Molasses Possets

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.

Source: Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches, Eliza Leslie

To Make a Meath Good for the Liver and Lungs

Take of the Roots of Coltsfoot, Fennel and Fearn each four Ounces. Of Succory-roots, Sorrel-roots, Strawberry-roots, Bitter-sweet-roots, each two Ounces, of Scabious-roots and Elecampane-roots, each an Ounce and a half. Ground-ivy, Hore-hound, Oak of Jerusalem, Lung-wort, Liver-wort, Maiden-hair, Harts-tongue of each two good-handfulls. Licorish four Ounces. Jujubes, Raisins of the Sun and Currents, of each two Ounces; let the roots be sliced, and the herbs be broken a little with your hands; and boil all these in twenty quarts of fair running water, or, if you have it, in Rain water, with five Pints of good white honey, until one third part be boiled away; then pour the liquor through a jelly bag often upon a little Coriander-seeds, and Cinnamon; and when it runneth very clear, put it into Bottles well stopped, and set it cool for your use, and drink every morning a good draught of it, and at five in the afternoone.

Source: The Closet Of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened, K. Digby

Refreshing Drink for Sore Throat attended with Fever

Boil two ounces of barberries with half an ounce of violets in a quart of water for ten minutes; sweeten with honey, strain off into a jug, and drink several glasses during the day.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

How to make a Stringent Gargle

Put the following ingredients into a very clean earthen pipkin:— Twenty sage leaves, a handful of red rose leaves, and a pint of water; boil these for twenty minutes, then add a gill of vinegar, and two table-spoonfuls of honey; boil again for ten minutes, and strain the gargle through a muslin rag, to be used when cold.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Hyssop Tea: a Remedy for Worms

To a quarter of an ounce of dried hyssop flowers, pour one pint of boiling water; allow the tea to infuse for ten minutes, pour it off, sweeten with honey, and take a wine-glassful three times in the course of the day; this will prove an effectual cure when children are troubled with worms.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

How to make a Soothing Drink for Coughs

Take of marsh-mallow roots and of liquorice roots each one ounce; of linseed, half an ounce; shave the roots very thinly; put them and the linseed into a clean earthen pot with one quart of hot water, cover with the lid, and set the whole on the hob of the fire to simmer for half an hour or more; then strain the drink into a clean jug, sweeten with honey, and when it has become quite cold, let it be given in small quantities several times in the course of the day. This mucilaginous beverage is most beneficial in relieving persons who are suffering from cold on the chest, and also those who are afflicted with gravel, etc.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Dandelion Tea

Infuse one ounce of dandelion in a jug with a pint of boiling water for fifteen minutes; sweeten with brown sugar or honey, and drink several tea-cupfuls during the day. The use of this tea is recommended as a safe remedy in all bilious affections; it is also an excellent beverage for persons afflicted with dropsy.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Lime-flower Tea

To half an ounce of lime-flowers, placed in a tea-pot or jug, pour a pint of boiling water, and when the infusion has stood for ten minutes, sweeten with honey or sugar, and drink the tea hot, to assuage the pains in the stomach and chest, arising from indigestion. This beverage may also be successfully administered in attacks of hysteria.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Camomile Tea

Put about thirty flowers into a jug, pour a pint of boiling water upon them, cover up the tea, and when it has stood about ten minutes, pour it off from the flowers into another jug; sweeten with sugar or honey; drink a tea-cupful of it fasting in the morning to strengthen the digestive organs, and restore the liver to healthier action. A tea-cupful of camomile tea, in which is stirred a large dessert-spoonful of moist sugar, and a little grated ginger, is an excellent thing to administer to aged people a couple of hours before their dinner.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli

Bran Tea: a Remedy for Colds, etc.

Boil a large handful of bran in a quart of water for ten minutes, then strain off the water into a jug, sweeten it with one ounce of gum arabic and a good spoonful of honey; stir all well together, and give this kind of drink in all cases of affections of the chest, such as colds, catarrhs, consumption, etc., and also for the measles.

Source: A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes, C.E. Francatelli