Valuable cooking receipts

It is not many years since every good housewife felt called upon at least once a year to take a great deal of trouble in preserving a supply of fruit for use during the winter months. The purchase of fruit-jars, the picking, or purchase, and sorting of fruit, the purchase of sugar, the boiling and preparation of the syrup, oftentimes in the hottest weather, was a task which many a good housewife looked forward to with some trepidation, while the uncertainties attending the keeping qualities of the preserves, after they were manufactured, made this a rather undesirable feature in housekeeping.

Within a few years, however, all this has become unnecessary; the manufacture of preserves on a large scale, with skilled labor and improved appliances, has proven, as in many other branches of manufacture, a great success; and while there are some thrifty housewives who still think their “home-made” preserves are better than the “store” article, it is undoubtedly true that the high-class preserves, such as are sold by Thurber, Park & Tilford, Acker, Merrall & Condit, and other first-class grocers, are decidedly fine, and in a number of cases far more appetizing and delicate than the home-made article. I say this with all due respect for the skill shown by many careful, conscientious housewives throughout the land, but in this case the doctrine “survival of the fittest,” I think, is quite applicable. Too many people are apt to sit down, fold their hands, and disclaim against anything not made at home, at least as far as preserves and candied fruits are concerned. The sword, I must admit, cuts both ways. While I have wrestled carefully and conscientiously at many houses with alleged preserves made at home, I have suffered the “pangs of Tantalus” from atrocious compounds put on the market by conscienceless manufacturers. For the benefit of those who desire to “do up” their own fruits I append a few trustworthy receipts. For preserving, the “Almy jar” is particularly to be recommended.

In using this jar, fill it with the desired fruit while cold. Make a syrup of sugar (quantity as given below) by boiling well to prevent fermentation, or it can be put on fruit dry. Fill jar with fruit, pour sugar over it until jar is full half-way up the neck; screw on covers of jars without rubber rings; put a board indented with holes in bottom of wash-boiler and stand jars on it; fill boiler with cold water up to neck of jars; boil (time necessary for different fruits is given below), then remove jars one by one, take off covers, fill with boiling water, put on rubber rings and screw covers on tightly as possible. The same process is used in preserving all kinds of fruits.

The amount of sugar to a quart jar should be:

Cider may be kept fresh and sweet by simply heating it until it throws off steam, then putting into hot jars and sealing immediately.

Apple-Sauce ready for table use or pies may be preserved by putting in hot jars and sealing at once. Remember cold fruit requires cold jars, hot fruit requires hot jars.

To open the Jar.—Take the blade of a penknife, or any other thin instrument, and push the rubber in towards the neck at the O on the shoulder of the jar. The air will enter and the lid will easily unscrew.

Currant-Jelly.—One pound of granulated sugar to each pint of juice. Squeeze the currants and boil juice twenty minutes, then add sugar, which should be heating while the juice boils; stir well together until sugar is well dissolved.

Wine Jelly.—One box of Cox’s gelatine, dissolved in one pint of cold water, one pint of wine, one quart of boiling water, one quart of granulated sugar, and three lemons.

In making Jam, the first thing to be looked after is the fruit. As a general rule, this should be fully ripe, fresh, sound, and scrupulously clean and dry. It should be gathered in the morning of a sunny day, as it will then possess its finest flavor. The best sugar is the cheapest; indeed, there is no economy in stinting the sugar, either as to quality or necessary quantity, for inferior sugar is wasted in scum, and the jam will not keep unless a sufficient proportion of sugar is boiled with the fruit. At the same time too large a proportion of sugar will destroy the natural flavor of the fruit, and in all probability make the jam candy. The sugar should be dried and broken up into small pieces before it is mixed with the fruit. If it is left in large lumps it will be a long time in dissolving, and if it is crushed to powder it will make the jam look thick instead of clear and bright. The quantity to be used must depend in every instance on the nature of the fruit. Fruit is generally boiled in a brass or copper pan uncovered, and this should be kept perfectly bright and clean. Great care should be taken not to place the pan flat upon the fire, as this will be likely to make the jam burn to the bottom of the pan. If it cannot be placed upon a stove plate, set it upon a slab of soap-stone or marble over the fire. Glass jars are much the best for jam, as through them the condition of the fruit can be observed. Whatever jars are used, however, the jam should be examined every three weeks for the first two months, and if there are any signs of either mould or fermentation it should be boiled over again. If you do not want to use the patent glass jar, the best way to cover jam is to lay a piece of paper the size of the jar upon the jam, to stretch over the top a piece of writing-paper or tissue-paper which has been dipped in white of egg, and to press the sides closely down. When dry, this paper will be stiff and tight like a drum. The strict economist may use gum dissolved in water instead of white of egg. The object aimed at is to exclude the air entirely. Jam should be stored in a cool, dry place, but not in one into which fresh air never enters. Damp has a tendency to make the fruit go mouldy and heat to make it ferment. Some cooks cover the jam as soon as possible after it is poured out, but the generally-approved plan is to let the fruit grow cold before covering it. In making jam, continual watchfulness is required, as the result of five minutes’ inattention may be loss and disappointment.

Canning Tomatoes.—Scald your tomatoes; remove the skins, cut in small pieces, put in a porcelain kettle, salt to taste, and boil fifteen minutes; have tin cans filled with hot water; pour the water out and fill with tomatoes; solder tops on immediately with shellac and rosin melted together.

In canning, it is customary at hotels to follow the same process as in preserving, with the exception that not nearly so much sugar is used.

To Can Quinces.—Cut the quinces into thin slices like apples for pies. To one quart jarful of quince take a coffee-saucer and a half of sugar and a coffee-cup of water; put the sugar and water on the fire, and when boiling put in the quinces; have ready the jars with their fastenings, stand the jars in a pan of boiling water on the stove, and when the quince is clear and tender put rapidly into the jars, fruit and syrup together. The jars must be filled so that the syrup overflows, and fastened up tight as quickly as possible.

Green Tomato Pickle.—One peck green tomatoes sliced, six large onions sliced, one tea-cup of salt over both; mix thoroughly and let remain over-night; pour off liquor in the morning and throw it away; mix two quarts of water and one of vinegar, and boil twenty minutes; drain and throw liquor away; take three quarts of vinegar, two pounds of sugar, two tablespoonfuls each of allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and mustard, and twelve green peppers chopped fine; boil from one to two hours. Put away in a stone crock.

Chili Sauce.—Eight quarts tomatoes, three cups of peppers, two cups of onions, three cups of sugar, one cup of salt, one and one-half quarts of vinegar, three teaspoonfuls of cloves, same quantity of cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls each of ginger and nutmeg; boil three hours; chop tomatoes, peppers, and onions very fine; bottle up and seal.

Hot Sauce.—Six tablespoonfuls of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one egg; beat butter, sugar, and yolks together, the white, beaten to a stiff froth; add a teacupful of boiling water and one teaspoonful of vanilla.

The best way to prepare a new iron kettle for use is to fill it with clean potato parings; boil them for an hour or more, then wash the kettle with hot water, wipe it dry, and rub it with a little lard; repeat the rubbing for half a dozen times after using. In this way you will prevent rust and all the annoyances liable to occur in the use of a new kettle.

A new antiseptic is described by the Journal of Chemistry. It is a double salt of borate of potassium and sodium; and is made by dissolving in water equal portions of chloride of potassium, nitrate of sodium, and boracic acid, filtering and evaporating to dryness. It does not give a bad taste to food. Butter may be kept sweet by it at ordinary temperatures for a week. Meat, game, etc., dipped in a weak solution remain pure for a long time. A piece of meat well rubbed with the salt and laid away two years ago is now in perfectly good condition. Eggs dipped in a solution of this antiseptic remain good for a long period.

Morning Tonic.—An agreeable and effective tonic for the correction of any discomfort arising from a too heavy supper the night before may be taken in the morning before breakfast, as follows: One wineglassful of “Hunyadi Water,” fifteen minutes afterward a goblet of “Apollinaris Water”; wait half an hour before breakfasting. The use of any alcoholic beverages before breakfast, such as cocktails, etc., is to be deprecated, as, aside from any moral point, it tends to promote indigestion, creates a false appetite, and is in every way injurious to the system. The man who resorts to it for “toning up,” or as an “appetizer,” deceives himself.

Dyspepsia Cure.—One-half an ounce each of pepsin and bismuth, one-quarter of an ounce cubebs, and two and a half grains lime; mix well and take a pinch of the powder fifteen minutes after each meal. I have never known this remedy to fail when tried.