Cooking and castle-building

"To a quart of berries, fresh or canned, add a joint of water, and sugar to taste. Boil slightly, just enough to cook the fruit ; and when nearly done, add corn-starch, arrowroot, or wheat flour, wet with cold water, to thicken the juice and form a mush or jelly of the fruit. Serve cold, with sweet cream." "Kate, I never ate a more delicate, delicious dessert than these fruit mushes, and they alone ought to render your book popular. What a charming dish for children and invalids, either strawberry raspberry, or blackberry mush must make ! I am surprised I never heard of fruitmush before this summer."' "Emeline, I think currant jam very much nicer than currant jelly It has a fresher, better flavor, which I presume is on account of its not being beaten and bruised, and then squeezed through a rag. For jam, bruise the fruit in an earthen bowl, just enough to break the skins and set the juice free. Put in a preserving-kettle. Simmer gently for twenty minutes, skimming carefully, after it begins to boil. At the expiration of the twenty minutes add three-fourths of a pound of white sugar to each pint of crushed currants. Simmer two or three minutes longer, and put in glass cans or jars. One part red raspberries to four parts currants, changes, and, for many persons, improves the flavor." "A great many ladies," observed Emeline, " have trouble in making jelly ; and I hope you will be able to make clear the reason why it sometimes is jelly and sometimes is not, when precisely the same method is followed." " The same method might be followed in making," I replied, " and yet very different conditions exist. For instance, the fruit might have been gathered at the wrong time, or the sugar have been imperfect. Currants should be gathered for jelly before they are fully ripe ; as soon as red, and soft enough for the juice to run freely. Bruise the currants and squeeze through a strong cloth. Measure the juice, and put not more than five pints in the preserving-kettle at once. Simmer gently for twenty minutes after it begins to simmer, skimming it meanwhile. Then add one pound of best loaf sugar for each pint of juice. Stir, and as soon as perfectly dissolved, and the jelly has boiled up once, remove and put into glasses. Cover when cold. It is well to warm the sugar while the juice is simmering, as that hastens the process. When the fruit is gathered at the right time, and the sugar perfect in quality, this method will always insure perfect jelly, of a beautiful color." "Kate, as your skill is to be tested to-day in making my favorite among pies, I shall, when we go into the house, read you what Beecher, in 'Eyes and Ears,' says on the subject of apple-pie." When our pie was placed on the table at dinner, Emeline got her book and read, —