A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes Part 12

To half an ounce of lime-flowers, placed in a tea-pot or jug, pour a pint of boiling water, and when the infusion has stood for ten minutes, sweeten with honey or sugar, and drink the tea hot, to a.s.suage the pains in the stomach and chest, arising from indigestion. This beverage may also be successfully administered in attacks of hysteria.

No. 226. HYSSOP TEA: A REMEDY FOR WORMS.

To a quarter of an ounce of dried hyssop flowers, pour one pint of boiling water; allow the tea to infuse for ten minutes, pour it off, sweeten with honey, and take a wine-gla.s.sful three times in the course of the day; this will prove an effectual cure when children are troubled with worms.

No. 227. ICELAND-MOSS JELLY.

Boil four ounces of Iceland moss in one quart of water very slowly for one hour, then add the juice of two lemons and a bit of rind, four ounces of sugar, and a gill of sherry; boil up, and remove the sc.u.m from the surface; strain the jelly through a muslin bag into a basin, and set it aside to become cold; in which state it may be eaten, but it is far more efficacious in its beneficial results when taken warm. The use of Iceland moss jelly is strongly recommended in cases of consumption, and in the treatment of severe colds, catarrhs, and all phlegmatic diseases of the chest.

No. 228. ANTISPASMODIC TEA.

Infuse two-pennyworth of hay saffron (sold at all chemists') in a gill of boiling water in a tea-cup for ten minutes; add a dessert-spoonful of brandy, and sugar to sweeten, and drink the tea hot. This powerful yet harmless remedy will quickly relieve you from spasmodic pains occasioned by indigestion.

No. 229. DANDELION TEA.

Infuse one ounce of dandelion in a jug with a pint of boiling water for fifteen minutes; sweeten with brown sugar or honey, and drink several tea-cupfuls during the day. The use of this tea is recommended as a safe remedy in all bilious affections; it is also an excellent beverage for persons afflicted with dropsy.

No. 230. REFREs.h.i.+NG DRINK FOR SORE THROAT ATTENDED WITH FEVER.

Boil two ounces of barberries with half an ounce of violets in a quart of water for ten minutes; sweeten with honey, strain off into a jug, and drink several gla.s.ses during the day.

No. 231. A CURE FOR SPRAINS.

Bruise thoroughly a handful of sage-leaves, and boil them in a gill of vinegar for ten minutes, or until reduced to half the original quant.i.ty; apply this in a folded rag to the part affected, and tie it on securely with a bandage.

No. 232. A CURE FOR CHILBLAINS.

The pulp of a baked turnip beat up in a tea-cup with a table-spoonful of salad oil, ditto of mustard, and ditto of sc.r.a.ped horse-radish; apply this mixture to the chilblains, and tie it on with a piece of rag.

No. 233. A CURE FOR BURNS OR SCALDS.

Thoroughly bruise a raw onion and a potato into a pulp, by sc.r.a.ping or beating them with a rolling-pin; mix this pulp with a good table-spoonful of salad oil, and apply it to the naked burn or scald; secure it on the part with a linen bandage.

No. 234. A CURE FOR COLD IN THE HEAD.

Thirty drops of camphorated sal volatile in a small wine-gla.s.sful of hot water, taken several times in the course of the day.

No. 235. A CURE FOR THE STING OF WASPS OR BEES.

Bruise the leaf of the poppy, and apply it to the part affected.

No. 236. A CURE FOR TOOTHACHE.

Roll a small bit of cotton wadding into a ball the size of a pea, dip this in a very few drops of camphorated chloroform, and with it fill the hollow part of the decayed tooth.

No. 237. HOW TO MAKE COFFEE.

Mix one ounce of ground coffee in a clean pot with a pint of cold water, stir this on the fire till it boils, then throw in a very little more cold water, and after allowing the coffee to boil up twice more, set it aside to settle, and become clear and bright. The dregs saved from twice making, added to half the quant.i.ty of fresh coffee, will do for the children. It is best to make your coffee over-night, as it has then plenty of time to settle. If, as I recommend, you grind your coffee at home, you will find Nye's machines very good.

No. 238. HOW TO PREPARE COCOA NIBS.

Boil gently two ounces of cocoa nibs in three pints of water for two hours and a-half, without allowing it to reduce more than one-third; that is, the three pints should be boiled down to one quart. When sufficiently boiled, strain the cocoa from the nibs, mix it with equal proportions of milk, and sweeten with sugar. Two ounces of cocoa nibs cost a penny three-farthings, one quart of skim milk twopence (in the country one penny), two ounces of moist sugar three-farthings; thus, for about fourpence halfpenny, you may prepare sufficient cocoa for the breakfasts of four persons. This would be much wholesomer and cheaper than tea. To be sure, it would take some trouble and care to prepare it, and this should be attended to over-night.

ECONOMICAL AND SUBSTANTIAL SOUP FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE POOR.

I am well aware, from my own experience, that the charitable custom of distributing wholesome and nutritious soup to poor families living in the immediate neighbourhood of n.o.blemen and gentlemen's mansions in the country, already exists to a great extent; yet, it is certainly desirable that this excellent practice should become more generally adopted, especially during the winter months, when their scanty means of subsistence but insufficiently yield them food adequate in quant.i.ty to sustain the powers of life in a condition equal to their hard labour. To afford the industrious well-deserving poor a little a.s.sistance in this way, would call forth their grat.i.tude to the givers, and confer a blessing on the needy. The want of knowing how to properly prepare the kind of soup best adapted to the purpose has, no doubt, in a great measure, militated against its being more generally bestowed throughout the kingdom; and it is in order to supply that deficient knowledge, that I have determined on giving easy instructions for its preparation.

No. 239. HOW TO PREPARE A LARGE QUANt.i.tY OF GOOD SOUP FOR THE POOR.

It is customary with most large families, while living in the country, to kill at least some portion of the meat consumed in their households; and without supposing for a moment that any portion of this is ever wasted, I may be allowed to suggest that certain parts, such as sheep's heads, plucks, shanks, and scrag-ends, might very well be spared towards making a good mess of soup for the poor. The bones left from cooked joints, first baked in a brisk oven for a quarter of an hour, and afterwards boiled in a large copper of water for six hours, would readily prepare a gelatinized foundation broth for the soup; the bones, when sufficiently boiled, to be taken out. And thus, supposing that your copper is already part filled with the broth made from bones (all the grease having been removed from the surface), add any meat you may have, cut up in pieces of about four ounces weight, garnish plentifully with carrots, celery, onions, some thyme, and ground allspice, well-soaked split peas, barley, or rice; and, as the soup boils up, skim it well occasionally, season moderately with salt, and after about four hours'

gentle and continuous boiling, the soup will be ready for distribution.

It was the custom in families where I have lived as cook, to allow a pint of this soup, served out with the pieces of meat in it, to as many as the recipients' families numbered; and the soup was made for distribution twice every week during winter.

No. 240. ANOTHER METHOD FOR MAKING ECONOMICAL SOUP.

In households where large joints of salt beef, or pork, are cooked almost daily for the family, the liquor in which they have been boiled should be saved, all grease removed therefrom, and put into the copper with a plentiful supply of carrots, parsnips, celery, and onions, all cut in small pieces, the whole boiled and well skimmed till the vegetables are done; the soup is then to be thickened with either oatmeal, peasemeal, or Indian corn meal, seasoned with pepper and ground allspice, and stirred continuously until it boils up again; it must then be skimmed, and the best pieces of meat selected from the stock-pot should be kept in careful reserve, to be added to the soup, and allowed to boil therein for half an hour longer.

No. 241. HOW TO MAKE FISH SOUP IN LARGE QUANt.i.tIES FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE POOR.

This kind of soup, it will be easily understood, is applicable only on the sea-coast, and wherever fish is to be had very cheap. Chop fine a dozen onions, some thyme, and winter savory, and put these into a copper, or some large pot, with about six gallons of water, one pound of b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt enough to season; allow the whole to boil for ten minutes, then thicken the broth with about four pounds of oatmeal, peasemeal, or flour; stir the soup continuously until it boils, and then throw in about fifteen pounds of fish cut up in one-pound size pieces, and also some chopped parsley; boil all together until the fish is done, and then serve out the soup to the recipients. All kinds of fish, except sprats, herrings, and pilchards, are equally well adapted for making fish soup, but codfish, cod's heads, skate, eels, etc., and all glutinous fish, suit the purpose best.