The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

they mash, and are apt to mould exactly as if gathered in damp weather. Asparagus, to Bottle. — Scrape and cleanse the asparagus, cut the stalks into even lengths, and tie them up into bundles, one of which will fit one of Rylands’ bottles (previously mentioned), then put them on in salted, boiling water, and boil for five minutes, after which rinse them in cold water, and dry on a clean cloth ; now place them into the bottles, allowing a bundle to each, and have ready boiling some water salted as for cooking the vegetable, and fill the jars right up to the top ; fit on the glass top (use the Climax bottles with the vent-hole in the lid) , stand the bottles so filled in a kettle of water, swathed in hay to prevent their cracking when the outer water boils, bring the water to a boil, and let them cook steadily for one and a half hours. Now cork and wax up the hole as described in Chapter I., and let the bottles get perfectly cold in the water they are cooked in without moving ; then stand them on a moist cloth in a warm corner, fasten down hermetically, wipe the bottles dry, and store, after labelling them with the date of the bottling. Articholce Bottoms, to Bottle. — Choose bottles just large enough to take the bottoms easily. Trim the artichokes in the usual way, and boil them sharply till the leaves can be lifted out with ease (this will take only a few minutes), then scoop out the choke, rinse the bottoms for a minute in cold water, and drain on a clean cloth. Have ready boiling salted water, scald out the bottles to prevent their bursting, pack in the bottoms one on the other, and fill up with the boiling salted water, which should cover them completely ; fasten on the lids, and boil as in the recipe for asparagus. Broad and French beans can be bottled in precisely the same way, only remember that the broad beans must be young, and that the French ones should be “strung” as for ordinary boiling. Both should be parboiled, rinsed, and drained, and then finished off in the bottles with boiling salted water. Cardoons, to Bottle. — Choose white, and very sound cardoons, cut the inner leaves into three inch lengths, removing all the prickly parts at the sides, blanch them for twenty minutes in salted water, then rinse, drain, and finish off as before. When wanted for use, they must be drained, and cooked in sauce, milk, &c., till tender, being careful only to simmer them. Cauliflowers can, if liked, be preserved in the same way, after well soaking and cleansing them, trimming them so that they stand upright in the bottle or jar. They also are finished off, when taken out, in sauce, &c. Celery and celeriac, trimmed as for cooking, and parboiled, can be preserved in the same way. Celeiy is so useful in rheumatic cases that it is well worth bottling. Carrots, young turnips, &c., can all be bottled by these rules. Green Peas, to Bottle. — There are several ways of doing this. The regular way, as done by professional canners, is I believe this : Gather the peas on a dry day (as you must every other fruit or vegetable to preserve), shell them carefully, and pick them over to ensure their all being sound and perfect, and as even in size as possible ; blanch them with a