The Raleigh cook book

' pieces of ginger. Cook until tender and white spots appear on the rind. any CANNING. General Directions for Canning.—For canning, use pint or quart jars and be sure to have new rubber rings; old rubbers allow air to enter jars. Sterilize jars by placing in a pan of cold water and letting this come to the boiling point, and boil ten or fifteen minutes. For tomatoes, seald and peel. Pack in sterilized jars, adding a little salt. Put on the covers without screwing down. Set the jars on small blocks of wood in a kettle of cold water and let the fruit become thoroughly heated. Remove covers and fill to overflowing with boiling water. Put on the ring and screw the covers down. Turn upside down, and if syrup oozes out, remove cover and rubber. Put on a new rubber and refill with boiling syrup, and again screw down the cover. | Or the tomatoes may be scalded and packed in jars while boiling hot, keeping jars in a pan of boiling water or wrapped in a cloth wrung out of boiling water, while filling. Peaches and other fruits may be canned in the same way, a little sugar to the syrup, if desired. JELLY AND PRESERVES. fal JELLY AND PRESERVES. To Make Jelly.—Select fruit for jelly before it is too ripe, as it always has a much better flavor. Large fruits, such as apples, should be cut in pieces. All defective places must be cut out of fruit. Use a porcelain kettle always in making jelly, and the best granulated sugar. To extract the juice, place the fruit in kettle with just enough water to cover or to keep from burning, and let remain on fire until thoroughly softened. Put the softened fruit in a flannel or cotton bag, wrung out of hot water; let drip overnight. Allow equal measure of juice and sugar. Boil juice ten or fifteen minutes from time it first boils up, skim, add sugar, which has been heated, stir until sugar is dissolved. Boil ten or fifteen minutes longer or until it jellies when tried in a spoon. Before filling jelly glasses, roll or stand them in a pan of hot water to keep from breaking when hot liquid is poured in. Fill glasses; when cool seal and put away in a dark, cool place. It is much better to make jelly in small quantities—only a few glasses at a time. It jells quicker and is of lighter color. Preserves.—The general rule is equal quantity of fruit and sugar, but now that glass jars are used, three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit is considered sufficient, unless the fruit is very acid, like cherries. Large fruit, like apples and pears, should be pared, cored and halved or quartered, and dropped immediately into cold water to prevent turning black. Fruit should be mixed with part of sugar and allowed to stand several hours, or overnight, to harden. When ready to cook the fruit, put it on the fire with the remainder of the sugar in a porcelain kettle and add a cupful of water to every pound of sugar and boil gently until fruit is done. Then take out fruit and let the syrup boil until thick. Put the fruit back into the hot syrup, have the jars hot and fill with the hot fruit and syrup. Seal immediately. To Conserve Fruits.—Any fruits that have been preserved in syrup may be converted into a dry preserve or conserve. They may be taken from the syrup and dried in a moderate oven or on dishes in the sun. Sprinkie sugar over them, turning them over and adding more sugar. Do not put much sugar on at one time. If any syrup is made, remove them to fresh dishes. When sufficiently dry, lay them lightly in a jar with a little sugar between layers. The fruit syrup can be made into jelly. Crab Apple Preserves.—Weigh the apples, and to every pound allow the same of sugar; make a syrup with the sugar, and when boiled, drop the apples in and let cook, but not break. Take out apples, and when cool put them in a jar and pour over them the