A Paste for ye Hands---(Seventeenth Century)
'Take a pound of sun raysens, stone and take a pound of bitter Almonds, blanch ym and beat ym in stone morter, with a glass of sack take ye peel of one Lemond, boyle it tender; take a quart of milk, and a pint of Ale, and make therewith a Possett; take all ye Curd and putt it to ye Almonds: yn putt in ye Rayson: Beat all these till they come to a fine Past, and putt in a pott, and keep it for ye use.'
translation and notes (found in "A Modern Herbal" by Margaret Grieve, 1931, it doesn't say where she got it from):
A Paste for the Hands (in old book printing the letter 'y' was used to represent old/middle english letter 'thorn' (þ) which has a 'th' sound)
'Take a pound of sun raisins, stone (crushed) and take a pound of bitter almonds (hard to find in the USA but are still used in other countries to make drinks and treats. they have a stronger almond flavor and scent than sweet almonds and should not be eaten raw but are safe when cooked), blanch them and beat (grind) them in stone mortar. With a glass of sack (a kind of fortified wine, similar to sherry. this would have been a small glass, maybe a shot worth) take the peel of one lemon, boil it until tender (in the sack wine i assume, no mention of the lemon peel later so are we taking it out and using the wine? or mixing it in with everything else?); take a quart of milk, and a pint of ale, and make with them a posset (milk cooked with liquor or ale until it curdles, usually served as a warm drink); take all the curd and put it into the almonds, then put in the raisins. Beat all these till they come to a fine paste, and put in a pot, and keep it for your use (different 'ye', meaning 'you' (plural or singular formal), though 'your' makes more sense here).'