Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

459. Wash the fruit, and remove stems and imper- fections. Cut large fruit into pieces. With watery fruits, such as grapes and currants, use no water. With apples and quinces use enough water to cover them. Cook the fruit until the juice flows, crushing it with a spoon. Remove it from the fire and strain it through a pointed bag hung from the ceiling or between two chairs. Do not squeeze the bag at first ; when nearly all has strained through, the bag may be squeezed. Keep this last juice by itself ; the jelly made from it will not be clear, but can be used for jelly-cake, etc. Measure the juice, and put an equal quantity of sugar in the oven to heat. Boil the juice until the jelly thickens slightly when dropped on a cold plate. Pour into sterilized jelly glasses, and set aside to harden. For quince jelly, cut quinces into quarters without paring or coring, cover with water, and cook until soft. Strain, and proceed according to General Directions for Making Jelly. 460. Jelly must be covered to protect it from mold. Paraffin is convenient for this purpose. 288 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY To cover jelly with paraffin. — Melt the paraffin in a saucepan and pour it over the jelly to the depth of about one-eighth of an inch. If, on cooling, any bubbles form, exposing the surface of the jelly, add another coat of paraffin. Helpful Hints about Canning and Jelly- making 461. 1. Use an enamelled- ware saucepan, and a wooden spoon. Why ? 2. Use the best granulated sugar obtainable ; avoid any on which a bluish scum forms in boiling. 3. After filling fruit- jars, let them stand upside down over night. In the morning, screw the tops down as tightly as possible, wipe the jars carefully, label them, and put them away in a cool, dark place. 4. Fruit that is unusually watery, as it is likely to be just after a rain, may not make good jelly. In order to evaporate the surplus water, the juice has to be cooked so long that the pectin becomes sticky. 5. Before using the jelly-bag sterilize it by dipping it in boiling water. CHAPTER XI SPECIAL DIETS Section 1. Diet for Babies — Special Preparations of Milk Child-building is an art. — Anna Virginia Miller. 462. Nature's food for a baby, its mother's milk, is the best food it can have. It is as perfectly adapted for the baby as cow's milk is for the calf, the egg for the unhatched chick, and the seed for the seedling. 463. Difference between cow's milk and "mother's" milk. — The food next best to this is that most nearly like it. Cow's milk has about the same percentage of water as woman's milk ; but it has more proteid and mineral matter, a little less fat, and not nearly so much sugar. 1 It is also thicker than the latter, and 1 AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF COW'S MILK AND WOMAN'S MILK Water Fat Sugar Proteids Mineral Matter Cow's milk . . Woman's milk 87.50 87.30 3.50 4.00 4.30 7.00 4.00 1.50 .70 .20 289 290 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY slightly acid when delivered, while a woman's milk is always alkaline.