Pickles should always be done in the very best cider or wine vinegar, as the chemical preparations known by the name of vinegar soften the pickles, besides being very injurious to the stomach.

Stone or glass jars are the best for keeping pickles, which should be always completely covered with vinegar. When they are first put into the jars they require attention for a day or two, to keep them filled up, as the vinegar sinks in the jar, or is imbibed by the pickles.

PICKLED PEPPERS.

220. If you would prefer your peppers less pungent, cut an opening in the top of the pepper, and take out half the seeds.

Lay them for two weeks in salt and water which will bear an egg. Be careful to keep them covered with the brine. Put a board over them to keep them under the salt and water, and take off the scum as it rises.

If they are not yellow at the end of two weeks, let them remain in the brine a little longer.

When yellow take them out, wash them, and put them in a kettle with cold water—cover the top with leaves—place them near the fire, let them get hot, but do not permit them to simmer. When they are greened in this manner, take them out, drain them, place them in your jars, and pour cold spiced vinegar over them.

If you wish to stuff them, chop some cabbage very fine, season it highly with mace, cinnamon, cloves, and mustard seed—stuff the peppers with this preparation, and tie a thread round each one to keep the stuffing in.

PICKLED MUSHROOMS, No. 1.

221. Choose button mushrooms; wipe them well with a clean cloth. Sprinkle a little salt over them, and put them in a stew-pan, with some pieces of mace and whole pepper corns. Simmer them slowly till all the juice is out of them. Shake them frequently. Let them simmer very gradually till all the liquor is dried up, but be careful not to let the mushrooms get dry. When the juice has all evaporated, pour over them as much cold vinegar as will cover them, let them get hot, and put them in jars. When cold, cover them closely.

PICKLED MUSHROOMS, No. 2.

222. Select the button mushrooms, that is, those which are not fully blown. Cut off the ends of the stems, scrape them, peel the tops, and wipe them on a clean cloth.

Put them into a stew-pan, with just enough water to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Shake them occasionally, to prevent them from burning.

As soon as they are tender, pour over them some boiling vinegar, seasoned with mace, cloves, whole grains of pepper, and salt.

When cool, bottle them, and seal the corks.

PICKLED ONIONS.

223. Choose small white onions, peel them, and throw a few at a time in a pan of boiling salt and water; as soon as they look clear take them out carefully, and place them on a sieve to dry; then put in more, and so on, till all are cooked. When they are cold, put them in jars, and pour spiced vinegar over them.

To each quart of the vinegar, put one table spoonful of whole allspice, half a table spoonful of pepper grains, three or four small pieces of mace, half a dozen cloves, and a table spoonful of mustard seed. Boil all these spices in the vinegar, and pour it, boiling hot, over the pickles.

PICKLED EGGS.

224. Boil some eggs hard; take off the shells, put them into a jar, and cover them with cold vinegar.

CHOW CHOW.

225. Three cabbages,
Twenty-five peppers,
Half a pint of mustard seed,
Three sticks of horse-radish, chipped.

Cut the cabbages as for slaw; chop the peppers very fine. Put in a jar a layer of cabbage, a very little salt, then a layer of peppers, sprinkle over this some horse-radish and mustard seed, and so on, till all is in, then fill up the jars with cold vinegar, in every quart of which dissolve two ounces of sugar.

This is very good with hot or cold meat.

PICKLED WALNUTS.

226. Rub your walnuts well with a coarse towel, and lay them for two weeks in salt and water strong enough to float an egg.

Drain them, and put them in your kettle, with fresh water enough to cover them, and let them stand twelve hours, where they will keep hot, but not boil.

To one hundred walnuts take one gallon of the best vinegar, one ounce of pepper, one ounce of cloves, half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of nutmeg, four ounces of ginger. Break the ginger and nutmegs in pieces, bruise the pepper a little, and put the spices into the vinegar just before it boils. Let it boil five minutes; pour it out, cover it closely, and stand it away to get cold.

Place the walnuts in your jars, and strew over them about four ounces of mustard seed, pounded and sifted, then pour the spiced vinegar over and cover them closely.

PICKLED PEACHES.

227. Select ripe cling-stone peaches. To one gallon of good vinegar add four pounds of brown sugar; boil this for a few minutes, and take off any scum which may rise. Rub the peaches with a flannel cloth, to remove the down, and stick a clove in each; put them in glass or stone jars, and pour the liquor upon them boiling hot. When cold, cover the jars and let them stand in a cool place for a week or ten days, then pour off the liquor and boil it as before, after which return it, boiling, to the peaches, which should be carefully covered and stored away for future use.

If your peaches are very hard, boil them in water till tender, before you pickle them, and they will be fit for use almost immediately.

PICKLED BEANS.

228. String-beans, or French beans, are the kind used for pickling. Take off the strings but do not break the beans; put them in strong salt and water for three or four days; cover them with a board and weight so as to keep them under the water. Then take them out, wash them, and put them in a preserving kettle with hot water enough to cover them, and put leaves or a cloth over them to keep in the steam. When they are green take them out, drain them and put them in jars; pour hot vinegar over them, with any kind of spice you may like best, and a small piece of alum in each jar.

Radish pods are pickled in the same way.

PICKLED MANGOES.

229. Cut your mangoes in half, take out all the seeds, tie them together with coarse thread, and lay them in strong salt and water for three or four days. Then wash and drain them, put them into a kettle with vine or cabbage leaves over the top, or they may be covered with a clean coarse cloth; pour in hot water enough to cover them, and let them stand near the fire to keep hot. When they are green take them out, untie them, turn the cut side down and drain them. Cut some horse-radish in fine slips, and mix with it some mace, cloves, pepper, allspice and mustard seed; fill your mangoes with this, and if you like it add a clove of garlic to each one, place the two sides together and tie them again. Put them in jars and cover them with vinegar. Cut off the threads before they are sent to the table.

PICKLED CUCUMBERS.

230. Select the small sized cucumbers for pickling. They should be free from bruises and of a fine green color, for if they are old and yellow when picked from the vines they will never be green when they are pickled. Wash your cucumbers in cold water to remove all the sand and grit, put them in your pickling tub, make a brine of salt and water strong enough to float an egg. Pour enough of this brine over the cucumbers to cover them; spread over the top a coarse cloth and over this put the lid of the tub, which should be just large enough to fit inside and slip down so as to press on the cucumbers, put a weight on the lid to keep it in its place. Let them stand in the salt and water till they are perfectly yellow, which will be in about nine days. When they are quite yellow take them out, wash them in cold water and examine each one separately; if you should find any soft or bruised reject them, as they would be likely to spoil the others. Put them into a preserving kettle, cover them with hot water and vine or cabbage leaves, or if you have no leaves a clean coarse towel will answer as well. Put a plate over the top and stand them where they will keep hot, but not simmer, as that would ruin them. When they are perfectly green take them out of the water, drain them, and put in your jars first a layer of cucumbers, then a tea spoonful of whole allspice, half a dozen cloves, some strips of horse-radish, and half a tea spoonful of mustard seed, then more cucumbers, and so on till the jar is full. Pour in as much good vinegar as will cover them, with a tea spoonful of pulverized alum to each jar. In a day or two examine them, and fill up the jars with vinegar if the pickles have absorbed it so as to leave the top ones uncovered.

If you do not wish to pickle all your cucumbers at once, (and they are much better when they are freshly pickled,) take them out of the salt and water, wash and drain them. Put the brine over the fire, boil and skim it; let it stand to get cold; wash the pickle tub, wipe it dry, put the cucumbers into it; examine each one that no specked ones may be put in the tub, pour the cold brine over them, wash the cloth and lid of the tub and replace them as before. Cucumbers will keep in this way all winter. They may be pickled a few at a time whenever they are wanted. They must be soaked twenty-four hours in cold water before they are pickled; if they are so long in salt and water they imbibe too much salt to green them without soaking.

Gherkins are done in the same way.

PICKLED BEETS.

231. Boil your beets till tender, but not quite soft. To four large beets boil three eggs hard, remove the shells; when the beets are done take off the skin by laying them for a few minutes in cold water and then stripping it off; slice them a quarter of an inch thick, put the eggs at the bottom, and then put in the beets with a little salt. Pour on cold vinegar enough to cover them. The eggs imbibe the color of the beets, and look beautiful on the table.

PICKLED CHERRIES.

232. Pick over your cherries, remove all the specked ones. Put them into a jar, and pour over them as much hot vinegar and sugar as will cover them; to each gallon of vinegar allow four pounds of sugar. Boil and skim it and pour it hot over the fruit. Let it stand a week, then pour off the vinegar and boil it as before, pour it hot over the cherries the second time. As soon as they are cold tie them closely.

TOMATO CATSUP, No. 1.

233. Boil half a bushel of tomatoes until they are soft, squeeze them through a fine wire sieve and add—One quart of vinegar,
Half a pint of salt,
One ounce of cloves,
Two ounces of whole allspice,
Two ounces of ground cayenne pepper,
A dessert spoonful of ground black pepper,
Two heads of garlic skinned and separated.

Mix the whole together and boil three hours; bottle without straining it.

On the top of each bottle pour a table spoonful of sweet oil, cork them closely and seal them. The sweet oil by excluding the air tends to preserve the catsup.

TOMATO CATSUP, No, 2.

234. Slice the tomatoes, put a layer in a deep vessel, and sprinkle over some salt; then another layer of tomatoes and salt till all are in. Stand them in the sun for two or three days, when they are soft pass them through a sieve, and put the pulp, thus drained out, over the fire to boil. Add cayenne pepper, whole black pepper, mace, cloves, allspice, and a little race ginger if you like; let it boil till it is thick, add a clove of garlic; by tasting it you can judge if it is seasoned to your taste. When cold, bottle it off; put a table spoonful of sweet oil on the top of each bottle, and seal the corks.

MUSHROOM CATSUP.

235. Procure fresh mushrooms, pick them carefully, wipe them clean, and put a layer in the bottom of a pan, sprinkle over some salt, then another layer of mushrooms and more salt until all are in; cover the pan and let them stand two days, mash them well and strain them through a hair sieve. To each quart of the pulp add one ounce and a half of whole black pepper, half an ounce of whole allspice, and a few blades of mace. Boil it till reduced to two-thirds the original quantity. When done pour it in a pan and stand it away till the next day, then pass it through a hair sieve and bottle it for use. Put it in small bottles, on the top of each pour a table spoonful of sweet oil to exclude the air. Cork them closely and rosin the corks.

WALNUT CATSUP.

236. When your pickled walnuts are soft, mash them through the vinegar which covers them, strain it and boil it to a proper thickness. Bottle it, put a table spoonful of sweet oil on the top of each bottle, and cork them tightly; seal the corks and it will keep for several years.

This catsup is excellent.

PICKLED NASTURTIUMS.

237. Cut the green seeds of the nasturtiums with a piece of the stem to each. Put them in a jar of cold vinegar.

PICKLED TOMATOES.

238. Take one peck of ripe tomatoes, prick them with a large needle, and lay them in strong salt and water eight days. Then take them out of the brine and lay them in vinegar and water for twenty-four hours. Scald a dozen small onions in vinegar and stand the whole away to get cold. Drain the tomatoes and add them to the cold onions and vinegar, with two wine-glasses of mustard-seed and an ounce of cloves.

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