the patient. Again, if home-made beef tea is ordered he is in doubt as to the way in which it will be made, while the manufactured product is uniformly constant. It is never safe to resort to beef tea as the principal article of diet for more than a few days, as it would mean slow starvation to the patient. Milk, egg, cracker, or bread is added, frequently, to beef extract or beef tea to increase their food value. Beef, for the making of beef extract and beef tea, should be cut from the upper or lower part of the round of a heavy corn-fed steer. This insures good flavor and a large quantity of juice. One-half pound of such beef will yield two ounces (four tablespoons) of juice, making the price about five cents per ounce. The juice from the lower part of the round is quite as satisfactory and less expensive than that from the upper part. Beef extract may be served in a colored glass or small china cup. In this way the color, which is objectionable to many, may be concealed. Cracker Gruel. 158 Calories. 1 tablespoon rolled and sifted cracker. teaspoon salt. 3/4 cup milk. Scald milk, add cracker, and cook over hot water five minutes, then add salt. Dextrinized Cracker Gruel. 114 tablespoon browned cracker 3/4 cup milk. (rolled and sifted). 1 teaspoon salt. Follow directions for Cracker Gruel. The cracker may be dextrinized by baking for a long time in a very slow oven. Rice Gruel. 1 tablespoon rice. 1 cup milk. Wash rice, cover with cold water, and let stand two hours; drain, add milk to rice, and cook one and one-half hours in top of double boiler. strainer, season with salt. Strain twice through a fine Serve hot or cold. Thickened Milk. 196 Calories. 1 tablespoon flour. smooth paste. Few grains salt. 1 cup milk. Scald milk, reserving two tablespoons. Add cold milk, gradually, to flour while stirring constantly to make a Pour into scalded milk, and stir until mixture thickens, then cover, and cook over hot water twenty minutes. Season with salt. An inch piece of stick cinnamon may be cooked with the milk if liked, and tends to reduce a laxative condition. Thickened milk is often given in bowel troubles. Barley Gruel I. 1 tablespoon barley flour. 2 tablespoons cold water. 1 cup boiling water. 14 teaspoon salt. Add cold water slowly to barley flour to form a thin paste, then add gradually to boiling water, while stirring constantly; let boil fifteen minutes. Add milk, bring to boiling point, season, and strain. Barley Gruel II. 1 tablespoon barley flour. 2 tablespoons cold milk. 1 cup scalded milk. Add cold milk, slowly, to barley flour to form a thin paste. Add gradually to scalded milk, while stirring constantly. Cook in double boiler twenty minutes. Season, and strain. Add farina, slowly, to boiling water, while stirring constantly, then let boil twenty minutes. Add milk and reheat. Beat egg yolk slightly, dilute with two tablespoons mixture, add to remaining mixture, season, and strain. Indian Meal Gruel. 1 tablespoon granulated 1/4 teaspoon salt. 3 tablespoons cold water. 2 cups boiling water. Milk or cream. Mix meal, flour, and salt. Add cold water slowly to form a thin paste, then add gradually to boiling water, while stirring constantly, and let boil one hour. Add milk or cream to meet the needs of the patient. Oatmeal Gruel I. 1/4 cup rolled oats. 14 teaspoon salt. 11⁄2 cups boiling water. Add oats mixed with salt to boiling water, let boil two minutes, then cook over hot water one hour. Strain, bring to boiling point, and add milk or cream to meet the needs of the case. Oatmeal Gruel II. 1/3 cup coarse oatmeal. 11⁄2 cups cold water. 1⁄2 teaspoon salt. Milk or cream. Pound oatmeal in a mortar, or roll until mealy. Put in tumbler, add one-third of the water, while stirring constantly, let settle, and pour off mealy water. Repeat twice, using remaining water. Boil mealy water thirty minutes, then add salt, milk, or cream. This gives a starchy gruel, delicate in flavor, but not as nutritious as Oatmeal Gruel I. Remove fat and wipe steak with a cloth wrung out of cold water. Place on heated wire broiler, and broil four minutes, turning every ten seconds for the first minute (to prevent the escape of juices), then occasionally. Remove from broiler to warm plate and cut in pieces of correct size to fit meat press or metal lemon-squeezer. Make several gashes in pieces on both sides, put in press or lemon-squeezer, and express juice. Turn juice into cup set in saucepan of hot water. Season with salt, and serve Care must be taken that cup does not become sufficiently hot to coagulate albuminous juices. at once. Beef Extract II. Remove fat, wipe, and cut one-half pound round beefsteak in small pieces. Put in sterile canning jar, cover, and place jar on a trivet in a kettle of cold water. If a trivet is not at hand, improvise one by using nails, pebbles, or the cover of a small lard pail through which several holes have been made. Heat water gradually, and keep at a temperature of 130° F. for two hours. Turn meat from jar, and press to express juice. and reheat same as Beef Extract I. Beef Extract with Port. Season with salt, Serve cold Beef Extract, flavored with port. Frozen Beef Extract. Freeze Beef Extract I. or II. Beef Tea I. Dilute Beef Extract I. or II. with an equal quantity of hot water. Beef Tea II. 1 lb. beefsteak, cut from round. 2 cups cold water. Prepare beef as for Beef Extract II. Put in canning jar, add cold water, cover, and let stand twenty minutes. Place on trivet in kettle of cold water, having water surround jar as high as contents. Heat water gradually, keeping temperature at 130° F. for two hours, then increase temperature slightly until the liquid becomes a chocolate color and the albuminous juices are slightly coagulated; otherwise the beef tea will have a raw taste. CHAPTER XIV. BREAD. BREAD may be called, without error of statement, "the staff of life," inasmuch as it is used by all civilized peoples as their staple article of food, and furnishes proteid, carbohydrate, mineral matter, and a small quantity of fat. The deficiency in fat is usually supplied by spreading bread with butter. Breads may be considered under two great classes: 1. Fermented, : Made light by the use of a ferment, yeast usually being employed. 2. Unfermented, Made light by the use of soda and cream of tartar, or baking powder. In either case the lightness is due to the development of carbon dioxid (CO2). In the first instance this change is brought about during the process of fermentation. There are various kinds of fermentation, each of which is caused by special organisms. The organisms found in the yeast plant are the ones which apply to bread making. They have the power of changing starch to sugar, and sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxid. In the second case the change is brought about by chemical reaction. By the action of moisture and heat, the gas in the bicarbonate of soda is liberated by the acid in the cream of tartar. The necessary ingredients for a loaf of bread are flour, water, and yeast. To these may be added shortening, salt, sugar, and milk. Bread made with water, flour, salt, and yeast keeps fresh longer, and is less liable to sour, than when milk is used for the wetting, but is of a tougher consistency, and |