Every-day dishes and every-day work

Cook in a small quantity of boiling water. Fruit should be cooked by stewing or gentle simmering ; hard boiling will destroy the fine flavor of all fruits, and especially of berries and other small fruits. Cinnamon, cloves, or other spices should not be added, as their stronger flavors deaden or obliterate the natural flavor of the fruit, which should always be preserved as perfectly as possible. If desirable to add some foreign flavor, let it be the flavor of another fruit, or the perfume of flowers. For instance, flavor apple with lemon, pineapple, quince, or rose-water. Apples are best cooked by baking. Pears and quinces are also excellent baked. The oven should be [57] only moderately hot ; if the heat is too great, they brown on the outside before they are done throughout. By any method of cooking, pains should be taken to cook together fruit of uniform variety, size, and degree of hardness ; and if it is to be cut in pieces, care should be taken to have the pieces of uniform size. Baked Apples. — Moderately tart apples or very juicy sweet ones are best for baking. Select ripe apples, free from imperfections, and of nearly equal size. Wipe carefully and remove the blossom ends. Water sufficient to cover the bottom of the baking-dish should be added if the fruit is not very juicy. If the apples are sour and quite firm, it is a good "way to pare them before baking, and then place in an earthen pie-dish with a little hot water. If they incline to brown too quickly, cover the tops with a granite-ware pie-dish. If the sirup dries out, add a little more hot water. When done, set them away till nearly cold, then transfer to a glass dish, pour the sirup, which should be thick and amber colored, over them. Sour apples are excellent pared, cored, and baked with the centers filled with sugar, jelly, or a mixture of chopped raisins and dates. They should be put into a shallow earthen dish with water sufficient to cover the bottom, baked in a quick oven, and basted often with the sirup. Sweet apples are best baked without paring. Baked apples are usually served as a relish, but with a dressing of cream they make a most delicious dessert. Citron Apples. — Select a few tart apples of a uniform degree of hardness, and remove the cores. Unless the skins are very tender, it is better to pare them. Fit in a piece of apple large enough to fill one. third of the lower part of the cavity ; then fill the remainder with bits of chopped citron and sugar. If the skins have been removed, place the stuffed apples on a flat earthen dish with a tablespoonful of water in the bottom ; cover closely, and bake till perfectly tender, but not till they have fallen to pieces. If the skins are left on, they may be baked without covering. When cold, serve in separate dishes, with or without a spoonful or two of whipped cream on each apple. Lemon Apples. — Prepare tart apples the same as for citron apples. Fill the cavities made by removing the cores with a mixture of grated lemon and sugar, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over each apple, and bake. Serve with or without whipped cream.