The girl's own cookery book

taking this extra trouble we make the beef-tea more digestible. People who are in a weakly condition need to have food that can be very easily digested. If the tea were to reach the boiling point, 212°, for even a second, the albumen contained in it would harden, and the tea would not be nearly so wholesome. Therefore we give great care to keep the tea from boiling, and we know that if we thus place it in a jar set in a saucepan of boiling water it never will boil, even if it remains on the fire all day, and so we are safe on that point. All we have to do is to keep putting more water into the saucepan, for fear it should boil away and leave the pan dry, for if this mischance should occur, our beef-tea would be burnt. Perhaps some economical person feels inclined to ask, “ Could we not make more beef-tea by putting in a quart instead of a pint of water?” Of course, you could put in a gallon of water if you liked, but, after all, it would only be so much more water, and it is the beef-juice that does good, not the water. If I wanted very strong beef-tea for very weak people I should put less water even than this ; and in cases of exhaustion, when the patient could take very little food at a time, no water at all should be put with the meat. The simple gravy of the beef should be drawn out by steaming the meat in the way already described, but without water in the jar, and the juice thus drawn out would be the strongest beef-tea that could be made. The beef-juice or beef-essence, as it is called, is sometimes poured over a slice of crumb of bread freshly toasted, then seasoned with pepper and salt, and served on a hot dish ; and this is an excellent dish for an invalid. A good many poets have occupied themselves in singing the praises of sparkling wine. 1 wish some very clever one would take it into his head to sing in praise of good beef-tea. I am sure it deserves far more than wine to have its virtues told. Properly made, of fresh meat (not of somebody’s extract), and taken, not instead of food, but in addition to food, I know of no more valuable restorative. It is particularly useful for bringing sleep to people who are overworked and overwrought, as so many are nowadays. Let such a one have a cup of beef-tea by the side of his bed, and take it, not the last thing at night. The Girl's Own Cookery Book. but in the night when he wakes up, and finds Black Care sitting by the side of his pillow, and hears her say, “ Now I have you in my power, sleep if you can.” Beef-tea will chase away the demon. Let the victim drink it, and he will be very different from most people, if he does not lay his head on his pillow, and in less than half an hour fall asleep as quietly as when he was a baby, and his head lay on his mother’s breast. In cases of typhoid fever and some other diseases, doctors frequently give orders that raw beef-tea should be administered to the patient. This is made by drawing the juice of the meat out in cold water, as already described, then straining off at once and serving it uncooked. This must be made in small quantities, as it will not keep.