Put into a sauce-pan a pint of the best West India molasses; a tea-spoonful of powdered white ginger; and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Set it on hot coals, and simmer it slowly for half an hour; stirring it frequently. Do not let it come to a boil. Then stir in the juice of two lemons, or two table-spoonfuls of vinegar; cover the pan and let it stand by the fire five minutes longer. This is good for a cold. Some of it may be taken warm at once, and the remainder kept at hand for occasional use.
It is the preparation absurdly called by the common people a stewed quaker.
Half a pint of strained honey mixed cold with the juice of a lemon, and a table-spoonful of sweet oil, is another remedy for a cold; a tea-spoonful or two to be taken whenever the cough is troublesome.
FLAX-SEED LEMONADE.—
To a large table-spoonful of flax-seed allow a tumbler and a half of cold water. Boil them together till the liquid becomes very sticky. Then strain it hot over a quarter of a pound of pulverized sugar candy, and an ounce of pulverized gum arabic. Stir it till quite dissolved, and squeeze into it the juice of a lemon.
This mixture has frequently been found an efficacious remedy for a cold; taking a wine-glass of it as often as the cough is troublesome.
COCOA.—
Put into a sauce-pan two ounces of good cocoa (the chocolate nut before it is ground) and one quart of water. Cover it, and as soon as it has come to a boil, set it on coals by the side of the fire, to simmer for an hour or more. Take it hot with dry toast. Baker's prepared cocoa is excellent.
COCOA SHELLS.—
These can be procured at the principal grocers and confectioners, or at a chocolate manufactory. They are the thin shells that envelope the chocolate kernel, and are sold at a low price; a pound contains a very large quantity. Soak them in water for five or six hours or more, (it will be better to soak them all night,) and then boil them in the same water. They should boil two hours. Strain the liquid when done, and let it be taken warm.