Chapter XIX: Part 19

ARROWROOT GRUEL.--Rub a dessertspoonful of _pure_ arrowroot to a thin paste in two tablespoonfuls of cold water, and stir it into a half pint of boiling water, or, if preferred, a cup and a third of boiling milk, and stir rapidly until thickened and clear. If desired, a little lemon peel for flavoring may be infused in the water or milk, before adding the arrowroot. Sweeten, if allowed, and serve.

BARLEY GRUEL.--Wash three heaping tablespoonfuls of pearl barley, drop it into a pint of boiling water, and parboil five minutes. Pour this water off and add a quart of fresh boiling water. Let it simmer gently for three hours. Strain, season, and serve. A small piece of lemon rind added to the gruel a half hour before it is done, gives it a very agreeable flavor. Equal quantities of milk and barley gruel make a very nourishing drink; the milk, however, should not be added to the gruel until needed, as in a warm atmosphere it undergoes quite rapid change, and is likely to ferment. A little lemon juice, with sugar to sweeten to taste, is sometimes preferred as seasoning for barley gruel.

EGG GRUEL.--Heat a cup of milk to boiling, and stir into it one well-beaten egg mixed with one fourth cup of cold milk. Stir constantly for a few minutes till thickened, but do not allow it to boil again. Season with a little salt, or if preferred and allowed, a little loaf sugar.

EGG GRUEL NO. 2.--Boil the yolks of three eggs until dry and mealy, mash perfectly smooth, then add a cup of boiling milk. Season with salt, and serve.

FARINA GRUEL.--Moisten two table spoonfuls of farina with a very little cold milk, and stir it into a cupful of boiling water. Boil until it thickens, add a cupful of new milk, turn into a double boiler, and cook again for twenty or thirty minutes. Strain if necessary, season with salt or sugar, and serve.

FLOUR GRUEL.--Rub one heaping tablespoonful of whole-wheat flour to a thin paste with three tablespoonfuls of cold milk, and stir it into a pint of boiling milk. Cook for ten or twelve minutes. Season with salt, strain if necessary, and while hot, stir in the beaten white of one egg. The egg may be omitted if preferred; or the yolk of the egg and a little sugar may be used instead, if the patient's condition will allow it.

GLUTEN GRUEL.--Stir two and one half tablespoonfuls of the wheat gluten prepared by the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., into a pint of boiling milk; boil until thickened, when it is ready to serve.

GLUTEN GRUEL NO. 2.--Into a pint of boiling water stir three heaping tablespoonfuls of the prepared gluten. Boil until thickened, and add a half cup of thin cream.

GLUTEN CREAM.--Heat a pint of thin cream to boiling, and stir into it three tablespoonfuls of wheat gluten. When thickened, it is ready to serve.

GLUTEN MEAL GRUEL.--Into a cup and a half of boiling water stir four tablespoonfuls of gluten meal (prepared by the Sanitarium Food Co.), let it boil for a moment, add six tablespoonfuls of rather thin, sweet cream, and serve.

GRAHAM GRUEL.--Heat three cups of water in the inner dish of a double boiler, and when vigorously boiling stir into it carefully, a little at a time, so as not to check the boiling, one scant cup of Graham flour which has been rubbed perfectly smooth in a cup of warm, not hot, water. Stir until thickened, then place in the outer boiler and cook for an hour or longer. When done, strain if necessary, season with salt if desired, and a half cup of sweet cream.

GRAHAM GRITS GRUEL.--Cook three heaping tablespoonfuls of Graham grits in a quart of boiling water, as directed in the chapter on Grains, for three hours. Turn through a soup strainer to remove any lumps, season with half a cup of cream, and salt if desired. Well cooked Graham grits may be made into gruel by thinning with water or milk, straining and seasoning as above.

GRUEL OF PREPARED FLOUR.--Knead a pint of flour with water into a ball, and tie firmly in a linen cloth; put it into a granite-ware basin or kettle, cover with boiling water, and boil slowly, replenishing with boiling water as needed, for twelve hours. Put it before the fire to dry. Afterward remove the cloth, and also a thick skin which will have formed over the ball. Dry the interior again. When needed for use, rub a tablespoonful of the prepared flour smooth with three spoonfuls of cold milk, and stir it into a pint of boiling milk. Cook from three to five minutes. Season with salt if desired.

INDIAN MEAL GRUEL.--Make a thin paste of one teaspoonful of flour, two tablespoonfuls of best cornmeal, and a little water. Stir this into a quart of boiling water, or milk and water in equal proportions, as preferred. Boil until the meal has set, stirring constantly; then turn into a double boiler and cook for an hour and half or two hours. Season with salt, and strain. If too thick, thin with milk or cream.

LEMON OATMEAL GRUEL.--The United States Dispensary recommends the following method of preparing oatmeal gruel for fever patients; "Rub one heaping tablespoonful of fine oatmeal smooth in a little cold water; stir this into three pints of boiling water. Cook until the quantity is reduced to two pints; then strain, and let it cool and settle. When it is quite cold, pour the clear gruel from the sediment, add the juice of a lemon, and sugar to sweeten slightly. If desirable to serve it warm, reheat before adding the lemon juice." Freshly cooked oatmeal may be thinned with boiling water, strained and seasoned in the same manner.

MILK OATMEAL GRUEL.--Take a pint of milk and one of water, and heat to boiling. Stir in three heaping table spoonfuls of oatmeal, and cook in a double boiler for two or three hours.

MILK PORRIDGE.--Take one pint of milk and the same quantity of water, and heat to boiling. Stir in two heaping tablespoonfuls of cornmeal or Graham grits, boil, stirring continuously, until the meal has set, then turn into a double boiler and cook for two hours or longer. Season with salt, and a tablespoonful of sweet cream if allowed.

OATMEAL GRUEL.--Into one quart of boiling water stir two heaping tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal; let it boil until it thickens, stirring all the time; then turn into a double boiler and cook for three and a half or four hours. Strain before serving. A little cream may also be added, unless contra-indicated by the patient's condition.

OATMEAL GRUEL NO. 2.--Pound one half cup of coarse oatmeal until it is mealy. The easiest way to do this is to tie the oatmeal in a coarse cloth and pound it with a wooden mallet. Put it in a pint bowl, and fill the bowl with cold water. Stir briskly for a few moments until the water is white, then allow the meal to settle. Pour off the water, being careful to get none of the sediment. Fill the bowl a second time with cold water, stir thoroughly, let settle, and pour off the water as before. Do this the third time. Boil the liquid one half hour, strain, and serve hot. If very thick, a little cream or milk may be added.

OATMEAL GRUEL NO, 3.--Add to one cup of well-cooked oatmeal while hot two cups of hot milk, or one cup of hot milk and one of hot water. Beat all thoroughly together, add a little salt if desired, strain, and serve.

PEPTONIZED GLUTEN GRUEL.--Prepare the gruel as directed for Gluten Gruel No. 1. Strain if needed, cook to lukewarm, and turn it into a pitcher, which place in a dish containing hot water even in depth with the gruel in the pitcher; add the peptonizing fluid or powder, stir well, and let it stand in the hot water bath for ten minutes. The temperature must not be allowed to rise over 130°. Put into a clean dish and serve at once, or place on ice till needed. Other well-cooked gruels maybe peptonized in the same way.

RAISIN GRUEL.--Stone and quarter two dozen raisins and boil them twenty minutes in a small quantity of water. When the water has nearly boiled away, add two cups of new milk. When the milk is boiling, add one heaping tablespoonful of Graham or whole-wheat flour which has been rubbed to a thin paste with a little cold milk. Boil until thickened, stirring all the time; then turn into a double boiler and cook for twenty minutes or half an hour. Season with salt and serve.

RICE WATER.--Wash half a cup of rice very thoroughly in several waters. Put it into a saucepan with three cups of cold water and boil for half an hour. Strain off the rice water, season with salt if desired, and serve.

PREPARATIONS OF MILK.

MILK DIET.--An almost exclusive milk diet is sometimes a great advantage in cases of sickness. It is usually necessary to begin the use of the milk in moderate quantities, gradually withdrawing the more solid food and increasing the quantity of milk. In the course of a week, all other food should be withdrawn, and the quantity of milk increased to three or four quarts a day. Milk is easily digested, and hence may be taken at more frequent intervals than other food.

_RECIPES._

ALBUMINIZED MILK.--Shake together in a well-corked bottle or glass fruit can, a pint of fresh milk and the well-beaten whites of two eggs, until thoroughly mixed. Serve at once.

HOT MILK.--Hot milk is an excellent food for many classes of invalids. The milk should be fresh, and should be heated in a double boiler until the top is wrinkled over the entire surface.

JUNKET, OR MILK CURD.--Heat a cup of fresh milk to 85°, add one teaspoonful of the essence of pepsin, and stir just enough to mix thoroughly. Let it stand until firmly curded, and serve.

KOUMISS.--Dissolve one fourth of a two-cent cake of compressed yeast, and two teaspoonfuls of white sugar, in three tablespoonfuls of lukewarm water. Pour this into a quart bottle and add sufficient fresh, sweet milk to nearly fill. Shake well, and place in a room of the temperature of 70° to 80° F., and allow it to ferment about six hours. Cork tightly and tie the cork in. Put in a cool place, act above 60° and let it remain a week, when it will be ready for use. In making koumiss be sure that the milk is pure, the bottle sound, and the yeast fresh. Open the bottle with a champagne tap. If there is any curd or thickening resembling cheese, the fermentation has been prolonged beyond the proper point, and the koumiss should not be used.

MILK AND LIME WATER.--In cases where milk forms large curds, or sours in the stomach, lime water prepared in the following manner may be added to the milk before using:--

Into a gallon jar of water, put a piece of lime the size of one's fist. Cover the jar and let the lime settle over night. In the morning, draw the water off the top with a syphon, being careful not to move the jar so as to mix again the particles of lime with the water.

Two tablespoonfuls of the lime water is usually sufficient for a pint of milk.

PEPTONIZED MILK FOR INFANTS.--One gill of cows' milk, fresh and unskimmed; one gill of pure water; two tablespoonfuls of rich, sweet cream; two hundred grains of milk sugar, one and one fourth grains of _extractum pancreatis_; four grains of sodium bicarbonate. Put the above in a clean nursing bottle, and place the bottle in water so warm that the whole hand cannot be held in it longer for one minute without pain. Keep the milk at this temperature for exactly twenty minutes. Prepare fresh just before using.

BEEF-TEA, BROTHS, ETC.

Beef tea and meat broths are by no means so useful as foods for the sick as is generally supposed. The late Dr. Austin Flint used to say of these foods, that "the valuation by most persons outside of the medical profession, and by many within it, of beef tea or its analogues, the various solutions, most of the extracts, and the expressed juice of meat, is a delusion and a snare which has led to the loss of many lives by starvation.

"The quantity of nutritive material in these preparations is insignificant or nil, and it is vastly important that they should be reckoned as of little or no value, except as indirectly conducive to nutrition by acting as stimulants for the secretion of the digestive fluids, or as vehicles for the introduction of the nutritive substances. Furthermore, it is to be considered that water and pressure not only fail to extract the alimentary principles of meat, but that the excrementitious principles, or the products of destructive assimilation, _are_ thereby extracted."

Vegetable broths prepared from grains and legumes possess a much higher nutritive value, while they lack the objectionable features of meat broths.

_RECIPES._

BEEF EXTRACT.--Take a pound of lean beef, cut it up into small dice, and put into a glass fruit jar. Screw on the cover tightly, put the jar into a vessel filled with cold water to a depth sufficient to come to the top of contents of the jar, and set over a slow fire. As soon as the water boils, set where it will keep just boiling, but no more; and cook for an hour or an hour and a quarter. Then strain, season, and serve. If preferred, a double boiler may be used for the preparation of the extract.

BEEF JUICE.--Cut a thick slice of round steak, trim off every particle of fat, and broil it over a clear fire just long enough to heat it throughout. Next gash it in many places with a sharp knife, and with the aid of a beef-juice press or lemon squeezer, press out all the juice into a bowl set in hot water, salt but very slightly, remove all globules of fat, and serve. This may also be frozen and given the patient in small lumps, if so ordered.

BEEF TEA.--Take a pound of fresh, lean, juicy beef of good flavor,--the top of the round and the back and middle of the rump are the best portions for the purpose,--from which all fat, bones, and sinews have been carefully removed; cut into pieces a quarter of an inch square, or grind in a sausage-cutter. Add a quart of cold water, and put into a clean double boiler. Place over the fire, and heat very slowly, carefully removing all scum as it rises. Allow it to cook gently for two or three hours, or until the water has been reduced one half. Strain, and put away to cool. Before using, remove all fat from the surface, and season. In reheating, a good way is to place a quantity in a cup, and set the cup into hot water until the tea is sufficiently hot. This prevents waste, and if the patient is not ready for the tea, it can be easily kept hot.

BEEF TEA AND EGGS.--Beat the yolk of an egg thoroughly in a teacup and fill the cup with boiling beef tea, stirring all the while. Season with a little salt if desired.

BEEF BROTH AND OATMEAL.--Rub two tablespoonfuls of oatmeal smooth in an equal quantity of cold water, and stir into a quart of boiling beef broth. Cook in a double broiler for two hours, strain, and season with salt and a little cream if allowed. Or, thin well-cooked oatmeal mush with beef-tea; strain, reheat, season, and serve.

BOTTLED BEEF TEA.--Cut two pounds of round steak into small dice, rejecting all skin and fat. Put it into a glass fruit jar with one cup of cold water. Cover the can sufficiently tight to prevent any water from boiling in, and place it on a wisp of straw or a muffin ring in a kettle of cold water. Heat very gradually, and keep it just below the boiling point for two or more hours; or, place the can in a deep dish of hot water, and cook in a moderate oven for three hours. Allow the meat to cook thus four or five hours, or until it appears white, by which time it will have discharged all its juice. Turn the liquor off, strain through a piece of muslin or cheese cloth laid in a colander, and cool; then if any fat has been left, it will harden on the top, and can be removed. When needed for use, reheat, season, and serve.

CHICKEN BROTH.--Take a well dressed, plump spring chicken, cut it into half-inch pieces, cracking well all the bones; add cold water,--a quart to the pound of meat and bones,--and cook the same as beef-tea. Allow the broth to cool before using, and carefully skim off all particles of fat before reheating. If allowed, a tablespoonful of steamed rice may be added to the broth, or a well-beaten egg may be stirred in while hot just before serving. Heat until the whole becomes thickened, but do not boil.

If preferred, the broth may be prepared by using only the white portion of the chicken in connection with lean beef. This is liked better by some to whom the strong flavor of the chicken is not pleasant. Or, prepare equal quantity of rich milk, season with salt, reheat, and serve. The broth may be flavored with celery if allowed.

MUTTON BROTH.--Cut a pound of perfectly fresh, lean mutton or lamb--the scrags of neck are best--into small dice. Add a quart of cold water, and simmer gently for two or three hours. Strain, and when cold skim off all fat. Reheat when needed for use.

If preferred, a tablespoonful of rice which has been soaked for an hour in a little warm water, or a tablespoonful of cooked barley, may be simmered in the broth for a half hour before serving. Season with salt as desired.

VEGETABLE BROTH.--Put a cupful of well washed white beans into a quart of cold water in a double boiler, and cook slowly until but a cupful of the liquor remains. Strain off the broth, add salt, and serve hot. If preferred, a few grains of powdered thyme may be added as flavoring.

VEGETABLE BROTH NO. 2.--Pick over and wash a cup of dried Scotch peas, and put to cook in a quart of cold water, cook slowly in a double boiler or in a kettle placed on the range where they will just simmer, until but a cupful of liquid remains. Strain off the broth, add salt and one third of a cupful of the liquor, without pulp, from well-stewed tomatoes. Serve hot.

MIXED VEGETABLE BROTHS.--Broths may be prepared as directed from both black and white beaus, and combined in the proportion of one third of the former to two thirds of the latter; or a broth of lentils may be used instead of the black bean.

_RECIPES FOR PANADA._

BROTH PANADA.--Use beef or chicken broth in place of water, and proceed the same as in Egg Panada, omitting the egg.

CHICKEN PANADA.--Take a cupful of the white meat of chicken, pounded to a paste in a mortar, and half a cup of whole-wheat crust or zwieback crumbs. Add sufficient chicken broth to make a thick gruel. Season with salt, boil up for a few minutes, and serve hot.

EGG PANADA.--Put two ounces of light, whole-wheat crusts into a pint of cold water in a granite-ware stewpan; simmer gently for three quarters of an hour, stirring occasionally. Season with a spoonful of sweet cream and a little salt, then stir in the well-beaten yolk of an egg, and serve.

MILK PANADA.--Heat a pint of milk to boiling, then allow it to cool. Add two ounces of nice, light, whole-wheat crusts, and simmer for half an hour, stirring frequently. Season with a little sugar, if allowed. Granola may be used in place of the crusts, if preferred.

RAISIN PANADA.--Boil a half cup of raisins in a half pint of water. Break a slice of zwieback into fragments in a bowl. Add a well-beaten egg and a teaspoonful of sugar. Pour in the raisins, water and all, and beat very thoroughly.

GRAINS FOR THE SICK.

For invalids able to digest solid food, rice, cracked wheat, Graham grits, oatmeal, barley, farina and other grains may be prepared and cooked as previously directed in the chapter on Grains.

The various cooked preparations of grains--granola, wheatena, avenola, wheat gluten and gluten meal--manufactured by the Sanitarium Food Co., Battle Creek, Mich., form excellent articles of diet for many invalids, when served with hot milk or cream, or prepared in the form of mush. Several recipes for their use have already been given in preceding chapters; the following are a few additional ones:--

_RECIPES._

GLUTEN MUSH.--Heat together a cup of thin cream and three cups of water; when boiling, sift in lightly with the fingers, stirring continuously meanwhile, enough wheat gluten to make a mush of the desired consistency. Boil up once and serve. A few blanched or roasted almonds may be stirred in just before serving, if desired.

TOMATO GLUTEN.--Heat a pint of stewed tomato, which has been rubbed through a fine colander to remove the seeds, to boiling, add salt to season, and three tablespoonfuls of gluten meal. Boil together for a moment until thickened, and serve hot.

TOMATO GLUTEN NO. 2.--Prepare the same as the preceding, using five tablespoonfuls of the gluten meal, and seasoning with two tablespoonfuls of rather thick, sweet cream.

MEATS FOR THE SICK.

All meats for the sick should be prepared in the very simplest way, served with the plainest possible dressing, and without the use of condiments other than salt.

_RECIPES._

BROILED STEAK.--Take a half pound of round steak and a slice of tenderloin; wipe well with a clean, wet cloth. Have a clear fire; place the meat in an open wire broiler or on a gridiron over the coals, and cook, turning as often as you can count ten, for four or five minutes, if the slices are about one inch thick; then with a lemon squeezer squeeze the juice from the round steak over the tenderloin, season with a little salt, and serve at once on a hot plate.

CHICKEN.--For an invalid, the breast of a tender chicken broiled quickly over hot coals is best. For directions for broiling chicken see page 406.

CHICKEN JELLY.--Dress a small chicken. Disjoint, break or pound the bones, and cut the meat into half-inch pieces. Remove every particle of fat possible. Cover with cold water, heat very slowly, and simmer gently until the meat is in rags, and the liquid reduced about one half. Strain off the liquor, cool, and remove all the fat. To make the broth more clear, add the shell and white of an egg, then reheat slowly, stirring all the time until hot. Strain through a fine cloth laid inside of a colander. Salt and a little lemon may be added as seasoning. Pour into small cups, and cool.

MINCED CHICKEN.--Stew the breast of a young chicken until tender; mince fine with a sharp knife. Thicken the liquor in which it was stewed with a little flour, add salt and a little cream if allowed, then the minced chicken, and serve hot on zwieback, softened with cream as directed in the chapter on Breakfast Dishes.

MUTTON CHOP.--Select a chop containing a large tenderloin: cut thick, and broil for eight or ten minutes as directed for beef steak. Season lightly with salt, and serve hot.

MINCED STEAK.--Mince some nice, juicy steak with a chopping knife, or in a sausage-cutter, rejecting as much of the fiber as possible; make into small cakes and broil the same as steak. Salt lightly when done, and for dressing use a little beef juice prepared as directed on page 427. It may be thickened with a little flour as for gravy, if preferred.

SCRAPED STEAK.--Take a small piece of nice, juicy steak, and with a blunt case-knife or tablespoon, scrape off all the pulp, being careful to get none of the fibers. Press the pulp together in the form of patties, and broil quickly over glowing coals. Salt lightly, and serve hot. It is better to be as rare as the patient can take it. Instead of butter, turn a spoonful or two of thick, hot beef juice over the steak, if any dressing other than salt is required.

EGGS FOR THE SICK.

_RECIPES._

FLOATED EGG.--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 appetising 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 desired, 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.

GLUTEN 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 EGGS.--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 heat to a stiff froth; a little cold water may be added if liked.

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 required, and that of a character which merely appeases hunger and quenches thirst, without stimulation and without affording much nourishment.

Preparations from sago, tapioca, and other farinaceous substances 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 especially 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 person 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 a 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 serviceable for the sick, as will also the following additional ones:--

_RECIPES._

ACORN COFFEE.--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, rubbing 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, mix the almonds with a pint of milk, two tablespoonfuls 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 BEVERAGE.--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, and simmering for an hour or an hour and a half longer, a second cap of barley water may be obtained, almost as good 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 thoroughly in an earthen dish, and pour boiling water over them. Let the mixture stand until cold, strain off the water, and sweeten to taste. Barberries 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 serve.

CRUST COFFEE.--Brown slices of Graham bread in a slow oven until very ark 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.

EGG CREAM.--Beat the white of an egg to a stiff froth, add one tablespoonful 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.

EGG CREAM 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.

EGG CREAM NO. 3.--Beat the yolk of a freshly laid egg with a tablespoonful 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 tablespoonful of lemon juice, a teaspoonful of sugar, the white of an egg and a cup of cold water, until thoroughly 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 not be crushed, as the mucilage is in the outer part of the kernel, and if braised, 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 arabic. When dissolved, add the juice of one lemon and a teaspoonful 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.

IRISH 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 cups 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.

ORANGEADE.--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 flavor.

TOAST WATER.--Toast a pint of whole-wheat or Graham bread crusts very brown, but do not burn. Cover 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 using.

BREAD.

For invalids who are able to partake of solid foods, the Breakfast 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 manufactured 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 cookie-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.

_RECIPES._

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 sufficiently 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.

GLUTEN 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 tablespoonful 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.

JELLIES AND OTHER SIMPLE DESSERTS FOR THE SICK.

Invalids whose digestion will allow of other than the plainest 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:--

_RECIPES._

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 BLANCMANGE.--Rub two and a half tablespoonfuls 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 at 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 dissolved, strain it onto a tablespoonful of currant or raspberry jelly, stirring so as to blend the jelly perfectly with the moss. Turn into a mold, and cool.

ICELAND MOSS BLANCMANGE.--Substitute milk for the water, and proceed 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.

WHITE 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.

TABLE TOPICS.

Regimen is better than physic.--_Voltaire._

Many dishes have induced many diseases.--_Seneca._

Dr. Lyman Beecher tells the following story of his aunt, which well
illustrates a popular notion that sick people should be fed with all
sorts of dainties, no matter what the nature of the disease. When a
boy eight or nine years of age, he was one day suffering in the
throes of indigestion, as the result of having swallowed a large
amount of indigestible mince pie. His kind-hearted aunt noticed the
pale and distressed look on his face, and said to him, with genuine
sympathy in her voice, "Lyman, you look sick. You may go into the
pantry and help yourself to a nice piece of fruit cake just warm
from the oven."

Fix on that course of life which is the most excellent, and custom
will render it the most delightful.--_Pythagoras._

A MERE indigestion can temporarily metamorphose the character. The
eel stews of Mohammed II. kept the whole empire in a state of
nervous excitement, and one of the meat-pies which King Philip
failed to digest caused the revolt of the Netherlands.--_Oswald._

Few seem conscious that there is such a thing as physical morality.
Man's habitual words and acts imply that they are at liberty to
treat their bodies as they please. The fact is, that all breaches of
the laws of health are physical sins.--_Herbert Spencer._

Practical right and good conduct are much more dependent on health
of body than on health of mind.--_Prof. Schneider._

Dr. Abernathy's reply to the Duke of York when consulted about his
health was, "Cut off the supplies and the enemy will soon leave the
citadel."

FOOD FOR THE AGED AND THE VERY YOUNG.

FOOD FOR THE AGED

One of the first requisites of food for the aged is that it shall be easy of digestion, since with advancing age and decreasing physical energy, digestion and assimilation may be taken with impunity at an earlier period of life, overtax the enfeebled organs and prove highly injurious. The fact that the vital machinery is worn and weakened with age has led to the popular notion that old people require a stimulating diet as a "support" for their declining forces. That this is an error is apparent from the fact that stimulation either by drink or food lessens instead of reinforces vital strength, thus defeating the very purpose desired. Flesh food in quantities is a peculiarly unsuitable diet for the aged, not alone because it is stimulating, but because it produces a tendency to plethora, a condition which is especially inimical to the health of old persons. Eminent authorities on diet also reason that the loss of the teeth at this period, whereby thorough mastication of flesh food is done with difficulty, even with the best artificial aids, should be considered a sign that nature intends such foods to be discarded by the old.

A milk, grain, and fruit diet is undoubtedly the one best suited to the average person in old age. Vegetables and legumes in well-prepared soups may also be used to advantage. Directions for such soups, as also for cooking grains and grain products, will be found in the preceding pages.

The following bills of fare, one for each season of the year, will perhaps serve to illustrate how a varied and appetizing regimen may be provided without the use of flesh foods:--

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits
Graham Grits and Cream
Prune Toast
Graham Puffs
Cream Crisps
Strawberries
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Vegetable Broth with Toasted Rolls
Baked Potato with Pease Gravy
Stewed Asparagus
Cracked Wheat and Cream
Whole-Wheat Bread
Canned Berries
Manioca with Fruit
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits
Rolled Oats and Cream
Baked Sweet Apples
Macaroni with Cream Sauce
Whole-Wheat Puffs
Stewed Peaches
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Lentil Soup
Baked Potato with Cream Sauce
Escalloped Tomato
Green Corn Pulp
Browned Rice and Cream
Fruit Bread
Lemon Apple Sauce
Prune Pie
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits
Blackberry Mush and Cream
Cream Toast
Graham Crusts
Blueberries
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Green Pea Soup
Mashed Potato
Macaroni with Tomato Sauce
Pearl Barley and Cream
Cream Rolls
Blackberries
Stewed Fruit Pudding
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

BREAKFAST

Fresh Fruits
Rolled Wheat and Cream
Tomato Toast
Corn Bread
Graham Gems
Stewed Prunes
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

DINNER

Vegetable Oyster Soup
Baked Sweet Potato
Mashed Peas
Steamed Rice with Fig Sauce
Graham Bread
Stewed Dried Fruit
Apples
Caramel Coffee or Hot Milk

In the selection of a dietary for elderly persons, much must depend upon their physical condition, the daily amount of exercise to which they are accustomed, their habits in earlier life, and a variety of other circumstances.

The quantity as well as quality of food for the aged should receive consideration. Diminished bodily activity and the fact that growth has ceased, render a smaller amount of food necessary to supply needs; and a decrease in the amount taken, in proportion to the age and the activity of the subject, must be made or health will suffer. The system will become clogged, the blood filled with imperfectly elaborated material, and gout, rheumatism, apoplexy, or other diseased conditions will be the inevitable result. The digestion of heavy meals is a tax upon vital powers at any time of life, but particularly so as age advances; and for him who has passed his first half-century, over-feeding is fraught with great danger. Cornaro, an Italian of noble family, contemporary with Titian in the sixteenth century, after reaching his eighty-third year wrote several essays upon diet and regimen for the aged, in one of which he says: "There are old lovers of feeding who say that it is necessary that they should eat and drink a great deal to keep up their natural heat, which is constantly diminishing as they advance in years; and that it is therefore their duty to eat heartily and of such things as please their palate, be they hot, cold, or temperate, and that if they were to lead a sober life, it would be a short one. To this I answer; Our kind Mother Nature, in order that old men may live to still greater age, has contrived matters so that they may be able to subsist on little, as I do; for large quantities of food cannot be digested by old and feeble stomachs."

Cornaro lived to be one hundred years old, doubtless owing largely to his simple, frugal habits.

DIET FOR THE YOUNG.

A very large share of the mortality among young children results from dietetic errors which proper knowledge and care on the part of those who have them in charge might commonly avoid. From infancy to the age of twelve or eighteen months, milk is the natural and proper food. Milk contains all the food elements except starch, which cannot be digested by very young children, owing to the insufficient formation of digestive elements of the salivary secretion during the first few months. If the child is deprived of the milk provided by nature, the best artificial food is cow's milk; it, however, requires very careful selection and intelligent preparation. The animal from which the milk comes, should be perfectly healthy and well cared for. The quality of her food should also receive attention, as there is little doubt that disease is often communicated to infants by milk from cows improperly fed and cared for. An eminent medical authority offers the following important points on this subject:--

"The cow selected for providing the food for an infant should be between the ages of four and ten years, of mild disposition, and one which has been giving milk from four to eight weeks. She should be fed on good, clean grain, and hay free from must. Roots, if any are fed, should be of good quality, and she should have plenty of good clean water from a living spring or well. Her pasture should be timothy grass or native grass free from weeds; clover alone is bad. She should be cleaned and cared for like a carriage horse, and milked twice a day by the same person and at the same time. Some cows are unfit by nature for feeding infants."

Milk from the same animal should be used if possible. Changing from one cow's milk to another, or the use of such milk as is usually supplied by city milkmen, often occasions serious results. The extraction of the heat from the milk immediately after milking and before it is used or carried far, especially in hot weather, is essential. While the milk itself should be clean and pure, it should also be perfectly fresh and without any trace of decomposition. To insure all these requisites, besides great care in its selection, it must be sterilized, and if not intended for immediate use, bottled and kept in a cool place until needed. It is not safe to feed young children upon unsterilized milk that has stood a few hours. Even fresh milk from the cleanest cows, unless drawn into bottles and sealed at once, contains many germs. These little organisms, the cause of fermentation and decomposition, multiply very rapidly in milk, and as they increase, dangers from the use of the milk increase.

There is no doubt that cholera infantum and other digestive disturbances common among young children would be greatly lessened by the use of properly sterilized milk. Directions for sterilizing milk, and additional suggestions respecting points to be considered in its selection, are to be found in the chapter on Milk, etc.

Cow's milk differs from human milk in that it contains nearly three times as much casein, but only two thirds as much fat and three fourths as much sugar. Cow's milk is usually slightly acid, while human milk is alkaline. The casein of cow's milk forms large, hard curds, while that of breast milk forms fine, soft curds. These facts make it important that some modification be made in cow's milk to render it acceptable to the feeble stomach of an infant. Cases are rare where it is safe to feed a child under nine months of age on pure, undiluted cow's milk. A common method of preparing cow's milk so as to make it suitable for infant feeding, is to dilute it with pure water, using at first only one third or one fourth milk, the proportion of milk being gradually increased as the child's stomach becomes accustomed to the food and able to bear it, until at the age of four months the child should be taking equal parts of milk and water. When sterilized milk is to be thus diluted, the water should be first boiled or added before sterilizing. A small amount of fine white sugar, or what is better, milk sugar, should be added to the diluted milk. Barley water, and thin, well-boiled, and carefully strained oatmeal gruel thoroughly blended with the milk are also used for this purpose. A food which approximates more nearly the constituents of mother's milk may be prepared as follows:--