Girl's home manual of cookery, home management, home nursing and laundry

Corn. Remove husk and silk, cut grains from husk with sharp knife. , Peas. Shell and wash. String Beans. Wash, remove coarse strings, slice into short pieces. Beans should be young. ir y Syrups for Canning. 1 cup sugar. 1 cup Sugar. 1 cup) stgar. 1% cups water. 1 cup water. 2 cups water. Method. Put sugar and water into a granite saucepan, stir until sugar is ‘dissolved, bring to boiling point and boil ten minutes or longer without stirring, Fruits vary in sweetness or water according to the amount of sun or rain in a season. This must be thought of in selecting one of the above syrups. Use Syrup I. for peaches, pears, sweet plums and cherries, and for most berries. ; Use Syrup II. for watery fruits, acid fruits, and for other kinds if the season is a very wet one. Use Syrup III. for canning as by Method III., because of the evaporation during the cooking of fruit. It may also be used for other methods if the fruit is much sweeter and dryer than usual. Quantities. Large fruits require about one pint of syrup to fill each quart jar. Small fruits, because they pack closer, require rather less. Three Methods of Canning. (I.) Fruit Cooked With or Without Syrup in Steamer or Washboiler. Fill sterilized jars with prepared raw fruit, with or without syrup. Place lids lightly on. Stand jars in steamer over cold water, put lid on steamer, heat water to boiling point and boil 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from steamer, fill up to the brim with hot syrup, finish and make air-tight. See Rules 5 to 8. If a steamer is not available, use a wash boiler. Put a false bottom in boiler as for sterilizing jars. Stand preserve jars, prepared as above, on the false bottom, taking care they do not touch one another. Pour in warm water to come half way up the jars, bring water gradually to boiling point and boil ten minutes. Finish as by Rules 5 to 8. (II.) Fruit Cooked in Syrup in Oven. Fill sterilized hot jars with prepared taw fruit, cover with hot syrup. Remove air bubbles as by Rule 6. Place jars in a hot oven on a sheet of asbestos, or in a baking tin containing two inches of hot water. Cook fruit ten to fifteen minutes, Remove from oven, add more syrup to fill to the brim and finish by Rules 5 to 8. (III.) Fruit Cooked in Relays in a Syrup in a Saucepan. Make syrup in a fairly deep saucepan. Put prepared fruit into it in small quantities. As the fruit is cooked fill sterilized jars with it, shake down gently, fill to the brim with hot syrup, and finish by Rules 5 to 8. This method is suitable for a small quantity of fruit. Canned Tomatoes. Tomatoes, on account of the quantity of acid they contain, are easier than other vegetables to can. Remove skins, leave whole or slice, add one teaspoon salt to each quart. Place without water in a saucepan, bring to the boil and boil for ten minutes. Finish by Rules 5 to 8. Canned Vegetables. Corn, peas, beans, asparagus tips, may all be canned but require longer cooking than fruits. Prepare the vegetables as for ordinary cooking. Fill a jar with the prepared vegetable, add one teaspoon of salt to a quart jar, fill to the brim with cold water, adjust rubber and cover but do not tighten. Place in steamer or wash boiler (as for canning method I.), bring to boiling point and boil one hour. Remove from steamer, tighten covers and cool. The next day loosen spring fastener of cover and cook again as before for one hour. Remove from steamer.as before and tighten cover. Repeat this on the third day, and after the third cooking make air-tight again. By this method bacteria and spores should all be killed. Orange, Lemon, or Grapefruit Marmalade. Fruit. Bitter Seville oranges should be used for marmalade. If sweet oranges are used allow one lemon to every two oranges. A grapefruit is equal to two large lemons.