Jelly

Ingredients

• whatever berries you purpose to make jelly from
• a yard of strong, coarse flannel

Method

1. 1

   Drip juice from fresh berries through a flannel bag.

2. 2

   Do not squeeze.

3. 3

   Clarify before making jelly.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Virginia Cookery-book (1884) by Mary Stuart Smith, page 112. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

jelly, and wine, by the usual processes, and with an ordinary amount of sugar. VmOINIA COOKERY-BOOK, 237 Sweetmeats op Citron ob Cantaloupe Melons. In order to green the melons, which is the first part of tlic process, put them in a skillet and cover them with grape or collard leaves, then put in enough water to cover all, and lay on the top a small flannel bag of ashes. Put the skillet on the fire, and let its contents simmer slowly till the melons appear quite done. This sweetmeat is made most economically at the approach of frost, when tliose small ones make the prettiest which could not have time to ripen. But, before greening, the melons, whether they be of small or middling size, must be thrown into strong salt- and- water as soon as they are pulled from the vine ; there let them stand three or four days ; then cut off the outer rind as thin as possible, and green. When they are perfectly green and tender open them and scrape out the seed and pulp ; let the small ones be preserved whole, but the large ones may be cut into any /orm that fancy may direct. Throw them into cold water, changing it three or four times a day, until they become crisp and the salt is entirely taken out of them. Mean- while, have the sirup thus prepared : for every pound of melon allow three ounces of best white ginger and two crab -apples — if small, three; the ginger must be boiled gently four hours, then pared and sliced thin. The weight of melons, apples, and ginger all together must be taken in sugar for th-e sirup ; after it is clarified add the ap- ples, ginger, and melons, letting them boil ten minutes ; have the melons well dried, and then put them to the sirup ; let them boil ten minutes more ; let them stand for some days and boil them up again ; this must be re- peated three or four times till they look clear ; unless they are made pretty tender in greening they will not look so. 238 VmomiA COOKERY-BOOK. and are apt to shrivel when put into the simp. The last time they are boiled the simp must be boiled to candy height ; if it does not cover them, more must be made ; after they are cold a few drops of the essence of lemon mixed with the sirup gives them much of a citron flavor ; if that cannot be had, the thin peel of lemon boiled in the sirup will have the effect. They are better a twelve- month after making, but may be used in two or three months. Gbken Goosbbkbbixs Make the most delicious of all tarts. Rub off the dried blossoms and stems, gathering the berries when they have attained their growth but are still unripe. To one pound of gooseberries allow one pound of white sugar ; make a sirup of the sugar with half a pint of water to five pounds of fruit, and stew them together until the berries are done through, but still whole ; half an hour will be time enough to allow, and the color is best preserved by keeping the fruit uncovered. For winter use, fill quart self-sealing bottles that have been scalded just before the fruit is put into them with water directly from the kettle ; fill to the very brim, seal up tight, and either wrap in thick paper or keep on a shelf in a dark closet. Old-fashioned house- keepers used to put gooseberries away in clean, dry black glass bottles, filling them up with the raw fruit fresh from the garden. If in a few days the berries were found to be shrunken, more were added, the cork driven in tight and sealed, and the bottle stored in a cellar. This plan is still followed with success, and gooseberry tart is not to be despised even amid the dainties of the Christmas board. Gbeengagb Plums Make tarts next to gooseberry in excellence, if gathered while green, the seeds taken out with a penknife, and VmomiA COOKEMT'BOOK, 339 stewed for fifteen minutes, with a pound of sugar allowed to every pound of fruit. These may also be put up for winter use in self -sealing cans, just as gooseberries are. A delightful jam is furnished by stewing the seeded fruit alone for twenty minutes, then adding half a pound of sugar to each pound of plums, and cooking them to- gether until they are as thick a jam as you like. If you wish to make of them an ornamental preserve, prick each plum through with a coarse needle, and pro- ceed exactly as in the directions for preserving wax-cher- ries previously given in this book. Jelly. For whatever jelly you purpose to make from berries the directions are identical. If you would have it bright and clear, drip, and do not squeeze, juice through a flan- nel bag. Let the fruit be perfectly fresh and sweet, and do not let it cook a moment longer than necessary in get- ting the berries ready to drip. A good plan is to squeeze the juice first out of the raw berries, and then let it drip and clarify before proceeding to make the jelly. A con- venient arrangement for straining juice during a whole season is to take an empty barrel and place in the bot- tom of it a bowl in which to catch drippings. Buy a yard of strong, coarse flannel

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.