To Make Tea. — There is very little art in making good tea ; if the water is boiling, and there is no sparing of the fragrant leaf, the beverage will almost invariably be good. The old-fashioned plan of allowing a teaspoonful to each person, and one over, is still practised. Warm the teapot with boiling water ; let it remain for two or three minutes for the vessel to become thoroughly hot, then pour it away. Put in the tea, pour in from one-half to three-quarters of a pint of boiling water✪ To Make Tea, close the lid, and let it stand for the tea to draw from five to ten minutes ; then fill up the pot with water. The tea will be quite spoiled unless made with water that is actually boiling, as the leaves will not open, and the flavor not be extracted from them ; the beverage will consequently be colorless and tasteless — in fact, nothing but tepid water. Where there is a very large party to make tea for, it is a good plan to have two tea-pots instead of putting a large quan- tity of tea into one pot; the tea, besides, will go further. When the infusion has been once completed the addition of fresh tea adds very little to the strength ; so, when more is required, have the pot emptied of the old leaves, scalded, and fresh tea made in the usual manner. Economists say that a few grains of carbonate of soda, added before the boiling water is poured on the tea, assist to draw out the good- ness • if the water is very hard, perhaps it is a good plan, as the soda softens it; but care must be taken to use this ingredient sparingly, as it is liable to give the tea a soapy taste if added in too large a quan- 34 54- THE hearthstone; or, life at home. tity. For mixed tea, the usual proportion is four spoonfuls of black to one of green ; more of the latter when the flavor is very much liked ; but strong green tea is highly pernicious, and should never be partaken of too freely. Green Tea. — Green tea should not be boiled ; it has the freshest taste when steeped in an earthen teapot which has been previously scalded, leaving it to stand by the fire ten or fifteen minutes ; turn only a small quantity of scalding water upon the tea while steeping, but fill the pot when ready to take to the table. Chocolate (i). — A very old French recipe for making breakfast chocolate has been carefully tested and found perfect by the writer ; simply place a square in a cup, and pour upon it enough boiling milk to dissolve it✪ Chocolate (1) into a paste ; meantime have the milk boiling in a sauce-pan until it boils to a bubble, then gently stir in the paste, stir- ring until thoroughly mixed, and sweeten to taste. The white of eggs foamed on top is an improvement. Chocolate (2). — Put into a coffee-pot set in boiling water, one quart of new milk (or a pint each of cream and milk) ; stir into it three heaping tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate✪ Chocolate (2) mixed to a paste with cold milk ; let boil two or three minutes and serve at once. If not wanted so rich, use half water and half milk. To MAKE Chocolate (3). — Allow one-half ounce of chocolate to each person; to every ounce allow one-half pint of water, one-half pint of milk✪ To Make Chocolate (3). Make the milk and water hot; scrape the chocolate into it and stir the mixture constantly and quickly until the chocolate is dissolved; bring it to the boiling-point, stir it well, and serve directly with white sugar.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To Make Tea. — There is very little art in making good tea ; if the water is boiling, and there is no sparing of the fragrant leaf, the beverage will almost invariably be good. The old-fashioned plan of allowing a teaspoonful to each person, and one over, is still practised. Warm the teapot with boiling water ; let it remain for two or three minutes for the vessel to become thoroughly hot, then pour it away. Put in the tea, pour in from one-half to three-quarters of a pint of boiling water, close the lid, and let it stand for the tea to draw from five to ten minutes ; then fill up the pot with water. The tea will be quite spoiled unless made with water that is actually boiling, as the leaves will not open, and the flavor not be extracted from them ; the beverage will consequently be colorless and tasteless — in fact, nothing but tepid water. Where there is a very large party to make tea for, it is a good plan to have two tea-pots instead of putting a large quantity of tea into one pot; the tea, besides, will go further. When the infusion has been once completed the addition of fresh tea adds very little to the strength ; so, when more is required, have the pot emptied of the old leaves, scalded, and fresh tea made in the usual manner. Economists say that a few grains of carbonate of soda, added before the boiling water is poured on the tea, assist to draw out the goodness • if the water is very hard, perhaps it is a good plan, as the soda softens it; but care must be taken to use this ingredient sparingly, as it is liable to give the tea a soapy taste if added in too large a quan- 541 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. tity. For mixed tea, the usual proportion is four spoonfuls of black to one of green ; more of the latter when the flavor is very much liked ; but strong green tea is highly pernicious, and should never be partaken of too freely. Green Tea. — Green tea should not be boiled ; it has the freshest taste when steeped in an earthen teapot which has been previously scalded, leaving it to stand by the fire ten or fifteen minutes ; turn only a small quantity of scalding water upon the tea while steeping, but fill the pot when ready to take to the table. Chocolate (i). — A very old French recipe for making breakfast chocolate has been carefully tested and found perfect by the writer ; simply place a square in a cup, and pour upon it enough boiling milk to dissolve it into a paste ; meantime have the milk boiling in a sauce-pan until it boils to a bubble, then gently stir in the paste, stirring until thoroughly mixed, and sweeten to taste. The white of eggs foamed on top is an improvement. Chocolate (2). — Put into a coffee-pot set in boiling water, one quart of new milk (or a pint each of cream and milk) ; stir into it three heaping tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate mixed to a paste with cold milk ; let boil two or three minutes and serve at once. If not wanted so rich, use half water and half milk. To MAKE Chocolate (3). — Allow one-half ounce of chocolate to each person; to every ounce allow one-half pint of water, one-half pint of milk. Make the milk and water hot; scrape the chocolate into it and stir the mixture constantly and quickly until the chocolate is dissolved; bring it to the boiling-point, stir it well, and serve directly with white sugar.

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