Jack Florence B. The Art of Cooking for Invalids. In the Home and the Hospital

Edinburgh; London: Whittaker & Co., 1896. — 190 p.In many cases invalids are more dependent upon food than upon medicine, and therefore no care is too great to bestow upon the preparation and securing of appropriate and appetising dishes. The nurse who would be successful in this important and useful branch of her art must grudge no trouble, must be exquisitely clean, and punctual to a minute. She must also have a sense of proportion to enable her to serve inviting portions with due regard to the nourishment each contains. Cleanliness in cookery implies the perfect freshness of every ingredient used, and is absolutely necessary. Not only is the digestion of an invalid in most cases more easily impaired than that of one in robust health, but the palate is more sensitive and detects the slightest trace of taint with surprising acuteness. It is therefore a safe rule to make nothing in too large quantities. At the same time something must always be in readiness, as an invalid should never suffer from exhaustion incurred by waiting for food.