Lemon and Orange Tincture.—Never throw away lemon or orange peel; cut the yellow outside off carefully, and put it into a tightly corked bottle with enough alcohol to cover it. Let it stand until the alcohol is a bright yellow, then pour it off, bottle it tight, and use it for flavoring when you make rice pudding. Add lemon and alcohol as often as you have it, and you will always have a nice flavoring.
Vanilla Tincture.—Make this from a broken Vanilla Bean, just as you would make Lemon Tincture. When you make a plain rice pudding, and when you boil rice with sweetening, put a teaspoonful of either of these tinctures with it, and it will be very good.
Measuring.—Be careful about measuring. Do not think you can guess just right every time; you cannot do it. One day the dinner will be a great deal better than another, and you will wonder why; it will be because it is carefully seasoned and properly cooked. A good rule for seasoning soups and stews, is half an ounce, or a level tablespoonful of salt, and half a level teaspoonful of pepper to each quart of water; try it, if it is right you will know how much to use; if it is not right, alter it to suit your taste; but settle the point for once, and then you will know what to depend upon. The following table will give you some good hints about measuring; there are four teaspoonfuls in one tablespoon; two tablespoonfuls in one ounce; two ounces in one wineglassful; two wineglassfuls in one gill; two gills in one good sized cupful; two cupfuls in one pint; two pints in one quart. One quart of sifted flour, thrown into the measure, and shaken down, but not pressed, weighs one pound; one quart of Indian corn meal, shaken down in the measure weighs one pound and three ounces; one quart of fine sugar weighs one pound and a half.
CHAPTER III.
BEVERAGES.
In my little book on "FIFTEEN CENT DINNERS," I decidedly advocate the substitution of milk or milk and water as a drink at meal times, for tea and coffee, on the score of economy; because milk is a food, while the two former drinks are chiefly stimulants. They are pleasant because they warm and exhilarate, but they are luxuries because they give no strength; therefore their use is extravagant when we are pinched for healthy food. It is true that when we drink them we do not feel as hungry as we do without them. The sensation of hunger is nature's sure sign that the body needs a new supply of food because the last has been exhausted; the change of the nourishing qualities of food into strength is always going on as long as any remains in the system; the use of tea, coffee, and alcohol, hinders this change, and consequently we are less hungry when we use them than when we do without them. Tea and coffee are certainly important aids to the cheerfulness and comfort of home; and when the first stage of economy, where every penny must be counted, has passed, we do not know of any pleasanter accessory to a meal than a cup of good tea or coffee.
Tea.—The physiological action of very strong tea is marked; moderately used it excites the action of the skin, lungs, and nervous system, and soothes any undue action of the heart; used to excess, it causes indigestion, nervousness, and wakefulness. No doubt its effects are greatly modified by climate, for the Russians drink enormous quantities of very strong, fine tea. A recent war report gives the following account of its use in the army.
"The Russian soldiers are said to live and fight almost wholly upon tea. The Cossacks often carry it about in the shape of bricks, or rather tiles, which, before hardening, are soaked in sheep's blood and boiled in milk, with the addition of flour, butter and salt, so as to constitute a kind of soup. The passion of the Russian for this beverage is simply astonishing. In the depth of winter he will empty twenty cups in succession, at nearly boiling point, until he perspires at every pore, and then, in a state of excitement rush out, roll in the snow, get up and go on to the next similar place of entertainment. So with the army. With every group or circle of tents travels the invariable tea kettle, suspended from a tripod; and it would be in vain to think of computing how many times each soldier's pannikin is filled upon a halt. It is his first idea. Frequently he carries it cold in a copper case as a solace upon the march."
Dr. Edward Smith sums up the physiological action of tea as follows: