[Editor: This article was included in “A Woman’s Column” (edited by Mary Gilmore), published in The Worker (Wagga Wagga, NSW), 2 January 1908.]
Household and coookery.
Very often a sick or delicate child will refuse plain sago, maizena or gruel, when he will take them with avidity if made with a little fruit juice boiled down with the water of which they are made. If fruit juice is not available currant jelly or jam, apple, or quince added to the maizena, etc., in mixing will do as well. The color attracts, and the thought of fruit pleases.
If you wish to give a child medicine give him a bit of a peppermint drop to chew beforehand. Let him swallow quickly and follow the draught with a scrap of dry bread. Another peppermint may follow as a reward. A nurse from Kew Asylum once told me that with the idiot children under her care she always placed the palms of the hands firmly over the ears or pressed the fingers well in the orifice and the hands on the jaws. Even oil was taken without trouble, she said, under such conditions.
Scotch Oatmeal from the famous Meg Dods’ Recipe. — Infuse finely ground oatmeal in water for an hour or two — or a night. Stir it up, and then let it settle. Pour off from the grits (or strain), and boil slowly for a long time, stirring often. Add a very little salt and enough sugar, with wine, rum, fruit, jelly, honey, or butter, as you choose. This gruel will be quite smooth, and when cold will form a jelly.
Source:
The Worker (Wagga Wagga, NSW), 2 January 1908, p. 15
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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