Chapter XIV: Part 14

ELDERBERRY WINE.--Gather the elderberries when quite ripe; put them into a stone jar, mash them with a round stick, and set them in a warm oven, or in a large kettle of boiling water till the jar is hot through, and the berries begin to simmer. Then take them out, and press and strain them through a sieve. To every quart of juice allow a pound of Havanna or Lisbon sugar, and two quarts of cold soft water. Put the sugar into a large kettle, pour the juice over it, and, when it has dissolved, stir in the water. Set the kettle over the fire, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. To four gallons of the liquor add a pint and a half of brandy. Put it into a keg, and let it stand with the bung put in loosely for four or five days, by which time it will have ceased to ferment. Then stop it closely, plastering the bung with clay. At the end of six months, draw off a little of it; and if it is not quite clear and bright, refine it with the whites and shells of three or four eggs, beaten to a stiff froth and stirred into a quart of the wine, taken out for the purpose and then returned to the cask; or you may refine it with an ounce or more of dissolved isinglass. Let it stand a week or two, and then bottle it.

This is an excellent domestic wine, very common in England, and deserving to be better known in America, where the elderberry tree is found in great abundance. Elderberry wine is generally taken mulled with spice, and warm.

ELDER FLOWER WINE.--Take the flowers or blossoms of the elder tree, and strip them from the stalks. To every quart of flowers allow one gallon of water, and three pounds of white sugar. Boil and skim the sugar and water, and then pour it hot on the flowers. When cool, mix in with it some lemon juice and some yeast; allowing to six gallons of the liquor the juice of six lemons, and four or five table-spoonfuls of good yeast stirred in very hard. Let it ferment for three days in a tub covered with a double blanket. Then strain the wine through a sieve, (add six whites of eggs beaten to a stiff froth, or an ounce of melted isinglass,) and put it into a cask, in the bottom of which you have laid four or five pounds of the best raisins, stoned. Stop the cask closely, and in six months the wine will be fit to bottle. It will much resemble Frontiniac, the elder flowers imparting to it a very pleasant taste.

CIDER WINE.--Take sweet cider immediately from the press. Strain it through a flannel bag into a tub, and stir into it as much honey as will make it strong enough to bear up an egg. Then boil and skim it, and when the scum ceases to rise, strain it again. When cool, put it into a cask, and set it in a cool cellar till spring. Then bottle it off; and when ripe, it will be found a very pleasant beverage. The cider must be of the very best quality, made entirely from good sound apples.

MEAD.--To every gallon of water put five pounds of strained honey, (the water must be hot when you add the honey,) and boil it three quarters of an hour, skimming it well. Then put in some hops tied in a thin bag, (allowing an ounce or a handful to each gallon,) and let it boil half an hour longer. Strain it into a tub, and let it stand four days. Then put it into a cask, (or into a demijohn if the quantity is small,) adding for each gallon of mead a jill of brandy and a sliced lemon. If a large cask, do not bottle it till it has stood a year.

FOX GRAPE SHRUB.--Gather the grapes when they are full grown, but before they begin to purple. Pick from the stems a sufficient quantity to nearly fill a large preserving kettle, and pour on them as much boiling water as the kettle will hold. Set it over a brisk fire, and keep it scalding hot till all the grapes have burst. Then take them off, press out and strain the liquor, and allow to each quart a pound of sugar stirred well in. Dissolve the sugar in the juice; then put them together into a clean kettle, and boil and skim them for ten minutes, or till the scum ceases to rise. When cold, bottle it; first putting into each bottle a jill of brandy. Seal the bottles, and keep them in a warm closet.

You may make gooseberry shrub in this manner.

CURRANT SHRUB.--Your currants must be quite ripe. Pick them from the stalks, and squeeze them through a linen bag. To each quart of juice allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the sugar and juice into a preserving kettle, and let it melt before it goes on the fire. Boil it ten minutes, skimming it well. When cold, add a jill of the best white brandy to each quart of the juice. Bottle it, and set it away for use; sealing the corks. It improves by keeping.

Raspberry shrub may be made in this manner; also strawberry.

CHERRY SHRUB.--Pick from the stalks, and stone a sufficient quantity of ripe morellas, or other red cherries of the best and most juicy description. Put them with all their juice into a stone jar, and set it, closely covered, into a deep kettle of boiling water. Keep it boiling hard for a quarter of an hour. Then pour the cherries into a bag, and strain and press out all the juice. Allow a pound of sugar to a quart of juice, boil them together ten minutes in a preserving kettle, skimming them well, and when cold, bottle the liquid; first putting a jill of brandy into each bottle.

CHERRY BOUNCE.--Mix together six pounds of ripe morellas and six pounds of large black heart cherries. Put them into a wooden bowl or tub, and with a pestle or mallet mash them so as to crack all the stones. Mix with the cherries three pounds of loaf-sugar, or of sugar candy broken up, and put them into a demijohn, or into a large stone jar. Pour on two gallons of the best double rectified whiskey. Stop the vessel closely, and let it stand three months, shaking it every day during the first month. At the end of the three months you may strain the liquor and bottle it off. It improves by age.

LEMON SYRUP.--Break up into large pieces six pounds of fine loaf-sugar. Take twelve large ripe lemons, and (without cutting them) grate the yellow rind upon the sugar. Then put the sugar, with the lemon gratings and two quarts of water, into a preserving kettle, and let it dissolve. When it is all melted, boil it till quite thick, skimming it till no more scum rises; it will then be done. Have ready the juice of all the lemons, stir it in, and boil it ten minutes more. Bottle it, and keep it in a cold place.

It makes a delicious drink in summer, in the proportion of one third lemon syrup and two thirds ice water.

LEMON CORDIAL.

Pare off very thin the yellow rind of a dozen large lemons; throw the parings into a gallon of white brandy, and let them steep till next day, or at least twelve hours. Break up four pounds of loaf-sugar into another vessel, and squeeze upon it the juice of the lemons. Let this too stand all night. Next day mix all together, boil two quarts of milk, and pour it boiling hot into the other ingredients. Cover the vessel, and let it stand eight days, stirring it daily. Then strain it through a flannel bag till the liquid is perfectly clear. Let it stand six weeks in a demijohn or glass jar, and then bottle it.

To make it still more clear, you may filter it through a piece of fine muslin pinned down to the bottom of a sieve, or through blotting paper, which must be frequently renewed. It should be white blotting paper. Orange cordial may be made in the same manner.

ROSE CORDIAL.--Put a pound of fresh rose leaves into a tureen, with a quart of lukewarm water. Cover the vessel, and let them infuse for twenty-four hours. Then squeeze them through a linen bag till all the liquid is pressed out. Put a fresh pound of rose leaves into the tureen, pour the liquid back into it, and let it infuse again for two days. You may repeat this till you obtain a very strong infusion. Then to a pint of the infusion add half a pound of loaf-sugar, half a pint of white brandy, an ounce of broken cinnamon, and an ounce of coriander seeds. Put it into a glass jar, cover it well, and let it stand for two weeks. Then filter it through a fine muslin or a blotting paper (which must be white) pinned on the bottom of a sieve; and bottle it for use.

STRAWBERRY CORDIAL.--Hull a sufficient quantity of ripe strawberries, and squeeze them through a linen bag. To each quart of the juice allow a pint of white brandy, and half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Put the liquid into a glass jar or a demijohn, and let it stand a fortnight. Then filter it through a sieve, to the bottom of which a piece of fine muslin or blotting paper has been fastened; and afterwards bottle it.

RASPBERRY CORDIAL--May be made in the above manner.

QUINCE CORDIAL.--Take the finest and ripest quinces you can procure, wipe them clean, and cut out all the defective parts. Then grate them into a tureen or some other large vessel, leaving out the seeds and cores. Let the grated pulp remain covered in the tureen for twenty-four hours. Then squeeze it through a jelly-bag or cloth. To six quarts of the juice allow a quart of cold water, three pounds of loaf-sugar, (broken up,) and a quart of white brandy. Mix the whole well together, and put it into a stone jar. Have ready three very small flannel or thick muslin bags, (not larger than two inches square,) fill one with grated nutmeg, another with powdered mace, and the third with powdered cloves; and put them into the jar that the spice may flavour the liquor without mixing with it. Leave the jar uncorked for a few days; reserving some of the liquor to replace that which may flow over in the fermentation. Whenever it has done working, bottle it off, but do not use it for six months. If not sufficiently bright and clear, filter it through fine muslin pinned round the bottom of a sieve, or through a white blotting paper fastened in the same manner.

PEACH CORDIAL.--Take the ripest and most juicy free-stone peaches you can procure. Cut them from the stones, and quarter them without paring. Crack the stones, and extract the kernels, which must be blanched and slightly pounded. Put the peaches into a large stone jar in layers, alternately with layers of the kernels, and of powdered loaf-sugar. When the jar is three parts full of the peaches, kernels, and sugar, fill it up with white brandy. Set the jar in a large pan, and leave it uncovered for three or four days, in case of its fermenting and flowing over at the top. Fill up what is thus wasted with more brandy, and then close the jar tightly. Let it stand five or six months; then filter it, and bottle it for use.

Cherry, apricot, and plum cordial may be made in the above manner; adding always the kernels.

ANNISEED CORDIAL.--Melt a pound of loaf-sugar in two quarts of water. Mix it with two quarts of white brandy, and add a table-spoonful of oil of anniseed. Let it stand a week; then filter it through white blotting paper, and bottle it for use.

Clove or Cinnamon Cordial may be made in the same manner, by mixing sugar, water and brandy, and adding oil of cinnamon or oil of cloves. You may colour any of these cordials red by stirring in a little powdered cochineal that has been dissolved in a small quantity of brandy.

ROSE BRANDY.--Nearly fill a china or glass jar with freshly-gathered rose leaves, and pour in sufficient French white brandy to fill it quite up; and then cover it closely. Next day put the whole into a strainer, and having squeezed and pressed the rose leaves and drained off the liquid, throw away the leaves, put fresh ones into the jar, and return the brandy to it. Repeat this every day while roses are in season, (taking care to keep the jar well covered,) and you will find the liquid much better than rose water for flavouring cakes and puddings.

LEMON BRANDY.--When you use lemons for punch or lemonade, do not throw away the peels, but cut them in small pieces, and put them into a glass jar or bottle of brandy. You will find this brandy useful for many purposes.

In the same way keep for use the kernels of peach and plum stones, pounding them slightly before you put them into the brandy.

NOYAU.--Blanch and break up a pound of shelled bitter almonds or peach kernels. Mix with them the grated rinds of three large lemons, half a pint of clarified honey that has been boiled and skimmed, and three pounds of the best double-refined loaf-sugar. Put these ingredients into a jar or demijohn; pour in four quarts of the best white brandy or proof spirit; stop the vessel, and let it stand three months, shaking it every day for the first month. Then filter it, dilute it with rose water to your taste, (you may allow a quart of rose water to each quart of the liquor,) and bottle it for use.

This and any other cordial may be coloured red by mixing with it (after it is filtered) cochineal, powdered, dissolved in a little white brandy, and strained through fine muslin.

RATAFIA.--Pound in a mortar, and mix together a pound of shelled bitter almonds, an ounce of nutmegs, a pound of fine loaf-sugar, and one grain (apothecaries' weight) of ambergris. Infuse these ingredients for a week in a gallon of white brandy or proof spirit. Then filter it, and bottle it for use.

CAPILLAIRE.--Powder eight pounds of loaf-sugar, and wet it with three pints of water and three eggs well beaten with their shells. Stir the whole mass very hard, and boil it twice over, skimming it well. Then strain it, and stir in two wine glasses of orange flower water. Bottle it, and use it for a summer draught, mixed with a little lemon juice and water; or you may sweeten punch with it.

ORGEAT.--To make orgeat paste, blanch, mix together, and pound in a mortar till perfectly smooth, three quarters of a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and one quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds; adding frequently a little orange-flower or rose water, to keep them from oiling; and mixing with them, as you proceed, a pound of fine loaf-sugar that has been previously powdered by itself. When the whole is thoroughly incorporated to a stiff paste, put it into little pots and close them well. It will keep five or six months, and, when you wish to use it for a beverage, allow a piece of orgeat about the size of an egg to each half pint or tumbler of water. Having well stirred it, strain the mixture.

To make liquid orgeat for present use; blanch and pound in a mortar, with rose water, a quarter of a pound of sweet and an ounce and a half of bitter almonds. Then sweeten three pints of rich milk with half a pound of loaf-sugar, and stir the almonds gradually into it. Boil it over hot coals; and as soon as it comes to a boil, take it off and stir it frequently till it gets cold. Then strain it, add a glass of brandy and put it into decanters. When you pour it out for drinking dilute it with water.

LEMONADE.--Take fine ripe lemons, and roll them under your hand on the table to increase the quantity of juice. Then cut and squeeze them into a pitcher, and mix the juice with loaf-sugar and cold water. To half a pint of lemon juice you may allow a pint and a half of water, and ten or twelve moderate sized lumps of sugar. Send it round in little glasses with handles.

To make a tumbler of _very good_ lemonade, allow the juice of one lemon and four or five lumps of sugar, filling up the glass with water. In summer use ice water.

ORANGEADE--Is made of oranges, in the same proportion as lemonade. It is very fine when frozen.

PUNCH.

Roll twelve fine lemons under your hand on the table; then pare off the yellow rind very thin, and boil it in a gallon of water till all the flavour is drawn out. Break up into a large bowl, two pounds of loaf-sugar, and squeeze the lemons over it. When the water has boiled sufficiently, strain it from the lemon-peel, and mix it with the lemon juice and sugar. Stir in a quart of rum or of the best whiskey.

Two scruples of flowers of benjamin, steeped in a quart of rum, will make an infusion which much resembles the arrack of the East Indies. It should be kept in a bottle, and a little of it will be found to impart a very fine and fragrant flavour to punch made in the usual manner.

FROZEN PUNCH--Is made as above, omitting one half of the rum or whiskey. Put it into an ice-cream freezer, shaking or stirring it all the time. When it is frozen, send it round immediately, in small glasses with a tea-spoon for each.

ROMAN PUNCH.--Grate the yellow rinds of four lemons and two oranges upon two pounds of loaf-sugar. Squeeze on the juice of the lemons and oranges; cover it, and let it stand till next day. Then strain it through a sieve, add a bottle of champagne, and the whites of eight eggs beaten to a froth. You may freeze it or not.

MILK PUNCH.--What is commonly called milk punch, is a mixture of brandy or rum, sugar, milk and nutmeg, with-without either lemon juice or water. It is taken cold with a lump of ice in each tumbler.

FINE MILK PUNCH.--Pare off the yellow rind of four large lemons, and steep it for twenty-four hours in a quart of brandy or rum. Then mix with it the juice of the lemons, a pound and a half of loaf-sugar, two grated nutmegs, and a quart of water. Add a quart of rich unskimmed milk, made boiling hot, and strain the whole through a jelly-bag. You may either use it as soon as it is cold, or make a larger quantity, (in the above proportions,) and bottle it. It will keep several months.

REGENT'S PUNCH.--Take four large lemons; roll them on the table to make them more juicy, and then pare them as thin as possible. Cut out all the pulp, and throw away the seeds and the white part of the rind. Put the yellow rind and the pulp into a pint of boiling water with one tea-spoonfuls of raw green tea of the best sort. Let all boil together about ten minutes. Then strain it through linen, and stir in a pound of powdered loaf-sugar and a bottle of champagne, or of any liquor suitable for punch. Set it again over the fire, and when just ready to boil, remove it, and pour it into a china bowl or pitcher, to be sent round in glasses.

WINE JELLY.--Clarify a pound of loaf-sugar, by mixing it with half a pint of water and the beaten white of an egg, and then boiling and skimming it. Put an ounce of isinglass (with as much boiling water as will cover it) into a small sauce-pan, and set it in hot coals till the isinglass is thoroughly dissolved. Then when the syrup has been taken from the fire, mix the melted isinglass with it, add a quart of white wine and stir in a table-spoonful or a spoonful and a half of old Jamaica spirits. Stir the mixture very hard, and pour it into a mould. When it has congealed, wrap a cloth dipped in warm water round the outside of the mould; turn out the jelly, and eat it with ice-cream.

SHERRY COBLER.--Lay in the bottom of a tumbler some pieces of the yellow rind of an orange or lemon, pared off very thin; and add a heaping table-spoonful of powdered loaf-sugar. Upon this, place some pounded ice. Pour on sherry wine till the tumbler is one-third, or half full. Hold an empty tumbler inverted or turned downwards, upon the top of that which contains the ingredients; placing the glasses so that their edges exactly meet, and leaving no opening for any portion of the contents to escape. Keep your hands fast on the two tumblers, one above and one below, and turn them up and down, back and forwards, till the articles inside are thoroughly mixed. Then take off the upper tumbler, and let the lower one stand still a few moments before you fill it up with ice-water.

MULLED WINE.--Boil together, in a pint of water, a beaten nutmeg, two sticks of cinnamon broken up, and a table-spoonful of cloves slightly pounded. When reduced to one-half, strain the liquid into a quart of wine, set it on hot coals, take it off as soon as it comes to a boil, and sweeten it. Serve it up hot in a pitcher, surrounded by glass cups, and with it a plate of rusk.

MULLED CIDER.--Allow six eggs to a quart of cider. Put a handful of whole cloves into the cider, and boil it. While it is boiling, beat the eggs in a large pitcher; adding to them as much sugar as will make the cider very sweet. By the time the cider boils, the eggs will be sufficiently light. Pour the boiling liquor on the beaten egg, and continue to pour the mixture backwards and forwards from one pitcher to another, till it has a fine froth on it. Then pour it warm into your glasses, and grate some nutmeg over each.

Port wine may be mulled in the same manner.

EGG NOGG.--Beat separately the yolks and whites of six eggs. Stir the yolks into a quart of rich milk, or thin cream, and add half a pound of sugar. Then mix in half a pint of rum or brandy. Flavour it with a grated nutmeg. Lastly, stir in gently the beaten whites of three eggs.

It should be mixed in a china bowl.

SANGAREE.--Mix in a pitcher or in tumblers one-third of wine, ale, or porter, with two-thirds of water either warm or cold. Stir in sufficient loaf-sugar to sweeten it, and grate some nutmeg into it.

By adding to it lemon juice, you may make what is called negus.

TURKISH SHERBET.--Put into a large pitcher a pound and a half of the best loaf-sugar, broken small. Pour on it a quart of clear cold water, and crush and stir the sugar till it is all melted. Take a dozen large fine ripe oranges, and roll every one under your hand on a table, to increase the juice. Take off the yellow rind in large thin pieces, and cut them neatly into round shapes, the size of a half-dollar. Squeeze the juice of the oranges through a strainer upon the melted sugar, and stir it well. Set the pitcher on ice till the sherbet is wanted. Serve it up in lemonade-glasses, placing in the bottom of each, one of the round pieces of orange-rind, and lay a lump of ice upon it. Then fill the glasses with the sherbet. Instead of orange-juice, you may use that of strawberries, raspberries, or currants, pressed through a strainer.

BOTTLED SMALL BEER.--Take a quart bottle of the very best brisk porter, and mix it with four quarts of water, a pint of molasses, and a table-spoonful of ginger. Bottle it, and see that the corks are of the very best kind. It will be fit for use in three or four days.

TO KEEP LEMON JUICE.--Powder a pound of the best loaf-sugar; put it into a bowl, and strain over it a pint of lemon juice; stirring it well with a silver spoon till the sugar has entirely melted. Boil and skim it. Then bottle it, sealing the corks; and keep it in a dry place.

ESSENCE OF LEMON-PEEL.--Rub lumps of loaf-sugar on fine ripe lemons till the yellow rind is all grated off; scraping up the sugar in a tea-spoon, and putting it on a plate, as you proceed. When you have enough, press it down into a little glass or china jar, and cover it closely. This will be found very fine to flavour puddings and cakes. The white or inside of lemon-peel is of no use.

CIDER VINEGAR.

Take six quarts of rye meal; stir and mix it well into a barrel of strong hard cider of the best kind; and then add a gallon of whiskey. Cover the cask, (leaving the bung loosely in it,) set it in the part of your yard that is most exposed to the sun and air; and in the course of four weeks (if the weather is warm and dry) you will have good vinegar fit for use. When you draw off a gallon or more, replenish the cask with the same quantity of cider, and add about a pint of whiskey. You may thus have vinegar constantly at hand for common purposes.

The cask should have iron hoops.

A very strong vinegar may be made by mixing cider and strained honey, (allowing a pound of honey to a gallon of cider,) and letting it stand five or six months. This vinegar is so powerful that for common purposes it should be diluted with a little water.

Vinegar may be made in the same manner of sour wine.

WHITE VINEGAR.--Put into a cask a mixture composed of five gallons of water, two gallons of whiskey, and a quart of strong yeast, stirring in two pounds of powdered charcoal. Place it where it will ferment properly, leaving the bung loose till the fermentation is over, but covering the hole slightly to keep out the dust and insects. At the end of four months draw it off, and you will have a fine vinegar, as clear and colourless as water.

SUGAR VINEGAR.--To every gallon of water allow a pound of the best white sugar, and a jill or more of strong yeast. Mix the sugar and water together, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. Then pour it into a tub; and when it cools to lukewarm heat, put into it the yeast spread on pieces of toast. Let it work two days; then put it into an iron-hooped cask, and set it in a sunny place for five months, leaving the bung loose, but keeping the bung-hole covered. In five months it will be good clear vinegar, and you may bottle it for use.

A cask that has not contained vinegar before, should have a quart of boiling hot vinegar poured into it, shaken about frequently till cold, and allowed to stand some hours.

COMMON CIDER VINEGAR.--Set a barrel of hard sour cider in the sun for a few weeks, or three months, and it will become good vinegar.

PINE-APPLE-ADE.--Pare and slice some very ripe pine-apples; then cut the slices into small pieces. Put them with all their juice into a large pitcher, and sprinkle among them plenty of powdered white sugar. Pour on boiling water, allowing a small half pint to each pine-apple. Cover the pitcher, and let it stand till quite cool, occasionally pressing down the pine-apple with a spoon. Then set the pitcher, for a while, in ice. Lastly, strain the infusion into another vessel, and transfer it to tumblers, putting into each glass some more sugar and a bit of ice. This beverage will be found delicious.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK

CHICKEN JELLY.

Take a large chicken, cut it up into very small pieces, bruise the bones, and put the whole into a stone jar with a cover that will make it water tight. Set the jar in a large kettle of boiling water, and keep it boiling for three hours. Then strain off the liquid, and season it slightly with salt, pepper, and mace; or with loaf-sugar and lemon juice, according to the taste of the person for whom it is intended.

Return the fragments of the chicken to the jar, and set it again in a kettle of boiling water. You will find that you can collect nearly as much jelly by the second boiling.

This jelly may be made of an old fowl.

BREAD JELLY.--Measure a quart of boiling water, and set it away to get cold. Take one-third of a six cent loaf of bread, slice it, pare off the crust, and toast the crumb nicely of a light brown. Then put it into the boiled water, set it on hot coals in a covered pan, and boil it gently, till you find by putting some in a spoon to cool, that the liquid has become a jelly. Strain it through a thin cloth, and set it away for use. When it is to be taken, warm a tea-cupful, sweeten it with sugar, and add a little grated lemon-peel.

ARROW ROOT JELLY.--Mix three table-spoonfuls of arrow root powder in a tea-cup of water till quite smooth; cover it, and let it stand a quarter of an hour. Put the yellow peel of a lemon into a skillet with a pint of water, and let it boil till reduced to one half. Then take out the lemon-peel, and pour in the dissolved arrow root, (while the water is still boiling;) add sufficient white sugar to sweeten it well, and let it boil together for five or six minutes. It may be seasoned (if thought necessary) with two tea-spoonfuls of wine, and some grated nutmeg.

It may be boiled in milk instead of water, or in wine and water, according to the state of the person for whom it is wanted.

RICE JELLY.--Having picked and washed a quarter of a pound of rice, mix it with half a pound of loaf-sugar, and just sufficient water to cover it. Boil it till it becomes a glutinous mass; then strain it; season it with whatever may be thought proper; and let it stand to cool.

PORT WINE JELLY.--Melt in a little warm water an ounce of isinglass; stir it into a pint of port wine, adding two ounces of sugar candy, an ounce of gum arabic, and half a nutmeg grated. Mix all well, and boil it ten minutes; or till every thing is thoroughly dissolved. Then strain it through muslin, and set it away to get cold.

SAGO.--Wash the sago through two or three waters, and then let it soak for two or three hours. To a tea-cupful of sago allow a quart of water and some of the yellow peel of a lemon. Simmer it till all the grains look transparent. Then add as much wine and nutmeg as may be proper, and give it another boil altogether. If seasoning is not advisable, the sago may be boiled in milk instead of water, and eaten plain.

TAPIOCA.--Wash the tapioca well, and let it steep for five or six hours, changing the water three times. Simmer it in the last water till quite clear, then season it with sugar and wine, or lemon juice.

GRUEL.--Allow three large table-spoonfuls of oatmeal or Indian meal to a quart of water. Put the meal into a large bowl, and add the water, a little at a time, mixing and bruising the meal with the back of a spoon. As you proceed, pour off the liquid into another bowl, every time, before adding fresh water to the meal, till you have used it all up. Then boil the mixture for twenty minutes, stirring it all the while; add a little salt. Then strain the gruel and sweeten it. A piece of butter may be stirred into it; and, if thought proper, a little wine and nutmeg. It should be taken warm.

OATMEAL GRUEL.--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.

PANADA.--Having pared off the crust, boil some slices of bread in a quart of water for about five minutes. Then take out the bread, and beat it smooth in a deep dish, mixing in a little of the water it has boiled in; and mix it with a bit of fresh butter, and sugar and nutmeg to your taste.

Another way is to grate some bread, or to grate or pound a few crackers. Pour on boiling water, beat it well, and add sugar and nutmeg.

BARLEY WATER.--Wash clean some barley, (either pearl or common,) and to two ounces of barley allow a quart of water. Put it into a sauce-pan, adding, if you choose, an equal quantity of stoned raisins; or some lemon-peel and sugar; or some liquorice root cut up. Let it boil slowly till the liquid is reduced one half. Then strain it off, and sweeten it.

GROUND RICE MILK.--Mix in a bowl two table-spoonfuls of ground rice, with sufficient milk to make a thin batter. Then stir it gradually into a pint of milk and boil it with sugar, lemon-peel or nutmeg.

BEEF TEA.--Cut a pound of the lean of fresh juicy beef into small thin slices, and sprinkle them with a very little salt. Put the meat into a wide-mouthed glass or stone jar closely corked, and set it in a kettle or pan of water, which must be made to boil, and kept boiling hard round the jar for an hour or more. Then take out the jar and strain the essence of the beef into a bowl. Chicken tea may be made in the same manner.

MUTTON BROTH.--Cut off all the fat from a loin of mutton, and to each pound of the lean allow a quart of water. Season it with a little salt and some shred parsley, and put in some large pieces of the crust of bread. Boil it slowly for two or three hours, skimming it carefully.

Beef, veal, or chicken broth may be made in the same manner.

Vegetables may be added if approved. Also barley or rice.

MUTTON BROTH MADE QUICKLY.--Cut three chops from the best part of a neck of mutton, and remove the fat and skin. Beat the meat on both sides, and slice it thin. Put into a small sauce-pan with a pint of water, a little salt, and some crust of bread cut into pieces. You may add a little parsley, and a small onion sliced thin. Cover the sauce-pan, and set it over the fire. Boil it fast, skim it, and in half an hour it should be ready for use.

WINE WHEY.--Boil a pint of milk; and when it rises to the top of the sauce-pan, pour in a large glass of sherry or Madeira. It will be the better for adding a glass of currant wine also. Let it again boil up, and then take the sauce-pan off the fire, and set it aside to stand for a few minutes, but do not stir it. Then remove the curd, (if it has completely formed,) and pour the clear whey into a bowl and sweeten it.

When wine is considered too heating, the whey may be made by turning the milk with lemon juice.

RENNET WHEY.--Wash a small bit of rennet about two inches square, in cold water, to get off the salt. Put it into a tea-cup and pour on it sufficient lukewarm water to cover it. Let it stand all night, and in the morning stir the rennet water into a quart pitcher of warm milk. Cover it, and set it near the fire till a firm curd is formed. Pour off the whey from it, and it will be found an excellent and cooling drink. The curd may be eaten (though not by a sick person) with wine, sugar, and nutmeg. The whey should look greenish.

CALF'S FEET BROTH.--Boil two calf's feet in two quarts of water, till the liquid is reduced one half, and the meat has dropped to pieces. Then strain it into a deep dish or pan, and set it by to get cold. When it has congealed, take all the fat carefully off; put a tea-cupful of the jelly into a sauce-pan, and set it on hot coals. When it has nearly boiled, stir in by degrees the beaten yolk of an egg, and then take it off immediately. You may add to it a little sugar, and some grated lemon-peel and nutmeg.

CHICKEN BROTH AND PANADA.--Cut up a chicken, season it with a very little salt, and put it into three quarts of water. Let it simmer slowly till the flesh drops to pieces. You may make chicken panada or gruel of the same fowl, by taking out the white meat as soon as it is tender, mincing it fine, and then pounding it in a mortar, adding as you pound it, sufficient of the chicken water to moisten the paste. You may thin it with water till it becomes liquid enough to drink. Then put it into a sauce-pan and boil it gently a few minutes. Taken in small quantities, it will be found very nutritious. You may add to it a little grated lemon-peel and nutmeg.

VEGETABLE SOUP.--Take a white onion, a turnip, a pared potato, and a head of celery, or a large tea-spoonful of celery seed. Put the vegetables whole into a quart of water, (adding a little salt,) and boil it slowly till reduced to a pint. Make a slice of nice toast; lay it in the bottom of a bowl, and strain the soup over it.

ONION SOUP.--Put half a pound of the best fresh butter into a stew-pan on the fire, and let it boil till it has done making a noise; then have ready twelve large onions peeled and cut small; throw them into the butter, add a little salt, and stew them a quarter of an hour. Then dredge in a little flour, and stir the whole very hard; and in five minutes pour in a quart of boiling water, and some of the upper crust of bread, cut small. Let the soup boil ten minutes longer, stirring it often; and after you take it from the fire, stir in the yolks of two beaten eggs, and serve it up immediately.

In France this soup is considered a fine restorative after any unusual fatigue. Instead of butter, the onions may be boiled in veal or chicken broth.

TOAST AND WATER.--Toast some slices of bread very nicely, without allowing them to burn or blacken. Then put them into a pitcher, and fill it up with boiling water. Let it stand till it is quite cold; then strain it, and put it into a decanter. Another way of preparing toast and water is to put the toasted bread into a mug and pour cold water on it. Cover it closely, and let it infuse for at least an hour. Drink it cold.

APPLE WATER.--Pare and slice a fine juicy apple; pour boiling water over it, cover it, and let it stand till cold.

TAMARIND WATER.--Put tamarinds into a pitcher or tumbler till it is one-third full; then fill it up with cold water, cover it, and let it infuse for a quarter of an hour or more.

Currant jelly or cranberry juice mixed with water makes a pleasant drink for an invalid.

MOLASSES POSSET.--Put into a sauce-pan a pint of the best West India molasses; a tea-spoonful of powdered white ginger; and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Set it on hot coals, and simmer it slowly for half an hour; stirring it frequently. Do not let it come to a boil. Then stir in the juice of two lemons, or two table-spoonfuls of vinegar; cover the pan and let it stand by the fire five minutes longer. This is good for a cold. Some of it may be taken warm at once, and the remainder kept at hand for occasional use.

It is the preparation absurdly called by the common people a stewed quaker.

Half a pint of strained honey mixed cold with the juice of a lemon, and a table-spoonful of sweet oil, is another remedy for a cold; a tea-spoonful or two to be taken whenever the cough is troublesome.

FLAX-SEED LEMONADE.--To a large table-spoonful of flax-seed allow a tumbler and a half of cold water. Boil them together till the liquid becomes very sticky. Then strain it hot over a quarter of a pound of pulverized sugar candy, and an ounce of pulverized gum arabic. Stir it till quite dissolved, and squeeze into it the juice of a lemon.

This mixture has frequently been found an efficacious remedy for a cold; taking a wine-glass of it as often as the cough is troublesome.

COCOA.--Put into a sauce-pan two ounces of good cocoa (the chocolate nut before it is ground) and one quart of water. Cover it, and as soon as it has come to a boil, set it on coals by the side of the fire, to simmer for an hour or more. Take it hot with dry toast. Baker's prepared cocoa is excellent.

COCOA SHELLS.--These can be procured at the principal grocers and confectioners, or at a chocolate manufactory. They are the thin shells that envelope the chocolate kernel, and are sold at a low price; a pound contains a very large quantity. Soak them in water for five or six hours or more, (it will be better to soak them all night,) and then boil them in the same water. They should boil two hours. Strain the liquid when done, and let it be taken warm.

RAW EGG.--Break a fresh egg into a saucer, and mix a little sugar with it; also, if approved, a small quantity of wine. Beat the whole to a strong froth. It is considered a restorative.

SODA WATER.--To forty grains of carbonate of soda, add thirty grains or tartaric acid in small crystals. Fill a soda bottle with spring water, put in the mixture, and cork it instantly with a well-fitting cork.

SEIDLITZ POWDERS.--Fold in a white paper one drachm of Rochelle salts. In a blue paper a mixture of twenty grains of tartaric acid, and twenty-five grains of carbonate of soda. They should all be pulverized very fine. Put the contents of the white paper into a tumbler not quite half full of cold water, and stir it till dissolved. Then put the mixture from the blue paper into another tumbler with the same quantity of water, and stir that also. When the powders are dissolved in both tumblers, pour the first into the other, and it will effervesce immediately. Drink it quickly while foaming.

BITTERS.--Take two ounces of gentian root, an ounce of Virginia snake root, an ounce of the yellow paring of orange peel, and half a drachm of cochineal. Steep these ingredients, for a week or more, in a quart of Madeira or sherry wine, or brandy. When they are thoroughly infused, strain and filter the liquor, and bottle it for use. This is considered a good tonic, taken in a small cordial glass about noon.

ESSENCE OF PEPPERMINT.--Mix an ounce of oil of peppermint with a pint of alcohol. Then colour it by putting in some leaves of green mint. Let it stand till the colour is a fine green; then filter it through blotting paper. Drop it on sugar when you take it.

Essence of pennyroyal, mint, cinnamon, cloves, &c. may all be prepared in the same manner by mixing a portion of the essential oil with a little alcohol.

You may obtain liquid camphor by breaking up and dissolving a lump in white brandy or spirit of wine.

LAVENDER COMPOUND.--Fill a quart bottle with lavender blossoms freshly gathered, and put in loosely; then pour in as much of the best brandy as it will contain. Let it stand a fortnight, and then strain it. Afterwards, mix with it of powdered cloves, mace, nutmeg and cochineal, a quarter of an ounce of each; and cork it up for use in small bottles. When taken, a little should be dropped on a lump of sugar.

LEAD WATER.--Mix two table-spoonfuls of extract of lead with a bottle of rain or river water. Then add two table-spoonfuls of brandy, and shake it well.

REMEDY FOR A BURN.[N]--After immediately applying sweet oil, scrape the inside of a raw potato, and lay some of it on the place, securing it with a rag. In a short time put on fresh potato, and repeat this application very frequently. It will give immediate ease, and draw out the fire. Of course, if the burn is bad, it is best to send for a physician.

FOOTNOTES:

[N] These remedies are all very simple; but the author _knows_ them to have been efficacious whenever tried.

FOR CHILBLAINS.--Dip the feet every night and morning in cold water, withdrawing them in a minute or two, and drying them by rubbing them very hard with a coarse towel. To put them immediately into a pail of brine brought from a pickle tub is another excellent remedy when feet are found to be frosted.

FOR CORNS.--Mix together a little Indian meal and cold water, till it is about the consistence of thick mush. Then bind it on the corn by wrapping a small slip of thin rag round the toe. It will not prevent you from wearing your shoe and stocking. In two or three hours take it off, and you will find the corn much softened. Cut off as much of it as is soft with a penknife or scissors. Then put on a fresh poultice, and repeat it till the corn is entirely levelled, as it will be after a few regular applications of the remedy; which will be found successful whenever the corn returns. There is no permanent cure for them.

WARTS.--To remove the hard callous horny warts which sometimes appear on the hands of children, touch the wart carefully with a new pen dipped slightly in aqua-fortis. It will give no pain; and after repeating it a few times, the wart will be found so loose as to come off by rubbing it with the finger.

RING-WORMS.--Rub mercurial ointment on the ring-worm previous to going to bed, and do not wash it off till morning. It will effect a cure if persevered in; sometimes in less than a week.

MUSQUITO BITES.--Salt wetted into a sort of paste, with a little vinegar, and plastered on the bite, will immediately allay the pain; and if not rubbed, no mark will be seen next day. It is well to keep salt and vinegar always in a chamber that is infested with musquitoes. It is also good for the sting of a wasp or bee; and for the bite of any venomous animal, if applied immediately. It should be left on till it becomes dry, and then renewed.

ANTIDOTE FOR LAUDANUM.--When so large a quantity of laudanum has been swallowed as to produce dangerous effects, the fatal drowsiness has been prevented when all other remedies have failed, by administering a cup of the strongest possible coffee. The patient has revived and recovered, and no ill effects have followed.

GREEN OINTMENT.--Take two or three large handfuls of the fresh-gathered leaves of the Jamestown weed, (called Apple Peru in New England,) and pound it in a mortar till you have extracted the juice. Then put the juice into a tin sauce-pan, mixed with sufficient lard to make a thick salve. Stew them together half an hour, and then put the mixture into gallipots and cover it closely. It is excellent to rub on chilblains, and other inflammatory external swellings, applying it several times a day.

TO STOP BLOOD.--For a prick with a pin, or a slight cut, nothing will more effectually stop the bleeding than old cobwebs compressed into a lump and applied to the wound, or bound on it with a rag. A scrap of cotton wadding is also good for stopping blood. Or wet the place with laudanum. After the blood is stopped, cover the cut with a bit of white or pink court-plaster. The copperas dye in _black_ court-plaster will sometimes produce inflammation.

PERFUMERY, ETC.

COLOGNE WATER.

Procure at a druggists, one drachm of oil of lavender, the same quantity of oil of lemon, of oil of rosemary, and of oil of cinnamon; with two drachms of oil of bergamot, all mixed in the same phial, which should be a new one. Shake the oils well, and pour them into a pint of spirits of wine. Cork the bottle tightly, shake it hard, and it will be fit for immediate use; though it improves by keeping. You may add to the oils, if you choose, ten drops of the tincture of musk, or ten drops of extract of ambergris.

For very fine cologne water, mix together in a new phial oil of lemon, two drachms; oil of bergamot, two drachms; oil of lavender, two drachms; oil of cedrat, one drachm; tincture of benzoin, three drachms; neroli, ten drops; ambergris, ten drops; attar of roses, two drops. Pour the mixture into a pint of spirits of wine; cork and shake the bottle and set it away for use. Use only what is called absolute alcohol.

Another receipt for cologne water is to mix with a pint of alcohol, sixty drops or two large tea-spoonfuls of orange-flower water, and the same quantity of the essential oils of lemon, lavender, and bergamot. The alcohol should be inodorous.

LAVENDER WATER.--Mix two ounces of essential oil of lavender, and two drachms of essence of ambergris, with a pint of spirits of wine; cork the bottle, and shake it hard every day for a fortnight. Use absolute alcohol.

HUNGARY WATER.--Mix together one ounce of oil of rosemary and two drachms of essence of ambergris; add them to a pint of spirits of wine. Shake it daily for a month, and then transfer it to small bottles.

ROSE VINEGAR.--Fill a stone or china jar with fresh rose leaves put in loosely. Then pour on them as much of the best white wine vinegar as the jar will hold. Cover it, and set it in the sun, or in some other warm place for three weeks. Then strain it through a flannel bag, and bottle it for use. This vinegar will be found very fine for salads, or for any nice purposes.

THIEVES' VINEGAR.--Take a large handful of lavender blossoms, and the same quantity of sage, mint, rue, wormwood and rosemary. Chop and mix them well. Put them into a jar, with half an ounce of camphor that has been dissolved in a little alcohol, and pour in three quarts of strong clear vinegar. Keep the jar for two or three weeks in the hot sun, and at night plunge it into a box of heated sand. Afterwards strain and bottle the liquid, putting into each bottle a clove of garlic sliced. To have it very clear, after it has been bottled for a week, you should pour it off carefully from the sediment and filter it through blotting paper. Then wash the bottles and return the vinegar to them. It should be kept very tightly corked. It is used for sprinkling about in sick-rooms; and also in close damp oppressive weather. Inhaling the odour from a small bottle will frequently prevent faintness in a crowd.

It is best to make it in June.

This vinegar is so called from an old tradition, that during the prevalence of the plague in London the composition was invented by four thieves, who found it a preservative from contagion; and were by that means enabled to remain in the city and exercise their profession to great advantage, after most of the inhabitants had fled.