CANNING AND PRESERVING

This chapter does not aim to cover the entire ground, but to give briefly the experience of other housewives, which may include some in- formation not generally found in print. There are still many housewives who laboriously can fruit by cooking it in a kettle, and then lifting it into the jars; we make preserves in that way, but our canned fruit is packed into jars, covered with hot syrup, and then cooked by standing the jars in water in a wash boiler. Instead of putting odd pieces .of bbard in the bottom of the boiler to rest the jars on, have a board made to fit, with three cleats across it underneath and a number of auger holes bored in it so that the water passes through. We usually put enough water to come half way up the jars, but some housekeepers elevate the jars above the water and cover the boiler closely, thus cooking the fruit in the steam. Of course there are cooking kettles made for this purpose which are more convenient than a wash boiler.

Fruit is canned without sugar after the following method: Fill the jars with fruit; then pour in as much water as they will hold; adjust the rubbers; lay the lids carefully on top without fastening them down; stand the jars in a wash boiler, the bottom of which has been protected with a rack; surround them with cold water; put the lid on the boiler; bring to boiling point and boil strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and currants for twenty minutes; cherries, for three-quarters of an hour; pineapples, for half an hour; peaches and pears, for half an hour. Strawberries and raspberries are better without water. Fill the jars with fruit, bring them to boiling point, and when the fruit shrinks or settles you may fill two jars from a third; put them back in the boiler; cook for five or 10 minutes longer and then fasten on the lids. Seal the jars. Lift the jars one at a time and screw on the lids without lifting them. Wipe the jars, put them into a cool place out of the draught. Next morning give each lid a turn and store in a cool dark place.

Canned fruit may also be cooked in the oven. Pack the prepared fruit in the jars, fill up with hot syrup, and lay the cover on top of the jar without fastening. Place in the oven, setting in a dripping-pan holding about two inches of water, or on a strip of asbestos. The oven should be moderately hot. Cook the fruit 10 or 15 minutes, dependent again upon the fruit, then lift from the oven, one can at a time, fill to overflowing with the scalding syrup, running the blade of a silver knife around the edge of the can to allow for the escape of all air-bubbles, then wipe and

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screw as tightly as possible. Set the jars on a thickly folded newspaper, out of a draft, until the fruit has cooled, then tighten again.

The following method is highly recommended for small fruits : Look over the fruit carefully, using only that which is perfect. Place in glass jars, that are also perfect. Shake down the fruit, but do not press down. Have ready enough hot syrup to cover the fruit. Fill the can full of the syrup, including the fruit already in. Screw on the cover tightly, and drop into a pail of boiling water. Be sure that the water is boiling, and that it covers the can well. Remove the pail to the table or some other convenient place; when the water is cool, take out the can, screw down the cover, if it is not tight, label, wrap in brown paper, and put away in the fruit cupboard.

Some firm fruits, and also rhubarb, may be canned without cooking, being packed into the bottle, v/hich is then filled with cold water. The jar is filled to overflowing, and any air bubbles removed by running the blade of a silver knife down the side ; it is then sealed tightly and stored in a cool dark place.

Try to avoid beet sugar when making jelly. We have never succeeded in hardening a fruit jelly made with beet sugar, and many exasperating cases of jelly that won't "jell" are due to this cause. Marian Harland says that many years ago she v/as advised to use one-fifth more beet sugar than a recipe called for when cane sugar was used.

Almack's Preserves. — This is a foreign recipe. Peel and stone one quart of large ripe plums; peel and slice one dozen apples and one dozen pears. Arrange in an earthen jar in alternate layers, adding one pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Set on back of range on an asbestos mat and simmer slowly until a little when cooled on ice shows it to be of such a firm consistency that it can be cut with a knife, for it is to be served cut in slices. When sufficiently cooked put away in a shallow jar from which it will be easy to cut it out. Seal like jelly, with paraffin before covering.

Preserved Ginger. — Clean and wash some fine green ginger roots, let them lie several hours in cold water, drain and place the roots in la kettle of boiling water, cook 20 minutes ; drain and rinse off with oold water; return the ginger to the kettle, cover with fresh boiling water and cook until the ginger is soft; drain and put in cold water. Next day drain the roots in a sieve and weigh them; allow for each pound one pound of sugar and one-half pint of water ; boil sugar and water five minutes, add the ginger, boil a few minutes, remove and pour the ginger in a bowl. Twelve hours later drain off the syrup, boil it three minutes and pour it over the ginger ; repeat this twice more. Then drain off all the syrup, place over the fire, boil to a soft ball, add the ginger, cook two minutes and fill into jars.

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Canned Baked Apples, — Select good tart cooking apples ; wash, remove the blossom end, but do not peel. Arrange in a baking pan with hot water to half fill the pan. Sprinkle with sugar, bits of sweet butter, and a dash of any spice if desired, and bake until tender. Can while hot, using the juice in which they were baked. Stand the jar in hot water 30 minutes before wanted for use, and you will have perfect baked apples for breakfast. Pears canned the same way are fine, or pears with thinly sliced quince scattered among them.

Canned Porter Apples. — Wipe, quarter, core and peel the apples, then weigh them. Make a syrup by boiling for 10 minutes one-third the weight of the apples in granulated sugar with water, the proportion being 2V2 cupfuls of water to one pound of sugar. Cook the apples slowly in the syrup until soft; do not crowd them. Skim out the apples carefully into jars, cover with the boiling syrup, and seal.

Apple Ginger. — Tie a little ginger root in a bag. A quarter of a pound will do for eight pounds of apples. Put the bag of ginger into three pints of cold, clear water. When the water is highly flavored add about three-quarters of a pound of sugar to every pound of apples. The three pints of water will be sufficient for six pounds of sugar. Add the juice of two lemons, laying aside the yellow peel cut in shreds. Clarify the syrup by allowing it to cool after it has cooked five minutes and mixing the white of two eggs and the shells in the cooled syrup. Return the syrup to the fire, let it boil up once, and then draw to the back of the stove. A scum will cover it. Strain into a clean saucepan, add the yellow peel of the lemons and put in quarters of apples. As soon as cooked, lift them out and put in more. Place the apples into jars and pour the syrup over them.

Apple Orange Marmalade. — Core and slice 20 large tart apples. Allow for every quart one pint of water. Add the thin peel of one orange, cover and boil until tender. Place a sieve over a bowl, pour in the apples and let drain without disturbing. Allow for each pint one pound of sugar. Peel four large oranges, remove white part and seeds and set aside. Boil apple juice till very thick, add orange cut into small pieces and cook until a drop retains its shape on a plate. Put in glass jars and cover like jelly. The apple pulp may be used in pies.

Preserved Apples. — Pare and core fine, ripe pippins, and cut them into quarters. Weight and to each pound allow one pound of granulated sugar and a half pint of boiling water, the grated rind of one and the juice of two lemons. Boil the sugar and water until clear (about three minutes), skimming the scum from the surface, add the juice and rind of the lemons, then the apples, and simmer gently until they are clear and tender, but not broken, then stand aside to cool. When cold, put them into jars, cover

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closely and stand in a cool, dark place for one week. At the end of that time turn them carefully into the kettle, bring them to boiling point, and simmer for five minutes, then return them to the jars, cover closely with tissue paper brushed over with the white of an egg, and put in a dark, cool place to keep. Apples are more difficult to keep than any other fruit.

Blackberry cheese is an old-fashioned but excellent recipe. Three pounds apples, peeled and cored ; three pounds blackberries. To each pound pulp allow three-quarters pound sugar. Peel, core and slice the apples, put them in a jar with the blackberries, which must be picked over, and let them remain in the oven for three-quarters of an hour, or till the fruit is quite soft; pulp through a sieve, and to every pound of pulp allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar; boil the pulp for another hour; put into jars very hot, and when, cold cover in the usual way. It should be firm enough to slice when turned out.

Barberry Jam. — Pick three pounds of barberries from the stalk, put them in a jar or farina boiler, with three pounds of sugar. Stand the jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and simmer gently until the sugar is dissolved and berries soft, then stand aside all night. In the morning put them in a porcelain-lined kettle, and simmer slowly for 25 minutes, stirring continually. Turn into glasses and seal when cool, like jelly.

Barberry Preserves. — This is a very old-fashioned recipe. Four quarts of barberries picked from the stems, washed and drained. Heat one large quart of molasses and one quart of white sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Skim, and then add the barberries. Cook until they begin to pop and shrivel, which will be in about 10 minutes. Skim them into a stone jar, then boil the syrup slowly until it will cover the berries.

Bar le Due Preserves. — Take selected red (or white) currants of large size, one by one, carefully make an incision in the skin, one-fourth an inch in size, with tiny embroidery scissors. Through this slit, with a sharp needle, remove the seeds, separately, preserving the shape of the fruit. Take the weight of the currants in strained honey and, when hot, add the currants. Let simmer a minute or two, then seal as jelly. The currants retain their shape, are of a beautiful color and melt in the mouth. Should the currants liquefy the honey too much, carefully skim them out, reduce the syrup at a gentle simmer to desired consistency and store as before after adding the fruit.

Black Currants. — Gather the currants on a dry day; to every pound allow half a pint red currant juice and a pound and a half of finely pounded loaf sugar. Clip off the heads and stalks; put the juice, currants and sugar in a preserving pan; shake it frequently till it boils; carefully remove the fruit from the sides of the pan, and take off the scum as it rises; let it boil for 10 or 15 minutes.

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Blueberry j\Iixtures. — A combination of blueberries and gooseberries, one portion of gooseberries to three of the blueberries, canned in the ordinary fashion, makes an excellent Winter sauce or filling for pies. So does a combination of blueberries and rhubarb, one cupful of rhubarb and one cupful of sugar to a quart of blueberries.

Cherry Conserve. — Five quarts cherries (sour), one pound raisins (seeded and cut) ; two oranges (pulp cut in pieces, also yellow of skin) ; one pound English walnuts (chopped) ; 2J'2 pounds sugar. Cook until thick and put in jelly tumblers. Cherries must be boiled about 20 minutes before putting in sugar, etc.

Cherry Conserve No. 2. — Three pounds sour cherries; two pounds raisins; four pounds granulated sugar; four large oranges. Seed and steam the raisins for half an hour. Grate some of the orange peel in the cherries. Do not use the orange skin. Cut the pulp into small pieces. Mix all the ingredients together, boil for 20 minutes, put in glasses.

Cherry Preserve, Sun-cooked. — Pit the cherries, which must be perfect ripe fruit, weigh, and put in a preserving kettle, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Do not add any water; the juice and sugar make the syrup. Bring to a boil, and boil for 20 minutes, stirring to avoid burning and skimming to keep clear. Skim out the fruit, putting on shallow platters, pour the syrup over, and cover with clean panes of glass. Put the platters out in the sun, and keep outdoors three days, bringing in at night. Then put in jars, like any other pre- serve. The sun cooks the syrup to a honey-like consistence, and the flavor is delicious. Strawberries cooked the same way have all the rich frag- rance of the fresh fruit.

Citron Preserves. — Pare and core the citron, cut into strips and notch the edges, or cut into fancy shapes. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and to six pounds of the fruit allow four lemons and a quarter of a pound of ginger root. Tie the ginger root in a cloth and boil it in a quart and a half of water until the flavor is extracted; then remove it and add to the water the sugar and the juice of the lemons. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear, remove any scum that may form, then add the citron and cook until it is clear, but not soft enough to fall apart; can and seal while hot.

Citron Preserves No. 2.— Cut the citron in strips half an inch wide, pare off the rind as thin as possible and cut up the fruit in small squares., Put in a vessel and cover the fruit with water in which has been dis- solved an ounce of alum to the gallon of water. Soak 24 hours, or until the citron is clarified. Take out of alum water and soak in clear water until the alum is all out, which will probably be in 12 hours. Weigh and allow to each pound of fruit a pound of sugar. Put the fruit in a pre- serving kettle with only a little sugar, adding sugar several times until

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the weighed amount has been used. Season with any flavoring preferred. Cook rapidly until done, put in glass cans and seal.

Citron Preserves No. 3. — Pare a large citron, cut into thin slices, and then into strips or squares, removing all seeds. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar, mix together, and stand over night in a large bowl ; the sugar draws out juice, forming a syrup. In the morning put in a pre- serving kettle, and boil slowly for two to three hours, skimming carefully, until the syrup is like honey. About 15 minutes before taking from the stove add, for each quart of preserves, one lemon cut in very thin slices, and one small piece of green ginger root. Some housekeepers add a few whole cloves, but we do not care for this. Another method puts the sliced fruit to soak in brine for a few hours, then in clear water to freshen it, this process hardening the fruit, but we have never used this process, and are quite satisfied with the first recipe given.

Dried Citron. — To prepare citron for cakes and pies cut the fruit in four parts, pare and remove the seeds; then take a couple of quarts of clear water, dissolve a piece of alum the size of a hickorynut in the water, put in the preserving kettle as much citron as the water will cover and boil until tender enough to pierce with a straw; then boil in sugar; a pint bowl of sugar to the same measure of fruit. Boil one-half hour. Spread it on pie plates and set it in a cool oven or heater and let it dry perfectly.

Preserved Crab Apples. — The apples should be very ripe. Wash them well in cold water; put them into a porcelain-lined kettle and just cover with boiling water. Let them cook very gently until you can remove the skins easily. Drain them, peel and carefully remove the cores, but do not break the apples or remove the stems. Weigh them, allowing one and one-quarter pound of sugar to a pound of fruit; allow a cupful of water to this quantity of sugar. Put water and sugar over the fire and bring to boiling point. Skim until clear, then put in the apples and cook very gently until they are tender and transparent. Skim while cooking. When they are done put them into small, large-mouthed jars, and when cool seal same as jelly.

Currants, Canning. — Wash the currants, being careful not to break them; remove stems, and pack currants into quart cans, shaking them down well. To each can add one cup hot sugar, .place the jars on a wooden frame in the boiler, place the covers loosely on the cans, and put enough of cold water in the boiler, so when it begins to boil it will not boil into the cans. After the water has boiled for half an hour, the cans should be lifted out, the covers screwed on tight and put in a cool, dark place until wanted for the table. For those that like mixed fruits, a layer of strawberries or raspberries and then a layer of currants may be packed in the cans.

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Currant Conserve. — Five pcunds currants; four pounds sugar; one pound seeded raisins; four oranges. Grate rind and squeeze out juice of oranges. Boil all together half hour. Put in jelly glasses.

Currant Sauce. — Five pounds of currants, heat in preserving kettle, put in a muslin bag and squeeze out all juice. Add five pounds granulated sugar, one pound raisins, seeded and chopped fine, two oranges, chopped fine. Boil till like jelly. The sender of this recipe does up currants with- out cooking. Occasionally she says a can spoils, but on the whole she has good luck, every can keeping perfectly some years. The currants are looked over carefully, washed and then mashed thoroughly, a glass bottle being good for this purpose. She then adds sugar, pound for pound. The fruit is sealed in cans, using new rubbers each time. Pineapples are also put up in somewhat the same way. IMrs. C.'s way is to chop the fruit fine, add sugar pound for pound. The fruit thus prepared is left in a gallon crock for two days, its contents being stirred frequently with a silver spoon. At the end of the second day the fruit is put in air- tight cans.

Cranberry and Apple Jam. — Take two pounds of cranberries and two pounds of apples after they are peeled, cored and chopped. Put them in a preserving pan with V/2 pounds of sugar. When it comes to the boil keep the preserve boiling for half an hour, then try a little on a cold saucer, and if on cooling it sets well it will be sufficiently done. Tie down in small jars. This makes a delicious preserve, the cranberries imparting a fine flavor and giving in addition a brilliant color.

Damson Cheese. — Boil the fruit, with only enough water to prevent burning, until tender; rub through a hair sieve until like a paste, add six ounces of sugar to each pound of fruit, stir off the fire until the sugar is dissolved, then add four chopped kernels from the fruit to each quart, and put back to boil. It is wise to put an asbestos mat under the preserving kettle, as the fruit will catch and burn very easily. Boil, stirring con- tinually, until the preserve will leave the pan quite dry and adhere in a mass to the spoon. Press into jelly glasses, and when cold cover with paraffin before sealing. When served, the damson cheese is turned out of the glass, and cut in thin slices.

Elderberries. — These may be combined with gooseberries, crab apples and green grapes, equal parts of either, making a piquant table sauce, while pies made from them might please the individual who does not care for the flavor of the single fruit. For Winter use elderberries may be preserved in either of the above combinations and treated as other fruit, or canned plain without sugar for use in pies only. When making pies from the plain canned fruit it is wise to cook the berries with the same proportion of sugar, flour, etc., as given for fresh berries, filling the pie paste when cold. This insures a jelly-like consistency of the finished

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product without those unpalatable doughy lumps too often seen. Again they may be spiced and used as a table sauce or in pies, using the same proportion.

Pickled Elderberries for Pies. — Seven pounds elderberries, stemmed, four pounds sugar, one pint vinegar, two tablespoonfuls cinnamon, one tablespoon cloves. Boil until the juice is rather thick. They will keep in an open jar.

Preserved Elderberries. — Seven pounds of elderberries, three pounds of granulated sugar, three lemons sliced thin; put the elderberries alone in a stone jar in warm salt and water over night. Next morning drain them in a colander, make syrup of the sugar and lemons and one pint of water, then put elderberries in the syrup and cook. When they begin to boil hard time them 20 minutes, then pour in a jar or can ready for use.

Preserved Elderberries No. 2. — Shell berries. To an eight-quart panful use a heaping tablespoon of salt, pour on hot water and let stand half an hour; drain well. To seven pounds of berries thus prepared, use three pounds of sugar and one pint of vinegar; boil well. If one wish to keep in jars without sealing they should be boiled down thoroughly. For pies add a little sugar and flour enough slightly to thicken the juice.

Spiced Elderberries. — Nine pounds cleaned elderberries, three pounds brown sugar, one pint vinegar and one ounce each of cloves, cinnamon and allspice. Put sugar and vinegar in a two-gallon granite kettle over a slow fire and let come to a boil. Add berries and let simmer two and a half hours. Tie spices in little muslin bags and add when nearly done. Seal in air-tight cans.

Preserved Figs. — Take fresh, ripe figs, cut off half the stem of each and let soak all night in very weak brine, using two tablespoonfuls of salt to each quart of water. In the morning drain and cover with fresh water. Make a thick' syrup, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit, and one-half cupful of water to each pound of sugar. Simmer for a few minutes until the syrup is clear, then drain and lay in it the freshened figs and simmer slowly until they look clear. Into each jar drop a half-inch piece of green ginger and the kernels of half a dozen peach stones, fill with fruit and syrup and seal. They should not be used for at least three months.

Garfield Butter. — Use two-thirds plums and one-third peaches. Stone the plums and pare and stone the peaches. Mash and heat slowly to boil- ing, boil until soft, then rub through a sieve. Measure the pulp thus obtained and to one measure of fruit add three-quarters of a measure of sugar. Boil until thick, stirring continually, then put into jars and seal.

Canned Grapes. — After picking ripe grapes from the stem, wash them. Remove the skins, keeping them and the pulps separate. Cook the pulps until the seeds begin to separate. Run through a colander or coarse sieve

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to remove the seeds. Add the skins to the pulp, cooking till tender. Allow one-half pound of sugar to each pound of fruit.

Gooseberries with Currant Juice. — The tops and tails being removed from the gooseberries, allow an equal quantity of finely-pounded loaf sugar and put a layer of each alternately into a large, deep jar; pour into it as much dripped red currant juice as will dissolve the sugar, adding its weight in sugar. The next day put all in a preserving pan, boil it, and put up as other jams.

Grape I\larmalade. — Choose ripe grapes of any familiar kind, and place them in the preserving kettle with just enough water to prevent their burning. Cook slowly at the side of the stove until they are well broken and mashed. Then press through a sieve and measure the pulp. For each pint allow half a pound of sugar. Place the grape pulp over the fire, boil for 20 minutes, add the sugar and boil from 10 to 20 minutes longer, or until a drop of the mixture when put on a plate will retain its shape without spreading. Stir constantly while cooking. Skim carefully from time to time and when done pack in small jars.

Grape and Apple Marmalade. — Many people do not care for the flavor of the Clinton grape, but it is excellent to use with sweet apples in mar- malade, following a New England recipe, in which the wild frost grape is ordinarily used. Heat four pounds of stemmed and pulped grapes until the seeds are free of pulp. Have four pounds of sweet apples pared, cored, sliced and steamed until tender. Sift the grape pulp, add the apples, turn into a kettle set on asbestos mat or back of range and simmer slowly for two hours; measure, add sugar in the proportion of three-quarters of a. pound to a pint of pulp, and cook until a little, chilled on ice, shows that it is stiff enough to retain its shape. Turn into jelly glasses and seal.

Grape Preserves. — Press the pulp out of each grape; boil the pulps until tender, then press through colander to remove the seeds; mix the skins with the pulp and juice; add as many cupfuls of sugar as there are of grapes and boil together until thickened. Green grapes are preserved by cutting each grape in halves, taking out the seeds, then adding an equal quantity of sugar and boiling all together until the right consistency; seal while hot.

Spiced Grapes. — Press the skins from the grapes and put the pulp through the colander; add the skins and weigh. To every pound of grapes add one cupful of vinegar, two ounces of powdered cinnamon, one ounce of powdered cloves and three and a half pounds of sugar; boil an hour and a half until thick, then bottle. Small Damson plums are very- nice prepared in the same way.

Marmalades. — One simple process will serve for all kinds of marma- lade, and that is to cook the fruit in its own juice to a state of collapse. Then press through a colander, measure, bring to a boil, and skim, before

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adding the sugar — measure for measure. Cook with care after the sugar scum begins to thicken. When the juice rolls up a jelly on a cold silver spoon, the marmalade is ready for pint can, or for glasses, covered when cold with one-fourth inch, at the least, of hot paraffin. All the small fruits make delicious marmalades when pressed through a fine colander or sieve to remove the seeds. Grapes and blackberries do not require full measure for measure of sugar. Plums are easily converted into a palatable mar- malade after removing the pits, but they are more easily made into pre- serves, the same as peaches, and quinces ; both are too good for marma- lades. By the following method clingstone peaches can be utilized, 'also imperfect pears and quinces. Pare the peaches and cut into pieces as small as^a cherry, pack into a measuring dish and note the amount. Add water to prevent burning and cook thoroughly before adding the sugar — measure for measure. Boil with care the same as for marmalade, and place in airtight cans.

Pineapple Marmalade. — Use thoroughly ripe pineapples, peel them, and after removing the hard core, chop them. To each pound of fruit and juice, add a pound of sugar, and simmer one hour. Frequent skimming and stirring will be necessary. Cool some of it, and if not thick enough, continue the boiling half an hour longer. An asbestos cover slipped under the kettle is a safeguard against scorching. Crab-apple and plum marma- lade is excellent. Use the Siberian crab-apples and Bradshaw or other violet red plums. Allow two parts apples to one part plums. Wash the fruit and cut out the imperfections. Simmer both kinds until soft, then rub through a sieve. Allow a pound of sugar to each pint of fruit puip. Put the sugar in the oven to heat, and cook the fruit 20 minutes in a porcelain-lined or agate kettle. Add the hot sugar, skim, and cook 30 minutes longer. Stir very often.

Peach Marmalade. — Use firm late peaches. Peel the peaches and cut them in halves. Crack two-thirds of the kernels, blanch them, and cut into lengthwise strips. Put the peaches over the fire with three-fourths of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit. Stir frequently and cook from 20 minutes to half an hour. Five minutes before removing from the fire add the blanched kernels.

Quince Marmalade. — Rub the fruit with a cloth, cut out the flower end, and chop without removing the skins and cores. Cook until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Strain the fruit and add three-quarters pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Cook slowly until done, which should be in 15 or 20 minutes. Apple marmalade affords a change from cider apple sauce and stewed apples. Take seven pounds of apples (Fall Pippins are nice) and stew them whh a pint of water. Put them through a sieve, add three-quarters pound of sugar to a pound of pulp, also the juice and grated yellow rind of three lemons. Boil half hour, then add a little

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ginger root. This may be made of one-third quince and two-thirds apples, leaving out the ginger and lemons.

]Mixed }klarmalade. — Take equal quantities of peaches, apples, pears and quinces that have been pared, cored and cut in eighths. Cook quinces in water to cover until almost tender. Drain and measure the water. For six pounds of mixed fruit there should be one pint of water. Add quinces to the other fruit, place in preserve kettle with water, and let them cook thoroughly, but not burn. Take out and mash well together. Measure. Clean the kettle and put them back with half their weight in granulated sugar. Let ihem cook very slowly two hours. Keep them stirred well from the bottom and protect with an asbestos mat or set the kettle in anolher containing boiling water, as on no account must the jam burn. Seal in small jars.

Orange and Apple Marmalade. — Cut the apples in small pieres with- out peeling them and add a pint of water for every quart of appK^s. Boil them down for half an hour and strain through a sieve. Add the juice and pulp of three oranges and a little of the yellow peel cut fine to every pmt of apple pulp. To each pint of the mixture, add three-fourths of a pound of sugar. Boil the marmalade until it curls before the finger when ii is cooled for trial.

Preserved Melon Rind. — Pare the melon very thin; do not pare away all the ripened melon. Leave about one-quarter inch attached to the rind. Cut in pieces and place in a crock over night with salt sprinkled between the layers. In the morning drain, pour boiling water over, leave for one-half hour, drain agam. New weigh the fruit — to 10 pounds fruit add five pounds granulated sugar, one-half gallon white vinegar, one ounce stick cinnamon, one ounce white ginger root, and one-half ounce whole cloves. Tie the spice in small muslin bags, place all in a large pan and boil slowly. The longer it boils the nicer will it be.

Milk, Canning. — A correspondent tells us she has canned milk in this way and kept it a year: Allow the milk to become perfectly cold, then fill sterilized fruit jars to within a half inch of the top; put on the covers loosely and set into a clean boiier en a board with "holes through ; fill boiler with cold water to within an inch of the tops of the jars ; bring the water to the boiling point and allow it to boil 20 minutes after ebulli- tion begins, then remove the cans one by one, put on new rubbers, fill with boiling milk, screw the covers on and invert the cans till cold. Pit away in a cool, dark place a.nd use when the cows have dried up. Of course this will taste like scalded milk, but for all purposes except drink- ing it is all right. As the cream does not dry, it can readily be mixed with the milk if desired. If directions are followed carefully and every- thing used made perfectly clean little or none will spoil. It is quite

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essential to use new rubber rings, as old ones become hard and will not make the jars tight.

Or-ra-cur. — Five pounds of currants, five pounds of sugar, juice and grated rinds of three oranges, one pound of raisins, chopped and stoned ; boil all together for 20 minutes, and put away in jelly glasses.

Peach Butter. — This is a nice way to use up peaches that arc too ripe for canning or pickling. Pare ripe peaches, put in a kettle with sufficient water to cover peaches ; when soft run through a colander, the stones being thus easily removed. To each quart of peaches thus prepared -add 1/4 pound of granulated sugar. Boil slowly till thick; add ground cinna- mon to taste. This, like all butters and marmalades, requires constant watching to keep the fruit from burning. •

Spiced Peaches. — Weigh eight pounds of freestone peaches after they have been peeled, halved and the stones taken out. Put peaches in a por- celain lined kettle with one pint of vinegar and five pounds of sugar (granulated). Mix one ounce each of cinnamon sticks, whole mace and green ginger and one-half ounce of whole cloves. Divide into eight parts, tie each in a piece of cheesecloth and drop in the kettle with the peaches. Simmer until the fruit is tender, then lift it with a skimmer and put it in sterilized jars. Boil the syrup a minute, skim, lift out the bags, then pour over the fruit in the jars. It is an improvement to break IS peach stones, blanch the kernels in boiling water and add them to the syrup just before pouring it into the jars.

Peach Jam. — Pare, stone and cut into thin slices half a peck of free- stone peaches. Weigh. To each pound of fruit add three-quarters of a pound of granulated sugar. Put in layers in a preserve kettle and let them cook gently until clear, which will probably take an hour. Have ready cracked one-third the peach stones, remove and blanch the kernels, then slice them thin and sprinkle them among the layers of peaches so ail can cook together. Put into small glass jars or tumblers when cold. Shut up air-tight.

Peach Leather. — Pare fully ripe peaches (yellow ones preferred) ; remove the pits- and weigh. To each pound of fruit add one-fourth pound of granulated sugar. Put in stew kettle and cook slowly, mashing the fruit as it boils. When cooked to a thick paste spread on a buttered board and put in the sun to dry. Put out the second day and when dry enough that it will not stick, loll up like a roll of leather and keep in a cool, dry place. Slice from the end of the roll.

Pears in Cider.— One of our friends reports that Kieffer pears are delicious canned in sweet cider. The customary syrup is made by melt ing sugar in the cider, and the pears are cooked in this (not over-cooked) either in the jars or in a kettle. The cider is said to give much richness

THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 135

of flavor. Pears were also canned in perry (pear cider), but the result was not considered so desirable as where the apple juice was used.

Pear Chips. — Four pounds of Duchess or other hard pears sliced thin, four pounds of sugar, the juice of three lemons and grated rind of one, one ounce of dry or green ginger root chopped fine and one-half tumbler of water. Cook until clear, then seal in jelly glasses.

Pear Syrup. — Very nice syrup may be made from pears, core and pare them; cover with cold water and set on back of stove, let simmer until soft, then dip off juice carefully or strain through a colander. If the juice is not clear strain through a fine strainer. Return to the fire and boil down rapidly to about one-quarter, then add sugar, about as for jelly, a cupful of sugar to a cupful of juice. Boil until the syrup is thick as you wish and put in glass jars. This, when properly made, is thought to be as nice as maple syrup. The flavor may be varied a little by using a verj-- little lemon juice or green ginger. If desirable, the cooked pears may be used by boiling them a short time with a little sugar, or with sugar and vinegar.

Persimmon Figs. — Gather them, and press each fruit between thumb and finger, and put in layers in an open-mouthed jar with a thin layer of sugar between the layers of fruit and sugar on the top. After a few weeks, say three or four, lay on a platter or plate in single layers and dry in a very cool oven or in the sun.

Canned Plums Without Cooking. — This recipe comes from the plum belt of central New York, and will be found very satisfactory: Take enough large yellow egg plums to fill a quart can. Put them into a granite or earthen pan and pour boiling water over them, let stand three minutes, then drain. Pour over more boiling water, which will crack the skins. Remove the skins, and place the plums carefully in a hot sterilized glass jar. Have ready a thick syrup made by boiling two cupfuls of granulated sugar that has been moistened with water, and cooked to the "brittle stage." Pour the boiling syrup over the plums and seal. The syrup will form like "icicles," but after a day or two will dissolve. Make enough syrup for two or three cans at once, as it is hard to tell just how much it will take to fill a can. They always keep perfectly, and retain their flavor much better than when cooked, but the secret is in having everything boiling hot.

Plum Cheese. — For economy make this on the same day you make plum jelly. After extracting the jelly juice .pass the remaining pulp through a colander to remove skins and pits, then weigh. Add a pound of sugar to every two pounds of plums and boil one-half an hour; seal up.

Plums in Cold Water. — A housekeeper who has had experience with the cold-water' process of keeping fruit says she has kept wild plums all Winter in this way, putting them in a large stone jar and covering

136 THE RURAL COOK BOOK.

them with enough cold water to leave about four inches over them. A saucer or plate with a weight on it must be placed on top of the fruit to keep the top layers deep enough under the water. To make sauce from wild plums kept in this way, take cut as many of the fruit as ar^ required, and parboil until the skins crack in water containing a pinch of baking soda. Then rinse well in clear cold water, drop into boiling syrup, and cook until done. This makes a delicious sauce; the parboiling with the soda takes the "pucker" out of the fruit. Cranberries will keep for months if covered with cold water as described, and m.any house- keepers put up green currants and gooseberries, also rhubarb, in the same way.

Plum Conserve. — Five pounds plums, peeled and pitted ; five pounds sugar; cook plums 20 minutes before adding sugar. Put in sugar and boil a little, then add two pounds seeded raisins (cut into small pieces), grated rind of four oranges and the pulp chipped (easier to cut with scissors). Cook to a thick conserve (15 to 20 minutes), and put in jelly glasses. Cherries (sour) are good used instead of plums; pit them. Currants may also be used instead of plums.

Pineapple and Plum Jam. — Twelve pounds of large plums, five krge pineapples, one quart of warcr and sugar in the proportion of three- quarters of a pound to every pound of fruit, and one pound to every pint of water. Peel and pit the plums, add the water, bring to the boiling point, add the pineapple cut in dice and boil until soft and thick, then add the sugar and cook three-quarters of an hour longer.

Spiced Plums. — Spiced plums arc the best of relishes with game, poul try, and mutton. Wash, drain, pick snd weigh the plums, prick the skins light!}', then pack them down in earthen jars with one-half their own weigh of sugar. Strew through the fruit while packing plenty of whole cloves, whole allspice, mace, ginger slightly bruised and stick cinnamon. Put in also a few whole black peppercorns, and to each jar allot a single pod of the small red pepper. Take half a pint of cider vinegar for each pound of fruit, add to it as much sugar as the fruit was packed in, bring to a boil, skim well and pour over it scalding hot. Let stand 24 hours, t'len drain off the syrup, boil up, skim and return to the fruit. Do this three times, then put fruit and syrup together in the kettle, let them boil five minutes, skimming well, fill jars and cover.

Canned Pumpkin. — This will supply pie material when stored pump- kins are gone. Cook the. pumpkin and strain it, just as you do for pies, being careful not to liave much water in it. Fill the can full. Shake down so as to have them :>olid. Put on the tops, screw down just a little, so you can lift by them, place in boiler, with something between the cans and boiler on the bottom, fill to the neck of cans with water and boil one good hour. Take out and wipe the necks of the cans, and

THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 137

it the pumpkin has shrunk away, hll cans up with boiling water, put on rhigs and screw down the tops tight, and the pumpkin will keep six months in a good, cool place.

Quince Butter. — Use half a gallon of quinces pared and cored, half a gallon of tart apples pared and cored, two quarts of sweet cider, one pint of cold water. Cover the crock and stew gently until the fruit is very soft; then pass tlirough a sieve. Add five cupfuls of sugar and cook until soft.

Canned Quinces. — Prepare the quinces by paring, coring and quarter- ing. Use a silver knife. Keep the prepared quinces in cold water to prevent them from discoloring until sufficient have been prepared. Cook the quinces in boi'ing water slowdy till tender. Have ready a syrup of one-half pound of sugar and a pint of water to each pound of fruit. Put tlie cocked quinces in the syrup, allowing them to remain five minutes. Then can and seal while hot.

Quince Honey. — One medium quince and one cupful of granulated sugar will make one jelly glass of honey. Pare and grate the quinces, then stir this grated pulp into a boiling syrup made of the sugar and enough water to dissolve it. Stir slowly and quite often until the pulp will remain suspended through the syrup. One should not get it too stiff. Put into jell}^ glasses, and when cool cover in the same way you do preserves and jellies, and keep in the preserve closet.

Quince Jam. — Take one pint of quince juice left from preserves, add one pound of sliced apples, three-q-uarters of a pound of sugar; boil two hours, stirring w^ell ; pour into glasses while hot and seal.

Quince and Pear Sauce. — Three pounds light brown sugar, six pounds pears, quartered if large, small ones cut in halves; nine pounds quinces, quartered. Boil sugar, pears i'ud quinces nearly all day, taking care not to let them cook too rapidly, until both pears and quinces are of a rich red, and the juice an amber syrup. Can and seal tight. The fruit keeps its shape, the pears having gained a fine flavor from the quinces, and the quinces having an added goodness from the pears.

Raisine Bourgogne. — Stem c-.nd seed tw^o pounds of ripe grapes. Boi! with one cup of water until soft. Press through a sieve and add two pounds of ripe pears, peeled and sliced; cook until reduced to half the amount. Weigh and add an equal amount of sugar, stir until the sugar is dissolved, strain again, put in small earthen jars, set in a plate-warm- ing oven for a day or until firm to the touch. Tie down and keep in a cool place.

Raspberry and Currant Bar-le-Duc. — To four pounds of raspberries add one pound of currants; bruise the currants and strain the juice; add to it three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of juice, including ♦he weight of the berries left whole. Boil 20 minutes and skim, add the

138 THE RURAL COOK BOOK.

raspberries, cook 20 minutes more. When the syrup jellies on a plate, take off and place in glasses or small jars while hot.

Canned Raspberries. — (Mrs. Mapes's recipe). — First make a syrup by boiling seven pounds granulated sugar in ^Yi quarts water. Fill cans with fresh berries, putting in as many as possible without crushing the berries. Apply covers without the rubbers, and set in a kettle or boiler of cold water, so the water comes about two-thirds of the height of the cans. Bring to a boil and cook seven to 10 minutes after boiling begins. Now take the cans out of the water, remove the covers, fill with hot syrup brimming full, and seal up tight in the usual way.

Uncooked Canned Rhubarb. — Wash, peel, cut into inch ' cubes and fill compactly into glass jar, then pour slowly into the jar good fresh water to overflowing. Adjust rubber, screw on the top and set away in a cool place until morning. I'hen if there be any air bubbles, tap the side of the jar, fill again to the brim with water and screw on cover tightly. If tops and rubbers are perfect the rhubarb will keep until used.

Canned Rhubarb. — Wash it, cut into inch pieces, put in a preserving kettle, and let it come to a good boil all through, without a particle of sugar. It will keep perfectly. When you wish to open it for use, take one cupful of sugar for a pie, and it will be like the fresh pie plant. For a small family, the pint cans are much better for any fruit.

Rhubarb Jam with Ginger. — String some rhubarb, cut into short lengths, and weigh. Put into a kettle and add just enough water to pre- vent burning. When it has become quite soft, add sugar, one pound for each pound of rhubarb. Stir well until the jam becomes rich and syrup.v. For each pound take about a teaspoonful of ground ginger, rub it smooth with a little water, and add it to your jam. Boil up jam again, stirring well; put into glasses, and when cold cover. If a large amount of rhu- barb is at command, a high grade of brown sugar is very good; the only difference seems to be that the jam is not quite so clear.

Rhubarb Jelly. — Make when the rhubarb is tender, using the pink variety without peeling it, as much of the flavor and all of the color is in the skin. Cook eight pounds of rhubarb with the yellow part of the peel from three lemons, in a covered dish, until all the juice of the rhu- barb is free. Strain, and add all the juice that ca'n be extracted from the three lemons. Boil half an hour and strain through a bag. To each cupful of this juice add a cup and a quarter of granulated sugar, which should be heated before putting into 'the juice. Stir until the sugar is entirely dissolved, then boil without stirring until it jellies when tested. A fine jelly which may be made later in the season has three- fourths of a pound of tart apple's (peeled and cored) cut and cooked with each pound of rhubarb. Cook until soft and drain through bag

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without pressing. Allow a cup of vinegar to each cup of juice and proceed as in former recipe.^

Rhubarb and Orange Jam.— To a quart of cut up rhubarb, add half a dozen oranges, peeled, cut up and with the pits removed, and a pound and a half of sugar. Boil gently until a little set on a plate will jelly. This can be varied by slicing the peel of three oranges in thin strips and adding it to the fruit. This jam will also keep indefinitely in earthen jars, or jelly glasses which have been sealed with paraffin.

Rhubarb and Pineapple. — The following rule for canning is a decided improvement upon pineapple alone, and the rhubarb taste disappears. Chop and cook equal parts of pineapple and rhubarb, and add a cupful of sugar for each pint jar.

Rhubarb Marmalade. — Peel the rhubarb, and cut into pieces one-half inch long. Put into a large earthen bowl, and cover with sugar in the proportion of one pound of sugar to one quart of rhubarb. Allow this to stand over night, or 15 to IS hours. Be sure that the bowl is amply large, as there will be a flood of juice by morning. Strain off the juice and sugar into a preserving kettle; when it begins to boil, add the rhu- barb. Boil slowly for an hour, or until the preserve assumes a deep red color, stirring carefully to prevent burning, and removing any scum that rises to the top. About 15 or 20 minutes before removing from the fire, peel the yellow rind from one lemon, chop it fine, and add to the preserve, together with the juice of two lemons, this being our usual proportion to about four or five quarts of preserve, but the quantity of lemon may be varied to suit the taste. This gives a piquant flavor other- wise lacking, in spite of the acidity of the rhubarb. When bottled, keep in a cool, dark place. This rhubarb jam is very nice in open tarts, or as a filling for boiled roly puddings.

Rhubarb and Almond Marmalade. — Cut rhubarb up very fine, and to each cupful add the pulp and juice of one orange, one teaspoonful of the grated yellow of the rind, one tablespoonful lemon juice and one and one- half cup of sugar. Let stand until the sugar is dissolved, boil rapidly until transparent, then add one-half cup of blanched almonds cut in ihin slices, boil up once and put in glasses.

Hackensack Rhubarb Marmalade.— Cut a. pound and a half of rhubarb into inch lengths and put it in an earthen dish. Scatter over this a quarter of a pound of figs and an ounce of candied peel (both cut fine) ; over all sprinkle a pound and a quarter of sugar and let stand over night. In the morning boil for about 15 minutes, then add a pound of either orange or lemon pulp, cut fine, and cook until heavy enough to be firm when cold. Put in jelly glasses, and when cool cover with paraf- fin, or any other material used for keeping air from jellies.

Rhubarb and Fig Marmalade.— Three pounds of rhubarb, three pounds

140 THE RURAL COOK BOOK.

of sugar, one pound of figs, juice of one lemon and grated rind of half. Wash the figs and cut fine and put in the bottom of the kettle; cut rhu- barb into inch cubes and spread evenly over the figs; over the rhubarb distribute one pound of the sugar and let stand over night. In the morn- ing cook slowly until it looks clear, then add remainder of sugar and cook until thick. About fifteen minutes before taking from the stove add juice and rind of lemon. This quantity will make two quarts of mar- malade. It can be sealed while hot, or put in jelly glasses and covered with parafifin.

Rhubarb and Orange Marmalade. — Three pounds of rhubarb, four and one-half pounds of sugar, three oranges, the grated rind of one orange. After grating the yellow from one orange, remove the peel from all three and cut in small pieces. Cut the rhubarb in inch cubes, mix with one and one-half pounds of sugar and the oranges and let stand twenty-four hours. Cock until it looks clear, then heat the re- maining three pounds of sugar, add, and cook until thick.

Rhubarb and Raisin Marmalade. — Four pounds rhubarb, four oranges, juice of ail, peel of two; four pounds sugar, one lemon, two pounds of raisins. Peel and cut the rhubarb into half-inch pieces., Prepare the oranges by squeezing out juice and cooking the peel in water till tender. Drain and scrape out white skin. Extract. the juice of the lemon. Put the rhubarb into a granite preserving kettle, heat it slowly to boiling, cook fifteen minutes, then add the sugar, orange juice and peel, lemon juice and raisins, and cook slowly until thick.

Spiced Rhubarb. — Peel and slice 2^ pounds of rhubarb; sprinkle a potmd of sugar over it and let stand until morning. Drain off the syrup and add one cup of sugar and half a cupful each of vinegar and water. Drop into this syrup small bags filled with a mixture composed of one third of a teaspoonful each of cloves, mace, allspice and ginger, and a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Boil until the syrup begins to thicken, then take out the bags and add the rhubarb and cook until clear.

Canned Strawberries. — To can strawberries so that they will keep their shape and color, after the berries are picked over, put them in .t jar, with a layer of sugar and then of berries until all are used. Set them in the cellar over night, and the sugar will penetrate them, and no water must be added: there will be sufficient juice. Have a sugar syrup on the stove hot, put the strawberries in and let them boil up gently; llien fill cans with the fruit and juice all cooked together. Screw on the cover, stand the can upside down a few minutes, then turn again, changing it in this way until it is cool, and the berries will not rise to the top. This way preserves the shape, color, and flavor of the fruit.

Canned Strawberries, No. 2. — An excellent way to can strawberries, raspberries or any fruit that requires little or no cooking is the follow-

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ing : Prepare fruit carefully, discarding all blemished or imperfect berries. Prepare a syrup of one quart of water boiled, one cupful of sugar. More or less sugar may be added according to the taste of family and the acidity of the fruit to be canned. Have jars thoroughly sterilized as above, fill with the prepared fruit, pour over the syrup until it is filled to the brim. Screw on cap after adjusting rubber. Place jars in a stone crock with thin strips of board or a cloth under them and pour around them enough boiling water to fill crock up to the rubbers on jars. Cover with blankets, carpets, etc., to exclude air, and leave over night or until the water is cold. Canned in this way soft fruits keep both shape and color, and very nearly resemble fresh fruit. Fruits that lose color, such a?, strawberries or red raspberries, should have paper bags or pasteboard boxes slipped over them to exclude the light.

Canned Strawberries, No. 3. — Fill a quart jar with large, ripe berries, from which the hulls have been taken; fill the jar with cold water; then pour It out again into a measure. For every twelve jars to be put up use thirteen of these measures of water and in it dissolve six pounds of sugar. Pack the jar with berries as closely as possible without mashing them. Fill each jar up to the shoulder with syrup, cover loosely with the lid and set it in a large boiler, which should have a loosely fitting v/ooden bottom pierced with holes. If set on the metal bottom the jars are liable to crack. Wlieii tiie boiler is full of jars pour in cold water up to their shoulders ; cover it and set it on the fire. At the same time put the surplus syrup in a saucepan and allow it to become hot. As soon as the water in the boiler begins to boil note the time, and when it has boiled for eight minutes remove the boiler from the fire. Take out one jar at a time, fill it even with the hot syrup in the saucepan, fasten it airtight and stand it back in the boiler until all are filled and covered; lei. them stand there until cold, and then store in a cool place.

Uncooked Canned Strawberries. — A correspondent of the Chicago Record-Herald says that she has preserved strawberries and red raspber- lies without cooking for years with entire success. Her method is as fol- lows : Mash together with a silver fork equal quantities of fruit and sugar. Let stand for. an hour or more until the sugar is entirely dissolved. Then put into jelly glasses or pint jars, filling to the brim. Leave un- covered for 48 hours in an open window exposed to the sun. Then seal in the usual way and keep in a cool, dark place. The flavor of the ber- ries is as when picked, and the jam is rich and delicious. All utensils used must be absolutely clean and jars sterilized.

Dried Strawberries. — One quart of strawberries, clean off the stem and hull. Wash; add one pound of granulated sugar, put in a porcelain or granite kettle, set on stove, and heat gently till they come to a boiling point, then boil hard for 20 minutes. Do not stir, just shake the kettle

14« THE RURAL COOK BOOK.

enongh to keep from burning, then pour out on large plates, and dry in the sun for at least three days, or until the juice has become jellied; 't may take a longer time or a little less according to heat of sun. Do not let them stay out of doors over night, as the dew will cause the juice to get thin again. When the juice has become jellied, pack in jars and make airtight. These are most delicious and very delicate in flavor; the berries are whole and clear.

Strawberry and Currant Jam. — To every pound of fruit allow three- quarters of a pound of sugar, also one pint of red currant juice to every four pounds of the berries. Boil the currant juice with the strawberries for half an hour, stirring all the time, then add the sugar and boil 20 minutes longer, skimming carefully. Put in small jars or tumblers with paraffin on top. The currant juice may be omitted.

Wiesbaden Strawberries. — Take six pounds of strawberries — they need not be large or extra fine, but they must be sound; add to them in the kettle a very little cold water and cook slowly as for jelly. Pour in a jelly bag and allow them to drip overnight. In the morning add to the juice six pounds of broken loaf or granulated sugar and half a pound of strained honey. Boil to a very thick syrup Fill pint cans with freshly capped strawberries, the largest and finest to be had. Screw on the tops, set in cold water in a large kettle — the wash boiler will do — and let the water come to a boil. Open the jars and fill to the brim with the hot syrup. Seal and put away in a cool, dark place.

Tomato Butter. — Cook ripe tomatoes, salt to taste and put them through a colander to remove the seeds. Plave ready an equal quantity of sour apple sauce, well cooked; add it to the tomatoes, sweeten slightly and let it boil until the mixture begins to thicken. Be careful that it does not burn. Seal in jelly glasses. Excellent to serve with meats.

Tomato Butter No. 2. — Seven pounds of large, ripe tomatoes, four pounds of brown sugar, half a cupful of vinegar, one teaspoonful of cmnamon, one teaspoonful of cloves. Pour boiling water over the toma- toes; let stand five minutes, then the skins can be rubbed off. Remove stem end, then slice tomatoes. Cook until soft, add the sugar and stew until very thick; then add spices and vinegar. Let simmer 20 minutes, pour into jars and seal.

Tomato and Apple Butter. — Scald and skin ripe tomatoes, add a quarter of the quantity of pared, cored and quartered pleasant sour apples. Weigh the kettle, put in the tomatoes and apples and cook to the consistency of marmalade, then to every six pounds add a teaspoonful of ginger, the juice of a large lemon and four pounds of light brown sugar; boil fifteen minutes, or until it will spread smoothly.

Green Tomato Butter. — Select tomatoes that are full grown, but quite green. Slice them thin. Make a syrup in proportion of one pound of

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sugar to two pounds of tomatoes. Boil down slowly for four hours or until the butter is smooth and thick, stirring frequently to prevent stick- ing. Flavor with lemon when done.

Green Tomato Conserve. — For one peck of green tomatoes, slice six lemons without removing the skin, but taking out the seeds. Put to this quantity six pounds of sugar and boil until transparent and the syrup thick. Ginger root may be added if liked.

Tomato Jam. — Select sound, ripe fruit and peel and quarter them. Then put them into the preserving kettle with an equal weight of loaf sugar, the strained juice and rind of a lemon for every four pounds of the fruit, and a little powdered ginger. Cook the mixture slowly until it jellies when tried en a spoon. Turn into jars and cover.

Tomato Marmalade. — Remove the skin from four quarts of ripe tomatoes and slice. Cut six large lemons in halves, lengthwise, and slice very thin. Seed one cup of raisins. Put the tomatoes, raisins and lemons into a preserving kettle, in layers, alternating with four pounds of granulated sugar. Cook one hour on the front of stove. Then set the kettle back, and allow contents to simmer until it is of the consistency of marmalade. Put up, while hot, as jelly. This recipe makes about two and one-half quarts. When properly prepared no one article will be recognizable. The small yellow tomatoes are nice for such use.

Tomato Marmalade No. 2.— -For every two pounds of the tomatoes allow two pounds of sugar and the juice and grated rind of one lemon. Pour scalding water over the tomatoes to loosen the skins. After remov- ing the skin, mix the tomatoes with the sugar and boil slowly for one hour, stirring and skimming frequently. At the end of that time add the lemon juice and rind and cook another hour or until the whole is a thick, smooth mass.

Tomato Mock-Orange Marmalade. — Scald and peel large-sized yellow tomatoes. Cut downward over each seed section, press open and remove all seeds with the thumb, leaving the pulp comparatively whole. To two parts of the prepared tomatoes allow one part of oranges, slicing thinly. Cover all with an equal quantity of sugar and let stand over night. In the morning pour off syrup and cook down about half, add the tomatoes and oranges and cook until the orange skins are transparent. Seal in jelly glasses. This is an original recipe, and is a delightful substitute for the genuine orange marmalade, though much cheaper.

Tomato Mincemeat. — Chop fine four quarts of green tomatoes, drain off juice, cover with cold water and bring to a boil, scalding for 30 minutes, then drain. Repeat till parboiled three times. Add two pounds brown sugar, one pound seeded raisins, one-half pound chopped citron, one large half cup chopped suet, one tablespoonful salt and one-half cup

144 TM1£ RVkAL COOK BOOK.

strong vinegar. Mix and cook until thick. When cold add one tea- spoonful each of ground cinnamon and cloves, and one tablespoonful of grated nutmeg (or suit taste). ]\Iix thoroughly, and keep in open jar.

Tomato Clove Preserves. — To four pounds of yellov^r plum tomatoes, not too ripe, allow four pounds of sugar, three lemons and one-half ounce (or according to taste) of whole cloves. Peel the tomatoes with- out breaking, sprinkle sugar over and let them stand over night. In the morning pour off the syrup, add the cloves and let it boil until thick, then strain. Return to fire and add the chopped pulp of the lemons, rejecting the skin, and the tomatoes, and cook gently until the tomatoes look clear. Put into jars and seal. To give a quite different flavor substitute one- half ounce of ginger root for the cloves, and proceed as above.

Green Tomato Preserves. — Required, eight pounds of small green tomatoes, seven pounds of sugar, one ounce of ginger and mace mixed, and the juice of four lemons. Pierce each of the tomatoes with a fork and put them in the preserving kettle with all the other ingredients. Heat slowly, then boil until the tomatoes are clear, then skim them out and boil the syrup until thick. Put tlie tomatoes into jars and pour in the hot syrup.

Yellow Tomato Preserves. — Put the tomatoes into a wire basket and plunge into boiling water to loosen the skins. When a cut is made across the skin its whole contents can be quickly squeezed out. Three-fourths of a pound of sugar is allowed for each pound of the fruit pulp, and sometimes ginger root is added for flavoring. Prolonged cooking is not necessary; just before ready for the jars add several lemons sliced in thin even circles.

Ruby Watermelon Preserves. — Dice the red portion of the melon, removing all seeds and every bit of the white part; weigh and use halt as much sugar as you have melon, adding to every six pounds of melon the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons. Put all together in a large granite kettle and boil slowly, stirring often until it is quite thick; at first you will think it is all going to water, but very soon you will notice it thicken nicely; when it has become as thick as you like it, seal hot in glass pint jars.

Jelly should never be stored in a cellar. It demands a cool, dry, dark place, which can be well ventilated, to insure its keeping perfectly. Great care must be given the juice, sugar, etc. The glasses should be hot, dry and clean (surgically clean, we mean). Small tapering cups or bowls

THE RURAL COOK BOOK. 145

make jelly a nicer shape to turn out to serve, but the regulation jelly glass with its tin top comes much cheaper.

A safe rule with all fruits that do not get firm is to add sufficient sour apple juice to make the jelly the right consistency. By choosing a bright day, boiling the juice 20 minutes before adding the sugar and going strictly according to directions even an amateur can have success. The best jellies are not boiled as hard as wanted but sunned under glass for several days.

For filling the glasses, use a china cup with a handle. A saucer or small plate held in the left hand and moved with and iinder the cup will catch all drops. In case you do not fill a tumbler full from the first dip add the requisite quantity immediately afterward, so that all will stiffen together, otherwise there may be separation in the contents of the tumbler when it is turned out. As a general rule for jelly, wash and drain the fruit, then put it on the stove in a large stone crock, or in a granite vessel. The fruit should be mature, but not overripe. Add no water to small and juicy fruits. Large fruits, such as apples, peaches and pears, require some water ; our rule is to put the fruit in the crock, and pour in enough water to show at the top. Cook slowly, but thoroughly, stirring the fruit, which will thus be sufficiently mashed. Strain through a flannel bag, which should be scalded first, or through a stout cotton or linen; the fiannel insures clearness, but we have no trouble with this when properly boiled, nor do we add white of egg, as some cooks recommend. Most people advise letting the fruit drain over night, and boiling the next day, but we think it jellies better if the fruit is cooked, drained, and the juice boiled the same day. The bag is of course hung over a large china bowl, and pressed down a little with a wooden spoon ; its own weight, however, soon drains it dry. The juice is measured, and put on to boil ; granulated sugar is measured, cup for cup, and put in a bowl on the back of the stove, wliere it is heated, being stirred from time to time, so that by the time the juice boils it is well heated through. Any scum that arises is skimmed off, and as

14« THE RURAL COOK BOOK.

Apple Jelly.—We like Fall Pippins fof this purpose, but Gravenstein or any other highly-flavored apple, nearly ripe, makes a fine jelly. The jelly is excellent without any additional flavoring, but we prefer to add Rose geranium leaves, which render it delicious ; four leaves to a quart of jelly. The leaves are put in with the sugar, and taken out when the jelly is put in glasses. Another variation is made by using three whole cloves to a quart of jelly; this imitates the nutmeg jelly made in Trinidad, the spiciness being so faint that it does not overpower the fruit flavor. To prepare apples for jelly, wipe them with a damp cloth, remove the stem and blossom ends and cut in quarters. Put in granite or porcelain- lined preserve kettle, and for three pounds of apples add one pint of water. Cover and cook slowly until apples are soft; mash, then drain through a coarse sieve. Do not squeeze, or jelly will be cloudy. Next allow juice to drip through a double thickness of cheesecloth or flannel jelly bag. Or they may be turned directly into jelly bag and allowed to drip over night. Measure juice, boil 20 minutes, and add an equal quan- tity of heated granulated sugar, boil five minutes, skim and turn into glasses that have been dipped into scalding water and placed on a wet cloth. Put a silver spoon in the tumbler before turning the jelly in as another means of avoiding cracking the glass; it can be moved from tumbler to tumbler as you proceed. Fill brimming full, as the jelly will shrink as it cools. The glasses may now be placed in a sunny window, protected from dust, and let stand for 24 hours. Cover with melted paraffin, poured directly on to the jelly; then seal as usual.

Apple Combination. — A housewife who has tried it says that a deli- cious combination jelly is made by cooking a half peck each of apples and quinces and a quart of cranberries together until soft, after barely covering with water. Strain, and to every pint of juice allow a scant pint of sugar, then proceed as with other jellies. It is delicately flavored, and a beautiful pink in color.

Barberry Jell3^ — For domestic use the berries should not be gathered until well frosted. For jelly the fruit need not be stripped from the stems. Put the fruit in a porcelain kettle with water to come to the top of the berries and boil until thoroughly cooked, then put into a jelly bag and drain out the juice; return the juice to the kettle and boil hard 15 minutes. Measure it before boiling down. Add a pound of sugar to each pint and boil rapidly 10 minutes, then put away in glasses. This is an excellent jelly to serve with meat.

Blackberry Jelly. — Make the same as currant -jelly.

Crab-apple Jelly. — Wash, cut in pieces two gallons of crab apples; place in the preserving kettle, just cover with cold water and cook until the pieces are tender. Drain through cheesecloth, measure, and when the juice has boiled 10 minutes, stir in one pound white sugar to each

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pint of juice. Boil hard until it is jelly; about 10 minutes' boiling after the sugar has been added. Now take the tender pieces left after straining, rub through a sieve or colander ; to each pint of pulp add one-half as much sugar. Cook until the sugar is thoroughly blended with the pulp, stirring quite frequently. Add spices if preferred, fill into glass cans, seal, and take to the cellar when cool. This makes a delicious butter, almost a marmalade, and is very nice in the Winter with pork. Two gallons of crab apples will make six glasses of jelly and five or six quarts of butter with the addition of 11 pounds of sugar. Crab apple will mix well with wild grapes for jell3^ The two fruits should be cooked together, and made like any other jelly. The proportion may be whatever is most convenient; half and half, or one-third grapes to two-thirds apples, will be found excellent.

Wild Crab-apple Jelly. — Cook the cored crabs till tender and drip in a jelly bag. Use more sugar than for ordinary jelly — about five cups of sugar to four of juice — and cook quickly. This is delicious both in color and flavor.

Mrs. C.'s Currant Jelly. — The currants are picked over as if for canning, then put in the preserving kettle. As the fruit heats, it is mashed with a large spoon until juice is pretty nearly all extracted. The juice is all dipped off and her jelly is made according to the common recipe. She now adds to the currants left in kettle an equal amount of raspber- ries— either black or red is added, and jam is made by the addition of diree-fourths of a pound of granulated sugar to each pound of fruit. In this way she says jelly making is an easy task, and she also has the consciousness of having used every bit of the currants.

Elderberry Jelly. — Strip the ripe berries into the kettle and stir over the fire with a wooden spoon until the juice flows freely; turn into a jelly bag and let drain without touching so as not to become cloudy. Weigh and boil sharply 15 minutes. Remove from fire and add sugar, allowing 14 ounces to one pint of juice. Boil 15 minutes, stirring and skimming until it jellies. This is an English recipe and a very good one.

Elderberry Jelly No. 2. — Take equal parts of elderberries and wild grapes, and cook to extract juice, strain, add sugar in proportion of one pound to each pint of liquid, and cook as other jelly. This is especially nice for invalids, and beneficial in cases of sore throat.

Grape Jelly. — The wild grapes gathered just as they begin to turn are the best for jelly. Free them from their stems and wash them, mash them, and heat slowly; cook them until the juice is well drawn out; turn into a flannel bag and let it drip without pressure; measure the juice, and, if cultivated grapes are used, allow an equal amount of sugar; if the wild grape, allow a little more than an equal measure. Heat the sugar (put in a pan in the oven and stir often) ; boil the strained juice 15 minutes; skim

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and strain again, add the sugar, boil until the surface looks wrinkled, skim well and turn into glasses.

Green Grape Jelly. — Select the grapes when full grown, just before they begin to turn purple. After separating from the stem, wash, adding a little water if the grapes are not very juicy. IMash and stew until the skins are cooked. Strain first through the colander, then through the jelly bag. Measure the juice, measure the same amount of sugar, putting it in the oven while the juice is being boiled. The boiling will take half an hour. Now add the hot sugar, which you must be careful not to scorch, boil about five minutes longer, and then the jelly should be ready to pour in glasses. Jelly made from the green grapes is solid, of a delicious flavor and of a pretty green tint.

Spiced Grape Jelly. — This is delicious served with cold meats. Take equal amounts of grape juice and sugar. Add one-half teaspoonful of ground cloves and one tablespoonful of cinnamon to each quart of juice. Add the sugar as directed in recipe above.

IMarble Jelly. — A dark jelly, such as blackberry or grape, is poured into a half-gallon crock; as soon as this hardens a light jelly, apple, quin.:e or pear, is poured on top ; so on in alternate layers until the crock is filled. The layers look prettiest when but an inch thick. Slice in half-inch slices, serve on a pretty glass dish. Besides being unique in appearance the blending of flavors is decidedly appetizing.

Peach Jelly. — Take sound, high-flavored, barely ripe peaches. Wash them thoroughly. Use the parings and a few pieces of fruit. Boil in enough water to cover in an enameled kettle until the skins are tender and broken. Strain through a jelly bag. Allow the juice of one lemon and one scant pound of sugar to each pint of juice. Boil the juice twenty minutes after straining, and m.eantime heat the sugar in the oven. Put the sugar into the juice slowly, let boil five minutes and pour into tumblers.

Peach Jelly No, 2. — Take the peach parings from a peck or two of peaches and simmer with sour apples till the whole mass is tender. Have twice the quantity of peach that you have of apple and make your jelly in the ordinary way.

Pear Jelly. — Select juicy pears that are not top ripe, quarter, core and cut in small pieces without paring. Put in a kettle' with one pint of water to every four pounds of pears. Cook over a slow fire to a pulp, turn into a jelly bag which has been wrung out, and let drip without squeezing. Measure the juice and allow the same quantity of sugar. Put the liquid over the fire, bring to the boiling point and boil 20 minutes. In the meantime heat the sugar by spreading it out on pans and setting it in an open oven; when the pear juice has boiled twenty minutes add the heated sugar, stir until it is dissolved, bring again to the boiling point, and boil until in dropping a spoonful on a cold saucer a skin forms

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quickly over it; this will generally occur after five or ten minutes' boiling. Take from the fire and pour into jelly glasses. Let stand until cold, pour over the top of each glass a little melted paraffin, and when it hardens cover.

Plum Jelly. — Pour boiling water over one-half peck of plums placed in a colander. Then put them in a preserving kettle, pour over them just enough water to cover and boil until the plums have become soft and the juice has flowed out. Drain through a colander, then through a jelly bag without squeezing. Measure juice and put to boil in preserve kettle. Add one dozen blanched plum kernels. Allow an equal measure of granulated sugar and put it to heat in shallow pans in the oven. When the juice has boiled 20 minutes skim well, add the hot sug.ir, stir until dissolved, let come to the boiling point, take immediately from the fire and fill into glasses which have been rolled in boiling water, drained and stood upright on a cloth folded in a shallow pan of boiling water. Use a small teacup to dip the jelly into the tumblers, and fill them very full. Cover airtight next day. The pulp remaining may be used to make a little marmalade, allowing three-quarters of a pint of sugar to one pint of pulp, and a few blanched kernels from the plum stones.

Plum and Green Grape Jelly. — Plums mixed with green grapes make the most delicious of all tart jellies. Small yellow plums are the best. Wash, pick and scald them with their own bulk of green grapes picked from the stem, strain out the juice, let it settle 10 minutes, then pour it carefully off the sediment. Put in a shallow kettle over a quick fire, boil for five minutes, skimming well; then add for each pint of juice a pound and a quarter of very hot granulated sugar ; stir hard until the sugar dissolves; then skim again and boil hard for two minutes. Drop a little in ice water — the minute this hardens take it off the fire and pour into hot glasses.

Plum and Peach.— Japan plums not quite ripe, with a few peaches, make a nice clear amber jelly.

Quince Jelly. — Simmer the quinces in a stone jar till tender in enough water to cover them. Drip and strain the juice and boil 20 minutes before adding an almost equal amount of sugar. This will be a beautiful color if well made and have a delicate flavor.

Quince Jelly No. 2. — Place the parings and cores left from preserving in the preserving kettle, cover with cold water and cook until the parings are soft ; strain through cheesecloth, measure, and when boiling hard, put a pound of white sugar to each pint of the juice. Boil hard until it will set. Ten minutes of hard boiling is usually enough; then pour into glasses.

Quince and Cranberry. — Stew cores and skins of quinces in very little water, and strain the juice as for quince jelly; stew tart cranberries

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separately in very little water, strain, and combine with an equal propor- tion of quince juice. Add to the combined juices one cupful of sugar to each cupful of juice, and boil briskly until it jellies.

Raspberry Jelly. — One of our friends tells us with pride that she made delicious stiff raspberry jelly last year by mixing the red raspberries with an equal quantity of green grapes. The two fruits were cooked together, then strained as usual. The resulting jelly was clear red, with full rasp- berry flavor. Our friend had never been able to make raspberries "jell" properly before, so she was much pleased with the experiment. It is quite possible that green grapes would stiffen strawberry jelly, which is usually difficult to harden. Some experimenters say they mix either red currants or early apples with strawberries to make jelly. If raspberries and Summer apples are available at the same time, a combination of the two will make an excellent jelly. Cook and strain separately, then mix the juice, and proceed as with any other jelly. Raspberry and red cur- rants mixed are excellent.

Rhubarb Jelly. — On account of the watery'- consistency of the fruit it cannot be made into jelly as readily as most fruit. A fine jelly and one specially suitable for serving with game can be made if the following directions are observed: Let the rhubarb heat on the back of the stove until the juice flows freely. Strain the juice through a jelly bag. Do not squeeze the bag into .the jelly, but use only what will drip of itself. The bag can be squeezed into a different vessel, and the liquid thus gained can be re-added to the pulp of the rhubarb and made into jam. Take the rhubarb juice and boil gently for 10 minutes. Measure and to each pint allow a pound of granulated sugar. Boil until a little poured out on a cold plate will set nicely. Do not measure the juice before it has been boiled. Such treatment is needed to reduce the water and make the pure juice and sugar jelly properly. If care is taken in the boiling of the jelly, it turns out a pretty color and is very desirable for garnishing various dishes.

Rhubarb Jelly No. 2. — ^Cut off the leaves and ends from the stalks, and wipe with a clean, damp cloth. Use an earthen dish for cooking. Without removing the skins, cut the rhubarb into pieces 2^ inches long, and put over them IJ^ cupful of sugar, a piece of leifion peel, and a pint of water, this proportion to two pounds of rhubarb. Cover and set in the oven on a shelf. Moisten a half ounce of white gelatine in a quarter of a cupful of cold water. When the rhubarb rs tender put the gelatine in a large bowl, on which an earthen colander is placed. Pour the rhubarb on this, but remove it very soon to a dish, in order to retain sufficient juice with it. Stir the hot liquid underneath, and when the gelatine is dissolved pour into teacups or molds dipped in cold water.

Strawberry Jelly. — To 10 quarts of strawberries add two quarts of

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currants, and proceed as for currant jelly, but boil 15 minutes. Or use apple juice instead of currants.

Tomato Jelly. — Simmer yellow tomatoes without water till pulpy and then drip in a bag. Take equal parts of tomato and apple juice and proceed in the ordinary way.

Watermelon Jelly. — Alash the heart of a dead-ripe melon and strain the juice so obtained. Boil to a thick syrup with equal parts of granu- lated sugar and add to apple juice; then proceed as for apple jelly.

We always pour melted paraffin over the top of our jelly before putting the cover on. Break the paraffin in pieces, put in a cup, and set the cup in a pan of warm water on the back of the stove; it will soon melt enough to pour. It should be one-fourth inch thick over the jelly; if too thin it cracks. If you heive reason to fear mold, cut disks of white paper to fit the top of the glass; dip in brandy or grain alcohol, and pour the paraffin over this. If the room or closet in which jelly is stored is damp, Prof. Conn recommends setting a few lumps of unslaked lime about on the shcives, removing when they crumble.