In the flavoring of soups and stews, it is well to use a number of flavors, letting no one of them be prominent above the others; on the other hand, it is well to have certain favorite dishes seasoned always the same way, as fresh pork with sage, summer savory in a bread dressing, etc.

DRINKS AT MEALS.

A warm drink at meals is better than a cold one, especially in winter or at any time when we are tired; and the drinking of ice water cannot be too strongly condemned, lowering as it does the temperature of the stomach and so delaying digestion. To furnish warm drinks for each meal acceptable to the palate, cheap and harmless, is no easy question. Soups or broth once adopted as a part of two meals in the day, as is so frequently seen in Europe, and the problem is half solved; indeed, some of the drinks here given are really thin vegetable soups or porridges to which the flavor of salt or of sugar may be given according to

taste.

Coffee.

It may be concluded, after comparing authors on the subject, that although coffee somewhat retards digestion and acts as a stimulant to the nervous system, still one or even two cups of moderately strong coffee a day will not harm a healthy person. We may say, therefore, that its use to this extent is a question of expense only. Java and Mocha coffee in equal parts are considered the best mixture. Rio is much cheaper and of strong pure flavor. The amount to be used for moderately strong coffee is one tablespoonful (ground) to a cup.

Chiccory is considered here only as an adulterant, whereas in Europe a very little of it, say one half teaspoonful of the prepared chiccory to a cup of ground coffee is used to improve the flavor.

Next to the quality of the coffee, it is of importance that it should be freshly ground and browned. If you buy it browned, reheat it first before grinding. The easiest and most economical way of making is to grind it very fine and put into a bag made of woven stuff, a white stocking top will do; leave room to swell. Heat this in your coffee pot as hot as you can without burning.

Pour on boiling water and keep it hot and close-covered for fifteen or twenty minutes. Boiling coffee increases its strength but does not improve its flavor.

Tea.

All authors agree as to the harmfulness of strong tea taken to excess. Take great pains in making tea. Use an earthen teapot, and have a tea-cozy or a large flannel cloth to wrap it in. The water used should be between hard and soft, extracting the aroma but not the astringency; in China river water is used. If hard water must be used, remember that boiling increases its hardness and that it should be used as soon as it reaches the boiling point.

Take one teaspoonful of tea to a cup, put it in the teapot and heat in an oven till hot, pour on one cup of water that has just come to a boil, and cover with the tea-cozy. Let it stand five minutes, then fill up with the requisite quantity of hot water and serve immediately.

Cocoa and chocolate.

These both contain a good deal of nourishment, and as drinks are considered rather heavy. As the various kinds differ very much from each other, they are best prepared according to the recipes found on the packages.

Milk, except for children, can hardly be looked "Cambric tea." upon as a drink, but diluted with hot water and sweetened, it has already been christened for the children as "cambric tea," and it is no bad drink for their elders.

Gruels. drink.

Oatmeal gruel.

A very thin gruel, slightly sweetened, is a good

Into a quart of boiling water stir two tablespoonfuls of oatmeal; boil for an hour or longer, strain through a coarse sieve or colander, add a pinch of salt, and a little milk and sugar.

Rice gruel.

Wet one tablespoonful rice flour in a little cold milk, put into one quart of boiling water, salt slightly, and boil till transparent. Flavor with a little lemon peel and

sugar.

Cornmeal gruel.

One quart boiling water, three tablespoonfuls corn meal washed in several waters, one half teaspoonful salt; add one half cupful milk and a little sugar; a pinch of ginger is an improvement.

Barley gruel.

Soak pearl or ground barley all night or a few hours in cold water, put into boiling water and cook Season like the others.

till very soft.

Sago and tapioca gruel.

Corn coffee.

Can be made in the same way.

All these drinks must be thin and not too highly seasoned. Brown common field corn as you would coffee, as brown as you can without burning. Grind coarsely and steep like coffee. Add milk and sugar and you will find it a delicious drink.

Cold drinks in

summer

Irish moss lemon

ade.

Lemonade is too strongly acid for a regular drink at meals, but lemon as a flavor is always welcome.

Wash a handful of Irish moss in five waters, pour over it two quarts boiling water and let it stand till Strain, adding more water if necessary, and add the juice of two lemons and sweeten with lump sugar which you have rubbed on the lemons to obtain the oil in the skin.

cold.

Soda cream.

One pound sugar, one ounce tartaric acid dissolved in a pint of hot water. When cold flavor with lemon zest or extract, and add the beaten white of an egg. When used, add two tablespoonfuls of it to a glass of water in which you have dissolved one fourth teaspoonful soda.

Slice juicy sour apples into boiling water and keep Apple water. warm an hour. Strain and sweeten. All these drinks taste best cooled (but not too cold) with ice.

Cider.

Sweet cider can be bottled for use and makes a delicious drink. Boil and skim till it is clear no

longer; pour hot into bottles, and seal.

See also vegetable and fruit soups.

COOKERY FOR THE SICK.

It is comparatively easy for your family to live on a small income while all its members are in good health, but you will find your resources all too slender when you must cater for the appetite of an invalid.

At best, sickness is always a severe drain on the limited income, but here, as in every other department of your work, you will

find that good sense and ingenuity will often stand you in stead for money. During a severe illness the food as much as the medicine is under the care of the physician, but when the danger is over and he has left you with only general directions, you will be more than likely in your bewilderment to take the advice of the first neighbor that drops in, although you may know that neither her advice nor experience is as good as your own.

Now consider first, what did the doctor mean by saying that the patient must be "built up," and how is the wasted frame to get back the fat and muscle that were burned away in the sickness? Chiefly, as you know, by the digestion of food, the proteids and fats and carbohydrates that we have been talking about, and still another, a real food although so often forgotten, the oxygen of the air.

We have said that we need not concern ourselves about this food, that it would take care of itself; and so it will when we are in a state of health and living as human beings should, for as we walk or work we are fed by the air without knowing it. But the case is quite different with a poor invalid shut up in a sickroom; we must bring the fresh air to him with as much care and regularity as we do his jellies and broths.

When we are considering what we shall feed our invalid, we cannot do better than keep to our old classification of proteids, fats, and carbohydrates. He must have all these principles, but in the most digestible form, for the stomach is feeble like the rest of the body. For this reason the proteids must be furnished mainly from the animal kingdom, butter and cream must supply the fat, and the carbohydrates must bring with them as little as possible of the tough cellulose, and they must be so cooked as to be easily digested.

First, as to the proteids.

Hot milk, given often in small quantities, is much used in the early stages of recovery and is generally better liked if accompanied by a bit of toasted bread or made into a thin gruel.

In the first rank, also, comes soup made of lean beef scraped fine, covered with cold water and allowed to stand for an hour, then brought slowly to scalding heat and kept there for a short time; it is then strained through a coarse sieve, the small, brown flakes being allowed to pass. Season only with salt. Or, broil

a thick tender steak, cut it in pieces, and then with a lemon squeezer press out every particle of juice it may then be diluted and seasoned.

Mutton broth is made like beef soup but should be cooked a longer time. Chicken broth also requires more cooking. Any of these soups may have a little rice or tapioca cooked with them.

Eggs are an important item in the diet of an invalid, being very nutritious and, if fresh, easily digested; do not use them if at all uncertain of their age.

Eggs may be given raw (see page 236), or soft-boiled (see page 236), or poached in hot water. An egg may be served in many ways and makes always a pretty and attractive dish. In cooking it should never be submitted to a high temperature, as that makes the white part horny and indigestible.

A custard made from an egg and a cup of milk and half a tablespoonful of sugar may be given early in a convalescence. Or use beef soup or chicken broth instead of the milk, and flavor with a little salt and pepper. These custards should be made in a pail set in a kettle of boiling water, the custard being stirred till it begins to thicken.

Next in order comes cooked meat. Beef is best of all, but let it be juicy and tender and broil or roast it, serving it rare. Probably a broiled mutton chop ranks next, although chicken, because of its delicate flavor, will often receive the first choice. An invalid should not touch pork, and should be given veal or lamb only in the form of soup.

As to fats, the system needs them of course, but fat meat should not be given, only butter or, better still, cream. The butter must never be melted and soaked into the food, nor made into a

sauce.

As to the vegetable part of the diet, much care must be used. In the form of gruel or porridge, it is generally very welcome and gives the fluid part of the meal in a good form. For Indian meal and oatmeal porridge see page 280. Milk may take the place of the water.

Toast is with good reason considered invalids' food, for the process of toasting turns part of the starch of the bread into dextrine which is digested with great ease. Grains may be also