BEEF TEA, OR ESSENCE OF BEEF.

Cut a pound of perfectly lean beef into small bits.  Do not allow any particle of fat to remain.  Put in a wide-mouthed bottle, cork tightly, and set in a kettle of cold water.  Boil for three hours; pour off the juice, which is now completely extracted from the meat.  There will be probably a small cupful.  Season with a saltspoonful of salt.  This is given in extreme sickness, feeding a teaspoonful at a time.

BEEF TEA FOR CONVALESCENTS.

One pound of lean beef prepared as above.  Add a pint of cold water,—­rain-water is best,—­and soak for an hour.  Cover closely, and boil for ten minutes; or put in the oven, and let it remain an hour.  Pour off the juice, season with half a teaspoonful of salt, and use.  A little celery salt makes a change.

CHICKEN BROTH.

The bones and a pound of meat from a chicken put in three pints of cold water.  Skim thoroughly when it comes to a boil, add a teaspoonful of salt, and simmer for three hours.  Strain and serve.  A tablespoonful of soaked rice or tapioca may be added after the broth is strained.  Return it in this case to the fire, and boil half an hour longer.

CHICKEN JELLY.

Boil chicken as for broth, but reduce the liquid to half a pint.  Strain into a cup or little mold, and turn out when cold.

CHICKEN PANADA.

Take the breast of the chicken boiled as above; cut in bits, and pound smooth in a mortar.  Take a teacupful of bread-crumbs; soak them soft in warm milk, or, if liked better, in a little broth.  Mix them with the chicken; add a saltspoonful of salt, and, if allowed, a pinch of mace; and serve in a cup with a spoon.

BEEF, TAPIOCA, AND EGG BROTH.

One pound of lean beef, prepared as for beef tea, and soaked one hour in a quart of cold water.  Boil slowly for two hours.  Strain it.  Add a half teaspoonful of salt, and half a cupful of tapioca which has been washed and soaked an hour in warm water.  Boil slowly half an hour.  Serve in a shallow bowl, in which a poached egg is put at the last, or stir a beaten egg into one cup of the boiling soup, and serve at once with wafers or crackers.

MUTTON BROTH.

Made as chicken broth.  Any strong stock, from which the fat has been taken, answers for broths.

OATMEAL GRUEL.

Have ready, in a double boiler, one quart of boiling water with a teaspoonful of salt, and sprinkle in two tablespoonfuls of fine oatmeal.  Boil an hour; then strain, and serve with cream or milk and sugar if ordered.  Farina gruel is made in the same way.