Make a strong tea of the thoroughwort—strain it, and when cool, put to a couple of quarts of it half a pint of French brandy, the peel of two or three fresh oranges, cut into small bits, and half a dozen bunches of fennel, or smallage seed. The seed and orange peel should be crowded into a bottle, then the tea and brandy turned in. The bottle should be corked tight. The bitters will keep good almost any length of time, and is an excellent remedy for bilious complaints, and can often be taken when the thoroughwort tea will not sit on the stomach. A wine glass of these bitters to a tumbler of water is about the right proportion. It should have a little sugar added to it before drinking it.
Make a strong tea of everlasting—strain, and put to a quart of it two ounces of figs or raisins, two of liquorice, cut in bits. Boil them in the tea for twenty minutes, then take the tea from the fire, and add to it the juice of a lemon. This is an excellent remedy for a tight cough—it should be drank freely, being perfectly innocent. It is the most effectual when hot.
Broil a pound of fresh lean beef ten minutes—then cut it into small bits, turn a pint of boiling water on it, and let it steep in a warm place half an hour—then strain it, and season the tea with salt and pepper to the taste. This is a quick way of making the tea, but it is not so good, when the stomach will bear but a little liquid on it, as the following method: Cut the beef into small bits, which should be perfectly free from fat—fill a junk bottle with them, cork it up tight, and immerse it in a kettle of lukewarm water, and boil it four or five hours. This way is superior to the first, on account of obtaining the juices of the meat, unalloyed with water, a table-spoonful of it being as nourishing as a tea-cup full of the other.
Steep Carragua, or Irish moss, in cold water a few minutes, to extract the bitter taste—then drain off the water, and to half an ounce of moss put a quart of fresh water, and a stick of cinnamon. Boil it till it becomes a thick jelly, then strain it, and season it to the taste with white wine and white sugar. This is very nourishing, and recommended highly for consumptive complaints.
Rinse four ounces of sago thoroughly, then soak it in cold water half an hour—turn off the water, and put to it a pint and a half of fresh cold water. Let it soak in it half an hour, then set it where it will boil slowly, stirring it constantly—boil with it a stick of cinnamon. When of a thick consistency, add a glass of wine, and white sugar to the taste. Let it boil five minutes, then turn it into cups.