two quarts of cold water to boil ; add one tablespoonful of rice washed carefully ; let it boil till the meat will leave the bone, and the rice is cooked to a liquid mass. Take from the fire and season with a little salt. Chicken broth may be prepared in the same way.

Uncooked ^'-^— Break an ^g% into a goblet and beat thoroughly ; add a teaspoonful of sugar, and after beating a moment add a teaspoon- f ul or two of brandy or port wine ; beat well and add as much rich milk (or part cream), as there is of the mixture. Or omit the brandy, and use spice instead.

Broiled Beefsteak — Take a tender piece of fresh steak, an inch or two thick, and broil carefully two or three minutes over hot coals, turn- ing often with a knife and fork, so as not to pierce it. When done put on a small dish, season with pepper and salt, a bit of butter and a baked potato. Serve hot.

Beef Tea, No. 2 — Select the tenderest. juiciest piece of steak pos- sible ; cut into pieces half an inch square ; fill a glass quart can ; cover tightly ; set the can in a kettle of cold water and put the kettle on the stove to boil until the meat is tender ; then take out the beef, and press from it all the juice possible, which season with pepper and salt to taste. Serve with crackers or not as you choose, or the case requires.

Barley Water — To a tablespoonful of pearl barley washed in cold water, add two or three lumps of sugar and the juice of half a lemon. On these pour one quart of boiling water, and let it stand seven or eight hours ; strain, never use the barley a second time. Half an ounce of isinglass may be boiled in the water. Increase the sugar if desirable. For fevers or weak stomach it is a strengthening drink.

Flax-Seed Lemonade — Pour a quart of boiling water on half a cupful of whole flax seed ; add one dozen lar^e, plump raisins, the juice of two lemons and a little licorice root shredded fine ; sweeten to the taste; let all come to a boil, then set away in a covered pitcher for two hours ; strain it off as wanted. This is an excellent remedy for colds, and very palatable. In winter it can be taken warm, if it is necessary to get up a perspiration,

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Jelly Water — Currant, raspberry, wild cherry, blackberry or cran- berry jelly dissolved in a little hot water, then put into ice-water, forms a most refreshing drink to persons suffering from fever. Save the sur- plus syrup from preserves and bottle it for use. Every family should be provided with a few bottles of nice syrup, made trom the juice of any fruit; a pound of sugar to a pint of juice, and boiled until thick as cream. Bottle and set in a cool place.

Beef Soup — Prepare the extract as indicated above, add a tumbler of boiled milk slightly thickened with flour (see that there are no lumps in it) ; flavor with extract of celery.

Chicken Jelly — Crack the bones of a fowl and put it into two quarts of cold water ; boil it slowly, removing the scum as it rises ; salt to the taste, and when the chicken is well done remove the meat from the bones, chop fine and return it to the broth ; boil until the liquor is reduced to a pint ; add a little pepper and strain it into small cups, which should first be wet with cold water; when cold remove the scum from the surface and put the jelly on ice ; serve very cold. The chicken can be made into a salad or a little of the broth can be retained with the chicken, and some gelatine distributed in it. This, turned into a mold — with the chicken picked in flakes — will make a very nice dish of jel- lied chicken for the family table.

Beef Tea No. 3 — Take two pounds of red juicy beef, cut from the fleshy part of the animal. Be sure it is not young, immature meat, and that it has not been on the ice. Remove fat and gristle ; wipe clean but do not wash; chop into pieces the size of a hazel nut, and put into a tin bucket of suitable size ; cover tightly and set in a larger vessel containing as much cold water as will permit your bucket to sit steady. Let the water heat as quickly as you please, stirring the beef occasion- ally. As the juice appears drain it off into a cup and set it aside , repeating the process until all the juice is extracted. If the liquid looks red and tastes unpalatable, remove the meat from the bucket, put the tea in it and set it in the hot water again, stirring frequently. As soon as the color changes to a brownish hue, remove from the lire, as it soon coagulates if heated too long, and is far less nutritious when allowed to become watery. Add no salt till it is finished, as a sick palate is very sensitive, and good meat will require but little salt. In this way half a pint of excellent tea should be made in about half an hour from two pounds of good beef, and that is generally sufficient for a sick person in from twelve to twenty-four hours. For simple debility, .without disease, the quantity can be increased.

Nourishment — Frequently we find sick people whose stomachs reject all kinds of nourishment, until condition? follow that are in many cases fatal. But the simple saucer of parched corn pudding is never refused. The corn is roasted brown, precisely as we roast coffee, ground as fine

282 MEDICAL.

as meal in a coffee-mill, and made either into mush, gruel, or thin cakes, baked lightly brown and given either warm or cold, clear, and with what- ever dressing the stomach will retain. Parched corn and meal boiled in milk, and fed frequently to children suffering from summer diarrhea, will almost always cure, as it will dysentery in adults. Or they can be sustained by this when nothing else can be taken : Make a strong cup of coffee, adding boiling milk as usual, only sweetening rather more ; take an Q'gg, beat yolk and white thoroughly together ; boil the coffee, milk and sugar together, and pour it over the beaten ^g'g in the cup you are going to serve it in. This is often used in hospital service.

Cough Drops — Linseed, half cup, olive oil, half cup, molasses or honey, half pint, balsam of fir, half ounce, extract of licorice, one-fourth ounce ; mix, simmer, and take from ten to twenty drops, three times a day.

Cough Mixture — The whites of six fresh eggs beaten to a froth with half a teacupful of fine white sugar ; add juice of four lemons, three tablespoonfuls pure honey, quarter ounce of laudanum ; beat all together, bottle and cork tightly. Take a teaspoonful when the coughing comes on ; shake well before taking ; crushed sugar rolled fine with a roller is the best to use.

Cough Syrtip — Four teaspoonfuls of castor oil, four teaspoonfuls of molasses, one teaspoonful of camphor and one teaspoonful of paregoric. Mix together and take a teaspoonful at a dose, four or five times a day. A month old baby can take a few drops ; six months', a half teaspoon- ful, and a year old, a spoonful. When a child has a cold, and threat- ened with croup, begin gi^irg the syrup, during the day and on going to bed. If it coughs during the night give more. It will not fail to pre-, vent croup and cure a cough. A grown person can take a larger dose.

Cough Cordial — Take three tablespoonfuls of whole flax seed ; put in an earthen vessel or pitcher ; pour on a quart of boiling water ; let it stand by the fire for an hour, then add the juice of four large lemons, half teacup pure honey, one large stick of licorice broken in bits, one stick of rock candy pounded fine ; stir often, and when licorice and candy dissolve, stir. If too thick and jelly-like, add more boiling water ; some people like it to jelly. Take a good drink of this whenever you feel inclined to cough ; it is best drank cold, as it will not induce perspirai- tion. This can be drank by anyone, young or old.

Blackberry Cordial — To two quarts blackberry juice add half an ounce powdered nutmegs, half an ounce cinnamon, half an ounce all- spice and one-quarter ounce cloves ; boil to extract the strength ; when cold add a pint of brandy and sweeten with loaf sugar.

Rhubarb Cordial — Two teaspoonfuls pulverized rhubarb, two of soda^ two teacups of white sugar, one teacup water ; mix all together in a tin dish ; place over the fire and heat, stirring in the meantime, until the

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sugar is dissolved ; remove, and add one-half teaspoon of essence of peppermint. Dose, one teaspoonful three or four times a day for chil- dren ; a tablespoonful for adults. This is an excellent remedy for dis- ordered stomach and bowels.