The Rural cook book

Cherry Conserve No. Z. — Three pounds sour cherries; two pounds raisins; four pounds granulated sugar; four large oranges. Seed and steam the raisins for half an hour. Grate some of the orange peel in the cherries. Do not use the orange skin. Cut the pulp into small pieces. Mix all the ingredients together, boil for 20 minutes, put in glasses. Cherry Preserve, Sun-cooked. — Pit the cherries, which must be perfect ripe fruit, weigh, and put in a preserving kettle, allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to each pound of fruit Do not add any water; the juice and sugar make the syrup. Bring to a boil, and boil for 30 minutes, stirring to avoid .burning and skimming to keep clear. Skim out the fruit, putting on shallow platters, pour the syrup over, and cover with clean panes of glass. Put the platters out'in the sun, and keep outdoors three days, bringing in at night. Then put in jars, like any other preserve. The sun cooks the syrup to a honey-like consistence, and the flavor is delicious. Strawberries .cooked the same way have all the rich fragrance of the fresh fruit. Citron Preserves. — Pare and core the citron, cut into strips and notch the edges, or cut into fancy shapes. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, and to six pounds of the fruit allow four lemons and a quarter of a pound of ginger root. Tie the ginger root in a cloth and boil it in a quart and a half of water until the flavor is extracted ; then remove it and add to the water the sugar and the juice of the lemons. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear, remove any scum that may form, then add the citron and cook until it is clear, but not soft enough to fall apart; can and seal while hot. Citron Preserves No. 3. — Cut the citron in strips half an inch wide, pare off the rind as thin as possible and cut up the fruit in small squares. Put in a vessel and cover the fruit with water in which has been dissolved an ounce of alum to the gallon of water. Soak 24 hours, or until the citron is clarified. Take out of alum water and soak in clear water until the alum is all out, which will probably be in 13 hours. Weigh and allow to each pound of fruit a pound of sugar. Put the fruit in a preserving kettle with only a little sugar, adding sugar several times until the weighed amount has been used. Season with any flavoring preferred. Cook rapidly until done, put in glass can; and seal. Citron Preserves No. 4. — Pare a large citron, cut into thin slices, and then into strips or squares, removing all seeds. Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar, mijc together, and stand over night in a large bowl; the sugar draws out juice, forming a syrup. In the morning put in a preserving kettle, and boil slowly for two to three hours, skimming carefully, until the syrup is like honey. About IS minutes before taking from the stove add, for each quart of preserves, one lemon cut in very thin slices, and one small piece of green ginger root. Some housekeepers add a few whole cloves, but we do not care for this. Another method puts the sliced fruit to soak in brine for a few hours, then in clear water to freshen it, this process hardening the fruit, but we have never used this process, and are quite satisfied with the first recipe given. Dried Citron. — To prepare citron for cakes and pies cut the fruit in four parts, pare and remove the seeds ; then take a couple of quarts of clear water, dissolve a piece of alum the size of a hickorynut in the water, put in the preserving kettle as much citron as the water will cover and boil until tender enough to pierce with a Straw; then boil in sugar; a pint bowl of sugar to the same measure of fruit. Boil one-half hour. Spread it on pie plates and set it in a cool oven or heater and let it dry perfectly.