How To Make Gruel

Ask those who are to eat it, if they like it thick or thin; if the latter, mix well together, by degrees, in a pint basin, one tablespoonful of oatmeal, with three of cold water - if the former, use two table-spoonfuls.

Have ready, in a stewpan, a pint of boiling water; pour this, by degrees, to the oatmeal you have mixed, return it into the stewpan, set it on the fire, and let it boil for five minutes, stirring it all the time to prevent the oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the stewpan, skim and strain it through a hair sieve. A little wine and nutmeg may be added.

Irish Moss Or Carrigan

Soak half an ounce of the moss in cold water for a few minutes; then withdraw it, shaking the water from each sprig, and boil it in a quart of milk till it attains the consistence of jelly, and sweeten to the taste. A decoction of the same quantity of moss in a quart of water is also used as a demulcent in coughs.

Isinglass Blancmange

Boil one ounce of isinglass in one quart of water till it is reduced to a pint; then add the whites of four eggs, with two spoonfuls of water - to keep the eggs from poaching - and sugar enough to make it very sweet, and run the liquid through a jelly bag; then put to it two ounces of sweet, and half an ounce of bitter almonds; give them a scald in your jelly, and pass the whole mixture through a hair sieve, and empty it into a china bowl. The next day turn it out, and stick it all over with sweet almonds, blanched and cut lengthwise.

Barley Gruel

Wash two ounces of pearl barley, and boil it in a quart of water till reduced to a pint; strain it, and add sugar and wine to the taste.

Ale Posset

Boil a pint of new milk with a slice of toasted bread; pour a bottle of mild ale into a punch bowl, sweeten and add spices, and then pour the boiling milk over it.

Bread Pudding For Infants

Grate some stale bread into a teacup, pour boiling milk over it, and when cold, mix with the yolk of an egg. Boil it in a cup for a quarter of an hour.

Celery Dressed As Slaw

Cut the celery in pieces about a quarter of an inch long. Make a dressing of the yolks of three eggs boiled hard, half a gill of vinegar, half a gill of sweet oil, one teaspoonful of French mustard, or half a teaspoonful of common mustard, with salt and Cayenne pepper to the taste. Pour this mixture over the celery, stir it well and send it to the table. It should be kept in cold water to make it crisp, until about fifteen minutes before it is sent to the table, then drain it and pour the dressing over.

Economical Use Of Nutmegs

If a person begins to grate a nutmeg from the stalk end, it will prove hollow throughout; whereas the same nutmeg grated from the other end, would prove solid to the last. This is because the centre consists of a number of fibres issuing from the stalk, and extending throughout the centre of the fruit. When the stalk is grated away, those fibres, being attached to no other part, lose their hold, and drop out, and a hollow is formed through the whole nut.

Cut the meat in pieces about an inch square, put them into a stewpan with some butter, or a little of the cold gravy. Season with pepper and salt. As soon as the meat is very hot, add a little flour to thicken the gravy, and serve.