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Foods and Beverages for Invalids

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According to 

(1892)
an invalid is 

1. a person who is weak and infirm; a person sickly or indisposed.
2. a person who is infirm, wounded, maimed or otherwise disabled for active service. The hospitals for invalids at Chelsea and Greenwich, in England, are institutions honorable to the English nation.

I understand a great many folks have become “disabled for active service” in recent days, and so I thought I’d pass along some useful information– as well as a few recipes– for those of you who are  responsible for “ministering to the needs” of an invalid.
The American Woman’s Cookbook edited and revised by Ruth Berolzheimer, Director, Culinary Arts Institute (1946)

 To begin…

A DOCTOR’S advise is necessary in planning the diet for an invalid, as each case must be considered individually. The following general suggestions are intended to help the housewife who, in addition to her other work, has the duty of ministering to the needs of the sick and convalescent.

 Here are the bullet points:
  • … [before serving the meal] remove all bottles and suggestions of medicine from the room…
  • … serve everything as nicely as possible…
  • … the patient should not be consulted about the food to be brought to him [but] his likes and dislikes should be considered as far as possible.
  • … be sure the patient is ready for [the meal], with hands and face washed…
  • The tray should be covered with a clean napkin or tray cover, and the dishes and serving should be very dainty.
  • Invalids will often take liquid diet through a straw… 
  • In contagious diseases, sterilize everything … by boiling in water for ten minutes.
 A few of my favorite recipes for invalids below the fold. (Do look, you’ll be glad you did.)


KUMISS

1 quart milk
1/4 yeast cake
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

[Okay– I’m not really going to type out this whole recipe– I’ll just distill it.]
Heat the milk, add sugar and yeast (dissolved in warm water). Put it in sterilized bottles leaving 1 1/2 inch head-space. Cork bottles really well. Invert. Keep at 70°F for 10 hours. Place inverted in refrigerator for 24 hours, shaking occasionally. “If left standing too long, it will become less palatable.”
[I’ll bet.]
~~

PANADA

boiling water
2 soda or graham crackers
Place the crackers in a bowl, and add just enough boiling water to soak them well. Set the bowl in a vessel of boiling water, and let it remain twenty or thirty minutes, until the crackers are quite clear, but not broken. Lifet them out carefully without breaking and lay them on a hot saucer. Sat in necessary. Serve with sugar and cream.
~~

BARLEY GRUEL, No. 1

5 tablespoons barley flour
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Salt

Mix the flour with the cold water. Add the boiling water gradually, stirring occasionally, and boil hard for thirty minutes. Salt to taste. Strain through a fine sieve.

~~

Don’t you have a new appreciation for instant oatmeal now?