EGGS FOR THE SICK

Floated Eg-g-. — Separate the white from the yolk, and drop the yolk, taking great care not to break it, into boiling, salted water. Cook until hard and mealy. In the meantime, beat the white of the egg until stiff and firm. When the yolk is cooked, remove it from the water with a skimmer. Let the water cease to boil, then dip the beaten white in spoonfuls on the top of the scalding water, allowing it to remain for a second or two until coagulated, but not hardened. Arrange the white in a hot egg saucer, and place the cooked yolk in the center, or serve on toast. This makes a very pretty, as well as appetizing dish, if care is taken to keep the yolk intact.

Gluten Meal Custard. — Beat together thoroughly, one pint of rich milk, one egg, and four tablespoonfuls of gluten meal. Add a little salt if de- sired, and cook with the dish set in another containing boiling water, until the custard has set. Or, turn the custard into cups, which place in a dripping pan partly filled with hot water, and cook in a moderate oven until the custard is set.

Grliiten Custard.— Into a quart of boiling milk stir four tablespoonfuls of wheat gluten moistened with a little of the milk, which may be reserved for the purpose. Allow it to cook until thickened. Cool to lukewarm temperature, and add three well-beaten eggs, and a trifle of salt, if desired. Turn into cups, and steam over a kettle of boiling water until the custard is set.

Steamed Eg-grs. — Break an egg into an egg saucer, sauce-dish, or patty pan, salt very slightly, and steam until the white has just set. In this way, it will retain its shape perfectly, and not be mixed with the few drops of water so annoying to invalids, and so hard to avoid in dishing a poached egg from water.

Soft Custard. — Boil some milk, then cool it to 180', add three whipped eggs to each quart of milk, and keep at the temperature of 180° for fifteen or twenty minutes. The object is to coagulate the eggs without producing the bad effect of exposure to a high temperature.

Raw Eggs. — Break a fresh egg into a glass, add a tablespoonful of sugar, and beat to a stiff froth ; a little cold water may be added if liked.

432 SCIENCE IN THE KITCHEN.

White of Egg. — Stir the white of an egg into a glass of cold water, or water as warm as it can be without coagulating the egg, and serve.

White of Egg and Milk. — The white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth and stirred into a glass of milk, forms a nourishing food for persons of weak digestion.

REFRESHING DRINKS AND DELICACIES FOR THE SICK.

In many fevers and acute diseases, but little food is re- quired, and that of a character which merely appeases hunger and quenches thirst, without stimulation and without afford- ing much nourishment.

Preparations from sago, tapioca, and other farinaceous sub- stances are sometimes serviceable for this purpose. Oranges, grapes, and other perfectly ripened and juicy fruits are also most excellent. They are nature's own delicacies, and serve both for food and drink. They should not, however, be kept in the sick room, but preserved in some cool place, and served when needed, as fresh and in as dainty a manner as possible. Like all food provided for the sick, they should be arranged to please the eye as well as the palate. The capricious appetite of an invalid will often refuse luscious fruit from the hand of a nurse, which would have been gladly accepted had it been served on dainty china, with a clean napkin and silver.

The juice of the various small fruits and berries forms a basis from which may be made many refreshing drinks espe- cially acceptable to the dry, parched mouth of a sick person.

Fruit juices can be prepared with but little trouble. For directions see page 209.

Beverages from fruit juices are prepared by using a small quantity of the juice, and sufficient cold water to dilute it to the taste. If it is desirable to use such a drink for a sick per- son in some household where fruit juices have not been put up for the purpose, the juice may be obtained from a can of strawberries, raspberries, or other small fruit, by turning the whole into a coarse cloth and straining off the juice ; or ^

FOOD FOR THE SICK. 433

tablespoonful of currant or other jelly may be dissolved in a tumbler of warm water, and allowed to cool. Either will make a good substitute for the prepared fruit juice, though the flavor will be less delicate. The hot beverages and many of the cold ones given in the chapter on Beverages will be found service- able for the sick, as will also the following additional ones : —

Acorn Coftee. — Select plump, round, sweet acorns. Shell, and brown in an oven ; then grind in a coffee-mill, and use as ordinary coffee.

Almond Milk. — Blanch a quarter of a pound of shelled almonds by pouring over them a quart of boiling water, and when the skins soften, rub- bing them off with a coarse towel. Pound the almonds in a mortar, a few at a time, adding four or five drops of milk occasionally, to prevent their oiling. About one tablespoonful of milk in all will be sufficient. When finely pounded, mi.x the almonds with a pint of milk, two tablespoon- fuls of sugar, and a little piece of lemon rind. Place the whole over the fire to simmer for a little time. Strain, if preferred, and serve cold.

Apple Beyerag"e. — Pare and slice very thin a juicy tart apple into a china bowl. Cover with boiling water, put a saucer over the bowl, and allow the water to get cold. Strain and drink. Crab apples may be used in the same way.

Apple Beverage No. 2. — Bake two large, sour apples, and when tender, sprinkle a tablespoonful of sugar over them, and return to the oven until the sugar is slightly browned. Break and mash the apples with a silver spoon, pour over them a pint of boiling water ; cover and let stand until cold ; then strain and serve.

Apple Toast Water. — Break a slice of zwieback into small pieces, and mix with them two or three well-baked tart apples. Pour over all a quart of boiling water, cover, and let stand until cold, stirring occasionally. When cold, strain, add sugar to sweeten if desired, and serve.

Baked Milk. — Put a quart of new milk in a stone jar, tie a white paper over it, and let it stand in a moderately heated oven eight or ten hours. It becomes of a creamy consistency.

Barley Lemonade. — Put a half cup of pearl barley into a quart of cold water, and simmer gently until the water has become mucilaginous and quite thick. This will take from an hour to an hour and a half. The barley will absorb most of the water, but the quantity given should make a teacupful of good, thick barley water. Add to this two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice and a tablespoonful of sugar. Let it get cold before serving. By returning the barley to the stewpan with another quart of cold water, 28

434 SCIENCE IN THE KITCHEN.

and simmering for an hour or an hour and a half longer, a second cup of barley water may be obtained, almost as goo^i as the first.

Barley and. Fruit Drink, — Prepare a barley water as above, and add to each cupful a tablespoonful or two of cranberry, grape, raspberry, or any tart fruit syrup. The pure juice sweetened will answer just as well ; or a little fruit jelly may be dissolved and added.

Barley Milk. — Wash two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley in cold water until the water is clear. Put it to cook in a double boiler, with a quart of milk, and boil till the milk is reduced to a pint. Strain off the milk, and sweeten if desired.

Cranberry Drink. — Mash carefully selected, ripe cranberries thor- oughly in an earthen dish, and pour boiling water over them. Let the mixture stand until cold, strain off the water, and sweeten to taste. Bar- berries prepared in the same manner make a nice drink.

Currantade. — Mash thoroughly a pint of ripe, red currants, and one half the quantity of red raspberries ; add sugar to sweeten and two quarts of cold water. Stir, strain, cool on ice, and sei've.

Crust Coft'ee. — Brown slices of Graham bread in a slow oven until veiy dark in color. Break in pieces and roll fine with a rolling pin. A quantity of this material may be prepared at one time and stored in glass fruit cans for use. When needed, pour a cupful of actively boiling water over a dessertspoonful of the prepared crumbs, let it steep for a few moments, then strain and serve.

Eg'g'nog-. — Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth, add one table- spoonful of white sugar, then beat again. Next add the yolk, and beat ; then a tablespoonful of milk, one of cold water, and one of any fruit juice desired.

Eggnog- No. 2. — Prepare as above, using two tablespoonfuls of water instead of one of water and one of milk, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice in place of other fruit juice.

Eggnog No. 3. — Beat the yolk of a freshly laid egg with a table- spoonful of sugar until it is light and creamy ; add to this, one half cup of hot milk and stir in lightly the stiffly beaten white of the egg. Serve at once.

Egg Lemonade. — Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth, then mix with it the juice of a small lemon, and one tablespoonful of sugar. Add a half pint of cold water. Or, beat together with an egg beater a table- spoonful of lemon juice, a teaspoonful of sugar, the white of an egg and a cup of cold water, until thoroughl)' mingled, then serve at once.

Flaxseed Tea. — Take an ounce of whole flaxseed, half an ounce of crushed licorice root, an ounce of refined sugar, and four tablespoonfuls of lemon juice. Pour a quart of boiling water over them; keep near the fire for four hours, and then strain off the liquid. The flaxseed should

P'OOJ~) FOR THE SICK. 435

not be crushed, as the mucilage is in the outer part of the kernel, and if bruised, the boiling water will extract the oil of the seed, and render the decoction nauseous. Make fresh daily.

Gum Arabic Water. — Pour a pint of boiling water over an ounce of clean gum arable. When dissolved, add the juice of one lemon and a tea- spoonful of sugar, and strain.

Hot Water. — Put good, fresh water into a perfectly clean granite-ware kettle, already warmed ; let it come to a boil very quickly, and use at once. Do not leave it to simmer until it has become insipid through the loss of the air which it contains.

Hot Lemonade. — Put in a glass a thin slice of lemon and the juice of half a small lemon, being careful to remove all seeds ; mix with it one dessertspoonful of white sugar, and fill the glass with boiling water. Or, remove the peel of a lemon in very thin parings, turn one pint of boiling water over them, letting it stand for a few moments covered. Remove the peel, add the juice of a lemon and one tablespoonful of sugar, and serve.

Irixli Moss Lemonade. — Soak one fourth of a cup of Irish moss in cold water until it begins to soften ; then work it free from sand and tiny shells likely to be on it, and thoroughly wash. Put it in a granite-ware basin, and pour over it two (Mips of boiling water. Leave on the back of the range where it will keep hot, but not boil, for half an hour ; strain, add the juice of one lemon, and sugar to taste. Drink hot or cold, as preferred.

Orang'eade. — Rub lightly two ounces of lump sugar on the rind of two nice, fresh oranges, to extract the flavor ; put this sugar into a pitcher, to which add the juice expressed from the oranges, and that from one lemon. Pour over all one pint of cold water, stir thoroughly, and serve.

Plain Lemonade. — For one glass of lemonade squeeze the juice of half a small lemon into the glass ; carefully remove all seeds and particles. Add a dessertspoonful of sugar, and fill the glass with cold water.

Slippery Elm Tea. — Pour boiling water over bits of slippery elm bark . or slippery elm powder, cool, and strain. If desired, a little lemon juice and sugar may be added to fla\'or.

Toast Water. — Toast a pint of whole-wheat or Graham bread crusts very brown, but do not burn. Co\er with a pint of cold water. Let it stand an hour, strain, and use. Sugar and a little cream may be added if allowed.

Tamarind Water. — Boil four ounces of tamarinds and the same of raisins slowly, in three quarts of water, for fifteen or twenty minutes, or until the water is reduced nearly one fourth ; strain while hot into a bowl with a small slice of lemon peel in it. Set away until cold before usiui;.

436 SCIENCE IN THE KITCHEN.

For invalids who are able to partake of solid foods, the Break- fast Rolls, Whole-wheat Puffs, Beaten Biscuit, Crisps, and other unfermented breads, directions for the preparation of which are given in the chapter on Bread, will be found excellent.

The various crackers, wafers, and invalid foods manufac- tured by the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., are also to be recommended. Zwieback, prepared as directed on page 289, will be found serviceable and wholesome to be used with broths and gruels. It may be prepared so as to look especially tempting by cutting off the crust of the bread, and cutting the slice into fancy shapes with a cooky cutter before toasting. .In cases where their use is allowable, many of the various toasts given under the head of Breakfast Dishes will be relished.

Diabetic Biscuit. — Make a stiff dough of Graham or entire-wheat flour and water. Knead thoroughly, and let it stand three hours ; then place on a sieve under a faucet, turn a stream of water over the dough, and wash out the starch, kneading and working with the hands so that all portions of the dough will be equally washed. When the starch has been all washed out, as will be indicated by the water running off clear, the dough will be a rubber-like, glutinous mass. It may then be cut into long strips, and these divided into equal-sized pieces or cubes. Place the pieces on shallow baking pans in a rather hot oven, which, after a short time, should be allowed to cool to moderate heat, and bake for two hours, when they should be of a dark, rich brown color and light and crisp throughout. If tough, they need rebaking. If the oven is too hot, the pieces will puff up, becoming mere hollow shells ; if not suffi- ciently hot, they will not rise properly.

Diabetic Biscuit No. 2. — Prepare a dough and wash out the starch as in the preceding. Add coarse middlings so that the dough can be rolled into thin cakes, and bake.

Grliiten Meal Gems. — Beat together one half cup of ice water, one half cup of thick, sweet cream, and one egg ; then add one cup and a table- spoonful of the gluten meal prepared by the Sanitarium Food Co. Turn into slightly heated gem irons, and bake in a moderately hot oven from one half to three fourths of an hour.

FOOD I'OR '1"HK SIf'K 437

JEUIES AND OTHER SIMPLE DESSERTS FOR THE SICK.

Invalids whose digestion will allow of other than the plain- est foods will find most of the desserts made with fruits and those with fruits and grains given in the chapter on Desserts, excellent for their use. The following are a few additional recipes of a similar character : —

Arrowroot Jelly. — Rub two heaping teaspoonfuls of arrowroot smooth in a very little cold water„ and stir it into a cupful of boiling water, in which should be dissolved two teaspoonfuls of sugar. Stir until clear, allowing it to boil all the time ; lastly, add a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Serve cold, with cream and sugar if allowed.

Arrowroot Blaucniang'e. — Rub two and a half tablespoonf uls of best arrowroot smooth in half a cup of cold milk, and stir slowly into two and one half cups of boiling new milk. When it begins to thicken, add three fourths of a cup of sugar, and cook, stirring constantly for several minutes. Turn into molds and cool. Serve with fruit juice or fruit sauces.

Currant Jelly. — Soak an ounce of Cox's gelatine in half a pint of cold water for fifteen minutes, then pour over it a teacupful of boiling water ; strain, and add one pint of currant juice, one tablespoonful of sugar, and set on ice to cool.

Iceland Moss Jelly. — Wash about four ounces of moss very clean in lukewarm water. Boil slowly in a quart of cold water. When quite dis- solved, strain it onto a tablespoonful of currant or raspberry jelly, stir- ring so as to blend the jell}' perfectly with the moss. Turn into a mold, and cool.

Iceland Moss Blancmange. — Substitute milk for the water, and pro- ceed as in the foregoing. Flavor with lemon or vanilla. Strain through a muslin cloth, turn into a mold, and let stand till firm and cold.

Orange Whey. — Add the juice of one sour orange to a pint of sweet milk. Heat very slowly until the milk is curded, then strain and cool.

Wliite Custard. — Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, add a little salt if desired, and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. A bit of grated lemon rind may also be used for flavoring. Add lastly a pint of new milk, little by little, beating thoroughly all the while. Bake in cups set in a pan of hot water. When firm in the center, take out and set in a cool place.