Principles of cooking

Canned Tomatoes.— Place tomatoes in boiling water to remove the skins. ‘Tomatoes may be canned whole or cut into halves. Fill the cans with tomatoes, and place the covers on loosely. Place the jars in a boiler or deep pan. The jars should rest on a wooden rack or light blocks to keep the jars from contact with the bottom of the pan. Fill the pan with cold water up to two inches from the top of the jars. Heat to the boiling point and boil twenty minutes. Fill the jars to overflowing with boiling water, put on rubbers, cover and seal. Canned Corn. — To nine pints of corn add one pint of sugar and two thirds of a pint of salt and enough water to —— / cover the corn. Cook fifteen minutes after it begins to boil. Fill sterilized jars, to overflowing, with corn, and seal. When ready to use, pour boiling water over the corn to freshen it, and strain. Canned Peaches and Other Fruits. — Peaches, pears, cherries; apples, may all be canned in the same way. Fruits, like pineapple and quince, should first be cooked in boiling water until nearly soft, and then canned as for peaches. Allow four cups of water to four cups of sugar for sirup. Boil the water and sugar ten minutes and then drop in the fruit, a small quantity at a time, so as not to crush it. Cook until nearly soft and then fill the jars. The hot sirup will finish the cooking of the fruit. To prepare peaches, place them in boiling water to loosen the skins, and then peel. Peaches may be canned whole or in halves or quarters. Canned Berries. — Berries contain so much water that very little should be added. Fill the jars full of whole berries. Make a sirup by crushing some of the berries, heating them slightly, and straining the juice. Allow one and one half cups of sugar to each cup of juice and boil three minutes. Fill the jars with sirup and proceed as for canned tomatoes. Jelly Making. — The best fruits for jelly making are currants, apples, grapes, and quinces. Wild green crab apples or wild grapes make deliciously flavored jelly. STRAWBERRIES. These fruits are best because they contain considerable ~ pectin or pectose. Pectin is a carbohydrate found in ripe or nearly ripe pulpy fruits and causes the juice to gelatinize. Some fruits contain so little pectin that they will not make jelly unless some fruit rich in pectin is added. For example, red raspberries contain little pectin, while currants are rich in it. Red raspberries with currants added make a very fine jelly. | Test Juice for Pectin. — Mix equal amounts of ethyl alcohol and boiled fruit juice, and if pectin is present a gelatinous mass will appear — on the spoon inserted. Pectin is most abundant in the skin and core of the fruit, and it loses its gelatinizing power when the juice is boiled too long. The pectin is at its best when the fruit is just ripe or not quite ripe, but if the fruit is overripe, the chances are that the jelly will not stiffen. When the boiling has been too violent, jelly becomes crystallized after it stiffens. If the juice is stirred when boiling, the jelly will become coarse and tough. Currant Jelly. — Wash and drain the currants without removing the stems. Put them in a granite kettle, half cover with water, mash them slightly, and allow them to cook slowly. Strain through a coarse strainer, being sure that all the fruit is crushed, then allow the juice to drain through a double thickness of cheesecloth. Do not squeeze the bag or the jelly will not be clear. Measure the juice and boil five minutes. Add an equal quantity of heated granulated sugar and boil five minutes. Boil slowly and skim until clear. Then pour into sterilized glasses. Place in a sunny window and let it stand until it stiffens. Cover with paraffin paper. The length of &