Every-day dishes and every-day work

To Can Raspberries, Blackberries, and Other Small Fruits. — Select none but good, sound berries ; those freshly picked are best; reject any green, overripe, mashed, or worm-eaten fruit. If necessary to wash the berries, do so by putting a quart at a time in a colander, and dipping the dish carefully into a pan of clean water, letting it stand for a moment. If the water is very dirty, repeat the process in a second water. Drain thoroughly, and if the fruit is to be cooked previously to putting in the cans, put it into a porcelain kettle with a very small quantity of water, and heat slowly to boiling. If sugar is to be used, have it hot, but do not add it until the fruit is boiling ; and before doing so, if there is much juice, dip out the surplus, and leave the berries with only a small quantity, as the sugar will have a tendency to draw out more juice, thus furnishing plenty for sirup. Raspberries are so juicy that they need scarcely more than a pint of water to two quarts of fruit. The fruit may be steamed in the cans if preferred. When thoroughly scalded, if sugar is to be used, fill the can with a boiling sirup made by dissolving the requisite amount of sugar in water ; if to be canned without sugar, fill up the can with boiling water or juice. Seal the fruit according to directions previously given. To Can Gooseberries. — Select such as are smooth and turning red, but not fully ripe ; wash and remove the stems and blossom ends. For three quarts of fruit, allow one quart of water. Heat slowly to boiling ; cook fifteen minutes, add a cupful of sugar which has been heated dry in the oven ; boil two or three minutes longer, and can. To Can Peaches. — Select fruit which is perfectly ripe and sound, but not very much softened. Freestone peaches are the best. Put a few at a time in a wire basket, and dip into boiling water for a moment, and then into cold water, to cool the fruit sufficiently to handle with comfort. The skins may then be rubbed or peeled off easily, if done quickly, and the fruit divided into halves ; or wipe with a clean cloth to remove all dirt and the wool, and with a silver knife cut in halves, remove the stone, and then pare each piece, dropping it into cold water at once, to prevent discoloration. Peaches cut before being pared are less likely to break in pieces while removing the stones. When ready, pour a cupful of water in the bottom of the kettle, and fill with peaches, scattering sugar among the layers, in the proportion of a heaping tablespoonful to a quart of fruit. Heat slowly, boil fifteen minutes or longer till a silver fork can be easily passed through the pieces. Can in the usual way, and seal ; or fill the cans with the halved peaches, and place them in a boiler of warm water with something underneath to avoid breaking ; cook until perfectly tender. Have ready a boiling sirup prepared with one-half cup of sugar and two cups of water, and pour into each can all that it will hold, remove air bubbles, cover, and seal. A few of the pits may be cooked in the sirup, and removed before adding to the fruit, when their special flavor is desired.