COOKERY FOR CHILDREN.

Some preparations of food proper for the young have already been given in these pages; nevertheless, we are sure a chapter on this important subject, so generally neglected in cookery books, will be welcomed by the judicious.

It is of great consequence to fix the times of taking food, as well as to regulate the quantity given to a child. The mother should, personally, attend to these arrangements; it is her province.

There is great danger that an infant, under three years of age, will be over-fed, if it be left to the discretion of the nurse. These persons, generally, to stop the screaming of a child, whether it proceed from pain or crossness, or repletion (as it often does)—they give it something to eat—often that which is very injurious, to tempt the appetite; if it will only eat and stop crying, they do not care for the future inconvenience which this habit of indulgence may bring on the child and its mother.

Arrange, as early as possible, the regular times of giving food to your children, according to their age and constitution. Young infants require food every two hours when awake; after three months old, they may go three hours—then cautiously lengthen the time, as the child can bear it. But remember that all temperaments are not alike. Some of the same age may require more food than others. One rule, however, will apply to all—never give a child food to amuse and keep it quiet when it is not hungry, or to reward it for being good. You may as rationally hope to extinguish a fire by pouring on oil, as to cure a peevish temper, or curb a violent one, by pampering the appetite for luxuries in diet; and all the traits of goodness you thus seek to foster, will, in the end, prove as deceptive as the mirage of green fields and cool lakes to the traveller in the hot sands of the desert.

“My children have very peculiar constitutions,” said an anxious mother—“they are so subject to fevers! If they take the least cold, or even have a fall, they are sure to be attacked by fever.” The family lived high, and those young children had a seat at the table, and were helped to the best and richest of everything. And their luncheon was cake and confectionery.

It was suggested to the mother that if she would adopt a different diet for those children, give them bread and milk morning and evening, and a plain dinner of bread, meat, and vegetables, their liability to fevers would be much lessened.

“My children do not love milk, and won’t touch plain food”—was the answer, with a sort of triumphant smile, as though this cramming of her children with good things till the blood of the poor little creatures was almost in a state of inflammation, was a high credit to her good housekeeping.

But do not err on the other hand; and for fear your child should be over-fed, allow it insufficient nourishment. There is not in our country much reason to fear that such will be the case; the danger is, usually, on the side of excess; still we must not forget that the effect of a system of slow starvation is, if not so suddenly fatal as that of repletion, more terrible, because it reduces the intellectual as well as the physical nature of man, till he is hardly equal to the brutes.

In many parts of civilized and Christian Europe, the mass of the people suffer from being over-worked and under-fed; few may die of absolute starvation, but their term of life is much shortened, and their moral and intellectual powers dwarfed or prostrated.

“Under an impoverished diet,” says Dr. Combe, “the moral and intellectual capacity is deteriorated as certainly as the bodily”—and he adverts to the workhouse and charitable institution system of weak soups and low vegetable diet, and to the known facts that children brought up on such fare are usually feeble, puny, and diseased in body, and are at best but moderate in capacity.

The rational course seems to be, to feed infants till about three years old, chiefly with milk and mild farinaceous vegetable preparations; a large portion of good bread, light, well baked, and cold, should be given them; after that period, to proportion their solid food to the amount of exercise they are able to take. Children who play abroad in the open air, will require more hearty nourishment, more meat, than those who are kept confined in the house or schoolroom. From the age of ten or twelve, to sixteen or eighteen, when the growth is most rapid and the exercises (of boys especially) most violent, a sufficiency of plain nourishing food should be given; there is little danger of their taking too much, if it be of the right kind and properly cooked. But do not allow them to eat hot bread, or use any kind of stimulating drinks.

Food for a Young Infant.—Take of fresh cow’s milk, one table-spoonful, and mix with two table-spoonfuls of hot water; sweeten with loaf sugar as much as may be agreeable. This quantity is sufficient for once feeding a new-born infant; and the same quantity may be given every two or three hours—not oftener—till the mother’s breast affords the natural nourishment.

Thickened Milk for Infants when Six Months Old.—Take one pint of milk, one pint of water; boil it, and add one table-spoonful of flour. Dissolve the flour first in half a tea-cupful of water; it must be strained in gradually, and boiled hard twenty minutes. As the child grows older, one-third water. If properly made, it is the most nutritious, at the same time the most delicate food that can be given to young children.

Broth.—Made of lamb or chicken, with stale bread toasted, and broken in, is safe and healthy for the dinners of children, when first weaned.

Milk.—Fresh from the cow, with a very little loaf sugar, is good and safe food for young children. From three years old to seven, pure milk, into which is crumbled stale bread, is the best breakfast and supper for a child.

For a Child’s Luncheon.—Good sweet butter, with stale bread, is one of the most nutritious, at the same time the most wholesome articles of food that can be given children after they are weaned.

Milk Porridge.—Stir four table-spoonfuls of oatmeal smoothly, into a quart of milk, then stir it quickly into a quart of boiling water, and boil up a few minutes till it is thickened; sweeten with sugar.

Oatmeal, where it is found to agree with the stomach, is much better for children, being a good opener as well as cleanser; fine flour in every shape is the reverse. Where biscuit powder is in use, let it be made at home; this, at all events, will prevent them getting the sweepings of the baker’s counters, boxes, and baskets. All the left bread in the nursery, hard ends of stale loaves, &c., ought to be dried in the oven or screen, and reduced to powder in the mortar.

Meats for Children.—Mutton, lamb, and poultry, are the best. Birds and the white meat of fowls, are the most delicate food of this kind that can be given. These meats should be slowly cooked, and no gravy, if made rich with butter, should be eaten by a young child. Never give children hard, tough, half-cooked meats, of any kind.

Vegetables for Children, Eggs, etc.—Their rice ought to be cooked in no more water than is necessary to swell it; their apples roasted, or stewed with no more water than is necessary to steam them; their vegetables so well cooked as to make them require little butter, and less digestion; their eggs boiled slow and soft. The boiling of their milk ought to be directed by the state of their bowels; if flatulent or bilious, a very little curry powder may be given in their vegetables with good effect; such as turmeric and the warm seeds (not hot peppers) are particularly useful in such cases.

Potatoes and Peas.—Potatoes, particularly some kinds, are not easily digested by children; but this is easily remedied by mashing them very fine, and seasoning them with sugar and a little milk. When peas are dressed for children, let them be seasoned with mint and sugar, which will take off the flatulency. If they are old, let them be pulped, as the skins are perfectly indigestible by children’s or weak stomachs. Never give them vegetables less stewed than would pulp through a cullender.

Puddings and Pancakes for Children.—Sugar and egg, browned before the fire, or dropped as fritters into a hot frying-pan, without fat, will make them a nourishing meal.

Rice Pudding with Fruit.—In a pint of new milk put two large spoonfuls of rice well washed; then add two apples, pared and quartered, or a few currants or raisins. Simmer slowly till the rice is very soft, then add one egg, beaten, to bind it. Serve with cream and sugar.

To Prepare Fruit for Children.—A far more wholesome way than in pies or puddings, is to put apples sliced, or plums, currants, gooseberries, &c., into a stone jar; and sprinkle among them as much sugar as necessary. Set the jar in an oven or on a hearth, with a tea-cupful of water to prevent the fruit from burning; or put the jar into a saucepan of water till its contents be perfectly done. Slices of bread or some rice may be put into the jar, to eat with the fruit.

Rice and Apples.—Core as many nice apples as will fill the dish; boil them in light syrup; prepare a quarter of a pound of rice in milk, with sugar, and salt; put some of the rice in the dish, and put in the apples, and fill up the intervals with rice, and bake it in the oven till it is a fine colour.

A Nice Apple Cake for Children.—Grate some stale bread, and slice about double the quantity of apples; butter a mould, and line it with sugar paste, and strew in some crumbs, mixed with a little sugar; then lay in apples, with a few bits of butter over them, and so continue till the dish is full; cover it with crumbs, or prepared rice; season with cinnamon and sugar. Bake it well.

Fruits for Children.—That fruits are naturally healthy in their season, if rightly taken, no one, who believes that the Creator is a kind and beneficent Being, can doubt. And yet the use of summer fruits appears often to cause most fatal diseases, especially in children. Why is this? Because we do not conform to the natural laws in using this kind of diet. These laws are very simple and easy to understand. Let the fruit be ripe when you eat it; and eat when you require food.

Fruits that have seeds are much healthier than the stone fruits. But all fruits are better, for very young children, if baked or cooked in some manner, and eaten with bread. The French always eat bread with raw fruit.

Apples and winter pears are very excellent food for children, indeed, for almost any person in health; but best when eaten at breakfast or dinner. If taken late in the evening, fruit often proves injurious. The old saying that apples are gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night, is pretty near the truth. Both apples and pears are often good and nutritious when baked or stewed, for those delicate constitutions that cannot bear raw fruit. Much of the fruit gathered when unripe, might be rendered fit for food by preserving in sugar.

Ripe Currants are excellent food for children. Mash the fruit, sprinkle with sugar, and with good bread let them eat of this fruit freely.

Blackberry Jam.—Gather the fruit in dry weather; allow half a pound of good brown sugar to every pound of fruit; boil the whole together gently for an hour, or till the blackberries are soft, stirring and mashing them well. Preserve it like any other jam, and it will be found very useful in families, particularly for children—regulating their bowels, and enabling you to dispense with cathartics. It may be spread on bread, or on puddings, instead of butter: and even when the blackberries are bought, it is cheaper than butter. In the country, every family should preserve, at least, half a peck of blackberries.

To make Senna and Manna Palatable.—Take half an ounce, when mixed, senna and manna; put it in half a pint of boiling water; when the strength is abstracted, pour into the liquid from a quarter to half a pound of prunes, and two large table-spoonfuls of W. I. molasses. Stew slowly until the liquid is nearly absorbed. When cold, it can be eaten with bread and butter, without detecting the senna, and is excellent for costive children.