Foods and home making

idded. Because the fruit needs but little cooking, a flavor more like that of fresh fruit is obtained. Although the use of pectin requires the use of more sugar, the finished product contains a slightly smaller proportion of sugar than when no commercial pectin is used. The reason for this is that, because so little cooking is required, there is little evaporation. Commercial pectin may be used not only for making jelly but also for making jams, conserves, and other fruit mixtures. When using commercial pectin in making jams or conserves, the fruit should be crushed or cut into bits. During the short cooking the heat would not permeate large pieces of fruit. Then the fruit would not keep. A recipe for a conserve made with four different fruits and commercial pectin follows : FOUR-FRUIT CONSERVE 2 cups red raspberries 1 cup water 2 cups gooseberries 6§ pounds (13 cups) sugar 2 cups currants 1 cup commercial pectin 2 cups cherries Wash all the fruits. Stem the gooseberries and currants. Seed the cherries. Put all the fruits in a preserving kettle and crush them with a potato masher. Add the water. Boil gently for 75 minutes. Add the sugar. Heat again and let boil vigorously for 1 minute. Remove from the fire. Add the commercial pectin. Skim. Pour into scalded glasses. Pour hot paraffin over the hot fruit. When cool, pour more paraffin on the top of each glass. Cover, label, and store. Yield : 12 glasses. The four different fruits make a conserve of delicious flavor. How is jelly made? Underripe fruit containing both pectin and acid is best for making jelly. JELLY Wash the fruit. Remove stems from small fruits. Cut large fruits in pieces. Do nor pare them or remove the core and seeds unless they are decayed. Add water to the fruits. To the small juicy fruits add 53« Food Preservation very little water — i cup water to 4 quarts fruit. Measure the larger fruits. Add § as much water as fruit. Cook the fruit (boiling it gently) until tender. Mash the fruit when it is tender. Pour the cooked fruit into a flannel bag. Let the juice strain through the bag. Measure the strained juice. It is important to know whether there is much or little pectin in the fruit juice. The quantity of sugar to be added is determined by the amount of pectin. The more pectin there is present, the greater the quantity of sugar required. To test for pectin, pour 1 tablespoon of the fruit juice in a test tube or small dish. Add 1 tablespoon of alcohol as directed in Experiment 35, page 536. Let stand without stirring. If the juice becomes solid, use equal measures of fruit juice and sugar. If from | to f of the juice forms jelly, use f as much sugar as fruit juice. If less than \ of the juice forms jelly, use \ as much sugar as fruit juice. Put the sugar in a pan or bowl and heat it in a “ cool ” oven. Put the juice on to boil. Let it boil for about 8 minutes. Add the hot sugar. (Cold sugar stops the boiling. Jelly should be made as quickly as possible. Jelly may fail to stiffen if cooked too long.) Continue the cooking until the mixture becomes thick. Test the jelly for proper stiffness by observing how it drops from a spooti. The mixture is stiff enough when two thick drops formed side by side fall from the edge of the spoon.