Ye Perfect Food

1/2 pint of milk

1/2 pint of chicken broth

2 level tablespoonfuls of pearled sago

Yolks of two eggs

Put the sago into the broth and stand it aside over night; next morning bring it to boiling point and cook until the sago is transparent; add the milk, take from the fire, add a palatable seasoning of salt, and stir in the yolks of the eggs that have been carefully beaten with two tablespoonfuls of milk or cream.

This is an exceedingly concentrated, nutritive and palatable food. The quantity given will make three feedings.

Scorched Rice Gruel

Six Servings

2 tablespoonfuls of rice A piece of cinnamon two inches long

2 quarts of water 1 tablespoonful of orange marmalade

A pint of milk

Put the rice in a pan, stir in the oven until well browned, then grind it in the coffee mill. Add to it the water and cinnamon and cook slowly for two hours; add the orange marmalade and strain. Add the milk and stand aside at once to cool. There should be one and a half quarts of gruel when finished.

Use cold in cases of diarrhoea. It may be served hot or cold.

Browned Rice Flour Gruel

Put a half pound of rice flour into a granite baking pan in the oven; shake and stir it, now and then, until every little grain of the flour is lightly browned. Take it from the oven and when it is cold put it in a glass jar, and cover it.

To Make the Gruel: Moisten two tablespoonfuls of the browned flour in six tablespoonfuls of cold water, add a half pint of freshly-boiled water, stir until boiling and cook over a slow fire for a half hour.

Serve plain, or with milk, or add two tablespoonfuls of cream. With an addition of an equal quantity of milk this makes an admirable summer bottle food for infants with teeth, especially where there is an inclination to diarrhoea. It is also an excellent food for the aged and those who have weak digestion.

Gum And Milk Gruel

Put one ounce of finely-powdered white gum Arabic in a half pint of cold water, soak for two hours, add a pint of new milk three lumps of loaf sugar or a large table-spoonful of honey, and stir over the fire until the gum is dissolved. Strain, and when cool add a tablespoonful of port wine, if admissible.

This is exceedingly good in cases of throat trouble, and with an additional pint of milk is frequently used in cases of tuberculosis.

Cornmeal Gruel

Wash six tablespoonfuls of yellow or white granulated cornmeal through several cold waters; after the last washing let it settle and pour off the water; add four tablespoonfuls of this washed meal to a quart of boiling water, boil carefully two hours, strain and stand aside until wanted. At serving time, heat sufficient for one feeding - about two-thirds of a cupful - pour it into a bowl over two table-spoonfuls of whipped cream, stirring all the while, and add a saltspoonful of salt.

Arrowroot Gruel

Moisten a teaspoonful of arrowroot in two tablespoon-fuls of cold water; add slowly a half pint of boiling water, and boil ten minutes. Pour, while hot, into the well-beaten white of one egg, add a saltspoonful of salt and serve. Cream may be substituted for egg if so desired.

Meiggs' Gruel

Put a level tablespoonful of gelose into a bowl, add a pint of milk and stand it in a cold place for one hour. Then add six almonds that have been blanched and chopped very fine; put it in a double boiler and cook until the gelose is dissolved, strain, add three lumps of loaf sugar and four tablespoonfuls of cream.

This may be used in hyperacidity, omitting the sugar; for children, hot or cold in place of milk. In typhoid omit sugar and use it cold.