Luncheon

Crab Apples Pickled. — Select bright red crab apples with stems on, and boil them whole until tender. Care must be exercised not to cook them long enough to break their skins. Boil the sweet pickle, and pour it over the fruit ; TOMATOES IN SWEET PICKLE. 21 repeat the process three days in succession, boiling the pickle each time ; fill the jars after the last boiling, and seal. Tomatoes in Sweet Pickle. — Select sound, ripe tomatoes of equal size, and blanch or scald them. When cool, skin them. Dry and powder the skins, which are excellent for coloring soups, sauces, etc. Put the peeled tomatoes into a large steamer, and steam them a quarter of an hour; then put them in a sweet pickle, and boil ten minutes over a very moderate fire. Handle them carefully so as not to break them. Store them away in wide crocks. The pickle should cover the tomatoes when they are put away. Pears in Sweet Pickle. — When pears are cheap, families are warranted in putting them up for winter use. Pare the fruit as neatly as possible, leaving the stems on. Boil them in hot water or steam them twenty minutes ; then boil them in the pickle twice upon successive days, only a moment each time. Cucumbers in Sweet Pickle. — Select large, full-grown cucumbers ; quarter them lengthwise, remove the seeds, then cut each piece in two crosswise. Cover the pieces with wine vinegar, and let them stand two days. Then drain, and boil them a moment in a sweet pickle ; • 22 FIG TOMATOES. take them out of the pickle, and put them in a crock. Let the pickle boil five minutes, and pour it over the cucumbers. Let them stand ten days, and boil the pickle once more. When cold pour it over the cucumbers. Let them stand two weeks before using. Watermelon rind may be treated in like manner. (Pumpkin, squash, and citron boiled ten minutes, then boiled in the sweet pickle, with the addition of a root or two more of green ginger, will be found excellent winter relishes.) Fig Tomatoes. — (This excellent recipe originally appeared in " Harper's Magazine," contributed some years ago by IMrs. Eliza Marsh. As I have tested it, and found it valuable, it is proper to give the lady due credit.) The fig tomatoes are both yellow and red, and are abundant at their season. " Pour boiling water over them to more easily remove their skins, after which weigh them, and place them in stone crocks in layers with an equal amount of sugar. Let them stand two days ; then pour off the sirup, and boil and skim it until no scum arises. Pour it over the tomatoes, and let them stand two days, then boil the sirup and skim again. After the third time they are fit to dry, if the weather is good ; if not, let them stand in the sirup until pleasant weather ; then place the to- TOMATO KETCHUP. 23 matoes on large platters or dishes, and set them in the sun to dry, which will take about a week. When thoroughly dry, pack them neatly in small wooden boxes with fine sugar between the layers, and they will keep for years." Fig tomatoes put up in sweet pickle are excellent. The skins may be left on.