Toast Water
Toast thoroughly a slice of stale bread, put it in a jug, and pour over it a quart of water which has been boiled and cooled, and in two hours decant ; a small piece of orange or lemon peel put into the jug with the bread improves the flavor greatly. This forms a good drink in febrile afflictions.
Source: The Housekeeper’s Friend: A Practical Cookbook
Molasses Posset
This old-fashioned remedy for a cold is as effectual now as it was in old times. Put into a saucepan a pint of the best West India molasses, a teaspoonful of powdered white ginger and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Set it over the fire 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 tablespoonfuls 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 stewed quaker.
Half a pint of strained honey mixed cold with the juice of a lemon and a tablespoonful of sweet oil, is another remedy for a cold; a teaspoonful or two to be taken whenever the cough is troublesome.
Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette
Filed under Remedy | Tags: butter, cold, cough, ginger, honey, lemon, molasses, posset, quaker, stewed, sweet oil, throat, treacle, vinegar, whitehouse | Comment (0)Mildew
Equal parts of lemon juice, salt, powdered starch, and soft soap ; rub on thickly, and lay on the grass in the hot sun ; repeat this process two or three times a day.
Source: The Unrivalled Cook-Book and Housekeeper’s Guide, Mrs Washington
Chilblains
We give a few household remedies for the cure of these disagreeable companions. 1. Take half an ounce of white wax, one ounce of ox-marrow, two ounces of lard; melt slowly over a fire in a pipkin, and mix them well together; then strain through a linen cloth. 2. Before going to bed spread the ointment on the parts affected, feet or hands, taking care to wrap them up well. 3. Lemon juice rubbed on the inflamed parts is said to stop the itching. 4. A sliced onion dipped in salt has the same effect, but is apt to make the feet tender. 5. When the chilblains are broken, a little warm vinegar, or tincture of myrrh, is an excellent thing to bathe the wound and keep it clean. 6. Another useful remedy is a bread poultice, at bedtime, and in the morning apply a little resin ointment spread on a piece of lint or old linen.
Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts
Flax-Seed Lemonade
To a large tablespoonful of flax-seed, allow a tumbler and a half of cold water. Boil them together till the liquid becomes very sticky. Then strain it hot over a quarter of a pound of pulverized sugar, and an ounce of pulverized gum arabic. Stir it till quite dissolved, and squeeze into it the juice of a lemon.
This mixture has frequently been found an efficacious remedy for a cold, taking a wine-glass of it as often as the cough is troublesome.
Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette
Filed under Remedy | Tags: cold, cough, coughs, flax, flaxseed, gum arabic, lemon, lemonade, sugar, whitehouse | Comment (0)Cough Tea
Make a strong tea of everlasting–strain, and put to a quart of it two ounces of figs or raisins, two of liquorice, cut in bits. Boil them in the tea for twenty minutes, then take the tea from the fire, and add to it the juice of a lemon. This is an excellent remedy for a tight cough–it should be drank freely, being perfectly innocent. It is the most effectual when hot.
Source: The American Housewife
Barley Water
When using pearl barley for making barley water it must be well washed. The fine white dust that adheres to it is most unwholesome. For this reason the cook is generally directed to first boil the barley for five minutes, and throw this water away. But in this way some of the valuable properties are thrown away with the dirt. The best results are obtained by well washing it in cold water, but this must be done over and over again. Half-a-dozen waters will not be too many. After the last washing the water should be perfectly clear.
When barley water is being used for curative purposes it should be strong. The following recipe is an excellent one. A 1/2 pint of barley to 2 1/2 pints water (distilled if possible). Boil for three hours, or until reduced to 2 pints. Strain and add 4 teaspoonfuls fresh lemon juice. Sweeten to taste with pure cane sugar.
Fine Scotch barley is to be preferred to the pearl barley if it can be obtained.
Source: Food Remedies: Facts About Foods And Their Medicinal Uses, Florence Daniel
Filed under Remedy | Tags: barley, barley water, cane sugar, daniel, jemon juice, lemon, pearl barley, scotch barley, sugar | Comment (0)Slippery-Elm Bark Tea
Break the bark into bits, pour boiling water over it, cover and let it infuse until cold. Sweeten, ice, and take for summer disorders, or add lemon juice and drink for a bad cold.
Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette
To Soften The Hands
To soften the hands: One can have the hands in soap-suds with soft soap without injury to the skin if the hands are dipped in vinegar or lemon juice immediately after. The acids destroy the corrosive effects of the alkali, and make the hands soft and white. Indian meal and vinegar or lemon juice used on hands where roughened by cold or labor will heal and soften them. Rub the hands in this, then wash off thoroughly and rub in glycerine. Those who suffer from chapped hands will find this comforting.
Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette