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Classic
Cook Books
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page 115
MAKING TEA.
"Polly put the kettle on, and we'll all take Tea."
Of all "cups that cheer" there is nothing like the smoking-hot cup of tea, made
with boiling water, in a thoroughly scalded tea-pot.
If it is the good, old-fashioned green tea of "ye ancient time," you must put it
to draw and not to boil;
if it is genuine "English Breakfast," or best black tea, the water must not only
be boiling hot at the very moment of pouring it on, but the tea must actually
boil for at least five or ten minutes. To insure "keeping hot" while serving,
make the simple contrivance known as a "bonnet" which is warranted a sure
preventative against that most insipid of all drinks--a warmish cup of tea. It
is merely a sack, with a loose elastic in the bottom, large enough to cover and
encircle the entire tea-pot. Make it with odd pieces of silk, satin, or
cashmere, lined, quilted or embroidered; draw this over the tea-pot as soon as
the tea is poured into it, and it will remain piping hot for half an hour.
One tea-spoon of tea and one tea-cup of hot water is the usual allowance for
each person. Freshly boiled soft water is the best for either tea or coffee.
Always have a water-pot of hot water on the waiter with which to weaken each cup
if desired. Serve both tea and coffee with the best and richest cream, but in
the absence of this luxury,
a tolerable substitute is prepared as follows: Take fresh, new milk, set in a
pan or pail where it will slowly simmer, but not boil or reach the boiling
point, stir frequently to keep the cream from separating and rising to the top,
and allow to simmer until it is rich, thick and creamy.
In absence of both cream and milk, the white of an egg beaten to a froth, with a
small bit of butter well mixed with it, may be used. In pouring coffee, it must
be turned on gradually so as not to curdle it.
COFFEE WITH WHIPPED CREAM.
For six cups of coffee of fair size, take one cup sweet cream whipped light with
a little sugar; put into each cup the desired amount of sugar and about a
table-spoon boiling milk; pour the coffee over these and lay upon the surface of
the hot liquid a large spoonful of the frothed cream, giving a gentle stir to
each cup before
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Classic
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