PEAR TREE LOG

pear tree log: I started this blog to keep my younger son, Jonny, in touch with life in Lincolnshire, while he spent a year working in China. That year turned into five! Now he is home and training to become a physics teacher. This is simply a patchwork quilt of some of the things I enjoy - life in rural Lincolnshire, our animals, friends, architecture, books, the gardens, and things of passing interest.



Tuesday 7 February 2012

Food for the Sick and Spotty Hamsters?

I know, I know!  I could have used the Oxford comma in the title and thus avoided the ambiguity -  but that wouldn't be half as much fun. 
It's cold and foggy outside,

warm inside.  
Much safer for me to stick with the things I love doing - trawling through my old books, doing some craft work, keeping warm.


Among my favourite books are some well used old cookery books and booklets which date from around 1910/1920.  Here is a selection of recipes which are sure to bring a speedy return to full health... or maybe not.


An Excellent Food for anybody with consumptive tendencies, obtain 1/4lb best mutton suet, and add 1 1/2pints of new milk.  Boil all together, first cutting the suet up fine.  This quantity should be used daily and taken lukewarm or cold.  The patient will find that his chest will get quite strong quickly.  He will also make flesh.
Just reading about the recipe makes me feel sick.


Nervous Breakdown Ox brains, as a diet rich in nutriment are recommended by an eminent doctor to be taken at dinner at least three times weekly by suffers from nervous breakdown due to overwork.  The brains must be soaked in lukewarm water for some time to remove discolouration.  When cleaned, place them in a marinade, leaving thus for two hours.
If I were faced with either making this dish, or having to eat it, I would be well on my way to having a breakdown of some sort.


Raw Beef Juice  Take 3oz of lean beef, shred very fine, and cover with 4oz of cold water, add a pinch of salt, stand in a cool place six to twelve hours.  This is largely used in hospitals for infants and invalids.  In this way you get the albumen of the beef in the pure form.
Disgusting.


Toast Water Toast a slice of bread on both sides till dried through and quite brown, but not burnt.  Put it into a basin or jug, pour over it the boiling water, let it stand till cold, strain.  Toast water is cooling.
I can't think why an invalid would enjoy this.  My curiosity has been piqued, I may give it a try.


White of Egg Flip  This is a doctor's recipe for a nourishing pick-me-up, of which a spoonful or two can be taken at odd moments.  Beat three whites to a stiff froth; add a teaspoonful of good strawberry jam, and beat it well in; lastly beat in one dessert-spoonful of brandy.  Brandy, by the way, should here be regarded purely as medicine, and as you would not willingly administer cheap medicine to an invalid, procure the best cognac that your means will allow.  It pays in the long run.
I reckon you should forget the egg whites and the strawberry jam, then follow the rest of the advice to the letter, but double the dose.  I'll let you know how I get on.


These are some of the spotty hamsters which I made last year.  I found the pattern in a pile of old magazine pull-outs.  They proved very popular so I'm planning a new batch.


This next batch will have a few tweaks here and there and I'll do a couple of girly ones too.  This is a great project because you don't really even need to use a sewing machine - although I often do because I tend to make quite a lot once I get going.


That's my evenings sorted out for a while.

28 comments:

  1. Blech...some one pass me the sick bowl...QUICKLY!
    Jane x

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    1. Jane, Sorry, I'm using it. Have a bucket instead.

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  2. Yuk! I can't imagine any of that making anybody feel better!

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    1. Scarlet, Thank goodness we live in different times!

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  3. Just thinking about the remedy for nervous breakdown due to overwork, will make me re-think my work load for this week. Thanks for the peek inside your cosy room.

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    1. Hi Meggie, I took the photograph of that sofa to remind me that occasionally it is not occupied by Toby and the cats! I think the remedy for nervous breakdown is disgusting - pity the poor souls who had to partake.

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  4. I read the Excellent Food carefully and even chuckled at "He will also make flesh." No kidding. But I got stuck at ox brains and did the barest of skims the rest of the way through. I could have missed the spotty hampsters, but didn't. What cuties.

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    1. Joanne, I don't blame you for skimming the rest, I must admit they are grim! I think I'll stick to poached egg on toast or somesuch.

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  5. We had weather like that last year...I'm not envious.
    Hi, btw!!

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    1. Hi gz, Foul weather indeed. I'm just hoping that it doesn't hang around as long as last year.

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  6. Just skip to the cognac, although I am not sure I have ever had cognac, must give it a try one day. Your hampsters are so endearing and I love the burgundy throw on the couch, something warming about the plaid design.

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    1. Linda, Those little hamsters are great fun to make, the best part is dressing them. The burgundy throw is one we bought in Ireland, a couple of years ago.

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  7. I was aghast at the thought of all the diseases someone could catch from raw meat, brains and eggs! I wonder how many folks were helped to an early grave by those disgusting treatments!

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    1. Ms Sparrow, Horrifying, isn't it. To think that the raw beef juice was used to treat infants too!

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  8. I love the Hamsters, but you can keep the recipes. YUK! :o)

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    1. Doohie, Those little hamsters are really cute and cuddly. I was delighted when I found that old pattern and adapted it. Glad you like them.

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    2. what a delightful room!
      can we see more of it please

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    3. Hi John, Thank you. It is a hodge podge of styles stc, but yes, I'll see what I can do.

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  9. "...make flesh?" interesting. Just reading the "cures" made my stomach churn. Maybe the cure was actually the emptying the stomach? The room is quite appealing.

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    1. Janet, That phrase "make flesh" got my stomach churning - and as for the cures they are disgusting!

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  10. Okay, the spotty hamsters are ADORABLE (my blog has a spotty creature today too; is something in the air?) but the cures are VILE! I'd rather die from the illnesses. But i am going to dig out my English grandmother's old cookery book and see if there are any cures in it! It's from that era.

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    1. Knatolee, I hope you will do a posting about your grandmother's cookery book. I'm with you about the cures though.

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  11. I think I would "get well" very quickly in order to avoid having to take any of those cures. Well - maybe not the last one, which sounds more pleasant (especially the cognac part). Love the spotty hamsters.

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    1. Evlyn, I am more than happy to use lavender to treat mild headaches, green apples also help, fenugreek for colds and elderberry rob to fight flu - all good old fashioned remedies, but this collection don't even get a try out. More than happy to have a small snifter of the cognac with you though - for medicinal purposes, of course!

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  12. The recipes are delightful. I don't think there would have been many malingerers with food like that on the menu. Your spotty hamsters are fabulous - sure to be a favourite with a little (or big for that matter) person.

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    1. Jenny, So glad you liked the little hamsters, they are really cute to dress and very easy to make. When I found this collection of recipes I was so grateful that my mother's idea of invalid food was poached egg on toast - known to cure all ills. It still works for me!

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  13. Ugh!!! Why anyone would want to "make flesh" is beyond me, but I ever find myself with consumptive tendencies... well, NO, I won't even stop to consider it. Thankfully, my "nervous breakdown" has nothing to do with overwork, so I'll just skip that "cure." I will stick to apple juice, thank you. Jerry would probably like "toast water." The "white of egg flip" actually sounds tasty (even with the eggs and jam). I love the spotty hamsters. That's a project my mother would truly enjoy but if I tell her about it, she will end up with hundreds of them!

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    1. The Duchess and I have a lot in common then, if I make one of anything and enjoy it then for some reason I go into wholesale production.
      They were pretty yucky remedies, but they were different times - I don't think anyone could ever have made me eat them though. Just thinking about them is disgusting - can you imagine how they must have smelt, never mind how vile they would have tasted. My stomach is churning, too much imagination. I need a cognac!

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