The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-07-09
NURSING,
5oMe Suggestions for the Care Of the Sick
In Country Places.

In Country Places.
Cookery for the sick should do half
The work of the patient Suggestion, and
when there is little appetite, the food
must be so nicely prepared and served,
that the convalescent is tempted into
making a good meal when it seemed
impossible to touch amorsel. It is USE
'ess to ask an invalid what he would like
to eat, for the chances are ten to one
that he does not know, or can not exert
himself sufficiently to choose, while if
some delicate preparation is brought to
him, he will take it with relish. If the
appetite is good, as is the case in re-
covery from diseases. it is only neces-
sary to furnish nourishing food and to
restrict the quantity eaten within the
limits of prudence; but when it is lam
guild and c%apricious, very little must be
presented at once, and every art used
to persuade the sufferer to take it.
Broth or soup should be put into a hot
bowl, and served very hot, with a small
piece of thin bread, or a little square of
toast, accompanying it. Sometimes
vegetable soups are more relished than
those made with meat, and if milk
enters into their composition, they are
equally nourishing. Take half a pint
of canned tomatoes, let it come to
a boil, strain, and replace it on the fire;
add one pint of milk. salt, a very
little red pepper. and when it boils a
t%easpoonful of corn starch rubbed up
with a small teaspoonful of butter; as
Dor as it thickens, the soup is done.
An excellent white soup is made by boil
ing three good sized potatoes, and when
soft, MASKING them perfectly smooth;
stir in gradually one pint of milk, salt,
and a dessertspoonful of butter; flavor
| with a little mace or nutmeg; strain
the whole through a sieve. and stir over
the fire until it boils. Cream of celery
is delicious, and this vegetable is rec
commended as a specific in rheumatism.
Wash a good-sized head of celery and
cut off the roots: boil it in sailed water,
sufficient to cover it, until it is tender
enough to rub through a sieve. Save
this water, as it contains a good part of
the valuable constituents of the celery.
The French never throw away the
water in which vegetables have been
boiled, but keep it as an indispensable
addition to their potage. Mix together
n teaspoonful of butter and one large
tablespoonful of flour. add gradually
one pint of hot milk and a cupful of the
water in which the celery was cooked,
put in the celery, and, if obtainable.
half a cupful of cream; let it boil once,
and serve.
To make savory beef tea for onva-
lescents, put a dessertspoonful of butter
nto a frying pan; have ready one pound
of lean beef, cut in small pieces, and
one onion, finely shredded; stir these in
the pan over the fire for a few moments
until the meat produces a thin gravy; add
three teacupfuls of cold water, q Glove,
pepper and salt, and let it simmer gently
three-quarters of an hour; skim off eve.
~ particle of fat, strain and serve.
Veal or mutton may be substituted for
the beef, leaving out the Glove if desired.
If a tender chicken a be procured
for the convalescent, after the breast has
been broiled or stewed with green peas,
the inferior parts remaining can be
made into broth. An old, tough fowl
makes as good broth as a young one,
which is best reserved to be cooked in
some other way. Divide the chicken
into several pieces, cracking the loins
when possible, and cover with one quar-
of cold water, adding pepper, salt ant
mace if liked. When it comes to a boi
simmer gently for an hour and a half
then strain, and when cold, skim off the
fat carefully. Heat again when it is
required.
Hot bread or fresh rolls should not b,
given to an invalid. For breakfast o.
tea, dip toast may be substituted, made
in the following manner: Beat together
a dessertspoonful of butter aud a tea
spoonful of flour, wet with a little colo
milk. and when perfectly smooth, ado
Il pint of boiling milk, and pour tn,
mixture W two slices of toast. A well
beaten egg may be put in the milk jus
before it thickens, but it is very nict
plain.
There is nothing more suitable fol
the breakfast of . convalescent thar
eggs, aud they can be prepared in 81
many different ways as to produce
constant variety. They are not digest
ible when boiled hard; if put on in COLI
water, and left until it comes to a boil
the white will be soft as well as tn,
yelk. Lightly boiled eggs are positivel,
disgusting to some persons, and thel
they must be cooked in some other mode
Break an egg into a bowl. and put witt
it one tablespoonful of milk, a tiny piec
of butter and a little salt; slip it into
frying-pan, and stir quickly back an,
forth until it is done. Do not leave i
too long, or it will be watery, like over
done custard. A little practice vii
make perfect. Turn into a hot dish. o.
a square of toast, and serve Immediately
To poach an egg, break it gently into
saucer; have ready some sailed waite
boiling in. a pan. and slide the egg int
it, being careful not to break the yelk
twill be cooked in about three minutes
when lift it out with a broad blade
knife, and serve on toast.
Veal s~weetbreads make a most del
cate and delicious dish for an invalid
They were formerly thrown away a
useless, but now they are in such de
mand in cities that they command
good price, and should always be save
when a calf is killed. They spo
quickly, and should be put in col
water as soon as brought in. The
may be baked, stewed or fried, an
must be parboiled in sailed water fo
twenty minutes before cooking them i
either way. To bake them, drain ther
carefully; dip them into beaten egg an
roll them in bread crumbs; repeat tn
operation; put small pieces of butte
over them and bake for nearly three
quarters of an hour. Make a littl
brown gravy and pour around then
!, They can be roasted plain, without eg
and bread crumbs. When stewed the
are allowed to simmer gently for haI
an hour in as little water as possible
take up and add a teacupful of crear
to the water, which is thickened with
heaping teaspoonful of corn-starch; ad
salt, lemon juice Cf desired), and
small piece of butter; when it boils pou
it over the sweetbreads. To fry, pre-
pare as for baking. and brown in
little butter. Elizabeth Robinson Scout
in Country Gentleman.
General Bragg.