450. English Gin Bowl

Put the rind of a thinly peeled lemon and its juice in a tureen, add three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and one quart of water, and let it stand an hour; pour over it one pint of Old Tom gin, a wineglassful of maraschino, three tablespoonfuls of shaved ice, and a bottle of Seltzer, and serve.

451. Hippocras

A kind of spiced wine of the mediaeval age, when one did not yet understand blending the wines, consequently they always were of a certain acidity, which was covered by addition of honey and spices. A recipe for manufacturing hippocras, which Talley-raut, the head cook of Charles VII., king of France, has made, reads as follows: To a quart of wine take one-third of an ounce of very fine and clean cinnamon, one-thirtieth ounce of ginger, twice as much of cloves, as much of nutmeg, and six ounces of sugar and honey; grind the spices, put them in a muslin bag, hang this in the wine for ten to twelve hours, and filter several times.

Wherever, nowadays, hippocras is made, it is made in the following manner: Cut eight to ten large, aromatic, well-peeled apples into thin slices; put that in a tureen, add half a pound of sugar, three or four pepper kernels, the rind of a lemon, one-third of an ounce of whole cinnamon, two ounces of peeled and mashed almonds, and four cloves; pour over this two bottles of Rhine wine, cover it well, and let it soak with the other ingredients; filter the wine, and you may use this wine also for a bowl.

452. Linden Blossom Bowl

Pluck fully developed linden blossoms; look carefully that no insects are on them; put them in a tureen; pour over that two bottles of Rhine wine; cover the tureen well, and let it stand from six to eight hours; strain, and add wine according to the number of guests; sweeten to taste, and add finally a pint bottle of champagne or a bottle of Seltzer.

453. Mag Bowl

For the preparation of this favorite spring beverage there is a number of more or less complicated recipes, of which we first give the simplest one, and afterwards some of the more complicated ones.

Put a handful of woodruff (asperula odorata) that has no blossoms yet, in a bowl; pour over it two bottles of Moselle wine, cover the bowl, let it soak not longer than half an hour in a very cool place; take the woodruff out, sweeten with from four to five ounces of sugar, stir well, and serve the aromatic beverage at once. You improve the fine taste by adding the thin slices of one or two peeled oranges. If you prepare this delicious beverage in this simple way, it is the best, as the unadulterated aroma of the woodruff is obtained; but take care that you do not leave the herb too long in the wine or you will get headache from it.

454. Another

Two handfuls of woodruff, two or three oranges cut into slices, two bottles of white wine, and two bottles of claret are put in a bowl; let it infuse an hour, take the herb out, and sweeten to taste.