The Rural cook book

The last morning add the fruit to the syrup and spices and boil gently until heated through, then skim out and put into the crock. Continue to boil the syrup until it is as thick as molasses. If, after the second boiling, it does not seem spiced sufficiently, add more spices tied in a fresh bag. When the syrup is done, reheat the quinces in it, then fill into self-sealing glass jars as in canning. Red Cabbage Pickle.— Cut a red cabbage of good size into six pieces. sprinkle it with salt and leave it for a day and a night. Then drain off the liquid, rinse it with cold water and let it soak in tresh cold water. Scald half a gallon of vinegar with a dozen whole cloves and white peppers and a few blades of mace broken fine. Turn in half a cupful of sugar and two or three tablespoonfuls of celery seed. Cook slowly for a quarter of an hour. Have the cabbage, drained and dried, packed into a stone jar. Turn the hot vinegar over it and put it in a cool place. The cabbage will be at its best in two months. Spanish Sauce. — One peck green tomatoes, one quart onions, six large sweet peppers, four quarts ripe tomatoes, two heads celery chopped fine, two pounds brown sugar, one gallon vinegar, one teaspoonful cayenne pepper, three tablespoonfuls cinnamon, one tablespoonful each of allspice, mace and cloves. Chop green tomatoes, onions and seeded peppers, salt and let stand over night. In the morning strain through a cloth until perfectly dry. Then mix all the ingredients and boil until tender. ■ . Tomato Conserve. — Cut five large sound tomatoes into pieces and cook them until they are tender, with two onions in which three or four cloves have been stuck, two bay leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Then turn the fruit on to a fine sieve placed over a bowl and drain off the juice. Boil the juice until it has been half reduced. Next remove the onions and bay leaves from the tomatoes left on the sieve and press the pulp through the fine meshes. Add to it the juice, put the mixture into wide mouthed bottles ; cover them loosely and stand them in a kettle of warm water (it should be about their own temperature). Bring the water to a boil and boil for half an hour. Leave the bottles in the kettle until they are cool, then tighten their covers and set them in the dark. Egg Tomatoes in Sweet Pickle.— Pour scalding water over seven pounds of the egg tomatoes, let them stand for a moment, then remove the skin. Cover them with vinegar much diluted with water and let them stand 13 hours. Put one-half cupful of weak vinegar in the preserving kettle and add part of the tomatoes, then some sugar and any whole spices, such as ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and mace, using these or even more varieties according to taste. Add more of the tomatoes, more sugar and more spices, alternating the layers thus until alt the tomatoes and five pounds of sugar have been used. Cook very gently, stirring just enough to prevent scorching without breaking the tomatoes. When these are quite clear and transparent, remove them carefully and boil down the syrup. When the syrup is thick strain it and add the tomatoes. Boil up once and pour into pint jars to be sealed French Sweet Pickle. — One peck green tomatoes chopped and six large onions sliced. Salt them and let stand over night. Then drain oS the watery part and cover with vinegar, add two teaspoons of baking soda dissolved in a little water, and let the whole boil for 15 minutes. Take two pounds of brown sugar, two ounces of cinnamon, one ounce of ground cloves and one-half pound of white mustard seed and mix dry. Put this in the kettle with three quarts of vinegar. Once more drain the tomato of its liquid part, add it to the spice and vinegar and cook for an hour.