Cup of Arrowroot. Time—¼ hour.

1 dessertspoonful arrowroot, 1 pint milk.

Boil the milk, and meanwhile mix the arrowroot to a smooth paste with a little cold milk, then pour the boiling milk on to it and stir till smooth. If not thick enough, return it to the saucepan and stir for 2 or 3 minutes over the fire. Serve with sugar or salt.

A cup of cornflour can be made in the same way.

Barley Water. Time—20 minutes.

2 dessertspoonfuls prepared barley, 1 pint milk or water.

Put the barley into a basin and mix to a smooth paste with a little cold milk or water, then add to it gradually the boiling milk or water, stirring carefully with a wooden spoon all the time. Boil 10 minutes, stir continually and avoid lumps. Sweeten, and if made with water serve with lemon-juice.

Scrape a small piece of very lean gravy beef, put it in a tumbler, add a pinch of salt, and just cover with cold water. Let it stand 1½ hour, then strain, and add 2 or 3 drops of lemon-juice to turn it brown, if permitted by the doctor.

Beef Tea (strongest). Time—2 hours.

1 pint of water to 1 lb. gravy beef.

Cut the beef into pieces about half an inch square, removing all fat and skin, and soak for 1 hour in the water. Then add 1 teaspoonful of salt, and place in a covered jar, which must stand in a saucepan of boiling water for 1 hour. Keep the saucepan well filled, and the water boiling, but be careful not to let it enter the jar. Strain and serve.

Whole Beef Tea. Time—2½ hours.

½ lb. gravy beef to 1 pint water.

Cut the beef into pieces ½ inch square, removing all the skin and fat, and let the beef soak in ½ pint cold water. When the juices have been extracted (the pieces should soak all night) take out the beef and place it in a jar with the remainder of the cold water. Let this simmer 2 hours, then add the liquor to the cold raw juice, take out the pieces of meat, pound them, return them to the liquor, and heat all together. Flavour with green celery stalk, or a little Worcester sauce.

Calf’s Foot Jelly.

1 calf’s foot, 2 quarts water, rind of 1 and juice of 3 lemons, ¼ lb. loaf sugar, 3 whites and shells of eggs, spice.

Cut the foot into 3 pieces, put them in a saucepan and add the cold water, simmer gently 8 hours then strain into a basin. When the jelly is cold, carefully skim off the fat, dip a clean cloth into boiling water, and wipe any remaining fat off the surface with the cloth. Melt the jelly in a saucepan, then add the sugar, lemon-juice, and rind, whites of eggs well beaten, the shells and spice. Whisk over the fire till the jelly boils, then simmer, with the lid off 20 minutes. Fix a cloth, thoroughly rinsed in boiling water, on to a chair (as for clearing soup, see page 2), strain the jelly through it, and cover with a blanket while it is running through. Pour into a mould, which has been rinsed in cold water.

1 fowl, ½ lemon, mace; pepper and salt to taste.

Boil enough water to well cover the fowl, add salt, pepper and mace. Rub the fowl with the lemon-juice, put it into the saucepan. Boil gently 1½ hour. Serve with lemon sauce (see page 39), and if liked, garnish with slices of tongue, smoked beef, or worsht.

Chicken Broth.

Cut up an old fowl, cover with water, and stew it with 2 onions till it goes to pieces. Season with pepper and salt, skim well, strain, and serve very hot with sippets of toast.

Chickens’ necks stewed in the same way make very good broth.

To Roast a Chicken. Time—1 hour.

1 fowl (smoked beef fat). Stuffing: 1 tablespoonful chopped suet, 1 tablespoonful bread-crumbs, ½ tablespoonful chopped parsley, ½ tablespoonful chopped herbs, grated nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, grated lemon-rind, 1 egg.

Dry the fowl well; prepare the stuffing as below, put it in at the breast, and sew or skewer it up. (If liked, lard the fowl with the smoked beef fat.) Rub with a little pepper and salt, dredge lightly with flour, and leave a little while. Then put a piece of greased paper over the breast, and put down to roast. Remove the paper ¼ hour before the fowl is done.

For the stuffing: Chop the suet and parsley fine, add to them the bread-crumbs, herbs, pepper, and salt, nutmeg, lemon-rind, and lastly the egg, well beaten. Mix all well together.

Cornflour Blanc-mange. Time—20 minutes.

2 tablespoonfuls cornflour, 1 pint milk, 1 tablespoonful loaf sugar, stick cinnamon.

Put the sugar, cinnamon, and nearly all the milk, in a saucepan to boil. Meanwhile mix the cornflour in a basin to a smooth paste, with the remainder of the milk. When the milk boils, add to it the cornflour, return all to the saucepan, and boil quickly 3 minutes, stirring all the time. Dip a mould in cold water, pour in the cornflour after the cinnamon has been taken out. When cold turn out, and serve with jam.

2 dessertspoonfuls oatmeal (fine or Scotch), 2 tablespoonfuls milk, ½ saltspoonful salt, 3 gills boiling water.

Mix the oatmeal and salt to a smooth paste with the milk. When the water boils add it gradually, stirring all the time. Let it stand ½ minute, then pour it into the saucepan, letting the grits remain in the basin. Stir the gruel till it boils, then simmer 10 minutes more if fine, ½ hour more if Scotch oatmeal. Sweeten to taste.

Lait de Poule. Time—10 minutes.

1 gill boiling water, ¾ wineglassful sherry, 1 egg, (nutmeg if liked), sugar.

Beat up the egg, pour the nearly boiling water over it, add the sherry and nutmeg, and sweeten. This drink is very good for a cold, when no milk is handy.

Lemonade.

2 lemons, 1 quart water; loaf sugar to taste.

Shave off the yellow rind of the lemon, place the sugar in a jug, put the rind in a strainer, and pour 1 pint of boiling water over it on to the sugar. Squeeze the lemons through a strainer, add to them 1 pint of cold water, then mix all together.

Mutton Broth.

This broth is made just like that on page 5, but no rice or barley should be thrown in. The broth should be strained through a sieve, and served with sippets of toast. Special care should be taken to have it entirely free from fat.

Toast Water.

Toast a crust of bread carefully all over, but do not burn it black. Fill a jug with boiling water, then put in the toast. A bright liquid the colour of sherry will be the result.