The Swedish, French, American cook book

[illustration: Currants for jelly should be perfectly ripe and gathered during the first week of the season. They lose their jelly-producing properties if they hang on the bushes too long and become too juicy — the juice will not be apt to congeal.] Strip them from the stalks, put them into a stone jar and set it in a vessel of hot water over the fire. Keep the water around it boiling until the currants are all broken — stir them up occasionally. Then squeeze them through a coarse cloth. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of refined sugar. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, pour the juice over it (stirring frequently), skim it before it boils. Boil about twenty minutes — or until it congeals in the spoon when held in the air. Keep skimming it. Pour it into hot jelly glasses, put on the top round pieces of white paper (dipped in good brandy), and seal. Wild frost grape jelly is nice made after this recipe. Peach Jelly (Ge/ee de Peches ) Wash the peaches, take out the stones. Then slice, add to them about a quarter of the kernels, place in a kettle with enough water to cover them, stir them often until the fruit is well cooked. Then strain and to every pint of the juice add the juice of a lemon. Measure again, and allow a pound of sugar to each pint of juice, and add when the juice has boiled twenty minutes. Let it come to a boil, and boil until it jellies. See recipe: Currant Jelly. Apple Jelly (Ge/ee de Pommes) Select apples that are rather tart and highly flavored. Slice them without peeling, place in a porcelain preserving kettle, cover with water, and let them cook slowly until they turn brown. Pour into a colander, drain off the juice, and let this run through a jelly bag. Replace the kettle (which must first be carefully washed) and boil half an hour. Measure it, and allow to every pint of juice a pound of sugar and the juice of half a lemon. Boil quickly for ten minutes. The juice of apples boiled in a shallow vessel without a particle of sugar makes the most sparkling, delicious jelly. Red apples give the jelly the color and clearness of claret while light fruit gives it an amber shade. Pour up in glasses and seal. See recipe: Currant Jelly. Grape Jelly (Ge/ee de Raisins) Wash the grapes well. Pour all into a preserving kettle and cook slowly for a few minutes to extract the juice, strain through a colander and then through a flannel jelly bag, keeping as hot as possible for it is not allowed to get cold before putting again on the stove. Measure the juice, allowing a pound of loaf sugar to every pint of juice and boil at least half an hour, during the time keep skimming. Try a little on a plate and, when done, remove, put in glasses and seal. See recipe: Currant Jelly. Crab-apple Jelly ( Gelee de Pommes Sauvages ) The apples should be juicy and ripe. Quarter; remove the black spots in the cores, put over the fire into a preserving kettle containing a teacup of water to prevent burning — more water is added as it evaporates while cooking. When boiled to a pulp, strain through a coarse flannel. Then proceed in accordance with recipe: Currant Jelly. Bar-le-Duc Jelly ( Gelee a la Bar-le-Duc ) Three quarts small currants, two pounds sugar.