“Man has always thrived as he has eaten freely of fruits.”—H. Irving Hancock.

“The best food on this planet is ripe fruit. The healthiest people on the globe are the fruit eaters of tropical countries. The great muscular Maoris of New Zealand are a frugiverous race. I have seen a boat crew of these great chocolate colored giants that would outrow the ‘crack’ university crews were they properly trained. The bread fruit of the Samoan Islands has made a race of giants. I have examined these men and women on their native soil and finer human specimens never lived.”—Dr. Paul Edwards.

“The more we depend upon the fresh fruit just as it is plucked from the tree, the greater will be the blessing.”

“It would be well for us to do less cooking and to eat more fruit in its natural state. Eat freely of fresh grapes, apples, peaches, pears, berries and all other kinds of fruit that can be obtained.”

Fruits supply sugar, acids, mineral matter and bulk. The mineral elements of fruits are more readily assimilated than those of flesh meat and vegetables. Acid fruits aid in the digestion of nuts and other nitrogenous foods. Acid, juicy fruits keep the system clean and free from germs. They render lime and soda salts soluble, enabling the system to throw them off. They allay instead of creating thirst. Alcohol and tobacco cannot stay long with the individual who uses no flesh foods and partakes freely of ripe juicy fruits. Use more fruit and fewer vegetables if you would not experience thirst.

Cane sugar is not digested in the stomach but causes fermentation by hindering the digestion of other foods. The sugar of fruits (grape and fruit sugar, so-called), and that of honey are all ready for assimilation, so require less labor on the part of the body and may be used more rapidly for the repair of muscular fatigue.

The laxative effect of fruit is very important. Very ripe bananas taken when the stomach is empty often produce immediate effect. Pineapples after nitrogenous foods, ripe olives, peaches, pears and nearly all fruits are helpful.

It is better to use the juice and pulp only, of seedy fruits like blackberries and black raspberries. With many people the seeds produce hives.

The matter of bulk in the diet is an important one. The whole digestive tract suffers if there is not a fairly good bulk of food to be handled by it, yet serious results follow when a large quantity of concentrated food is consumed; consequently, fruits and green vegetables being composed largely of water supply just what is needed.

Fruit must be thoroughly ripened, sound and well matured. Many unripe fruits contain raw starch which causes trouble when they are eaten.

The largest fruit of its kind is usually the cheapest. It is poor economy to spend money and (if the fruit requires paring) time, for seeds, skins, and cores. Besides, as a rule the larger fruit is more perfectly matured, so more wholesome as well as of a finer flavor.

Do not use the skins of fruits much. They are composed largely of woody fibre and are intended only for a covering to the fruit. In the days of stomach washes, the skins of fruits were noticeably abundant in the “unswallowed” food.

For the best effect, fruits should be used without sugar. When one has accustomed himself to the use of grape fruit and oranges without sugar, the addition of it will make them positively disagreeable to his taste, besides causing rebellion in the stomach.

Since acids hinder the digestion of starch, it is better to take acid fruits at the close of a meal including starchy foods, and we should especially avoid taking starches and acids into the mouth at the same time, before the starch has been acted upon by the saliva.

There is great opportunity for the display of artistic skill in serving fresh fruits, and nothing so well repays a little effort as the combination of leaves, ferns and vines with fruits. One beautiful dish that I remember was of plums, grapes and peaches with autumn leaves; another, with rich branches of foliage plants and a variety of fruits. Grape leaves combine beautifully with fruits.

One person with whom I am acquainted can use no starchy foods. The many attempts which she has made to use them invariably result in her becoming extremely weak, and helpless with rheumatism; but she thrives on a diet composed almost exclusively of acid fruits and nuts. She writes—“On my fruit and nut diet I seldom feel thirst, but after eating even starchless vegetables I suffer exceedingly from it. I find also that I do not require so much sleep as when living on another diet.” Her chief fruits are sour apples, grape fruit, oranges and mealy-ripe bananas with a few raisins, dates and figs occasionally for dessert. She is at her best when currants are ripe; and takes them every day as long as they can be obtained.

APPLES

The apple, of which there are said to be over 2000 varieties, has no equal as an “all-round” fruit; but it is at its best just pared and eaten raw. It requires thorough mastication both for digestion and enjoyment.

When you are not feeling quite at par, cut an apple in two from stem to blossom end and with a round pointed knife scrape it into a fine pulp from either side. It is most refreshing and easily digested so. Children and people whose teeth are defective can take it best that way.

The apple is the choicest salad fruit.

BANANAS

The fact that the banana is a serious cause of indigestion when just turned yellow is quite generally understood, and fruit eaters now buy them and keep them until they become not just soft, but mellow ripe, which will be after the skins are dark or covered with dark spots. As long as they have a “pasty” feeling in the mouth they are unfit for food because the starch is not yet changed to sugar.

Do not try to hurry the ripening process as bananas are better when ripened slowly. Keep them in the dark, in a not too cold place and give them plenty of time. Large, plump bananas are far superior to small slender ones in wholesomeness and flavor, besides being cheaper.

There is no other way of using bananas to compare with eating them “out of hand” with the skin and fibres removed; but they may be served with sugar and lemon juice for luncheon or with whipped cream for dessert.

Almond cream is very harmonious with bananas. Peeled bananas with a little almond butter accompanying each mouthful make a complete and delightful luncheon. Brazil nut butter and cream are also excellent with bananas.

BLACKBERRIES

Wild blackberries are sweeter and finer flavored than cultivated ones and eaten in small quantities from the bush are very enjoyable, but they should not be taken in large quantities with their seeds. They may be served with nut, or whipped dairy cream. With a thin syrup of sugar and water they are delicious.

CANTALOUPE

Wash, drain, chill, cut in halves and remove the seeds with a round-pointed spoon (not a sharp pointed knife) or with the fingers. Do not put ice inside as it destroys the flavor. Serve on mat of grape leaves.

CURRANTS

Wash, drain, serve on the stems plain or around a mold of sugar (made by pressing not too dry powdered or granulated sugar into a small glass, and unmolding in the center of the plate), or a spoonful of sugar, on a dainty dish. Nice, very ripe currants are especially refreshing and reviving.

Frosted Currants

Pick fine even bunches of currants and dip them, one at a time, into a mixture of frothed white of egg and a very little cold water. Drain them until nearly dry and roll in powdered sugar. Repeat the dip in the sugar once or twice and lay them on white paper to dry. Use as a garnish.

DATES AND NUTS

Serve dates piled on a dessert plate with halves of nuts around, or on individual dishes with a spoonful of any desired nut butter or meal in the center of the dish.

DATES AND CREAM

Slice dates and cover with nut or dairy cream. Dairy cream may be whipped and piled in center of dish with fruit around.

DATES OR FIGS AND MILK

One writer on health subjects recommends dates and milk or figs and milk as an improvement upon bread and milk. They make an excellent combination and a satisfying meal.

Nut milk or nut cream are ideal for sweet fruits.

FIGS

Serve figs with nuts and with cream, the same as dates. For Stuffed Dates and Figs, see Confections.

GOOSEBERRIES

Nice large ripe gooseberries are most enjoyable right from the bushes.

GRAPES

There is perhaps no fruit more highly recommended than the grape. One says: “It is safe to say that the juice of no other fruit or vegetable so strikingly resembles blood in its composition as the unfermented juice of grapes.”

Another: “Grapes eaten exclusively for several days bring about wonderful results in the system. From one to two pounds should be consumed daily at first, gradually increasing to eight or ten pounds.”

The “grape cures” in France and Germany are too well known to require mention. There is said to be “a life giving principle in grapes which builds tissue and stimulates the sympathetic nervous system.”

These quotations apply particularly to fresh grapes. Cooked grapes and juice do not agree with every one.

TO PACK GRAPES

Take the late grapes, pick them carefully, spread them in a cool place in layers on shelves, let them remain two weeks, then pack in barrels with dry hard-wood sawdust. Bran will answer very well. Packed in this manner the fruit will keep good through the winter it is said. After packing, grapes should be kept in a cool, dry place.

GRAPE FRUIT

Cut in halves crosswise, remove seeds with sharp pointed knife, and separate the pulp from the bitter membrane between the sections. Serve one half to each person in peel or small glass, or serve halves after removing seeds without separating pulp. The fruit should not be cut long before serving as the juice and pulp absorb the bitter of the cut membrane. Taken at the close of the meal, grape fruit is an aid to digestion. The effect will be better without sugar. As a dessert, it is sometimes served with a tablespoonful of thick maple syrup in the center.

GRAPE FRUIT WITH MALAGA GRAPES

Prepare grape fruit as for salad, combine with halved, seeded Malaga grapes and sugar; refill cups which have been wiped dry after standing in ice water. Garnish with candied cherries or blanched almonds.

GRAPE FRUIT AMBROSIA

Mix grape fruit pulp with orange pulp, grated cocoanut and sugar. Serve, sprinkled with cocoanut, in its own cups or in glasses.

OLIVES

“When properly prepared, olives like nuts supply the place of butter and flesh meats. Oil as eaten in the olive is far preferable to animal oil or fat. It serves as a laxative. Its use will be found beneficial to consumptives and it is healing to an inflamed, irritated stomach.”

The olive contains more protein than any of the other common fruits, and with the exception of the alligator pear is the only one containing any appreciable amount of oil. Until within a few years we have been eating this valuable fruit in its unripe state, but now we get it, both imported and home grown, ripe. There is just as much difference between a ripe and green olive as between a ripe and green apple.

The ripe olive is black or dark brown in color (according to where it was grown) and has its full quota of oil. After one has eaten ripe olives for a time, the green ones will have a harsh, rank taste to him. It is also much easier to acquire a taste for the ripe olive. The large, luscious ones with meat as thick as that of a good sized plum are truly delightful.

Those hurried on to the eastern market from California before the holidays are not thoroughly ripened, but there are some growers who hold them until properly matured before gathering. Olives are better just soaked a little and eaten in that state than to be used in cooked dishes; but when used in soups or sauces, add without cooking just before serving.

Ripe olives are a valuable substitute for butter with bread, giving an emulsified oil instead of a free fat, with no germs of tuberculosis or other diseases.

The dried olives sold by Italian grocers require a long soaking and several changes of water. They, too, become stronger flavored by cooking. They are considerably cheaper than the bottled ones but much less delicate in flavor.

ORANGES

“The one thing that quickest revives a human being is orange juice.”—Dr. Paul Edwards.

“The orange is a fruit that is distinctly health-giving. Orange juice aids greatly in reducing the amount of putrefaction in the intestines of nearly all persons who are submitted to clinical laboratory tests.”—H. Irving Hancock, in “Good Housekeeping.”

The white separating membrane of the orange is rather indigestible, so in many cases it is better to use the juice or pulp only.

I am going to tell you how to “drink” oranges. First, cut the orange in halves from end to end, then cut each half in three or four pieces; place each one of these oblong cups to the lips and extract the juice, rejecting the seeds and leaving all the membrane. This method is most refreshing, if not elegant. Eaten with a spoon from the halves cut across is, next to this, most satisfying, but takes more time.

In Jamaica they peel off the outer yellow skin and cut the orange across into two unequal portions. They extract the juice and pulp from the larger stem section first, and reserve the smaller, sweeter section for the last.

Again, they peel the yellow part of the rind off about one-fourth of the way down, run the knife into the peeled end and cut away a conical portion of the pulp, thus opening all of the sections of the orange. They then suck out the juice, without any burned lips as the result.

One nice way to prepare the pulp is to peel the fruit as you would an apple, cutting deep enough to remove all the white portion of the covering; then to cut all around each section of pulp, just inside the separating membrane, when you can remove the pure pulp. Serve in glass sauce-dish, or in cups,—orange, glass or china.

Another dainty and satisfactory way of preparing an orange is to “cut two circles through the skin around the fruit about ½ in. apart and half way between the two ends. Remove all the rind except the half-inch band. Just over one of the natural separations between the sections of the orange, cut the band with a sharp knife. All the divisions may then be carefully separated one from another, while all remain attached to the girdle of yellow rind. Oranges may be laid in layers on a fruit plate, outstretched upon the narrow piece of peeling, or they may, after the several divisions have been carefully made, be closed together again. A ribbon tied around the orange over the rind girdle will preserve the spherical form and be very pretty and ornamental. It is but the act of a moment to untie this ribbon, when the sections will all lie before one in perfect readiness to be eaten.”—Clipping.

PEACHES

Ripe mellow peaches are incomparable both for health and palatability. They are equally good both for grown people and children, though one writer says “the ripe mellow peach is really the child’s fruit.”

A friend fold me that an old Indian came to the house when her little brother was lying at the point of death, and said, “peach juice will keep him alive.” The mother, anxious to leave nothing untried, began giving him the juice of stewed peaches, from which time he began to retain his food (the mother’s milk) and to improve in every way. When he came to be weaned, peach juice and gradually the soft halves of peaches were his sole diet for eight months; then other foods were introduced sparingly, but all his life peaches have formed a large part of his diet and he is an unusually well man.

Wash and carefully rub peaches in cold water, and rub them well with a soft cloth in wiping to remove the down, which is irritating.

Peaches should ripen on the trees; the shipped ones are often suitable for cooking only as they are gathered before they are ripe. Some varieties are sour and disagreeable, while others are sweet and luscious.

Few people know how exceedingly delightful rich juicy white peaches are.

PEACHES AND CREAM

Pare peaches just as short a time before they are to be served as possible. Cut in halves, quarters or thick slices. Do not sweeten but pass sugar and unwhipped cream with them. Almond or cocoanut cream are especially suitable for peaches.

PEACH SNOW

Add sweetened cream to stiffly-beaten whites of eggs (? cup to each white) and pour over peaches just before serving. All must be cold.

Peaches combine nicely with bananas and with red raspberries. The juice of the berries may be served over the peaches instead of cream.

PINEAPPLES

The pineapple is another of the universal favorites and deservedly. Its delightful flavor is unequaled and the fresh juice contains bromelin, a remarkably active principle which aids digestion both in the stomach and in the intestinal tract. A slice or two of pineapple taken at the close of a meal gives a marked laxative effect. The use of pineapple in diphtheria is well known. I knew a very successful physician in one of our large cities who always had quantities of pineapple canned each year for use in diphtheria cases. The digestive ferment is not quite so active in the cooked fruit as in the uncooked.

SHREDDED PINEAPPLE

Use only choice large well ripened sound pineapples. Wash and drain; give the crown a twist with the hand, when it will come out easily if the fruit is ripe. Set the pineapple on a board and with a large sharp knife pare it by cutting slices down from the top all around, cut thick enough to remove all the woody covering (the fruit in connection with that has very little flavor), leaving only the deepest eyes.

After removing the eyes, take the pineapple in the left hand with the base up and shred it by picking up small pieces all around with the tines of a silver fork. It will come off easily from that end, leaving the core, which should be wrung to obtain all the juice.

Let the fruit stand in layers with sugar, ¼ to ½ cup, (or ¼ to ? cup sugar, ½ to 1 tablespn. lemon juice and ¾ cup water) to each pint, for some time before serving, or, serve plain and pass sugar with it. Pineapple and strawberries or raspberries or oranges with lemon juice and sugar are nice alone, or with cake, for dessert.

PINEAPPLE AND GRAPE FRUIT

Equal quantities of prepared pineapple and grape fruit with sugar and the juice of either poured over.

Peach, orange and pineapple is another nice combination.

PINEAPPLE AND WHIPPED CREAM

Drain finely-shredded pineapple and beat with whipped cream, as much as can be used and keep the combination stiff. Serve cold in glasses.

PINEAPPLE AND STRAWBERRY AMBROSIA

Equal quantities ripe strawberries, shredded pineapple and cream. Whip cream, place layer of pineapple in dish, sprinkle with sugar, cover with cream, then make a layer of strawberries, sugar and cream. Continue. Have cream on top. Serve cold with sponge cake or cocoanut crisps.

PINEAPPLE AND ORANGE AMBROSIA

Drained shredded pineapple, orange pulp and juice, grated cocoanut and sugar, in layers.

RAISINS

Raisins are nutritious and valuable foods, containing sometimes as high as 61 per cent. of grape sugar and a considerable proportion of albuminoids. They are suitably combined with all kinds of bread and nuts. One thing that makes them so satisfying is that they require thorough mastication.

RASPBERRIES—RED

When necessary to wash, have cold water in a deep pan and turn the berries in, not more than a quart at a time. (Do not pour the water over the berries as that bruises them.) Rinse up and down in the water with the hands and remove quickly to a colander. Drain, pile in dish and serve at once. Lemon or currant juice poured over makes a harmonious combination. ? or ½ very ripe currants may be mixed with the berries. Serve Brazil nuts or blanched almonds with these combinations.

RASPBERRIES—BLACK

Black raspberries have a peculiar spicy flavor not found in any other fruit and when plump and thoroughly ripened may be used in moderate quantities in their natural state.

STRAWBERRIES

The perfect way to serve strawberries is the French—with the hulls on, without washing. Pass sugar with them, or pile the berries around a mold of sugar on individual plates, or, set a dainty cup or glass containing sugar in the center of the plate and pile the berries around. But if the berries are very sandy, wash the same as red raspberries. Wash berries always before hulling unless obliged to let stand after hulling, then do not wash until just ready to serve. The little strawberry hullers snip the hulls out so quickly and so perfectly without staining the fingers that they seem among the indispensables of housekeeping.

ORANGE STRAWBERRIES

Put sliced berries into glasses and pour sweetened orange juice over to more than cover. Let stand in a cool place 3 or 4 hrs. to improve the color. They may be served with an uncooked meringue garnished with halves or quarters of berries or a slice of orange.

WATERMELON

The flavor of watermelon is better if cooled in water instead of on ice. To serve cut the melon in halves across and cut off pieces from the ends so that they will stand. Serve the pulp by spoonfuls, scooped out with a tablespoon. If convenient take the pieces out before sending to the table, remove the seeds and return the pieces to the shell, then keep in a cool place until serving time.

The watermelon furnishes an abundance of pure distilled water. Watermelons that are not very sweet maybe served with almond cream and sugar.

WHORTLEBERRIES

The most desirable of this family is the large purple soft pulpy sweet juicy berry growing in the swamps, and called in some parts of the country “blueberry.” It is delightful with nut or dairy cream or with sugar or in bread and milk. Its juice being so sweet it is one of the most suitable berries for sauce with cereals. In cakes puddings or pies it is equally enjoyable.

The so-called “huckleberry,” though more seedy, has a nice flavor when cooked.

FRUITS—COOKED

APPLE SAUCE

Select nice tart apples; wash, drain, cut out the blossom end of each so that the little black particles will not get on to the fruit. Pare as thin as possible. When all are pared, cut into quarters, and core by cutting from both stem and blossom end downward to the center, just below the core. After coring, throw enough quarters into the kettle (granite, porcelain or aluminum) to about cover the bottom, and turn the quarters core side down. Then arrange another layer in the same way and continue until all are in. Pour boiling water over to half cover the apples (more or less according to the juiciness of the apples), cover kettle and set over hot fire. Cook without removing cover until apples are perfectly tender; remove from fire at once, stir in a little sugar if desired and a trifle of salt. This method gives a nice white well cooked sauce with a fresh apple taste. Placing the apples as directed causes them to cook tender quickly and evenly. The salt improves the flavor unless too much is used.

STRAINED APPLE SAUCE

When apples are small or knotty, cook without paring, rub through colander and add a little sugar.

BAKED APPLE SAUCE

Place quartered apples in pudding dish as for apple sauce. Sprinkle delicately with sugar between the layers and over the top. Pour water in at the side of the dish so as to leave the sugar on the top. Cover and bake for several hours until the apples assume a rich red color.

BAKED QUARTERS OF APPLES

Wash, quarter and core but do not pare apples; lay cut side down in pudding dish, pour very little if any water over, cover close, bake until tender. Remove cover and dry out well. Eat from the fingers, rejecting the skins, or scrape the pulp from the skin with a teaspoon. The skin imparts such richness and flavor to the pulp that it seems to have been sweetened with sugar.

BAKED APPLES

To the natural taste, the apple is best just washed, put into a baking pan with little if any water (depending upon the juiciness of the apple), covered at first and baked until tender and dry. Some prefer to have the apples cored with ½–1 teaspn. of sugar (brown sugar sometimes) placed in the core space.

LEMON APPLES, ORANGE APPLES, AND OTHERS

Core and pare nice large perfect apples. Place in the core space sugar with a little grated lemon or orange rind. Sprinkle outside of apples with sugar and turn a little lemon juice over for “Lemon Apples” or “Orange Apples.” Bake until just tender, with or without a little water.

Use citron, cocoanut, raisins or nuts with sugar for other varieties. Fill core space with jelly for “Jelly Apples.” Serve plain or with nut cream or whipped dairy cream, or with cocoanut or custard sauce or with wafers or nuts for dessert, at a meal without vegetables, especially starchy vegetables.

Lemon and jelly apples make suitable accompaniments to meat dishes.

BAKED SWEET APPLES

Bake whole with plenty of water at first (covered part of the time) until perfectly tender and all the water is evaporated. Serve for dessert, or for breakfast or supper with nuts, or with nut or dairy cream, or in bread and milk, than which nothing is more delicious.

“MOTHER” CRANSON’S STEWED SWEET APPLES

Put whole apples into preserving kettle, cover with thin syrup of sugar and water and cook until tender (carefully changing the apples from top to bottom once or twice) and the syrup just a little thick. Place the apples on plates and turn the syrup over.

STEWED BANANAS

Slice bananas, stew with a little sugar water and a trifle of ground or crushed anise seed tied in a piece of cheese cloth.

Prunes may be flavored the same.

BANANAS IN BUTTER

Simmer bananas in butter in an aluminum or agate frying pan covered, on the top of the stove where it is not too hot. They will not be browned but simply stewed.

BANANAS AND RAISINS

Cook raisins in a broad flat pan in water for an hour. Slice bananas over, cover and cook 10 m.

BAKED BANANAS

The simplest way to bake bananas is in the skins. It takes just 20 m. in a moderate oven. To eat, strip a piece of skin about an inch wide from the top side and partake of the baked fruit from the remaining skin in teaspoonfuls.

Bananas may be baked whole with a little water after peeling, and served with orange or cream sauce.

A little melted butter may be poured over bananas before baking or they may be rolled in lemon juice and sugar and baked. For a richer dish, turn mixed melted butter, sugar and lemon juice over bananas in lengthwise halves in agate pan. Bake 15–20 m. in slow oven. Serve with meat dishes sometimes.

BAKED CRUMBED BANANAS

Roll peeled bananas in fine granella, cracker or zwieback crumbs mixed with sugar. Bake in moderate oven till just tender. Serve at once.

BANANAS BAKED WITH TOMATOES

Put a thin layer of stewed or sliced tomatoes in the bottom of a baking pan. Cover with bananas sliced crosswise. Bake.

CRANBERRIES

Cranberries are said to “promote digestion and purify the blood.” There is no question but they are a desirable fruit and should be used freely in their season.

Stewed Cranberries

• 1 qt. berries,
• ¾ cup sugar,
• 1–1½ cup water.

Pour boiling water over cranberries, let stand 2 m., or until cold; drain, add sugar and water, cook covered, until boiling all through. Rub through colander if the skins are objectionable. 2–3 tablespns. of lemon juice and more sugar may be added.

Baked Cranberries.

Make syrup of 1 pt. of water and 1½ cup of sugar; boil, cool. Pour over 1 qt. of cranberries in baking dish. Bake until clear.

Cranberries With Raisins

• 1 qt. berries
• ¾–1 cup seeded raisins
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pint water

Stew raisins in water until nearly tender; pour boiling water over cranberries and drain; cook all together until berries are done.

A larger proportion of raisins and less sugar may be used.

BAKED PEACHES

Whole, pared, cling-stone peaches; sugar, butter and lemon juice. Bake 40 m. May be served with meat dishes, or as dessert.

BAKED QUINCES—Delicious

Wash, pare, halve, core. (Save skins and cores for jelly). Cover with a large quantity of thin sugar and water syrup. Bake covered, basting often and turning occasionally until tender and the syrup rich. Uncover at the last for a short time.

PLAIN BAKED QUINCES

Pare and core quinces, bake with water only, basting. Serve with hard or creamy sauce or with nut cream and sugar.

RHUBARB

Rhubarb is not a fruit but the stalk of the plant and as its acid is oxalic, it is a somewhat questionable article of diet. At all events it should not be used freely.

Stewed Rhubarb

• 1 qt. rhubarb
• ½ cup sugar

Wash rhubarb, do not peel, cut into ¾ in. pieces; cook with sugar, on the back of the stove until juicy; then stew till tender.

Stewed Rhubarb, No.2

• 1 qt. rhubarb
• scant ? cup sugar
• 1 tablespn. lemon juice
• ¼ cup water

Cook all together.

Baked Rhubarb

Put rhubarb in baking dish with sugar and lemon juice as for stewing, with or without a little water. Cover and bake until tender.

It is said that if young cherry leaves are scalded and the juice added to cooked rhubarb, it will impart the flavor of cherries to the rhubarb.

STEWED DRIED FRUITS

The flavors of dried fruits are more natural and delicate with prolonged soaking and short (if any) cooking. Choice dried apples and apricots are especially enjoyable soaked over night or longer without any cooking. The juice from them makes an exceedingly refreshing drink.

Pour boiling water over fruit that requires washing to more perfectly loosen the dirt, then quickly add cold water. Wash thoroughly, cover with warm water and let stand for from 12 to 48 hrs. When perfectly swollen and soft, add sugar, if it is to be used, bring to the boiling point quickly and remove from the fire. These directions if followed will cause apples, apricots and peaches to seem almost like fresh stewed fruit.

A few fresh grapes stewed with peaches give them a nice flavor.

Raisins also (previously cooked) are nice with dried peaches. The most delightful combination with dried apples is ? prunelles. Raisins are also nice with apples.

Stewed Dried Apricots

• ½ lb. apricots
• 3½ cups water
• ½ cup sugar

Follow general directions.

PRUNES—SWEET CALIFORNIA

These require no sugar but will bear a little longer cooking than peaches and apricots.

¾ prunes and ¼ apricots make a nice combination, also raisins or figs and prunes.

Prune Marmalade

Cook prunes with a small amount of water and rub through colander. This removes the skins or breaks them up so that many can take them who otherwise could not. Served with almonds, beaten white of egg or almond or whipped cream, the marmalade makes a nice dessert.

Steamed Prunes—par excellence

Soak large prunes in a very little water, stirring occasionally so that all will be moistened. Steam ¾ of an hour. Cover as soon as removed from the steamer. Serve warm for breakfast. They may be steamed an hour without soaking.

Stewed Figs

Wash, soak, cook until tender, reduce liquor to syrup and pour over fruit. Serve with wafers or nuts or with whipped cream flavored with vanilla or almond.

Steamed Figs—best of all

Wash figs and steam 25–35 m. according to dryness. Long steaming gives them a strong flavor. Cover, and serve warm. The figs may be soaked the same as prunes before steaming.

Fruit Butter

Stew together 1½ lb. prunes and 1 lb. of dried apricots, no sugar. Rub through colander and cook to the consistency of butter.

TO CAN FRUITS

Suggestions

The best quality of aluminum is the ideal material for the preserving kettle; but granite, porcelain or earthenware may be used.

Thorough sterilization of the jars or cans is one of the most important parts of fruit canning. I always wash and sterilize mine when I empty them.

After washing the covers of Mason jars, bake them in a moderate oven for 2 or 3 hours; scrape them on the inside if necessary but do not wet them, and screw them on to the jars, which should have been well washed, scalded, wiped with a clean towel and thoroughly dried by standing right side up in a warm place.

The rubbers should be put on when the covers are, so that the jars will be all ready for use.

When old rubbers are in good condition they are just as good as new ones. Sometimes two thin ones may be used together.

There is a certain black rubber that should not be used with delicate flavored fruits as it injures their flavor. It does not improve the flavor of any fruit.

New rubbers should be washed and rubbed well in soapsuds and rinsed before using.

Keep the jars in a dry place and when you come to use them turn them over once in a pan of boiling water, scalding the covers the same.

Do not waste time, strength, jars or sugar on imperfect, decayed or unripe fruit. The probabilities are that it will not keep; and if it does the appearance and flavor will be inferior.

Put the fruit into the jars boiling hot and seal immediately. Do not try to remove the froth or air bubbles (pure air will do no harm in cans, and it will be pure when the fruit is at boiling heat all around it and will remain so if the can is well sealed), because while you are trying to let the air out the fruit is cooling on top and the germs from the outside air are settling upon it.

If the fruit gets below the boiling point while filling the jars, return it to the fire and reheat it. Fill the jars to overflowing. Fasten the covers on perfectly tight, press the edges down all around into the rubber of Mason jars, if inclined to leak. Do not tighten the covers after the fruit is cold.

With Lightning jars it is sometimes necessary to slip little splinters of wood (bits of berry boxes) under the wires to make the covers tight enough.

When the covers are perfectly adjusted, invert the jars and leave them until cool. This not only shows whether any are leaking or not but fills any spaces there may be.

Keep canned fruit in a dark place. The light will cause it to lose its flavor as well as color. Wrap jars in paper if necessary.

The simplest way to fill jars is to set them in a row on a towel wrung out of cold water and folded so that it is thick. The jars must be cold also. Or, the towel may be wrung out of hot water and the jars rinsed in hot water before filling. In either case have the covers warm.

Bear in mind that “sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat.”

Some fruits, rich fine-flavored pears and peaches, whortleberries and others are excellent canned without sugar. They taste more like fresh fruit.

I always can whortleberries without water, so as to have them for pies. For sauce, water may be added after they are opened.

Gooseberries canned without water or sugar make delightful, fresh tasting pies in winter.

Never fail to secure black currants if possible for pies. Always label fruit before putting it away, giving the year in which it was put up.

Canned fruits and vegetables should be opened two hours or more before serving, to give the fresh taste which comes with the restoration of oxygen.

There is much work at the best connected with fruit canning, so I have tried to simplify it as much as possible. The methods given here are those which I have used for years with good results.

TO CAN SOLID BERRIES

Cherries, whortleberries, red and black currants and all berries that do not crush easily may be put into the kettle in layers with sugar (never more than ½ pt. of sugar to 2 qts. of fresh fruit and usually less), brought to the boiling point slowly and put into jars with very little trouble. The following is an average proportion of sugar and water to use with this class of berries:

• Blackberries—2 qts. berries, ½–¾ cup sugar, 2 cups water.
• Blk. Raspberries—2 qts. berries, ½–¾ cup sugar, 2 cups water.
• Gooseberries, green—2 qts. berries, 1–1½ cup sugar, 4 cups water.
• Gooseberries, ripe—2 qts. berries, 1–1½ cup sugar, 1–1½ cup water.
• Whortleberries,—2 qts. berries, ½ cup sugar (if any), 1 tablespn. water.
• Rhubarb—1 qt. rhubarb in ¾ in. lengths, ½ cup sugar, no water.

TO CAN PEACHES AND FRUITS OF THAT CLASS

Peaches

Wash peaches, rubbing well, drain, pare as thin as possible and drop into cold water to keep them from turning dark. If the peaches are very ripe, put a few at a time into a wire basket and plunge into boiling water. Hold them there a moment, then quickly turn them into cold water; after which the skins will slip off easily. This is a quicker method and does not waste the peaches, but I have thought they were more apt to turn dark.

For each rounded quart of peaches, make a syrup of ?–½ cup of sugar and 1–1½ cup of water, the water in which the peaches were standing. Bring the syrup to the boiling point, drop the peaches in (if in halves the cut side down), boil until thoroughly heated through, or until tender; drop the peaches into the jars, pour boiling syrup over, seal, following “Suggestions” carefully.

Pears

• 1 rounded qt. (8 or 9) pears in halves
• ?–½ cup sugar
• 1 tablespn. lemon juice
• 1–1½ cup water

Finish the same as peaches.

The lemon juice gives character to the pears.

I once had some pears that were so flavorless it seemed hardly worth while to can them, but I tied ground anise seed in small pieces of cheese cloth and cooked with them, besides adding lemon juice, and they were excellent. Small pears and those with thin skins may be canned without paring. They are richer but the skins sometimes cause flatulence.

Do not can pears while they are hard.

Plums

• 1 qt. plums
• ¼–? cup sugar
• ¼–½ cup water

It is a good plan to prick the plums on all sides with a fork before cooking.

Quinces and Sweet Apples

• 6 qts. quinces in eighths
• 6 qts. sweet apples in quarters
• 5 qts. water
• 4–6 cups sugar

Cook quinces in water until tender, remove with skimmer; cook apples in same water, remove apples, measure water, adding more if necessary; dissolve sugar in water, heat to boiling, add fruit, simmer a few minutes and put into jars.

Quinces are much improved by combining with sweet apples. When the apples are cooked with them, the quinces become more tender.

Quinces and citron and quinces and pears may also be combined.

Cranberries and Sweet Apples

• 1 qt. cranberries
• 1½ qt. sweet apples in quarters
• ? qt. cold water
• ¾–1 cup sugar

Cook sugar, water and cranberries together, until the cranberries begin to crack; add the apples and cook all slowly until the apples are soft. Put into jars and seal.

To Can Strawberries

For each 2 qts. of hulled berries (just enough to fill one quart jar), use 1 cup of granulated sugar. Put a layer of berries into an earthen or granite ware dish, sprinkle with sugar, cover with another layer of berries and so on. (Strawberries are so juicy they will not bear any water). Let berries and sugar stand together in the ice box or cellar for several hours. They may be prepared late in the afternoon and put into the jars the first thing the next morning.

When ready to can the fruit, drain off the juice, heat it to boiling, turn the berries carefully into it and shake and turn the dish once in a while to keep the fruit heating evenly. When just boiling all through, dip carefully into cans with a handled cup. Put the covers on quickly, no matter how many bubbles of air there are nor how much froth there is in the jars, and screw down tight with a can opener. After pressing the edge of the covers down if necessary, lay the jars on the side (instead of inverting, for strawberries) and turn over occasionally while cooling.

When perfectly cold, set jars upright and you will find the berries evenly distributed through the jars and they will never rise to the top. Allowing the berries to stand in sugar and afterwards putting them into boiling syrup hardens them so that they keep their shape. It is better to heat just enough at once to fill each jar. You can have several dishes (milk crocks, granite, porcelain and aluminum kettles) on the stove at once at different stages of heating so that you can fill one jar after another.

This was my auntie’s method and I have never seen it excelled.

Pineapple

• ¼–? cup sugar
• ½–1 tablespn. lemon juice
• ¾ cup water
• 1 pt. pineapple

Prepare pineapple as for fresh pineapple, put into stone jars or earthen vessels with layers of sugar; stand in ice box a few hours (not long enough to ferment), drain off the juice, add lemon juice and water, heat to boiling, add fruit. Let all just boil up, fill jars, seal as other fruits. The delicate flavor of pineapple is lost by long cooking.

Grated pineapple canned with ½ cup of sugar to the quart is suitable for ices and other uses.

Rhubarb—cooked

Put stewed rhubarb into jars as soon as it boils up well.

Rhubarb Without Cooking—for pies

Wash rhubarb and cut into inch pieces without peeling, pour boiling water over, drain at once, cool, pack in cans and fill with boiled, strained, ice-cold water. Seal cans, invert in cold place and cover from the light. Set upright after a few hours. To use, drain, let stand in fresh cold water ½ hour and drain again.

Cranberries may be canned in the same way.

Watermelon Rind or Citron

Pare off the thin green rind, cut into pieces 1 in. square, or into strips, stand in cold water for two or three hours, changing the water occasionally; drain thoroughly, make syrup of 1 pt. water to 1 or 1½ pt. sugar, according to the richness desired. (3 or 4 tablespns. of lemon juice may be used with the larger quantity of sugar). When syrup is boiling, add rind, simmer until pieces can be pierced easily with a broom straw, or until they are clear, put into jars and seal.

One part raisins to five or six of the rind gives a nice flavor. Or, orange flowers, rose leaves or rose water may be used, but the fruit is nice without any flavoring.

Green melons which did not have time to ripen before the frost, are excellent prepared in this way.

The rind may be steamed before putting it into the syrup, and less water used for the syrup.

Concord Grapes

• 2 qts. grapes
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup water

Pulp the grapes, run skins through the food cutter and cook for 20 m. in the water. Boil pulp until tender and rub through colander to remove the seeds. Add pulp and sugar to skins, heat to boiling and put into jars. The juice may be strained from the pulp and used to cook the skins in.

Barberries

• 1 qt. berries
• 2 cups sugar
• ½–1 cup water

Very nice for garnishing fruit salads, desserts or cakes.

Tomatoes

Select only perfectly fresh, well ripened tomatoes, wash and drop into kettle of boiling water, remove with skimmer, drop into cold water, peel, leave whole or slice. Boil well and put into jars the same as other fruit. Long boiling frees the acid and takes away the fresh, delicate flavor. When tomatoes are very watery, drain off some of the liquid and can it separately for use in soups and broths.

Tomatoes for Soups and Sauces

Wash and slice tomatoes without peeling. Heat to boiling, rub through fine colander or sieve to remove skins and seeds. Reheat and put into jars.

Whole Tomatoes

Pack peeled or unpeeled tomatoes in wide-mouthed jars. Cook a few nice ripe tomatoes, strain and pour the liquid, cold, over tomatoes in jars, seal, set jars in cold water as in canning vegetables, bring slowly to boiling point and boil ½ hour. Remove from water, tighten covers and invert jars as usual.

FRUIT JUICES

Begin with the earliest fruits and can some of the juice of each kind through the summer until you come to grapes and apples in the autumn. When diluted with water, these juices are delightful beverages for sick or well. A little lemon juice gives character to the drink. Without diluting, they make nice flavorings for fruit salads, egg creams and pudding sauces. Blueberry, black raspberry and other sweet juices make excellent dressings for grains instead of milk or cream.

Grape Juice

Concords or some of the dark purple grapes are the richest and most satisfactory for juice. Pick the grapes from the stems, wash and drain, put into a preserving kettle without water, cover and put on back of stove on an asbestos pad or a ring so they will heat slowly. When the skins are broken and the juice is free, bring just to the boiling point, put into jelly bags and drain without squeezing. To each quart of juice add from ½ to 1 cup of sugar. Very ripe grapes will require no sugar. Heat to boiling and can the same as fruit.

Add more water to the pulp that is left in the jelly bag, reheat, strain, boil and put into large jars for a drink, or, rub the pulp through a colander, sweeten, heat and can for marmalade. To Bottle Juices—Nearly fill bottles, standing on cloth wrung out of cold water, with boiling juice, through hot funnel. Press clean cork into bottle, cut off even with the top of the bottle and cover immediately with sealing wax made by melting together resin and oil. Use only enough oil to make the resin soft enough to spread over the cork and around the edges of the bottle. If too soft, the wax will run off.

Condensed Fruit Juices

Cook apple and other fruit juices rapidly until thick, then simmer slowly over the fire or in the oven until as thick as desired. Seal in jars or put into glasses or cups as jelly. Convenient for travelling, diluted.

APPLES

When apples are plentiful or likely to spoil, make into any of the apple sauces, put hot into jars and seal.

Baked Apples

Bake unpared apples, sweet or sour, in halves or quarters, leaving them rather juicy, put into jars and seal. On opening, put apples into oven in baking dish and dry out a little more.

Combinations of Fruits for Canning

Red or black raspberries with currant juice.

Red or black raspberries with cherries.

Plums with sweet apples.

Currants or currant juice with pineapple.

Orange, strawberry and pineapple juices with sugar, for strawberries and pineapple canned together, or for pineapple alone.

Strawberries with pineapple.

Pears and barberries. Cook barberries in water, rub through colander, add sugar, 1–1½ cup to the pint of pulp. Return to the fire and when hot, lay in halves or quarters of nice ripe pears. Cook until pears are tender. If the pears are not quite soft, steam, or cook in pulp without sugar first. Sweet apples may be used instead of pears.

JELLIES

Because of the large proportion of sugar required in jellies it is not best to use them freely.

Fruit for jelly should always be a little underripe and should not be picked just after a rain. Combine the juices of such fruits as do not jelly easily, or of the more expensive fruits, with apple juice which jellies the easiest of all. With strong flavored fruits, apple makes the jelly more agreeable. Jellies may be made in the winter of canned fruit juices and the juice from apple skins and cores. The addition of lemon juice to sweet fruits will convert them into jelly-making products. A few pieces of rose geranium leaves dropped into apple jelly just before putting it into glasses and removed in a minute, give the jelly a nice flavor.

Always boil the juice the required length of time before adding the sugar. It requires longer boiling on damp days.

Heat sugar in flat pan in oven before adding to jelly.

Thorough straining is necessary to make clear jelly. For the finest jelly, use first a double thickness of mosquito netting; then the same of cheese cloth, and lastly, one thickness of flannel.

Wet the cloth before putting the fruit in, to save the waste of juice. Hang in a warm place to drain.

It is said that if a little jelly dropped into cold water falls immediately to the bottom, the jelly is done; or, if it jellies on the spoon it is done.

Glasses for jelly may be set cold on a cold cloth, or warm on a warm cloth. Fill to the brim, as the jelly shrinks.

When the jelly is soft, set in the sun for a day or two, covered with panes of glass. When ready to set away, turn hot melted paraffine over the jelly. The heat destroys any germs which may have settled on the top. Cover with paper or with tin covers and set in a dark place. When using the jelly, wash and save the paraffine.

If jelly is to be moved or shipped, use a covering of ¼ inch of powdered sugar instead of the paraffine.

Or, cut rounds of toilet paper, two for each glass, large enough to overlap an inch; dip one at a time into a saucer of cold boiled milk, cover glass and press down, then put on the second piece quickly.

One thickness of Manila paper may be used instead of the toilet paper. When dry, a thick parchment-like cover will be formed and the jelly will keep well. Some housewives cover jelly while hot, thinking it keeps better.

To Make Jelly Tumblers

Soak a cord in turpentine, tie it tight around bottles and set fire to the cord.

Currant Jelly

Wash and drain currants. They are usually left on the stems but strain more easily if stemmed. Crush the berries, a few at a time and throw into the preserving kettle. Do not add any water. Set on back of range and heat slowly to nearly, not quite, boiling. Strain, measure juice, return to kettle and set over fire. At the same time put into a moderate oven in broad bottomed pans, sugar in the proportion of ¾–1 pt. to each pint of juice (¾ is sufficient). After juice begins to boil, boil 20 m., skimming as the scum rises. Add hot sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved, remove from fire and put at once into glasses.

? white currants may be used with red.

A thinner jelly to be used with meats and over puddings underneath the meringue, may be made with ½ pt. of sugar to the pint of juice.

A little celery salt may be added when jelly is to be used with meats.

Currant and Raspberry Jelly

? currant juice and ? raspberry or ? currant and ? raspberry makes a delightful combination.

Black Currant Jelly

Prepare stemmed currants as for red currant jelly. Use ¼ to ½ cup of water to each quart of currants and ¾ pt. of sugar to a pint of juice. 10 m. boiling is sufficient.

½ or ? apple juice will make a more delicate flavored jelly.

Jelly of Apple Parings and Cores

Measure skins and cores by pressing firmly into the measure. Add ? (no more) as much water as of fruit—you will think it is not enough. Boil 20 m., stirring often. Strain. Measure juice, boil 20–30 m., according to juiciness of apples, skimming. Add ½ as much sugar, hot, as of juice, boil 5–10 m., or until foamy. Put at once into glasses.

If apple jelly is as thick as desired when it first cools, it will be too thick after standing a few days. If apples are very juicy, use only one-half as much water.

Apple Jelly

Wash apples and cut into quarters or eighths. Do not pare or core. Add ¼ as much water as of apples in the kettle. Cook, stirring occasionally until apples are tender, not too soft. Finish as in jelly of parings. It is difficult to give the exact time for cooking, as apples vary in jellying properties. Use less water if apples are very juicy. One quince to every 10 or 12 apples gives a nice flavor. A few green grapes combined with apples or crab apples make a nice jelly.

Crab and Baldwin apples may be combined.

Apple and Cranberry Jelly

Stew 1 qt. of apple parings with 1 cup of cranberries and a pint of water until tender. Strain. There should be about ¾ of a pint of juice. Boil 5 m.; add ¾ pt. sugar, boil 2–4 m. Or, use 1 doz. large tart apples to 1 qt. of berries, or equal parts apple and cranberry juice. Proceed as in other jellies.

Elder-berry and Apple Jelly

Cook elder-berries with ½ cup of water to each quart of berries. Strain and combine with apple juice in the proportion of ? elder-berry juice to ? apple juice. Use ¾–1 pt. of sugar to each pint of juice. Finish as for currant jelly. Elder-berries alone make a strong flavored jelly, but this combination is delightful.

Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, wild cherries, pineapple, barberries, peaches, plums and some other fruits, all make better jelly by combining with apple juice in proportions according to flavor. Use no water with any of the fruits but the apple.

Currant juice may be combined with these fruits instead of apple juice.

Green Gooseberry Jelly

2 qts. berries, ¾ qt. water; stew, mash, strain; boil 20 m. for each quart of juice, add 1 qt. of hot sugar, boil 2–3 minutes.

Quince Jelly

Wash quinces, cut into quarters or eighths, remove part or all of the seeds, use ?–½ as much water as of fruit and ½ as much sugar as of juice. Cook and finish as apple jelly.

?–½ apple juice with quince is better.

Cranberry Jelly

Use one cup of water to each 4 qts. of cranberries; cook until the berries are tender, strain and use equal quantities of sugar and juice. Boil the juice 10–12 m., add the sugar hot, stir till it is dissolved and turn the jelly into glasses or a mold. The jelly may be molded in a shallow pan and when perfectly cold cut into cubes.

Jellied Cranberry Pulp

Rub stewed cranberries in the preceding recipe through the colander, boil 8 m., add sugar, stir carefully until dissolved, mold.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

1 qt. berries, 1 pt. sugar, ½–1 cup water. Pour water over berries with sugar, in kettle, cover, cook 10 m. without stirring. Put into large or individual molds. Unmold at serving time.

Blueberry Jelly

If berries are very dry, add a little water, heat, strain; use ½–¾ as much sugar as of juice.

Blueberry Jelly No.2

4 qts. berries, 1 cup water; cook and strain, add 2 tablespns. of lemon juice to each pint of juice. Cook 20 m., add ¾ as much sugar, hot, as of juice, boil up well, pour into glasses.

Grape Jelly

Wild grapes are preferable, but underripe Concords, Catawbas, and other varieties may be used.

Proceed as for currant jelly, using only ? as much sugar as of juice. If necessary, boil 5 m. after sugar is added. Use no water with cultivated grapes, but with underripe wild grapes, ½ cup of water may be added to each quart of stemmed grapes.

Raspberry and Currant Jam

Take ¾ their weight of sugar to berries. Mash berries in kettle over fire, add 1 pt. currant juice to each 2 qts. of berries, cook until thickened, 40–45 m., stirring and skimming, add sugar hot, boil, put into glasses or seal in jars.

Strawberry Jam

Allow ¾ their weight of sugar to berries; cook in a little of the sugar, stirring, 20–30 m. Add remainder of sugar hot, cook 10–20 m., if necessary. Small berries may be used for jam.

Gooseberry Jam

Press the juice from 3 oranges and shave off the rind, being careful not to get any of the white part. Remove blossoms and stems from 5 lbs. gooseberries, seed 2 lbs. of raisins, and chop all together very fine. Add 3–4 lbs. sugar and the orange juice and cook slowly for an hour. Turn into jars or tumblers and when cold spread a layer of powdered sugar on top of glass and seal.

Mrs. Chandler’s Rhubarb Jam

• 3 lbs. (3½ qts.) of rhubarb in inch lengths
• 1½ lb. (3 cups) sugar
• ½ lb. of figs or raisins, chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup water

Let rhubarb and sugar stand together over night, add other ingredients and cook slowly for about 3 hours.

Rhubarb and Pineapple Jam

• 6 lbs. (7 qts.) rhubarb in inch lengths
• 1 large pineapple, grated
• 3 lbs. (3 pints) sugar

Cook rhubarb and sugar ½–¾ of an hour, add pineapple, boil up, put into jars, seal.

Melrose Apple Butter

7 lbs. pared, quartered and cored apples, 3 lbs. molasses sugar if obtainable, if not, dark brown sugar. Put apples and sugar in layers in a kettle, cover tight, let stand 12 hours or over night. Then let come just to boiling and simmer without stirring, or uncovering for 5–12 hours.

Apple juice made by boiling the skins of apples in ? their bulk of water, as for jelly, with lemon juice to taste, is a valuable addition. Finely-ground coriander seed may be added. A little date or prune marmalade may also be used.

A delightful butter may be made by combining plums and apples.

Elder-berry and Apple Butter

To each 2 qts. of elder-berry juice prepared as for jelly take 2 lbs. brown sugar and ½ peck sour apples. Put juice and sugar on to boil and add the apples pared, quartered and cored; simmer slowly until thick. May be put into jelly glasses.

Equal quantities tomato and apple make a nice butter.

Grape Marmalade

Pulp the grapes and put the skins through the food cutter. Cook the pulp and rub through the colander to remove the seeds. Take ½–¾ as much sugar as there is of fruit, cook 20 m. The skins improve the flavor.

Lemon Peaches

• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup brown sugar
• peaches to fill 3 pint jars

Wash and rub the peaches well, drop into boiling syrup of lemon juice, sugar and water, cook until tender, put into jars and seal.

Ripe Cucumber Pickles

Pare and seed cucumbers and cut into eighths if large. Soak over night in lemon juice and water; in the morning drain, add to hot syrup and boil until soft; skim out of syrup and put into jars standing in hot water. Keep hot. Boil syrup 10–15 m., pour over fruit and seal; let stand three or four weeks before using.

• 3 cups brown sugar
• 3 cups lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• ½–1 tablespn. salt

Flavor with celery salt or seed, ground coriander or anise seed, and raisins to taste. (Use anise seed sparingly). The cucumbers may be steamed tender, put into jars and the reduced syrup poured over.

Watermelon rind may be prepared the same.

To Dry Blueberries

• 1 qt. berries
• ?–½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspn. water

Mix, heat in preserving kettle until juice begins to exude. Spread on buttered plates, dry carefully, stirring often.

I prize this recipe highly, as all will, I am sure, after trying it. Cherries, peaches and pears are better with sugar sprinkled over them before drying.

Dried fruits make a pleasant change from canned ones, besides not requiring jars. Home-dried fruit far excels factory products.