In making bread-and-milk for infants, it is gene-
rally recommended to pour boiling water on the bread✪ Toast-and-Milk,
and then drain it off, and then add the milk, as the
boiling water renders the bread softer ; and as medical
men generally recommend a little water to be mixed
with the milk for very young children, it will not be
weaker. It is not for me to put up my opinion
against the medical profession, but in London I would
recommend mothers to give their children the milk
pure when they have to buy it. I fear that many of
the cows that supply London have iron tails, and that
the doctors’ recommendation has been already fully
carried out — if anything, probably too fully.
Another very refreshing drink for invalids, espe-
cially in hot weather, is lemonade. This is too often
made by simply squeezing a lemon into a tumbler,
picking the pips out with a spoon, and then adding
sugar and cold water. The best method of making
lemonade is to peel the lemons, or otherwise the
lemonade will be bitter ; cut them into slices, taking
away the pips, and then pouring boiling water on
the slices, adding, of course, sufficient sugar✪ Lemonade to
Food for Invalids.
25*
sweeten. This, after being well stirred, and the
pulp pressed with a spoon, must be carefully strained
through a piece of fine muslin, and allowed to get
cold. When cold, a piece of ice is a great improve-
ment. Cold, weak lemonade made this way, not
too sweet, is one of the most refreshing drinks for
hot weather possible ; and in cases where there is a
tendency to take fluids too often, a tendency, we fear,
rather of the age in which we live, a large jug of
lemonade, made in the manner we have described,
will often prove a harmless substitute for a glass of
sherry, or a little drop of cold brandy-and-water, or a
glass of beer, as the case may be.
Gruel is a compound which I would despair of
making palatable ; nevertheless, fortunately all palates
are not alike. A table-spoonful of groats— or, as I
believe they are pronounced, grits — must be mixed in
a little cold water, and worked smooth with a spoon.
About a pint of boiling water must then be poured on
them, and the whole quantity boiled gently and stirred
over a clear fire for about a quarter of an hour. Gruel
can, of course, be made with milk, or flavoured in a
variety of ways. For a bad cold, a table-spoonful of
treacle is sometimes serviceable, or a little sweet spirit
of nitre, or a table-spoonful of rum, a little sugar✪ Gruel being
of course added.
As a rule, in cooking for real invalids, the aim
252 Common-sense Cooker y.
should be nourishment combined with the greatest
simplicity of flavour. There are, however, of course,
many cases where the palate has to be tickled, while
at the same time the digestion has to be consulted.
In these cases the cook’s art is often put to the test.
In many cases of diseases that may be termed wasting,
really rich but, at the same time, light dishes are
requisite. We would instance sweetbreads, stewed
oysters, calves’ brains, lambs’ tails, &c. ; but to enter
into an elaborate account of the proper method of
preparing such delicacies would be out of place in
an article on invalid food, which is of necessity
cursory.
Page 102 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
In making bread-and-milk for infants, it is generally recommended to pour boiling water on the bread, and then drain it off, and then add the milk, as the boiling water renders the bread softer ; and as medical men generally recommend a little water to be mixed with the milk for very young children, it will not be weaker. It is not for me to put up my opinion against the medical profession, but in London I would recommend mothers to give their children the milk pure when they have to buy it. I fear that many of the cows that supply London have iron tails, and that the doctors’ recommendation has been already fully carried out — if anything, probably too fully.
Another very refreshing drink for invalids, especially in hot weather, is lemonade. This is too often made by simply squeezing a lemon into a tumbler, picking the pips out with a spoon, and then adding sugar and cold water. The best method of making lemonade is to peel the lemons, or otherwise the lemonade will be bitter ; cut them into slices, taking away the pips, and then pouring boiling water on the slices, adding, of course, sufficient sugar to
Food for Invalids.
251
sweeten. This, after being well stirred, and the pulp pressed with a spoon, must be carefully strained through a piece of fine muslin, and allowed to get cold. When cold, a piece of ice is a great improvement. Cold, weak lemonade made this way, not too sweet, is one of the most refreshing drinks for hot weather possible ; and in cases where there is a tendency to take fluids too often, a tendency, we fear, rather of the age in which we live, a large jug of lemonade, made in the manner we have described, will often prove a harmless substitute for a glass of sherry, or a little drop of cold brandy-and-water, or a glass of beer, as the case may be.
Gruel is a compound which I would despair of making palatable ; nevertheless, fortunately all palates are not alike. A table-spoonful of groats— or, as I believe they are pronounced, grits — must be mixed in a little cold water, and worked smooth with a spoon. About a pint of boiling water must then be poured on them, and the whole quantity boiled gently and stirred over a clear fire for about a quarter of an hour. Gruel can, of course, be made with milk, or flavoured in a variety of ways. For a bad cold, a table-spoonful of treacle is sometimes serviceable, or a little sweet spirit of nitre, or a table-spoonful of rum, a little sugar being of course added.
As a rule, in cooking for real invalids, the aim
252 Common-sense Cooker y.
should be nourishment combined with the greatest simplicity of flavour. There are, however, of course, many cases where the palate has to be tickled, while at the same time the digestion has to be consulted. In these cases the cook’s art is often put to the test. In many cases of diseases that may be termed wasting, really rich but, at the same time, light dishes are requisite. We would instance sweetbreads, stewed oysters, calves’ brains, lambs’ tails, &c. ; but to enter into an elaborate account of the proper method of preparing such delicacies would be out of place in an article on invalid food, which is of necessity cursory.
Records on this page
Toast-and-MilkLemonadeGruel