The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day Cookery

in temper, equable in disposition, and generally healthy,--if the eyes are bright, the skin clear, the sleep serene,--the diet is proper and sufficient. In the following receipts for preparing children's food the quantities are calculated for four. 206. =Oatmeal Porridge.=--Oatmeal is an extremely strengthening food; when it is well cooked it produces a large volume of nutritive matter in proportion to its bulk; and combined with milk it is the strongest and best of the cereals. Its flavor is sweet and pleasant; it appears in market in two forms, a rather rough meal, and the unbroken grain, after the husk has been removed; in either shape it should be thoroughly boiled, and combined with milk. A good thick porridge can be made by stirring four ounces of oatmeal into a quart of boiling milk, and then pouring this into a quart of water boiling on the fire, and allowing it to boil half or three-quarters of an hour; care must be taken not to burn it; just before it is done it should be seasoned with a teaspoonful of salt; and sweetened to taste at the table. 207. =A good Breakfast= can be made of fresh milk sweetened with a little sugar and eaten with bread a day old, lightly buttered. 208. =Stewed Fruit.=--Put a quart of apples pared and sliced over the fire in a thick sauce-pan, with half a pint of water, to prevent burning, and when tender break them well up and sweeten them with four ounces or more of sugar, according to the flavor of the apples. Serve them with bread and butter in the morning, or at noon. 209. =Ripe Currants.=--A pound of ripe currants mashed, and mixed with half a pound, or more, of sugar, makes an excellent accompaniment for bread, being served spread upon the slices. 210. =Blackberry Jam.=--This is an invaluable addition to the breakfast, or noon dinner, in place of butter. It is an excellent agent for regulating the action of the bowels. It is made by boiling with every pound of thoroughly ripe blackberries half a pound of good brown