“It was quite warm, but, being all in a sweat, he put the bed-sheet around him to protect him from the draughts and went out to the stove and looked into the pot, and when he saw how good it looked he thought he might as well taste of it to see if it was done. So he did, and it tasted so good and seemed so done that he got out a little piece of dumpling on a fork, and blew on it to cool it, and ate it, and then another piece and then the whole dumpling, which he sopped around in the gravy after each bite. Then when the dumpling was gone he fished up a chicken leg and ate that and then a wing, and then the gizzard and felt better all the time, and pretty soon poured out a cup of coffee and drank that, all before he remembered that he was sick abed and not expected to recover. Then he happened to think and started back to bed, but on the way there he heard Mr. 'Coon and Mr. Crow talking softly in his room and he forgot again that he was so sick and went up to see about it.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
1-1/2 pints of cold water. 1 tablespoonful of butter. 1 tablespoonful of flour. 1 teaspoonful of salt. 1/4 teaspoonful of pepper. The neck, liver, heart, and gizzard of the chicken. Wash the giblets—that is, the neck, liver, etc.—and put them in a stewpan with the water. When the water boils, skim it. Simmer for two hours or more. There should be about half a pint of liquid at this time. Take up the giblets. Mash the liver until perfectly fine, and return to the liquid. Put the butter in a small frying-pan and place on the fire. When hot, add the flour, and stir until brown. Pour on this, gradually, the liquid in the saucepan, stirring all the time. Season with the salt and pepper. Pour this sauce back into the saucepan; cover, and set back where it will keep hot. When the chicken is cooked, pour the gravy from the dripping-pan into this sauce. Serve in a hot dish. Turkey gravy is made in the same manner.
Sources: The passage is from Charles Madison Curry, Children's Literature: A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Parloa, Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — burgundy cloth, teapot stamp.