The household cook book

COMPOTE OF APPLES.— Select moderate sized apples; either pare, halve, and core them, or cook them whole if preferred; then add prepared syrup and let them simmer until tender, adding a little lemon juice; lift out the apples and boil the syrup a little to thicken it; cool it and pour it over the apples. Garnish it with strips of green angelica, candied citron, or a border of rice jelly or plain boiled rice, or put a slice of lemon on each apple. Pears, Peaches, Apricots, Bananas and other fruit may be prepared the same way, but it is best to stone peaches or apricots. Oranges shoula be peeled and divided into sections without breaking the thin skin; then treat them as directed for apples. BANANA COMPOTE. — Peel and slice the bananas and place them in a dish (alternate layers of red and white bananas look nice), pour over them the hot syrup for compotes, let stand till cold, and serve with whipped cream. COMPOTE OF FIGS — Dissolve ^ lb. of loaf sugar in 2 cups of water; add 1 lb. of dried figs, a little grated lemon rind, and stew all very gently for 2 hours. Have some sponge cake ready, cut into squares; lay a stewed fig on each square, add a little lemon juice to the syrup, which should be pretty thick, and pour it over the figs. Serve when cold with thick cream or wipped cream. It makes a dainty, cheap and wholesome dessert. A Compote of Green Figs can be made with 1| pints of green figs and 1 pint of the prepared syrup, and proceed as directed for a compote of apples. The Fig is a native of Persia, Asia Minor, etc. The common fig in its native land bears 2 crops a year. The figs of commerce come mainly from Turkey and the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The fruit contains about 57 per cent, of sugar, and is wholesome and nutritious, but the seeds are indigestible, and sometimes have an irri- j.jq tkee and tant action on the bowels. fruit. GOOSEBERRY COMPOTE— Gooseberries for compote should not be very ripe; top and tail them, pour on some boiling water, then take them out and plunge them into cold water containing a little vinegar, which will assist in keeping the color good; then drain them, put them into the syrup, and proceed as directed for apples, being careful not to break their skins. RASPBERRY COMPOTE.— Use ripe fruit and allow just enough red currant juice to cover, or a little water may be mixed with it. Use a shallow dish, add a little granulated sugar to the currant juice and as soon as it boils put in the raspberries and cover; then remove from the fire, and when cold pour into a dish. This is delicious with puddings hot or cold, or with plain or frozen cream, and is also excellent iced. RHUBARB COMPOTE— Cut the rhubarb into inch lengths, and boil it fast in plenty of water until soft; at once drain it from the water, put it in a dish and sprinkle on sugar (| lb. or so for each lb. of fruit); leave until cold, and there will be plenty of syrup. STRAWBERRY COMPOTE— Put alternate layers of strawberries and sugar in a stew-pan, add a gill of currant syrup for each lb, of fruit, shake it over the fire for a minute or two and then turn it out to cool. Flavor it if liked. JAMS, JELLIES, MARMALADES, AND PRESERVES.