Toast Water

Toast three slices stale bread to dark brown, but do not burn. Put into pitcher, pour over them one quart of boiling water; cover closely and let stand on ice until cold; strain. May add wine and sugar.

Rice Water

Wash two tablespoons of rice. Put into saucepan with one quart of boiling water; simmer two hours, when rice should be softened and partially dissolved; strain, add one saltspoonful of salt; serve warm or cold. May add sherry or port, two tablespoonfuls.

Baked Flour Porridge

Take one pint of Albers flour and pack tightly in a small muslin bag, throw into boiling water and boil five or six hours; cut off the outer sodden portion; grate the hard core fine. Blend thoroughly with a little milk and stir into boiling milk to the desired thickness.

Rice Jelly

Mix one heaping tablespoonful of rice with cold water until it is a smooth paste; add one scant pint of boiling water, sweeten with loaf sugar, boil until quite clear. Flavor with lemon juice.

Corn Meal Gruel

Mix one tablespoon corn meal, one-half teaspoon salt, and two tablespoons cold water. Add one pint boiling water, simmer slowly one hour.

In serving bowl put two tablespoons cream, one lump sugar, strain in gruel, stir for a moment and serve.

Flour and arrowroot gruel is made in the same way, but cooked ten minutes.

Farina gruel is made with milk and cooked one hour in double boiler.

Boil oatmeal gruel one hour and strain.

Barley Water

Wash two tablespoons pearl barley, scald with boiling water, boil five minutes, strain. Add two quarts cold water, simmer till reduced one-half. Strain, add lemon juice to taste. Good in fevers.

Squash On The Half Shell

Divide a Hubbard squash in half lengthwise. Put in oven in dripping pan to bake. Cover and cook until tender. Aim to preserve the rind in good condition. Take out cooked center when done, mash and season with salt, butter and very rich cream, a suspicion of sugar and cinnamon or nutmeg; beat until light and creamy, return to the shell, reheat in the oven and serve in the shell. Garnish the platter with grape or other large leaves available.

Lima Bean Puree

Soak one pint of lima beans over night. Pour off water and if the skins are very loose, remove them as you would almonds, when blanching them. Put on to cook in one pint of water, add one-eighth teaspoon of soda, celery leaves or stalk of celery, and a few moments before tender, teaspoonful of salt and one-eighth of a teaspoon of pepper. When soft, put through puree sieve, return to fire and add one pint of milk and one tablespoon of Albers flour, blended with two tablespoons of butter. Serve with croutons.

Timbales Of Creamed Peas

Drain liquor from a can of peas, rinse and drain again. Make a sauce from two tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of flour, one and one-half cups of cream of milk, one-half teaspoon salt and one-eighth teaspoon of pepper. When sauce has thickened smoothly, add the peas, let them cook a moment, and fill the cases.

Boiled Artichokes

The artichokes should be washed well in several waters and picked over carefully to see that no insects are about them. Trim the leaves at the bottom. Cut off the stems and put the artichokes into boiling water with a heaped tablespoonful of salt and a piece of soda the size of a quarter. Keep the saucepan uncovered, and let them boil quickly until tender. When done you can thrust a fork through them. Take them out, drain, and serve with white sauce, made of flour, butter, new milk, two small onions cut up thin in it, and pepper. A tureen of melted butter should accompany them. It takes twenty-five minutes to cook them, and they should be gathered two or three days before wanted for use.

Escalloped Onions

Take eight or ten onions of good size, slice them, and boil till tender. Lay them in a baking dish, putting bread crumbs, butter in small bits, pepper and salt between each layer, until the dish is full, putting bread crumbs last; add milk or cream until full. Bake twenty minutes or half an hour.

Tomato Toast

Prepare the tomatoes as for sauce, and while they are cooking, toast some slices of bread very brown but not burned; butter them on both sides and pour the tomato sauce over them.

Tomatoes Fried

Do not pare them, but cut in slices as an apple; dip in cracker, pounded and sifted, and fry in a little good butter.

Chop Suey (For Six Persons)

One pound of water chestnuts, two pounds of bean sprouts, which can be procured at any Chinese vegetable stand. While shopping buy twenty-five cents' worth of gu yow, a Chinese sauce made only in China and which enters into nearly all oriental meat dishes. It is a brown looking liquid with a peculiar flavor, and can be purchased of any Chinese dealer. The water chestnuts must be shaved thin; add a little sliced celery, one small onion chopped, half a dozen mushrooms; cut young chicken into small pieces; have a kettle with peanut oil (in same quantity as lard would be used); into this place the vegetables and chicken all together; let fry until tender, stirring often to prevent burning. Just before taking off add the bean sprouts, which must not be cooked too long, as they are better when little more than half done. Drain off the liquor, add a little flour to thicken; salt to taste. Just at the last add a teaspoonful of the brown sauce. Pour all over the chop suey; stir together and serve.

Noodles

Take one egg, add half an egg shell of water, then Albers flour enough to make very stiff. Roll thin and allow to lay about half an hour. Then cut in strips and boil about 15 minutes. Put in dish and pour drawn butter over it.

Wroten's English Plum Pudding

Two and one-half cups Albers flour, one cup bread crumbs, one pound raisins, one pound currants, one-half pound citron, one and one-half cups chopped suet, one wineglass brandy, one heaping teaspoon all kinds of spices, pinch salt, one cup black molasses, one cup brown sugar, six eggs well beaten, one teaspoon soda dissolved in hot water, two teaspoons baking powder sifted in Albers flour enough for stiff batter. Put in well greased tins. Boil four hours.

Crackers And Cream

A nicely toasted cracker, with sweet cream poured over it, is delicate and nourishing for an invalid.

Tapioca

Soak over night two tablespoonfuls of tapioca in two cups of water. In the morning add one pint of milk, sugar to taste and a pinch of salt; simmer until soft, stirring frequently. When dished add one tablespoonful of wine and grate over a little nutmeg.

Rye Coffee

When one is not allowed coffee or tea a good substitute can be made by browning rye as coffee is browned; then to one cup of rye add one cup of cold water. Let it boil slowly for ten minutes, then add two cups of boiling water and serve with sugar and cream.