One cupful of boiling water, one scant tablespoonful of arrowroot, mixed with a little cold water, one tablespoonful of sugar, a pinch of salt, one tablespoonful of brandy, or three tablespoonfuls of wine.
Excellent for a sick person without fever.
HOMINY.
Put to soak one pint of hominy in two and one-half pints of boiling water over night, in a tin vessel with a tight cover; in the morning add one-half pint of sweet milk and a little salt. Place on a brisk fire, in a kettle of boiling water, the tin vessel containing the hominy; let boil one-half hour.
Cracked wheat, oatmeal, mush, are all good food for the sick.
CHICKEN JELLY.
Cook a chicken in enough water to little more than cover it; let it stew gently until the meat drops from the bones, and the broth is reduced to about a pint; season it to taste, with a little salt and pepper. Strain and press, first through a colander, then through a coa.r.s.e cloth. Set it over the fire again and cook a few minutes longer. Turn it into an earthen vegetable dish to harden; set it on the ice in the refrigerator. Eat cold in slices. Nice made into sandwiches, with _thin_ slices of bread, lightly spread with b.u.t.ter.
BOILED RICE.
Boil half a cupful of rice in just enough water to cover it, with half a teaspoonful of salt; when the water has boiled nearly out and the rice begins to look soft and dry, turn over it a cupful of milk and let it simmer until the rice is done and nearly dry; take from the fire and beat in a well-beaten egg. Eat it warm with cream and sugar.
Flavor to taste.
CUP PUDDING.
Take one tablespoonful of flour, one egg, mix with cold milk and a pinch of salt to a batter. Boil fifteen minutes in a b.u.t.tered cup. Eat with sauce, fruit or plain sugar.
TAPIOCA CUP PUDDING.
This is very light and delicate for invalids. An even tablespoonful of tapioca, soaked for two hours in nearly a cup of new milk; stir into this the yolk of a fresh egg; a little sugar, a grain of salt, and bake it in a cup for fifteen minutes. A little jelly may be eaten with it.
BAKED APPLES.
Get nice fruit, a little tart and juicy, but not sour; clean them nicely, and bake in a moderate oven--regulated so as to have them done in about an hour; when the skin cracks and the pulp breaks through in every direction they are done and ready to take out. Serve with white sugar sprinkled over them.
SOFT TOAST.
Toast well, but not too brown, two thin slices of stale bread; put them on a warm plate, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and pour upon them some boiling water; quickly cover with another dish of the same size, and drain off the water. Put a very small bit of b.u.t.ter on the toast and serve at once while hot.
IRISH MOSS BLANC MANGE.
A small handful of moss (to be purchased at any drug store), wash it very carefully, and put it in one quart of milk on the fire. Let the milk simmer for about twenty minutes, or until the moss begins to dissolve. Then remove from the fire and strain through a fine sieve.
Add two tablespoonfuls of sugar and half a teaspoonful of vanilla flavoring. Put away to harden in cups or molds, and serve with sugar and cream.
A delicate dish for an invalid.
EGG TOAST.
Brown a slice of bread nicely over the coals, dip it in hot water slightly salted, b.u.t.ter it, and lay on the top an egg that has been broken into boiling water, and cooked until the white has hardened; season the egg with a bit of b.u.t.ter and a crumb of salt.
The best way to cook eggs for an invalid is to drop them, or else pour boiling water over the egg in the sh.e.l.l and let it stand for a few minutes on the back of the stove.
OYSTER TOAST.
Make a nice slice of dry toast, b.u.t.ter it and lay it on a hot dish.
Put six oysters, half a teacupful of their own liquor, and half a cupful of milk, into a tin cup or basin, and boil one minute. Season with a little b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt, then pour over the toast and serve.
MULLED JELLY.
Take one tablespoonful of currant or grape jelly, beat with it the white of one egg and a teaspoonful of sugar; pour on it a teacupful of boiling water, and break in a slice of dry toast or two crackers.
CUP CUSTARD.
Break into a coffeecup an egg, put in two teaspoonfuls of sugar, beat it up thoroughly, a pinch of salt and a pinch of grated nutmeg; fill up the cup with good sweet milk, turn it into another cup, well b.u.t.tered, and set it in a pan of boiling water, reaching nearly to the top of the cup. Set in the oven, and when the custard is set, it is done. Eat cold.
CLAM BROTH.
Select twelve small, hard-sh.e.l.l clams, drain them and chop them fine; add half a pint of clam juice or hot water, a pinch of cayenne, and a walnut of b.u.t.ter; simmer thirty minutes, add a gill of boiled milk, strain, and serve. This is an excellent broth for weak stomachs.
MILK OR CREAM CODFISH.
This dish will often relish when a person is recovering from sickness, when nothing else would. Pick up a large tablespoonful of salt codfish very fine, freshen it considerably by placing it over the fire in a basin, covering it with cold water as it comes to a boil; turn off the water and freshen again if very salt, then turn off the water until dry, and pour over half a cupful of milk or thin cream, add a bit of b.u.t.ter, a sprinkle of pepper, and a thickening made of one teaspoonful of flour or cornstarch, wet up with a little milk; when this boils up, turn over a slice of dipped toast.
CRACKER PANADA.
Break in pieces three or four hard crackers that are baked quite brown, and let them boil fifteen minutes in one quart of water; then remove from the fire, let them stand three or four minutes, strain off the liquor through a fine wire sieve, and season it with sugar.
This is a nourishing beverage for infants that are teething, and with the addition of a little wine and nutmeg, is often prescribed for invalids recovering from a fever.
BREAD PANADA.
Put three gills of water and one tablespoonful of white sugar on the fire, and just before it boils add two tablespoonfuls of the crumbs of stale white bread, stir it well, and let it boil three or four minutes, then add one gla.s.s of white wine, a grated lemon and a little nutmeg; let it boil up once, then remove it from the fire, and keep it closely covered until it is wanted for use.
SLIPPERY-ELM TEA.
Put a teaspoonful of powdered slippery-elm into a tumbler, pour cold water upon it, and season with lemon and sugar.