DROPS

COUGH DROPS

Into a gill of water put one ounce of flaxseed and an ounce of slippery elm bark. Stir until thoroughly mixed, cover, and leave stand for an hour; then strain through a fine sieve. Add this mixture to three-quarters of a pound of brown sugar, set over a fire and stir until the sugar is dissolved; then boil for six or seven minutes without stirring and add a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and boil to the "crack" degree. Pour into a greased pan, and when partly cold cut with a greased knife into small drops.

GINGER DROPS

Take a half-cupful of granulated sugar, add two tablespoonfuls of water and boil until the sugar is dis­solved. Take from the fire, add a teaspoonful of Jamaica ginger and a touch of cream of tartar; mix well and beat until the mixture turns white; then drop on waxed, or oiled paper, in successive drops. After this operation, use a knife and pry the drops up, put them on a. sieve and place in a warm spot until thoroughly dry. The drying should be done slowly, as too much heat will ab­sorb the flavor.

PEPPERMINT DROPS

Proceed in precisely the same way as for Ginger Drops, using two or three drops of oil of peppermint instead of ginger.

LEMON DROPS

Follow the prescription given for Ginger Drops using teaspoonful of lemon juice for the flavor instead of ginger.

ROSE DROPS

Proceed precisely as for Ginger Drops, using from four to five drops of essence of rose instead of ginger, and color the mixture by using four drops of cochi­neal.

WINTERGREEN DROPS

Follow the Ginger Drop prescription, substituting the wintergreen flavor for the ginger, and color with cochineal.

STRAWBERRY DROPS

Use enough strawberry Juice to dissolve a half-cupful of granulated sugar, set over a fire to melt; stir constantly, but do not allow the mixture to boil; add a little more sugar, stir it well; then take off the fire and finish as for Gin­ger Drops.

CURRANT DROPS

Proceed in precisely the same way for Strawberry Drops, using currant juice instead of straw­berry.

RASPBERRY DROPS

Follow directions given for Strawberry Drops, using raspberry juice instead of straw­berry.

CHOCOLATE DROPS

Follow the Ginger Drop recipe, mixing in enough scraped chocolate to color the mixture well instead of ginger.

COFFEE DROPS

Use some strong coffee, add a little of it as a flavor to the Ginger Drop prescription, omitting the ginger.

CLOVE DROPS

Proceed precisely as for Ginger Drops, substituting a few drops of essence of cloves for the ginger.

CINNAMON DROPS

Proceed precisely the same as for Ginger Drops, using a little essence of cinnamon for the flavor­ing.

VANILA DROPS

Use the Ginger Drop recipe and substitute powdered vanilla for the flavor.

ALMOND DROPS

Obtain an essence of almond by Shelling the almonds and scalding them in hot water and scraping off the skin; then chop and crush them, adding a very little lemon juice, and strain through a cheese cloth. The fluid is then called milk or essence of lemon, and for Lemon Drops use a little of this essence as a flavor and then proceed the same as for Ginger Drops, omitting, of course, the ginger.

APPLE DROPS

Take two or three sour apples, pare and core them into a pan with a gill and a half of good quality of cider, and stew them until they are reduced to a thick paste; then squeeze through a fine sieve. Take the pulp, add granulated sugar equal to it in weight and about a half-teaspoonful of acetic acid. Stir constantly and allow it to reach the boiling point. Test frequently in cold water, and as soon as it hardens drop it the same as Ginger Drops.

ORANGE DROPS

Use the juice and grated rind of an orange, stir in enough powdered sugar to work well, and add a touch of tartaric acid. Roll the mixture between the hands into small balls and set aside to dry.

GUM DROPS

Dissolve the required amount of gum arabic in three times its weight of hot water; stir well; then add a quantity of granulated sugar equal in weight to the gum and water, put over a slow fire and heat, adding any flavor desired. Be sure not to let the mix­ture boil. Take off the fire after being well heated and drop, in successive drops, the candy into starch molds. A starch mold is made by filling a box about an inch deep with corn-starch powder, and digging little pits into the powder. Drop the candy into these little pits; then set aside to dry. After drying the interior of the gum drop will be found to be soft and moist.

BRANDY DROPS

Use one-half pound of the best granulated sugar and add to it one-fourth of a gill of water. Boil to the "ball" degree, and then add ten drops of brandy, stir quickly and then boil again for one-half min­ute. Take off the fire and drop into starch-molds as directed for Gum Drops.

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