The home cook book

When baking apples do not remove the skins, even if it does not give the dish so sightly an appearance. Next to the skin lies the aromatic portion of the fruit. It is lost in paring. Choose the largest apples for baking. Wipe them clean, ar- range in a granite or earthen dish, pouring a little water over and sprinkling with brown sugar. Bake in a moderate oven till soft, and cook to the core. Allow two or three hours if necessary. Turn occasionally during baking so they will cook evenly. TO BAKE SWEET APPLES Proceed as in the foregoing receipt, omitting the sugar. To turn a dripping-pan or other dish over the dish in which the apples, whether sweet or sour, are baking, helps them to cook by keeping in the steam, and gives an added flavor. Baked sweet apples are delicious served with sweet cream poured over them. FRIED APPLES Fried apples add zest to a dish of sausage or pork chops. See "Fried Apples and Pork," page 123. Wash the apples, slice them without peeling, and put them in a frying-pan, the bottom of which is liberally covered with hot drippings or butter. Cover tight, and let them cook till soft over a moderate fire. Stir occasionally. Serve hot. NEW ENGLAND PAN DOWDY Years ago, when eggs were a luxury — not even obtainable at sixty cents a dozen — the apple desserts of our grandmothers called for no eggs, yet their goodness can scarcely be surpassed to-day by the woman whose pride is fancy cooking. Pan dowdy was always made in a deep yellow baking dish. The dish was liberally buttered, the bottom and sides were lined crust-fashion with slices of buttered bread. It was filled with sliced apples, dusted with nutmeg or cinnamon, moistened with half a cup of hot water, one cup of brown sugar, and two tablespoons of molasses. Finish with a top crust of liberally buttered bread, cover with a plate, bake slowly for an hour and a half. Serve turned out on a platter and with cream or hard sauce. STEWED DRIED APRICOTS Wash in three cold waters one pound of dried apricots. Put into a crock and cover them with cold water, which will be near one quart. Soak overnight. Next morning put into a good-sized preserving kettle with the water in which they have soaked. Add three pints more of cold water and one heaping teacup of sugar. After they begin to boil, stew them steadily and slowly one full hour and a half. The richness of fruit comes by slow boiling. Dried fruits are improved by stewing a long time, and gently. These directions may be followed and the sugar omitted if a sour apricot sauce is wished. STEWED CRANBERRIES Take one quart of cranberries, wash them in cold water, pour this off and put them in a porcelain-lined saucepan and pour over enough cold water barely to cover them. Stir in one small teaspoon of soda, without dissolving it in water. When the berries boil the soda will foam. When it stops foaming, add one teacup of sugar. Boil slowly, and when the cranberries are half done, mash them with the back of a spoon. Let them continue to boil about one hour, and when clear and rich they are done. Pour out into a crock or large bowl, and stir once in a while to prevent a scum forming over the top. BAKED PEARS