Part 42

Put into a pitcher 3 slices of dark brown toast; pour in a quart of boiling water and cover closely. When cold strain. Wine and sugar may be added.

COFFEE.

1. Best mixture, 2 parts Java to 1 part Mocha. Grind roasted beans just before using. Fair strength, 1 tablespoonful of coffee to 1 pint of water. With the ground coffee, mix white of 1 egg and a little cold water. Pour over it boiling water; simmer five minutes and steep for ten minutes.

2. Scald a granite coffee-pot. Mix cup of coffee, 1 egg, half-cup of cold water; add 6 cups of boiling water and boil three minutes. Remove to the back of the stove and add a half-cup of cold water. Let settle for ten minutes.

WHITE-OF-EGG LEMONADE.

The New York Medical Journal gives the following directions (by R. F. Leftwich) for the preparation of this beverage as a nutritive drink for febrile disorders: “Two lemons, the whites of 2 eggs, 1 pint of boiling water, loaf sugar to taste. The lemons must be peeled twice, the yellow rind alone being used, while the white layer is rejected. Place the sliced lemon and the yellow peel in a quart jug with 2 lumps of sugar; pour on them the boiling water and stir occasionally. When cooled to about the ordinary temperature of tea, strain off the lemons. Now insert an egg whisk, and when the lemonade is in full agitation add slowly the white of the egg and continue the whisking. While still hot strain through muslin, and serve when cold. The white of the egg will be found to impart a blandness which makes the addition of sugar almost unnecessary. This absence of sweetness is greatly appreciated in pyrexial cases, and has its obvious value for diabetics. For non-febrile cases with clean tongues more than 2 eggs may be used to the pint if desired. This drink is contraindicated only in cases of true Bright’s disease. It is very useful in the febrile diseases of childhood. It also possesses antiscorbutic properties which replace those lost from milk by boiling and sterilization. It is recommended as part of the diet in typhoid fever, forming a relief from the monotony of milk, and does not have the constipating and flatus-producing effects that lie in beaten-up eggs that include the yolk. The author states that the patient who takes plenty of this lemonade in addition to 4 pints of milk per day will emerge from the pyrexial period of typhoid fever in a much stronger condition than without its use.”

CREAM LEMONADE.

Fill bottom of glass with cracked ice. Beat white of 1 egg to stiff froth, and sugar to taste. To this add juice of 1 lemon, stirring all the time, and then add one half-cup of cream. This will make 2 glassfuls.

FLAXSEED LEMONADE.

Tablespoonful of flaxseed, pint of water. Boil one hour, then add juice of 1 lemon. Strain, and sweeten to taste.

MILK LEMONADE.

Tablespoonful of sugar, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoonfuls of sherry, half-cup of milk, half-cup of water.

MILK PUNCH.

Cup of milk, 2 tablespoonfuls of brandy. Sweeten to taste. Grated nutmeg may be added.

KUMISS.

Kumiss is an acid effervescing drink; contains a very small proportion of alcohol. It is much more easily digested than milk. The casein is so finely divided that lumps cannot be formed in the stomach and it is easily acted upon by the gastric secretion. In the United States it has been prepared from cows’ milk to which the ferment is added.

One tablespoonful of sugar in a quart of fresh milk. Dissolve one-fifth of a small cake of yeast in a little cold water, then stir it into the milk. Put the mixture into strong patent-stoppered bottles. Shake the bottles for one minute, then stand them on end in a refrigerator or other cool place. After three days place the bottles on their sides, and turn them occasionally. Five days will be required to perfect the fermentation.

BONNYCLABBER.

This is sour milk in which the curd and whey are served in the same dish. Curd, whey, and junket is milk where coagulation has been brought about by the action of rennet.

WINE WHEY.

Put 2 pints of milk into a saucepan, and place on fire. When about to boil add 2 wineglasses of sherry. Simmer fifteen minutes, skimming off the curds as they rise. Add a tablespoonful of sherry. Skim again, and strain through clean linen. If preferred, 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon juice may be used instead of wine.

JUNKET.

Heat half-pint of fresh milk. Add teaspoonful of essence of pepsin. Stir enough to mix. Pour into custard cups, and let stand until firm. Serve plain or powder with sugar or nutmeg.

BEEF TEA.

Free a pound of lean beef from fat, skin, etc. Chop up fine. Put into a pint of cold water to digest two hours. Simmer for three hours, but do not let boil. Make up for water lost by adding cold water. Press and strain. The best meats for beef-tea are the round and rump. Cold water draws out the albumin; boiling water coagulates it.

BEEF JUICE.

Cut thin, juicy meat into pieces one and one-half inches square; broil one and one-half minutes over a hot fire. Squeeze with a hot lemon squeezer; season with salt and pepper. May be added to milk or poured over toast.

BEEF EXTRACT.