The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

Grapes, to Keep. — When cutting the bunches from the vine, be careful always to leave a joint of the stalk on them ; now hang them up from a cord in a dry room, so that the bunches do not touch each other in any way, for unless the ah- can pass freely round and through them the grapes will mould and spoil. Many housewives close the ends of the stalk with sealing wax. Examine them at intervals to see how they are keeping. Artichoke Bottoms, to Keep. — Pull the artichokes from the stalk just before they are fully grown (as this pulling draws out all the strings from the bottoms) . and boil them till the leaves come off at a touch then strip the bottoms from the leaves and choke, and set them to dry on tins in a cool oven. Repeat this drying till they are quite desiccated, which you will know is completed if on holding them up to the light they appear transparent. Now put them in paper bags, hang them up in a dry place, and they will keep good for a year. When required for use steep them in warm water for three or four hours, changing the water two or three times in the process. Lemons and Limes, to Keep. — These may be kept by the same recipe as is recommended for walnuts, i.e., in sand ; or they can be hung up in nets in such a way that the air can get all round them freely, being careful they do not touch one another in any way. Abroad they are preserved in crocks full of cold water, which is changed weekly, care being taken to keep them well immersed. Foliage, to Dry, for Decorative Purposes.- — Take nice asparagus fronds, maidenhair, or any other ferns, or autumnal foliage, and lay it carefully between sheets of clean blotting paper, and weight these down evenly under heavy books ; next day turn them, iron them with a rather cool iron, and return them to whatever press you choose (the napkin press is capital for this purpose). Repeat this turning every twenty-four hours till the leaves are quite dry and tough, but not brittle, and still preserve their colour. The great secret about this process is to do it as slowly as possible, for if the least hurried the leaves will crisp up and discolour. After use they should be returned to their paper and press, and, if carefully treated, will last a long time. Maidenhair prepared thus is specially valuable, as it keeps both colour and shape admirably, and naturally does not wither as fresh gathered fern is apt to do in a hot room. Some people brush ferns over when dry with a very weak solution of gum arabic, to which a drop or two of green colour may or may not be added, as you choose. Rose Petal Conserve. — Make a syrup with lib. of best cane loaf sugar and as little good rose water as you can manage ; take lib. of rose leaves of the oldfashioned red cabbage kind, and dry these in the shade, after which wash them for a minute in boiling water ; then drain and dry them, and add them to the syrup with a spoonful of good orange flower water; cook this to a marmalade, and pot in the usual way. This is a Greek recipe, and abroad is much liked, though for English taste it is distinctly sweet.