In England and in some parts of America district nursing, or nursing among the very poor of certain sections of a city, is an established part of a nurse's work. Her duties are to go from house to house among the sick, to administer medicine and food, and to make the surroundings of her patient comfortable.

There is no way in which one may reach the hearts and sympathies of the poor so quickly as by helping them to, or showing them how to do for themselves, those things which they think they need.

Their first consideration is for the immediate necessities of life—food, clothing, and shelter. Their days are spent in a struggle with the world for these—too often an unequal struggle, in which the world conquers. A nurse, or any other person who can gain admission to their homes and sympathies, may help them in many ways as no other can. Great good may be done by teaching them economical and simple methods of preparing their food, which as a general thing is cooked both badly and wastefully.

A nurse doing district nursing, besides administering medicine and making her patient generally comfortable, will inevitably and naturally turn to the preparation of some form of nourishment for him. If she can make it acceptably with the materials and cooking utensils at hand, or is able to ask for that which is within the means of the family, or to direct the buying of it, she will add greatly to the comfort of the household.

The object of this chapter is not, however, to deal with cooking for the sick. That will be left entirely to the judgment of the nurse, who is supposed to have studied the subject as a part of her training. But it has occurred to the author that a nurse doing district nursing would often find the opportunity to help the families of her patients, and that often such help would need to be given in order to prevent actual suffering. Especially would this be true if it were the mother of a family who was ill, and there was no one to prepare food for the father and children, who must be fed. Usually there is a child, either boy or girl, who is old enough to learn if there is some one to teach.

The following pages have been written for the purpose of suggesting, to such nurses as are disposed to do good in this way, some easily made and economical dishes which are really both palatable and nutritious. A few directions about building a fire, washing dishes, sweeping, etc., will be given, and then some bills of fare with recipes adapted for the use of people of small means, and taken for the most part from the Lomb Prize Essay by Mary H. Abel, entitled "Practical, Sanitary, and Economic Cooking," and published by the American Public Health Association, 1890.

Permission to use these recipes has been graciously granted by Mrs. Abel, and the American Public Health Association, through Mr. Lomb.

To make a Fire

To Make a Fire. First, clear the stove of ashes and cinders, then put in wood-shavings, or twisted newspaper; over this foundation lay small pieces of wood, crossed, so as to leave air-spaces for draft, then larger pieces of wood, and lastly two or three fire-shovels of coal. Light the kindling from the bottom of the grate, and let it burn for a while before putting on more coal; remember that it is the heat from the burning wood which ignites the coal, and if it does not burn it is because there is not wood enough to produce sufficient heat to start the union between the combustible part of the coal—carbon chiefly—and the oxygen of the air. Add coal a little at a time, thus keeping a fresh fire.

After the fire is well started regulate the dampers often, to economize as much as possible the consumption of coal. Keep them partially or wholly closed, unless a hot fire is needed for some purpose. The cinders left from an old fire should be sifted and re-burned. Many dollars' worth of coal may be saved in a year by giving attention to the drafts of a stove.

To Wash Dishes

To Wash Dishes. Mixing-bowls, double boilers, and all dishes which for any reason have food clinging to them, should be put to soak in cold water as soon as used. If this has not been done, attend to it before making other arrangements for washing the dishes. See then that the dish-pan or tub, dish-cloths, and sink are perfectly clean; if not, make them so with hot water and soap. Wash the dishes in hot soapy water, not hot water alone, even if they are not greasy, and rinse them in a pan of clear hot water. Take glassware, silver, and china first, then steel knives and forks, granite-ware, kettles, tins, etc. When the dishes are finished, wash thoroughly and dry, or put to dry, both the wiping-towels and the dish-cloths; unless they are white, clean, and sweet when done, boil them in clear soapy water until they become so, changing it frequently if it looks dark.

Sweeping and Dusting

Sweeping and Dusting. Sweep slowly and carefully, holding the broom close to the floor, so that the dust shall not be thrown into the air. Burn the dirt; never allow it to be thrown into a box or into the coal-hod.

Dusting should be done with a damp cloth, wiping up the dust, not brushing it into the air, from which it will settle upon some other object. When you have finished, wash the duster and hang it to dry. Never use a feather duster. With it one simply brushes the dust from one place only to have it settle in another.

BILLS OF FARE

Mrs. Abel says, in her chapter headed "Bills of Fare": "The following bills of fare are made out for a family of six persons, consisting of a workingman, two women, and three children between the ages of six and fifteen.

"The amount of food, and the proportion in which the great food principles are represented, approximate to that which is demanded by standard dietaries for such a family....

"To keep us in health and in working order, we ought to have a certain amount of what is best furnished by meat, eggs, milk, and other animal products, and we must also have fats, as well as what is given us in grains and vegetables." The following bills of fare are made up with this object in view:

For a family of six; average price, seventy-eight cents per day, or thirteen cents per person.

SATURDAY, MAY

The recipe for Soda-biscuit will be found on page 242.

Bread Soup. Ingredients, dry bread broken in small bits, water, salt, pepper, onion, and a little fat. Soak the bread in the water for a few minutes. Fry the onion, sliced, in the fat, and add it to the soup, with the salt and pepper.

Or, use milk instead of water, and toasted or fried bread. Boil slowly for five minutes to perfectly soften the bread.

Beef-neck stew, page 186.

Noodles. Ingredients, three eggs, three tablespoons of milk or water, one teaspoon of salt, and flour.

Make a hole in the middle of the flour, put in the other ingredients, and work to a stiff dough, then cut it into four strips. Knead each till fine grained, roll out as thin as possible, and lay the sheet aside to dry. When all are rolled, begin with the first, cut it into four equal pieces, lay the pieces together, one on top of another, and shave off very fine, as you would cabbage; pick the shavings apart with floured hands and let them dry a little.

To use. Boil the strips a few at a time in salted water, taking them out with a skimmer, and keeping them warm. Strew over them bread crumbs fried in butter, or use like macaroni.

These noodles will keep indefinitely when dried hard. Therefore, when eggs are cheap, they may be made and laid up for the winter. The water in which they are boiled is the basis of noodle soup. It needs only the addition of a little butter, a teaspoon of chopped parsley, and a few of the cooked noodles.

Cream-of-rice Pudding, page 206.

Browned Flour Soup.

Cook the flour brown, in the fat over a slow fire, or in an oven. Add slowly the water and other ingredients. Serve with fried bread.

Toast and Cheese. Toast some slices of white or Graham bread, arrange them in a platter, and pour over sufficient salted water to soften them. Grate over enough old cheese to cover the toast. Set it in the oven to melt, and place the slices together as sandwiches. This is the simplest form of "Welsh Rarebit."

SUNDAY, MAY

Milk Toast, page 130. Beef Stew, page 186. Creamed Potatoes, page 166.

Dried Apple Pie. Make a crust in the following manner: One quart of flour, one teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of butter or lard, or butter and suet, one scant pint of sweet milk, or water, with one teaspoon of soda and two of cream of tartar, or three teaspoons of baking powder.

Sift the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and soda together twice, put it into a chopping-tray, and chop in the shortening, which should be cold and hard, till all is fine and well mixed. Now add the milk a little at a time, still mixing with the chopping-knife. Turn the dough on to a molding-board, and roll it out quickly. When half an inch thick, bake in a sheet or cut it into rounds, and bake in layer cake tins.

When done, split it in two, and spread each half with dried apples, stewed with a little lemon-peel and sugar. Lay the two pieces together, and eat while warm.

Any other fruit may be used in the same way, and if a richer crust is wanted, two tablespoons of fat instead of one may be used.

Corn Coffee. Roast common field corn as brown as possible without burning. Grind coarsely, and steep like coffee. Add milk and sugar, and you will find it a delicious drink.

Noodle Soup, page 305.

MONDAY, MAY

Oatmeal Mush, page 91.

Pea Soup. Ingredients, one pound of peas, one onion, two tablespoons of beef fat, salt and pepper. Additions to be made according to taste. One fourth of a pound of pork, or a ham-bone, a pinch of red pepper, or, an hour before serving, different vegetables, as carrots and turnips, chopped and fried.

Soak the peas over night in two quarts of water. In the morning pour it off, put on fresh water, and cook with the onion and fat until very soft. Then mash or press the peas through a colander or soup-strainer to remove the skins, and add enough water to make two quarts of somewhat thick soup. Season.

Mutton Stew, page 187.

Bread Pancakes. Make in the following manner: One quart of milk, three eggs, one tablespoon of butter, one teaspoon of salt. Add to this one cup of flour, and two cups of bread crumbs that have been soaked soft in milk or water and mashed smooth. The batter should be rather thick. Bake in small cakes, adding more flour if they stick.

TUESDAY, MAY

Mint Sauce. Two tablespoons of chopped green mint, one tablespoon of sugar, one half cup of vinegar. Mix and let stand an hour or two.

Fried Farina Pudding. One pint of water, one pint of milk, one teaspoon of salt, one half pint of farina, two eggs. Mix the flour and eggs smooth with a part of the milk. Heat the remainder to boiling, and stir in the egg and flour. Continue stirring until it thickens, then cook for fifteen minutes in a double boiler. When cold, cut it in slices and fry them brown on a griddle.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER

Drawn Butter Sauce. Make according to the rule for White Sauce (page 130), except use water instead of milk, and part beef fat instead of all butter.

Irish Stew (page 186).

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER

Boiled Potatoes, and Carrots with Fried Onions. Slice hot boiled potatoes and boiled carrots together. Season them with salt and pepper, and pour over them hot fried onions.

Lentil Soup. Made like Pea Soup, page 307.

Fried Bread. Cut bread into small cubes and fry it in hot fat until light brown.

Barley Porridge. Made with pearl barley soaked over night in water, and then cooked for two hours, or until it is soft. During the last hour add milk instead of water. Flavor with salt and butter.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER

Giblet Soup. Giblet soup is made from the heart, liver, and neck of chicken and other fowls, which in city markets are sold separately and very cheap. Clean them very carefully, wash in cold water, cut into small pieces, and boil for two hours with onions and herbs. Then add a little butter, thickening, salt, and pepper.

Codfish Balls (Salt Cod). Codfish is one of the cheap foods that seems to be thoroughly appreciated among us, and good ways of cooking it are generally understood. It must be freshened by laying it in water over night. When soaked, put it into cold water, and bring gradually to the boiling point; then set the kettle back where it will keep hot for half an hour; at the end of that time separate it into fine shreds, add an equal amount of fresh mashed potato, make into balls, and fry on a griddle.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER

Boiled Corned Beef. Boil the beef for three hours, very slowly at first, changing the water once if it is very salt.

Horse-radish Sauce. Add grated horse-radish to drawn batter sauce. Simmer a few minutes.

Barley Porridge, page 309.

SATURDAY, JANUARY

Corn Bread. (1) Plain. One cup of sweet milk, one cup of sour or buttermilk, or both of sour milk, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of soda, one tablespoon of butter or suet or lard, three cups of Indian meal, and one cup of wheat flour, or all of Indian meal. Mix, pour into a tin, and bake forty minutes.

(2) Richer. The same, with an egg and one half cup of sugar added.

(3) Very nice. No. 1, with the addition of three eggs, one half cup of sugar, and one third of a cup of butter, one cup of meal being omitted.

Browned Flour Soup, page 305.

Apple Dumplings, with Pudding Sauce. The Dumplings. Make a crust like that used in dried apple pie. Cut it in squares; place sliced apples in the middle, and gather up or pinch the corners. Bake or steam.

Sauce. One pint of water made into a smooth paste with a heaping tablespoon of flour. Cook ten minutes. Strain if necessary, sweeten to taste, and pour it over one tablespoon of butter, and the juice of a lemon, or other flavoring. If lemon is not used, add one tablespoon of vinegar. This can be made richer by using more butter and sugar. Stir them to a cream with the flavoring, and then add the paste.

SUNDAY, JANUARY

Sheep's-head Stew (see Mutton Stew, page 187).

Potato and Onion Salad. Slice some potatoes (fresh boiled and slightly warm are best). Sprinkle them with minced onion, salt, and pepper. Dress with a little melted butter and vinegar.

Pudding Sauce, the same as that for Apple Dumplings.

MONDAY, JANUARY

Mustard Sauce. Make some drawn butter in the following manner:

A heaping tablespoon of butter, or beef fat, is put into a saucepan. When it boils, one heaping tablespoon of flour is added, and stirred as it cooks. To this add gradually one pint of water, one teaspoon of salt, and one fourth of a teaspoon of pepper. If you wish to unite economy and good flavor, use one half teaspoon of beef fat in making the sauce, and add one half teaspoon of butter cut in small pieces just before serving. Add a little mustard, and you have mustard sauce.

Bean PurÉe. Make like Pea Soup, page 307.

Dried Apple Roly-poly Pudding. Make the soda-biscuit dough which is used in dried apple pie. Roll it out into a thin sheet, and spread with stewed and flavored dried apples. Roll it into a round or loaf, and bake in a pan containing a little water.

TUESDAY, JANUARY

Browned Farina Soup. Make like Browned Flour Soup, except use farina.

For other similar bills of fare and recipes, see the Lomb Prize Essay, entitled "Practical, Sanitary, and Economic Cooking," which is published and sold at a low price by the American Public Health Association, and may be bought at any book-store. It is most heartily recommended to nurses who do district nursing as a book which will be found useful among the poor and those possessed of moderate means.