Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1909-01-29
DAINTY FOOD FOR THE SICK.


Unless the food placed before a pa
tient Is nicely cooked, 1t is no use tc
offer it. The great national nurse
Miss Nightingale, once mentioned foul
things which she said would cause q
patient slowly to starve to death from
want Of nutrition. These four things
| remember, and shall, no doubt, re
member all my life. SO great an i'm
preston did they make upon me. They
were: 1. Badly-cooked food. 2. Ths
wrong kind of food. 3. Food giver
at the wrong hours. 4. Want of ap
petite. This last cause is generally
the result of the first. Food is needed
for three purposes: To repair waste
and to make heat and energy
To do these things. food must con
tain five elements: Water, albumen
fat. starch or sugar, and salts. and un
less these five are present the body Is
not properly nourished. For this rea
son. oatmeal cruel made with milk is
perhaps. the best of foods for a sick
person. 1t Is very easily digested-
another very important item to be con
sidered. Made from the following re
cipe. it Is very nice: Take two heap
ed tablespoonsful of coarse oatmeal
mix we'll with a pint of milk. strain
through a coarse strainer into a sauce
pan. place on the fire. stir frequently
till thick. and then boil for ten or Is
minutes. stirring 1t often. Put salt OF
sugar to taste, and. il desired, a very
little nutmeg. The cruel can be made
thick or thin.
When mother was so i'll last time,
used to make her some delicious beef
tea. There were two favorite recipes
which I always followed. first No 1,
then No. 5. These are given below. So
great was my success in making this a
tasty meal that l became quite noted
for 1t. and for a long, long time was
kOwn to my friends as Beef Tea" or
The One and Five" To make No. 1,
| took one pound Of juicy beef. weigh
ed without fat or skin. minced it very
fine. placed 1t In a jar. poured on it
one pint Of water. stirred 1t up, and let
It stand for an hour. After this I
closely covered the jar, placed 1t in a
saucepan Of cold water. and brought
this to a boil. and let 1t boil gently
round the jar for an hour. added salt
to taste. then strained OF the beef tea
through a coarse sieve or strainer.
When l served up the beef tea I was
always careful to stir 1t up well first,
SO as to get all the sediment. as there
was a great deal of goodness in this !:
and l never warmed up at one time
more than I thought mother would
take. because, like all invalids. il a
great deal of food was placed before
her, one look was enough; she turned
against 1t. and refused to touch it.
Sometimes in preparing the tea. plac-
ed the jar for an hour or two in a mod
erately hot oven. or all night in a slow
oven, instead Of in the pan Of water.
Either way was equally good.
The noted mo. 5" was made much
more quickly. and Is the recipe gen.
orally used. took one pound of fresh
lean beef. minced 1t finely. put 1t into
a saucepan with one pint of cold wa.
ter (or less. II wanted very strong).
and pinch of salt. This let stand
for five or ten minutes. then placed 1t
on a slow fire or gas stove, and let 1t
come gradually to almost boiling
point; then draw 1t aside and let 1t
slightly simmer for ten minutes, keep.
ing it well stirred. l then took a cup
full of. removed the fat from the top
Of 1t with blotting paper. and carried
1t up to the patient. The rest of the
beef tea was left for an hour to stand,
but was not allowed to boil, for IL 1t
boiled most of the nourishing matter
of the beef would be lost. and add
another example to the many which
prove that.
However, though beef tea Is of much
use as a stimulant. 1t Is but little use
as a food. 1t stands In relation to the
body much in the way that a poker
does to fire. 1t rouses and brightens
up the patient. but must be followed
by something further-some stronger
food to strengthen. some fuel to sup.
port the Pickering fame.
The fuel needed for the body Is milk
This may be taken either boiled OF
raw. In the form of cruel. In the for
mer state 1t is more digestible, but II
preferred raw it can be made equally
easy Of digestion II to 1t be added 9
little soda water. potash water, or lime
water.