FRUITS: FRESH, PRESERVED, AND CANNED
Fruits are usually at their best when served ripe and in season;
however, a few cannot be taken in their raw state, and still others are
rendered more easy of digestion by cooking. The methods employed are
stewing and baking. Fruit should be cooked in earthen or granite ware
utensils, and silver or wooden spoons should be employed for stirring.
It must be remembered that all fruits contain one or more acids, and
when exposed to air and brought in contact with an iron or tin surface,
a poisonous compound may be formed.
How to Prepare Strawberries for Serving
1. Pick over strawberries, place in colander, pour over cold water,
drain thoroughly, hull, and turn into dish. Serve with powdered sugar
and cream.
2. Pick over selected strawberries, place in colander, pour over cold
water, and drain thoroughly. Press powdered sugar into cordial glasses.
Remove from glasses on centres of fruit plates. Arrange twelve berries
around each mound of sugar. Berries served in this way should not be
hulled.
How to Prepare Cantaloupes and Muskmelons for Serving
Cantaloupes and muskmelons should be very ripe and thoroughly chilled in
ice box before being prepared for serving. Wipe melons,—if small, cut in
halves lengthwise; if larger, cut in sections, and remove seeds and
stringy portion. If one-half is served as a portion, put in cavity one
tablespoon crushed ice. Serve with salt or powdered sugar.
How to Prepare Grapes for Serving
Put bunches in colander and pour over cold water, drain, chill, and
arrange on serving dish. Imperfect grapes, as well as those under-ripe
or over-ripe, should be removed. Garnish with grape leaves, if at hand.
Ways of Preparing Oranges for Serving
1. Wipe orange and cut in halves crosswise. Place one-half on a fruit
plate, having an orange spoon or teaspoon on plate at right of fruit.
2. Peel an orange and remove as much of the white portion as possible.
Remove pulp by sections, which may be accomplished by using a sharp
knife and cutting pulp from tough portion first on one side of section,
then on the other. Should there be any white portion of skin remaining
on pulp it should be cut off. Arrange sections on glass dish or fruit
plate. If the orange is a seeded one, remove seeds.
3. Remove peel from an orange in such a way that there remains a
one-half inch band of peel equal distance from stem and blossom end. Cut
band, separate sections, and arrange around a mould of sugar.
How to Prepare Grape Fruit for Serving
Wipe grape fruit and cut in halves crosswise. With a small,
sharp-pointed knife make a cut separating pulp from skin around entire
circumference; then make cuts separating pulp from tough portion which
divides fruit into sections. Remove tough portion in one piece, which
may be accomplished by one cutting with scissors at stem or blossom end
close to skin. Sprinkle fruit pulp left in grape fruit skin generously
with sugar. Let stand ten minutes, and serve very cold. Place on fruit
plate and garnish with a candied cherry.
Grape Fruit with Sherry
Prepare grape fruit for serving, add to each portion one tablespoon
Sherry wine, and let stand one hour in ice box or cold place.
Grape Fruit with Apricot Brandy
Prepare grape fruit for serving and add to each portion one-half
tablespoon apricot brandy.
Grape Fruit with Sloe Gin
Prepare grape fruit for serving and add to each portion one-half
tablespoon sloe gin.
Fruit Cocktail
Remove pulp from grape fruit, and mix with shredded pineapple, bananas
cut in slices and slices cut in quarters, and strawberries cut in
halves, using half as much pineapple and banana as grape fruit, and
allowing four strawberries to each serve. There should be two cups
fruit. Pour over a dressing made of one-third cup Sherry wine, three
tablespoons apricot brandy, one-half cup sugar, and a few grains salt.
Chill thoroughly, serve in double cocktail glasses, and garnish with
candied cherries and leaves.
Baked Apples
Wipe and core sour apples. Put in a baking-dish, and fill cavities with
sugar and spice. Allow one-half cup sugar and one-fourth teaspoon
cinnamon or nutmeg to eight apples. If nutmeg is used, a few drops lemon
juice and few gratings from rind of lemon to each apple is an
improvement. Cover bottom of dish with boiling water, and bake in a hot
oven until soft, basting often with syrup in dish. Serve hot or cold
with cream. Many prefer to pare apples before baking. When this is done,
core before paring, that fruit may keep in shape. In the fall, when
apples are at their best, do not add spices to apples, as their flavor
cannot be improved; but towards spring they become somewhat tasteless,
and spice is an improvement.
Baked Sweet Apples
Wipe and core eight sweet apples. Put in a baking-dish, and fill
cavities with sugar, allowing one-third cup, or sweeten with molasses.
Add two-thirds cup boiling water. Cover, and bake three hours in a slow
oven, adding more water if necessary.
Apple Sauce
Wipe, quarter, core, and pare eight sour apples. Make a syrup by boiling
seven minutes one cup sugar and one cup water with thin shaving from
rind of a lemon. Remove lemon, add enough apples to cover bottom of
saucepan, watch carefully during cooking, and remove as soon as soft.
Continue until all are cooked. Strain remaining syrup over apples.
Spiced Apple Sauce
Wipe, quarter, core, and pare eight sour apples. Put in a saucepan,
sprinkle with one cup sugar, add eight cloves, and enough water to
prevent apples from burning. Cook to a mush, stirring occasionally.
Apple Ginger
Wipe, quarter, core, pare, and chop sour apples; there should be two and
one-half pounds. Put in a stewpan and add one and one-half pounds light
brown sugar, juice and rind of one and one-half lemons, one-half ounce
ginger root, a few grains salt, and enough water to prevent apples from
burning. Cover, and cook slowly four hours, adding water as necessary.
Apple Ginger may be kept for several weeks.
Apple Porcupine
Make a syrup by boiling eight minutes one and one-half cups sugar and
one and one-half cups water. Wipe, core, and pare eight apples. Put
apples in syrup as soon as pared, that they may not discolor. Cook until
soft, occasionally skimming syrup during cooking. Apples cook better
covered with the syrup; therefore it is better to use a deep saucepan
and have two cookings. Drain apples from syrup, cool, fill cavities with
jelly, marmalade, or preserved fruit, and stick apples with almonds
blanched and split in halves lengthwise. Serve with Cream Sauce I.
Baked Bananas I
Remove skins from six bananas and cut in halves lengthwise. Put in a
shallow granite pan or on an old platter. Mix two tablespoons melted
butter, one-third cup sugar, and two tablespoons lemon juice. Baste
bananas with one-half the mixture. Bake twenty minutes in a slow oven,
basting during baking with remaining mixture.
Baked Bananas II
Arrange bananas in a shallow pan, cover, and bake until skins become
very dark in color. Remove from skins, and serve hot sprinkled with
sugar.
Sautéd Bananas
Remove skins from bananas, cut in halves lengthwise, and again cut in
halves crosswise. Dredge with flour, and sauté in clarified butter.
Drain, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Baked Peaches
Peel, cut in halves, and remove stones from six peaches. Place in a
shallow granite pan. Fill each cavity with one teaspoon sugar, one-half
teaspoon butter, few drops lemon juice, and a slight grating nutmeg.
Cook twenty minutes, and serve on circular pieces of buttered dry toast.
Baked Pears
Wipe, quarter, and core pears. Put in a deep pudding-dish, sprinkle with
sugar or add a small quantity of molasses, then add water to prevent
pears from burning. Cover, and cook two or three hours in a very slow
oven. Small pears may be baked whole. Seckel pears are delicious when
baked.
Baked Quinces
Wipe, quarter, core, and pare eight quinces. Put in a baking dish,
sprinkle with three-fourths cup sugar, add one and one-half cups water,
cover, and cook until soft in a slow oven. Quinces require a long time
for cooking.
Cranberry Sauce
Pick over and wash three cups cranberries. Put in a stewpan, add one and
one-fourth cups sugar and one cup boiling water. Cover, and boil ten
minutes. Care must be taken that they do not boil over. Skim and cool.
Cranberry Jelly
Pick over and wash four cups cranberries. Put in a stewpan with one cup
boiling water, and boil twenty minutes. Rub through a sieve, add two
cups sugar, and cook five minutes. Turn into a mould or glasses.
Stewed Prunes
Wash and pick over prunes. Put in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and
soak two hours; then cook until soft in same water. When nearly cooked,
add sugar or molasses to sweeten. Many prefer the addition of a small
quantity of lemon juice.
Rhubarb Sauce
Peel and cut rhubarb in one-inch pieces. Put in a saucepan, sprinkle
generously with sugar, and add enough water to prevent rhubarb from
burning. Rhubarb contains such a large percentage of water that but
little additional water is needed. Cook until soft. If rhubarb is
covered with boiling water, allowed to stand five minutes, then drained
and cooked, less sugar will be required. Rhubarb is sometimes baked in
an earthen pudding-dish. If baked slowly for a long time it has a rich
red color.
JELLIES
Jellies are made of cooked fruit juice and sugar, in nearly all cases
the proportions being equal. Where failures occur, they may usually be
traced to the use of too ripe fruit.
=To Prepare Glasses for Jelly.= Wash glasses and put in a kettle of cold
water; place on range, and heat water gradually to boiling-point. Remove
glasses, and drain. Place glasses while filling on a cloth wrung out of
hot water.
=To Cover Jelly Glasses.= Cut letter paper in circular pieces just to
fit in top of glasses. Dip in brandy, and cover jelly. Put on tin covers
or circular pieces of paper cut larger than the glasses, and fastened
securely over the edge with mucilage. Some prefer to cover jelly with
melted paraffine then to adjust covers.
=To Make a Jelly Bag.= Fold two opposite corners of a piece of cotton
and wool flannel three-fourths yard long. Sew up in the form of a
cornucopia, rounding at the end. Fell the seam to make more secure. Bind
the top with tape, and furnish with two or three heavy loops by which it
may be hung.
Apple Jelly
Wipe apples, remove stem and blossom ends, and cut in quarters. Put in a
granite or porcelain-lined preserving kettle, and add cold water to come
nearly to top of apples. Cover, and cook slowly until apples are soft;
mash, and drain through a coarse sieve. Avoid squeezing apples, which
makes jelly cloudy. Then allow juice to drip through a double thickness
of cheese-cloth or a jelly bag. Boil twenty minutes, and add an equal
quantity of heated sugar; boil five minutes, skim, and turn in glasses.
Put in a sunny window, and let stand twenty-four hours. Cover, and keep
in a cool, dry place. Porter apples make a delicious flavored jelly. If
apples are pared, a much lighter jelly may be made. Gravenstein apples
make a very spicy jelly.
=To Heat Sugar.= Put in a granite dish, place in oven, leaving oven door
ajar, and stir occasionally.
Quince Jelly
Follow recipe for Apple Jelly, using quinces in place of apples, and
removing seeds from fruit. Quince parings are often used for jelly, the
better part of the fruit being used for canning.
Crab Apple Jelly
Follow recipe for Apple Jelly, leaving apples whole instead of cutting
in quarters.
Currant Jelly
Currants are in the best condition for making jelly between June
twenty-eighth and July third, and should not be picked directly after a
rain. Cherry currants make the best jelly. Equal proportions of red and
white currants are considered desirable, and make a lighter colored
jelly.
Pick over currants, but do not remove stems; wash and drain. Mash a few
in the bottom of a preserving kettle, using a wooden potato masher; so
continue until berries are used. Cook slowly until currants look white.
Strain through a course strainer, then allow juice to drop through a
double thickness of cheese-cloth or a jelly bag. Measure, bring to
boiling-point, and boil five minutes; add unequal measure of heated
sugar, boil three minutes, skim, and pour into glasses. Place in a sunny
window, and let stand twenty-four hours. Cover, and keep in a cool, dry
place.
Currant and Raspberry Jelly
Follow recipe for Currant Jelly, using equal parts of currants and
raspberries.
Blackberry Jelly
Follow recipe for Currant Jelly, using blackberries in place of
currants.
Raspberry Jelly
Follow recipe for Currant Jelly, using raspberries in place of currants.
Raspberry Jelly is the most critical to make, and should not be
attempted if fruit is thoroughly ripe, or if it has been long picked.
Barberry Jelly
Barberry Jelly is firmer and of better color if made from fruit picked
before the frost comes, while some of the berries are still green. Make
same as Currant Jelly, allowing one cup water to one peck barberries.
Grape Jelly
Grapes should be picked over, washed, and stems removed before putting
into a preserving kettle. Heat to boiling-point, mash, and boil thirty
minutes; then proceed as for Currant Jelly. Wild grapes make the best
jelly.
Green Grape Jelly
Grapes should be picked when just beginning to turn. Make same as Grape
Jelly.
Venison Jelly
1 peck wild grapes
1 quart vinegar
──────────────┬──────────
Whole cloves │¼ cup each
Stick cinnamon│
──────────────┴──────────
6 pounds sugar
Put first four ingredients into a preserving kettle, heat slowly to the
boiling-point, and cook until grapes are soft. Strain through a double
thickness of cheese-cloth or a jelly bag, and boil liquid twenty
minutes; then add sugar heated, and boil five minutes. Turn into
glasses.
Damson Jelly
Wipe and pick over damsons; then prick several times with a large pin.
Make same as Currant Jelly, using three-fourths as much sugar as fruit
juice.
JAMS
Raspberries and blackberries are the fruits most often employed for
making jams, and require equal weight of sugar and fruit.
Raspberry Jam
Pick over raspberries. Mash a few in the bottom of a preserving kettle,
using a wooden potato masher, and so continue until the fruit is used.
Heat slowly to boiling-point, and add gradually an equal quantity of
heated sugar. Cook slowly forty-five minutes. Put in a stone jar or
tumblers.
Blackberry Jam
Follow recipe for Raspberry Jam, using blackberries in place of
raspberries.
MARMALADES
Marmalades are made of the pulp and juice of fruits with sugar.
Grape Marmalade
Pick over, wash, drain, and remove stems from grapes. Separate pulp from
skins. Put pulp in preserving kettle. Heat to boiling-point, and cook
slowly until seeds separate from pulp; then rub through a hair sieve.
Return to kettle with skins, add an equal measure of sugar, and cook
slowly thirty minutes, occasionally stirring to prevent burning. Put in
a stone jar or tumblers.
Quince Marmalade
Wipe quinces, remove blossom ends, cut in quarters, remove seeds; then
cut in small pieces. Put into a preserving kettle, and add enough water
to nearly cover. Cook slowly until soft. Rub through a hair sieve, and
add three-fourths its measure of heated sugar. Cook slowly twenty
minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Put in tumblers.
Orange Marmalade I
Select sour, smooth-skinned oranges. Weigh oranges, and allow
three-fourths their weight in cut sugar. Remove peel from oranges in
quarters. Cook peel until soft in enough boiling water to cover; drain,
remove white part from peel by scraping it with a spoon. Cut thin yellow
rind in strips, using a pair of scissors. This is more quickly
accomplished by cutting through two or three pieces at a time. Divide
oranges in sections, remove seeds and tough part of the skin. Put into a
preserving kettle and heat to boiling-point, add sugar gradually, and
cook slowly one hour; add rind, and cook one hour longer. Turn into
glasses.
Orange Marmalade II
Slice nine oranges and six lemons crosswise with a sharp knife as thinly
as possible, remove seeds, and put in a preserving kettle with four
quarts water. Cover, and let stand thirty-six hours; then boil for two
hours, add eight pounds sugar, and boil one hour longer.
[Illustration:
UTENSILS NECESSARY FOR CANNING.—_Page 577._
]
[Illustration:
CANNED FRUITS.—_Page 579._
]
[Illustration:
RED PEPPERS BEING PREPARED FOR CANNING.—_Page 581._
]
[Illustration:
PICKLES READY FOR SERVING (_Page 584_). CROCK FOR KEEPING PICKLES.
]
Orange and Rhubarb Marmalade
Remove peel in quarters from eight oranges and prepare as for Orange
Marmalade. Divide oranges in sections, remove seeds and tough part of
skin. Put into a preserving kettle, add five pounds rhubarb, skinned and
cut in one-half inch pieces. Heat to boiling-point, and boil one-half
hour; then add four pounds cut sugar and cut rind. Cook slowly two
hours. Turn into glasses.
Quince Honey
Pare and grate five large quinces. To one pint boiling water add five
pounds sugar. Stir over fire until sugar is dissolved, add quince, and
cook fifteen or twenty minutes. Turn into glasses. When cold it should
be about the color and consistency of honey.
CANNING AND PRESERVING
Preserving fruit is cooking it with from three-fourths to its whole
weight of sugar. By so doing, much of the natural flavor of the fruit is
destroyed; therefore canning is usually preferred to preserving.
Canning fruit is preserving sterilized fruit in sterilized air-tight
jars, the sugar being added to give sweetness. Fruits may be canned
without sugar if perfectly sterilized, that is, freed from all germ
life.
Directions for Canning
Fruit for canning should be fresh, firm, of good quality, and not
over-ripe; if over-ripe, some of the spores may survive the boiling,
then fermentation will take place in a short time.
For canning fruit, allow one-third its weight in sugar, and two and
one-half to three cups water to each pound of sugar. Boil sugar and
water ten minutes to make a thin syrup; then cook a small quantity of
the fruit at a time in the syrup; by so doing, fruit may be kept in
perfect shape. Hard fruits, like pineapple and quince, are cooked in
boiling water until nearly soft, then put in syrup to finish cooking.
Sterilized jars are then filled with fruit, and enough syrup added to
overflow jars. If there is not sufficient syrup, add boiling water, as
jars must be filled to overflow. Introduce a spoon between fruit and
jar, that air bubbles may rise to the top and break; then quickly put on
rubbers and screw on sterilized covers. Let stand until cold, again
screw covers, being sure this time that jars are air-tight. While
filling jars, place them on a cloth wrung out of hot water.
To Sterilize Jars
Wash jars and fill with cold water. Set in a kettle on a trivet, and
surround with cold water. Heat gradually to boiling-point, remove from
water, empty, and fill while hot. Put covers in hot water and let stand
five minutes. Dip rubber bands in hot water, but do not allow them to
stand. New rubbers should be used each season, and care must be taken
that rims of covers are not bent, as jars cannot then be hermetically
sealed.
Canned Porter Apples
Wipe, quarter, core, and pare Porter apples, then weigh. Make a syrup by
boiling for ten minutes one-third their weight in sugar with water,
allowing two and one-half cups to each pound of sugar. Cook apples in
syrup until soft, doing a few at a time. Fill jars, following Directions
for Canning.
Canned Peaches
Wipe peaches and put in boiling water, allowing them to stand just long
enough to easily loosen skins. Remove skins and cook fruit at once, that
it may not discolor, following Directions for Canning. Some prefer to
pare peaches, sprinkle with sugar, and let stand over night. In morning
drain, add water to fruit syrup, bring to boiling-point, and then cook
fruit. Peaches may be cut in halves, or smaller pieces if desired.
Canned Pears
Wipe and pare fruit. Cook whole with stems left on, or remove stems, cut
in quarters, and core. Follow Directions for Canning. A small piece of
ginger root or a few slicings of lemon rind may be cooked with syrup.
Bartlett pears are the best for canning.
Canned Pineapples
Remove skin and eyes from pineapples; then cut in half-inch slices, and
slices in cubes, at the same time discarding the core. Follow Directions
for Canning. Pineapples may be shredded and cooked in one-half their
weight of sugar without water, and then put in jars. When put up in this
way they are useful for the making of sherbets and fancy desserts.
Canned Quinces
Wipe, quarter, core, and pare quinces. Follow Directions for Canning.
Quinces may be cooked with an equal weight of sweet apples wiped,
quartered, cored, and pared; in this case use no extra sugar for apples.
Canned Cherries
Use large white or red cherries. Wash, remove stems, then follow
Directions for Canning.
Canned Huckleberries
Pick over and wash berries, then put in a preserving kettle with a small
quantity of water to prevent berries from burning. Cook until soft,
stirring occasionally, and put in jars. No sugar is required, but a
sprinkling of salt is an agreeable addition.
Canned Rhubarb
Pare rhubarb and cut in one-inch pieces. Pack in a jar, put under cold
water faucet, and let water run twenty minutes, then screw on cover.
Rhubarb canned in this way has often been known to keep a year.
Canned Tomatoes
Wipe tomatoes, cover with boiling water, and let stand until skins may
be easily removed. Cut in pieces and cook until thoroughly scalded; skim
often during cooking. Fill jars, following directions given.
Damson Preserves
Wipe damsons with a piece of cheese-cloth wrung out of cold water, and
prick each fruit five or six times, using a large needle; then weigh.
Make a syrup by boiling three-fourths their weight in sugar with water,
allowing one cup to each pound of sugar. As soon as syrup reaches
boiling-point, skim, and add plums, a few at a time, that fruit may
better keep in shape during cooking. Cook until soft. It is well to use
two kettles, that work may be more quickly done, and syrup need not cook
too long a time. Put into glass or stone jars.
Strawberry Preserves
Pick over, wash, drain, and hull strawberries; then weigh. Fill glass
jars with berries. Make a syrup same as for Damson Preserve, cooking the
syrup fifteen minutes. Add syrup to overflow jars; let stand fifteen
minutes, when fruit will have shrunk, and more fruit must be added to
fill jars. Screw on covers, put on a trivet in a kettle of cold water,
heat water to boiling-point, and keep just below boiling-point one hour.
Raspberries may be preserved in the same way.
Pear Chips
8 lbs. pears
4 lbs. sugar
¼ lb. Canton ginger
4 lemons
Wipe pears, remove stems, quarter, and core; then cut in small pieces.
Add sugar and ginger, and let stand over night. In the morning add
lemons cut in small pieces, rejecting seeds, and cook slowly three
hours. Put into a stone jar.
Raspberry and Currant Preserve
6 lbs. currants
6 lbs. sugar
8 quarts raspberries
Pick over, wash, and drain currants. Put into a preserving kettle,
adding a few at a time, and mash. Cook one hour, strain through double
thickness of cheese-cloth. Return to kettle, add sugar, heat to
boiling-point, and cook slowly twenty minutes. Add one quart raspberries
when syrup again reaches boiling-point, skim out raspberries, put in
jar, and repeat until raspberries are used. Fill jars to overflowing
with syrup, and screw on tops.
Brandied Peaches
1 peck peaches
Half their weight in sugar
1 quart high-proof alcohol or brandy
Remove skins from peaches, and put alternate layers of peaches and sugar
in a stone jar; then add alcohol. Cover closely, having a heavy piece of
cloth under cover of jar.
Tutti-Frutti
Put one pint brandy into a stone jar, add the various fruits as they
come into market; to each quart of fruit add the same quantity of sugar,
and stir the mixture each morning until all the fruit has been added.
Raspberries, strawberries, apricots, peaches, cherries, and pineapples
are the best to use.
Canned Red Peppers
Wash one peck red peppers, cut a slice from stem end of each, and remove
seeds; then cut in thin strips by working around and around the peppers,
using scissors or a sharp vegetable knife. Cover with boiling water, let
stand two minutes, drain, and plunge into ice-water. Let stand ten
minutes, again drain, and pack solidly into pint glass jars. Boil one
quart vinegar and two cups sugar fifteen minutes. Pour over peppers to
overflow jars, cover, and keep in a cold place.
Preserved Melon Rind
Pare and cut in strips the rind of ripe melons. Soak in alum water to
cover, allowing two teaspoons powdered alum to each quart of water. Heat
gradually to boiling-point and cook slowly ten minutes. Drain, cover
with ice-water, and let stand two hours; again drain, and dry between
towels. Weigh, allow one pound sugar to each pound of fruit, and one cup
water to each pound of sugar. Boil sugar and water ten minutes. Add
melon rind, and cook until tender. Remove rind to a stone jar, and cover
with syrup. Two lemons cut in slices may be cooked ten minutes in the
syrup.
Tomato Preserve
1 lb. yellow pear tomatoes
1 lb. sugar
2 ozs. preserved Canton ginger
2 lemons
Wipe tomatoes, cover with boiling water, and let stand until skins may
be easily removed. Add sugar, cover, and let stand over night. In the
morning pour off syrup and boil until quite thick; skim, then add
tomatoes, ginger, and lemons which have been sliced and the seeds
removed. Cook until tomatoes have a clarified appearance.
PICKLING
Pickling is preserving in any salt or acid liquor.
Spiced Currants
7 lbs. currants
5 lbs. brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons clove
1 pint vinegar
Pick over currants, wash, drain, and remove stems. Put in a preserving
kettle, add sugar, vinegar, and spices tied in a piece of muslin. Heat
to boiling-point, and cook slowly one and one-half hours. Store in a
stone jar and keep in a cool place. Spiced currants are a delicious
accompaniment to cold meat.
Sweet Pickled Peaches
½ peck peaches
2 lbs. brown sugar
1 pint vinegar
1 oz. stick cinnamon
Cloves
Boil sugar, vinegar, and cinnamon twenty minutes. Dip peaches quickly in
hot water, then rub off the fur with a towel. Stick each peach with four
cloves. Put into syrup, and cook until soft, using one-half peaches at a
time.
Sweet Pickled Pears
Follow recipe for Sweet Pickled Peaches, using pears in place of
peaches.
Chili Sauce
12 medium-sized ripe tomatoes
1 pepper, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons clove
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
Peel tomatoes and slice. Put in a preserving kettle with remaining
ingredients. Heat gradually to boiling-point, and cook slowly two and
one-half hours.
Ripe Tomato Pickle
3 pints tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup chopped celery
4 tablespoons chopped red pepper
4 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons salt
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons mustard seed
½ teaspoon clove
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 cups vinegar
Mix ingredients in order given. Put in a stone jar and cover. This
uncooked mixture must stand a week before using, but may be kept a year.
Ripe Cucumber Pickle
Cut cucumbers in halves lengthwise. Cover with alum water, allowing two
teaspoons powdered alum to each quart of water. Heat gradually to
boiling-point, then let stand on back of range two hours. Remove from
alum water and chill in ice-water. Make a syrup by boiling five minutes
two pounds sugar, one pint vinegar, with two tablespoons each of whole
cloves and stick cinnamon tied in a piece of muslin. Add cucumbers and
cook ten minutes. Remove cucumbers to a stone jar, and pour over the
syrup. Scald syrup three successive mornings, and return to cucumbers.
Unripe Cucumber Pickles (Gherkins)
Wipe four quarts small unripe cucumbers. Put in a stone jar and add one
cup salt dissolved in two quarts boiling water and let stand three days.
Drain cucumbers from brine, bring brine to boiling-point, pour over
cucumbers, and again let stand three days; repeat. Drain, wipe
cucumbers, and pour over one gallon boiling water in which one
tablespoon alum has been dissolved. Let stand six hours, then drain from
alum water. Cook cucumbers ten minutes, a few at a time, in one-fourth
the following mixture heated to the boiling-point and boiled ten
minutes:—
1 gallon vinegar
4 red peppers
2 sticks cinnamon
2 tablespoons allspice berries
2 tablespoons cloves
Strain remaining liquor over pickles which have been put in a stone jar.
Chopped Pickles
4 quarts chopped green tomatoes
¾ cup salt
2 teaspoons pepper
3 teaspoons mustard
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons allspice
3 teaspoons cloves
½ cup white mustard seed
4 green peppers, sliced
2 chopped onions
2 quarts vinegar
Add salt to tomatoes, cover, let stand twenty-four hours, and drain. Add
spices to vinegar, and heat to boiling-point; then add tomatoes,
peppers, and onions, bring to boiling-point, and cook fifteen minutes
after boiling-point is reached. Store in a stone jar and keep in a cool
place.
Spanish Pickles
1 peck green tomatoes, thinly sliced
4 onions, thinly sliced
1 cup salt
½ oz. cloves
½ oz. allspice berries
½ oz. peppercorns
½ cup brown mustard seed
1 lb. brown sugar
4 green peppers, finely chopped
Cider vinegar
Sprinkle alternate layers of tomatoes and onions with salt, and let
stand over night. In the morning drain, and put in a preserving kettle,
adding remaining ingredients, using enough vinegar to cover all. Heat
gradually to boiling-point and boil one-half hour.
Chow-Chow
2 quarts small green tomatoes
12 small cucumbers
3 red peppers
1 cauliflower
2 bunches celery
1 pint small onions
2 quarts string beans
¼ lb. mustard seed
2 oz. turmeric
½ oz. allspice
½ oz. pepper
½ oz. clove
Salt
1 gallon vinegar
Prepare vegetables and cut in small pieces, cover with salt, let stand
twenty-four hours, and drain. Heat vinegar and spices to boiling-point,
add vegetables, and cook until soft.
Pickled Onions
Peel small white onions, cover with brine, allowing one and one-half
cups salt to two quarts boiling water, and let stand two days; drain,
and cover with more brine; let stand two days, and again drain. Make
more brine and heat to boiling-point; put in onions and boil three
minutes. Put in jars, interspersing with bits of mace, white
peppercorns, cloves, bits of bay leaf, and slices of red pepper. Fill
jars to overflow with vinegar scalded with sugar, allowing one cup sugar
to one gallon vinegar. Cork while hot.