Wash three tablespoonfuls of pearl barley, drop it into a pint of boiling water and parboil five minutes. Pour the water off and add one quart of fresh boiling water, let it simmer gently from one to three hours, strain, season, and serve. A small piece of lemon rind added to the gruel one half hour before it is done will give an agreeable flavor. Equal quantities of barley gruel and milk make a very nourishing drink; a little lemon juice with sugar to taste is sometimes liked as the flavor for the gruel.
ARROWROOT.
Mix two tablespoonfuls of arrowroot with four tablespoonfuls of cold water; add half a pint of boiling water and boil until it thickens; sweeten to taste and add a little grated nutmeg.
GRAHAM GRUEL.
Mix one tablespoonful of graham meal in four tablespoonfuls of cold water, stir it into a pint of boiling water, cook twenty minutes, salt to taste, and boil ten minutes longer, put a gill of thin gruel into a cup with one half gill of milk or cream, and serve hot.
EGG NOGG.
Beat the yolk of a freshly laid egg with a tablespoonful of sugar until it is light and creamy, add to this one half cupful of milk (hot or cold, as you wish the drink, warm, or chilled), whip in, lightly, the white of the egg, beaten stiff, a light grating of nutmeg, and if mixed cold, a tablespoonful of cracked ice. Serve at once.
EGG AND LIME WATER.
To a wineglass full of lime water, add the stiffly beaten white of one egg. Give this often, in small quantities, to patient. It is excellent in cases of obstinate vomiting and bowel trouble.