Domestic science, principles and application

Method 1. Cooking Fruit in a Sirup. — 1 . Boil the sugar and water together 5 or 10 minutes, making a thin sirup. Put in the fruit and cook until tender. Cooking a small amount at a time preserves the shape of the fruit. 2. When fruit is tender, set the empty jar from the boiling water into a pan containing a little hot water, or on a wet, hot cloth. This keeps the jar hot and avoids the danger of its breaking. 3. Put a new steriHzed rubber on the jar. Pack the fruit in carefully, arranging it to look well, and fill the jar to overflowing with the hot sirup. Put on the sterilized top and screw down tight. 4. See that no fruit around the edge prevents an airtight seal. Set each jar upside down on a board away from any draft and let stand over night. tde [illustration: Fig. 31. Canned fruit, labeled and ready for storing.] 5. On the following day wipe off the jars, see that each is perfectly sealed, and label. Store them in a dark closet. If any jar is not perfectly sealed, open it, boil the fruit, and recan as before. Method 2. Cooking Fruit Whole in Jars. — Clean fruit and pack neatly and closely into the sterilized jars. Fill jars to the top with sirup made as in Method 1. Baking. — Set the jars in a pan containing an inch or two of hot water. Set the pan with the jars in a hot oven and bake 20 or 30 minutes, or until hot all through and bubbles rise in the jars. Steaming. — Set the filled jars on a rack in a boiler containing 3 or more inches of hot water and steam about 20 minutes. When bubbles rise to the top and the contents of the jars are hot all through, remove jars, fill with hot sirup to overflowing, and seal, as in Method 1. Note. — Cook hard fruit, such as quince, in boiling water until nearly soft and then in sirup with Method 1. 1. Canned Peaches Method. — Wipe peaches and put in boiling water, allowing them to stand just long enough to loosen the skins. Remove the skins and either cook fruit at once, that it may not discolor, or drop into cold water. Make a sirup in the proportion of 1 pint of sugar to 1 pint of water and bring to a boil in a preserving kettle. Put fruit in and cook 10 or 15 minutes or until tender. Bring to a full boil and then fill jars according to previous directions. The fruit may be cut in halves and a few of the stones put into the sirup for flavor. One section of the class may can according to Method 1 and the other section may follow Method 2. {Basis for 2 girls, 1 can.) 2. Canned Pears Method. — ^Wash and pare the fruit. Cook whole with or without stems; or, remove stems, cut in quarters or halves, and core. Put at once into cold water. Make a sirup of 1 pint of sugar to 2 pints of water, bring to a boil, drain the pears and place in the sirup. Boil until tender. Place each piece separately in the jar with a fork; then cover brim full with the boiling sirup, and seal. Bartlett pears are best for canning. {Basis for 2 girls, 1 can.) 3. Canned Plums Method. — ^Wash the plums and prick them to prevent bursting. Add the plums to the sirup (1 cupful sugar to 2 cupfuls water), cook until tender, and can according to Method 1. 4. Canned Strawberries