Buckeye cookery

Allow equal weights sugar and plums; add sufficient water to the sugar to make a thick syrup, boil, skim, and pour over the plums (previously washed, pricked and placed in a stone jar), and cover with a plate. The next day drain off syrup, boil, skim, and pour in over plums; repeat this for three or four days, place plums and syrup in the preserving-kettle, and boil very slowly for half an hour. Put up in stone jars, cover with papers like jellies, or seal in cans.—Mrs. J. H. Shearer. PLUM SWEETMEATS. When Damson plums are perfectly ripe, peel and divide them, taking out the stones; put them over a gentle heat to cook in their own juice; when soft rub them through a sieve, and return to the stove, adding just enough sugar to sweeten, a little cinnamon, and, when nearly done, wine in quantity to suit the taste. This is done more to keep the sweetmeats than for the flavor, as self-sealing cans are not used here, and all preserves are pasted up with the white of eggs. The common wine of the country is thin and sour and is much used in cookery. —Mrs. L. S. Williston, Heidelberg, Germany. QUINCE AND APPLE PRESERVES. Take equai weights of quinces and sugar, pare, core, leave whole or cut up, as preferred, boil tiil tender in water enough to cover, . carefully take out. and put on a platter, add sugar to the water, are “ " ie b so) stabs ah A ae eg DEE A SA eae IR ee ah gy PRESERVES, replace fruit and boil slowly till clear, place in jars and pour syrup over them. To increase the quantity without adding sugar, take half or two-thirds in weight as many fair sweet apples as there are quinces, pare, quarter, and core; after removing quinces, put apples into the syrup, and boil until they begin to look red and clear, and are tender; place quinces and apples in jar in alternate layers, and cover with syrup. For the use of parings and cores, see ‘“‘ Quince Jelly.” Apples alone may be preserved in the same way. : STRAWBERRY PRESERVES. Put two pounds of sugar in a bright tin-pan over a kettle of boiling water, and pour into it half a pint of boiling water; when the sugar is dissolved and hot, put in fruit, and then place the pan directly on the stove or range ; let boil ten minutes or longer if the fruit is not clear, gently (or the berries will be broken) take up with .a small strainer, and keep hot while the syrup is boiled down until thick and rich; drain off the thin syrup from the cans, and pour the rich syrup over the berries to fill, and screw down the tops immediately. The thin syrup poured off may be brought to boiling, and then bottled and sealed, to be used for sauces and drinks. ToMATO PRESERVES. Scald and peel carefully small perfectly-formed tomatoes, not. too ripe (yellow pear-shaped are best), prick with a needle to pre- vent bursting, add an equal amount of sugar by weight, let lie over — ‘night, then pour off all juice into a preserving-kettle, and boil until it is a thick syrup, clarifying with white of an egg; add tomatoes and boil carefully until they look transparent. A piece or two of root-ginger, or one lemon to a pound of fruit sliced thin and cooked with the fruit, may be added. WATERMELON PRESERVES. Pare off outside green rind, cut in pieces two inches long, weigh, _ throw into cold water, skim out, add a heaping tea-spoon each of salt and pulverized alum to two gallons of rinds, let stand until salt and alum dissolve, fill the kettle with cold water, and place on top _ of stove where it will slowly come to boiling point, covering witha large plate so as to keep rinds under; boil until they can be easily 249° pierced with a fork, drain them from the water, and put into a syrup — Ral): S508 PRESERVES.