Neither very hot nor very cold foods should be taken at meals. If foods are too hot, the stomach is debilitated, and if they are very cold, vitality must be drawn from the system to warm them before the work of digestion can be carried on; so it would be better to take ice cream and all ices by themselves rather than as a dessert.

When ices are served for dessert, they should be eaten very slowly.

Water ices, sherbets and frozen fruits, without large quantities of sugar, are invaluable in cases of fever.

I am not going into the subject of ice cream exhaustively for there are plenty of books on that subject already, but will give you my own recipe which must be tried to be appreciated.

The little flour in it gives it a smoothness and creaminess with one third to one half milk equal to all cream without it; and does not give the disagreeable flavor of corn starch; also, made by this method, the cream and milk are sterilized.

Try the cream without any flavoring and see how delicious it is.

Use wet snow instead of ice for freezing in the winter. It works even better and is less trouble.

Beat the cream well with a wooden spoon after removing the dasher.

Add fruit or nuts to cream when removing the dasher, so that they will not become hard as they would do if frozen with the cream.

For freezing, have the ingredients cold. Have the ice very fine; the finer it is, the better the results. One-third as much rock salt should be at hand. The ice and salt may be mixed, or may be put around the freezer in the proportion of 3 inches of ice to 1 inch of salt. First, adjust the freezer, having the mixture to be frozen in the can. Fill not over ? full to allow for expansion. Then pack with the ice and salt, turning the handle around once in a while during the operation, to keep the mixture from freezing to the sides of the can. Have a stick to pound the ice and salt down well around the can.

Turn slowly at first to make a fine grain, then more rapidly as the cream thickens.

Before removing the cover to take out the dasher, scrape away the ice and salt and wipe off the water on the lid and near the top of the can, so that none can possibly get into the cream. Beat the cream and replace the cover, with a clean cork in the top. Drain off a part of the water and repack the can, using less salt than at first, sometimes not any, so as not to have the cream too hard. To be at its best, cream should be stiff enough only to hold its shape. Cover with paper, a blanket or carpet and let stand to “ripen” for 2 hours or longer. This part is important, as the flavor and texture are perfected only by standing.

If possible, open the can in an hour and a half and stir the cream so that the soft center comes to the edge of the can. Repack and cover the same and let stand for 2 or 3 hours.

Save the salt from the bottom of the freezer to use another time, and it is a good plan to save a little of the thick salt water to use instead of the last layer of salt near the top of the can for the next freezing, as it facilitates the work very much.

In serving, dip the spoon into hot water each time before putting it into the cream; this, with care, will give a nice shaped serving.

Pop corn without butter or salt is more suitable to serve with ice cream than cake.

Sugar syrup gives a finer, smoother and more substantial grain to frozen fruits, sherbets and water ices than sugar and water, and they do not melt as quickly when exposed to the air. Pack all ices the same as creams and let stand the same after freezing, to become smooth and mellow.

For water ices, do not turn the crank continuously. Turn slowly and rest between, until the ice becomes quite stiff. This is the rule, but for a change the freezer may be turned rapidly and continuously, with a different result.

Stir sherbets constantly. Serve both sherbets and water ices in glasses.

Vegetable gelatine is an improvement to ices, giving body to them.

There is a great difference in freezers. Be sure to get a good one. The construction of the dasher has much to do with the texture of the cream. Those that freeze the quickest are not necessarily the best.

Do not buy a small freezer: you can freeze a small quantity in a large freezer, but you cannot freeze a large quantity in a small freezer.

? The “Laurel” Ice Cream

• 2½ pts. heavy cream
• 2½ pts. whole milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 or 5 tablespns. pastry flour

Stir the flour smooth with some of the cold milk and heat the remainder of the milk, with the cream and sugar, in a double boiler and when hot, set over the fire. Let it boil up quickly, stir in the flour and when boiling all through, return to the double boiler for a few minutes, beating well. Or, heat the milk and cream only in the double boiler and pour gradually, stirring, over the sugar and flour which have been mixed together. Return to boiler and cook for 10–15 m. Turn through a fine wire strainer into a large pan to cool quickly; stir while cooling.

Do not take too large measures of flour.

Any kind of cream may be made from this. Flavor with vanilla for vanilla cream, or tint pink and flavor with ¾–1 teaspn. of strawberry extract for strawberry cream, or with a few drops of rose, for rose cream. Tint green and flavor with almond and vanilla for pistachio cream, using only a few drops of almond to a teaspn. of vanilla. This may have a few shredded almonds stirred into the frozen cream.

Sometimes sprinkle fresh grated cocoanut over each serving of cream, or the cocoanut may be stirred in as other flavorings are.

A very pretty cream is one with citron and candied cherries cut into tiny pieces and added when the dasher is removed.

We make a fruit and nut cream which is liked very much, by adding well washed English currants, raisins cut in quarters, citron in small pieces and coarse chopped English walnuts or pecans. Omit the nuts for a fruit cream.

For coffee cream, steep (not boil) cereal coffee in milk for 10 to 20 m. Strain through a cloth and use as plain milk with the cream. Flavor with vanilla.

One quart of sweetened, crushed strawberries or raspberries added to the recipe makes the right proportion for fruit cream. Drained, finely-shredded or grated pineapple makes a general favorite in cream.

Maple Ice Cream

• 1 qt. genuine maple syrup
• 1 qt. heavy cream
• 1 qt. light cream
• ¾ qt. milk
• 7 tablespns. flour

Lemon Ice

• 8–12 tablespns. lemon juice
• 1 orange
• 2½ cups sugar
• 1 qt. water including the gelatine
• ? oz. vegetable gelatine

Soak and cook gelatine according to directions (p.335), add water to make 1 cup, keep warm; cook sugar and 3 cups of water together for 5 minutes and strain into the gelatine. Prepare the lemon and orange juice, and if desired, shave off a little of the thin yellow rind and let it stand in the juice for a few minutes, then strain it out. When the gelatine mixture is partially cooled, add the juice gradually, stirring. The orange may be omitted. Or, omit gelatine, boil sugar with 1 qt. of water and when cool combine with the juice.

Orange Ice

• 1 pt. sugar
• 1 qt. water
• 1 pt. of orange juice
• 6–8 tablespns. lemon juice
• ? oz. vegetable gelatine

Flavor juice with thin yellow rind of orange and proceed as in lemon ice, omitting gelatine if preferred.

Raspberry Ice

• 1 cup raspberry juice
• ¾ cup sugar (less if juice is already sweetened)
• 1 pt. water
• 2 tablespns. lemon juice
• 1 sixteenth oz. vegetable gelatine, or not

Cook sugar and water together and add to prepared gelatine. When nearly cool, add raspberry juice and stir occasionally until cool. Freeze.

Currant and Raspberry Ice

• 2 cups currant juice
• 1 cup raspberry juice
• 1 pt. water
• 1–1½ cup sugar
• ? oz. gelatine, or not

Proceed as in Raspberry Ice.

Use cherry, strawberry, quince, gooseberry, grape or pineapple for ices, varying the proportion of sugar and water according to the sweetness of the fruit. Pineapples should be grated and with the lemon juice added to cold syrup and strained through a sieve. Pineapple is one of the most delightful ices.

Mint Ice

Add fine cut or chopped spearmint to lemon ice mixture just before freezing, or to orange ice for orange mint ice.

? Grape Sherbet

• 1½–1¾ cup sugar
• 1 qt. water, scant
• scant ¼ oz. vegetable gelatine
• 5–6 tablespns. lemon juice
• 2 cups grape juice
• whites of 2 eggs
• 2 tablespns. powdered sugar

Flavor the sugar with oil of lemon if desired, and boil with the water for 5 m. only. Prepare the gelatine with a scant cup of water, and add to warm syrup; cool; add lemon and grape juice, stirring. Put into freezer and stir for 15 m. Beat the whites of eggs until light but not stiff; add the powdered sugar and beat 2 m., add to the sherbet in the freezer and finish freezing. Ripen from 2 to 4 hours. This sherbet is of a beautiful lavender color when finished.

Substitute other fruit juices for the grape, varying the quantity of sugar. Red raspberry is better in water ice, as the whites of the eggs spoil its flavor.

? Mint Sherbet

• 1 qt. water
• 1½ cup sugar
• 5–7 good-sized stalks of mint
• ?–½ cup lemon juice
• white of 1 large or 2 small eggs
• 1½ tablespn. powdered sugar
• scant ¼ oz. vegetable gelatine
• scant cup of water

Boil sugar and water and add to gelatine prepared with the scant cup of water. When cool, add stirring, the lemon juice and fine cut or chopped mint. Stir in freezer 15 m. Add whites of eggs beaten with powdered sugar as in grape sherbet and finish freezing. Ripen.

Pineapple Sherbet, or Frozen Pineapple

• 1¾ pint fine ground pineapple
• large 2½ cups sugar
• 1 qt. liquid, gelatine and all
• ¼ oz. gelatine
• 1½–2 tablespns. lemon juice
• whites of 2 eggs
• 2 tablespns. powdered sugar

Shred and grind nice, ripe pineapples. Prepare gelatine with 1 cup of water and add more to make 1½ cup. Cook sugar and 2½ cups of water together for 5 m. and add to gelatine. When nearly cool, combine with pineapple and lemon juice; cool; stir in freezer for 15 m. Add whites of eggs beaten with powdered sugar and finish freezing. Ripen.

Mina’s Lemon and Orange Sherbets

• 4 lemons
• 4 oranges
• 1 lb. sugar
• 1 qt. water
• whites of 4, or less, eggs
• ? oz. of vegetable gelatine

• 10 oranges
• 1 lemon
• 1 pt. sugar
• 1 qt. water
• whites of 4, or less, eggs
• ? oz. vegetable gelatine

Follow directions for Grape Sherbet.

Frozen Strawberries

• 1 qt. berries
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 or 4 tablespns. lemon juice
• 1 qt. water

Add 1 cup of sugar and the lemon juice to well mashed berries. Let stand in ice box 1–2 hours. Boil water and remaining sugar together for 5 m., cool, add to berry mixture, freeze, ripen. Serve plain or with whipped cream.

Frozen Peaches

• 1 qt., in pieces, of nice ripe peaches
• 1–1½ cup sugar
• 1 qt. water
• 1–2 cups cream

Rub measured peaches through colander; add cold syrup made by boiling sugar and water together for 10 m. Freeze. Stir in cream whipped and slightly sweetened, when dasher is removed. Repack and ripen.

FrappÉs

FrappÉs are partly frozen mixtures of fruit juices, pulps or fine grated fruits and when not too sweet are excellent in fevers and are often served in place of a drink or a sherbet to well people. Of course they are served in glasses.