Food and health

Preserving. (A good method for peaches, apricots, and quinces.) Select firm and handsome fruit and prepare it carefully. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. (What is the measure of a pound of sugar ?) Place enough water in the kettle to cover the fruit, dissolve the sugar in the water, put the fruit into the kettle, and cook very gently until the fruit becomes a clear color. Rapid boiling spoils the shape of the fruit. Do not stir at all, but skim off any scum that rises to the top. When the fruit is done, put it with great care into the jars. If the sirup is thin, boil it down for a short time, and then fill the jar. Close the jar as in canning. Making jam and fruit butter. This is economical and very easy. It is nothing more than a fruit sauce, with a larger amount of sugar than usual to preserve it. Soft and somewhat imperfect fruit may be used. For jam proper allow a pint of sugar to a pound of fruit. Cook the fruit with enough water to prevent its sticking to the kettle, using as little as possible. Mash the fruit by stirring it once in a while as it cooks. When the fruit is soft, add the sugar, stir thoroughly, and cook gently for about five minutes. Test by cooling a spoonful on a saucer. The jam should thicken slightly. When ready, pour it into jelly glasses, or somewhat larger earthen jars — "jam pots." Seal, as directed for jelly. The fruit butter is even more like fruit sauce than is the jam, for it is softer than jam and contains less sugar. A cup or only a half cup of sugar to the pound of fruit is enough. Proceed exactly as in jam making. Apple butter may be flavored with spices and with ginger root and lemon juice. Quinces or a slice of pineapple may be cooked with the apples. Jelly making. Fruit contains a substance known as pectin, one of the carbohydrates, that jellies the fruit juice when the water in the juice is partially evaporated. Sugar helps in jellying, but no amount of sugar will set the jelly if there is no pectin. Some fruits have more than others, and also more when not overripe. Currants and firm apples are good jelly makers, and can be mixed with other fruits that do not jelly welF. Mellow summer apples do not set well, but crab apples do. Some one is experimenting with the use of the white layer of orange peel cooked with the fruit to help the setting of the jelly, and it seems to be working. well. (See recipes on page 302.) There is another step in this process, the straining out of the juice from the pulp. For this, prepare a jelly bag from firm cotton cloth which has been boiled and washed. This bag must be hung in such a way that the juice drops from the point of the bag into a bowl below. It may be hung upon a stick between two chairs, or upon the rod of a strong towel rack over a table. I . Apple jelly. Select tart, red-skinned apples, cut them in small pieces with the skins on, retain the cores, and put them in a kettle with cold water barely to cover. When thoroughly cooked and mashed, put this pulp into the jelly bag, and allow the juice to drip as long as it will. Do not squeeze the bag, nor stir the pulp, if you wish clear jelly. This dripping process is a matter of hours, and in the home kitchen may continue all night. Allow a pint of sugar or less to a pint of juice. Return the juice to the kettle, and allow it to simmer for twenty-five minutes or half an hour, skimming when necessary. In the meantime, heat the sugar, being careful not to melt or burn it. Stir the sugar gently into the juice, and boil five minutes. Test a little upon a saucer. It should show signs of jellying as it cools. Boil longer, if necessary. Finish as directed. Jelly often does not set until twenty-four hours have elapsed.