Evening star., 1901-07-20
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HOLD
lINTS

Fruits are cheap now and so good
that housekeepers should provide them in
one form or another for each meal. Mel
ons, particularly, are at their best, so that
II has become almost a matter of course
to have them every day at least for one
meal or another. Southerners declare that
people of the north spoil watermelons by
too much chilling; that, like strawberries
they need the warmth of the sun in them:
but the weight of opinion seems to be on
the side of the iceboX
A novel way to chill melon is to cut
ripe one into halves and scoop out the
pink flesh, rejecting all seeds. Lay on
platter and. with a silver fork, break
INTO small pieces. Add one-half pound of
powdered sugar and the juice of a lemon
lurn into a freezer, pack with ice and
salt and turn slowly for fifteen or twenty
minutes until the mixture is muShy Serve
IN glasses, with the addition of a teaspoon
ful OF sherry to each glass if desired
1t is now considered a violation of the
canons of good taste in table service to
oHer WatermelonS with the rind on Split
the melon in two, lengthwise, and with a
large spoon and rotary twist of the
wrist scoop out the luscious pink flesh in
cone-shaped pieces. Arrange on a bed of
green leaves or cracked ice and you will
have picture for the eye as well as
delight to the palate. Cut in this way.
which gives no waste, a good-sized melon
will serve fifteen or twenty people.
Watermelon rind preserved, and then
dried out in the oven, is quite as good as
citron for cake, mince pie, plum pudding
and tutti-frutti ice cream.
In preserving watermelon rind peel off
the green part and cut in thin strips For
five pounds of rind put one quart of water
and pint of vinegar over the fire. When
1t a Scald add the riDd hoil ta,,
or twelve minutes, remove with a skim
mer and drain. Have ready syrup, all
lowing three and half pounds of sugar to
a pint of water. Let It come to a good
boil, skim and add the strips of melon
with two ounces of green ginger cleaned
and sliced. Cook about three-quarters OF
an hour, or until tender enough to pierce
with a straw. Remove the melon strips
with a skinner and lay on a platter
Continue boiling the syrup until reduced
to one-half. Put the melon in a glass jar
excepting what you wish to dry to use in
place of citron. and fill the jars to over
flowing with the boiling syrup.
Watermelon rind is excellent made into
sweet pickle. Cook the strips of melon in
clear water until nearly tender, then re-
move with a skinner and drain Make
spiced pickle, allowing to every eight
pounds Of melon a pint of vinegar and
three pounds of sugar. Mix together
half teaspoonful each of ground cloves and
mace and teaspoonful each of cinnamon,
ginger and allspice. Tie in a cheesecloth
bag and add to the syrup. Cook the melon
in the syrup until perfectly tender; re-
move the melon and cook the syrup until
reduced down one-half Put into jars and
seal while still scalding hot.
While it seems quite as wasteful and ri
diculous an excess as painting the lily or
throwing perfume on the violet to attempt
any improvement upon the watermelon au
naturel. a change from the stereotyped way
of doing things is sometimes desirable. At
a recent luncheon the first course was
chilled melon, which had been prepared In
this wise: All the center of the melon
was scooped out rejecting the seeds. This
pieces. then put into a freezer with the
addition Of half a pound of powdered su-
gar and the juice of a lemon. The freezer
was packed in salt and Ice and turned slow
ly for fifteen minutes until a mush-like
consistency was obtained. This melon
frappe was served in glasses with a tea
spoonful of sherry added to each glass.
watermelons or muskmelons that are not
very sweet may be utilized in a salad with
mayonnaise or a French dressing in which
lemon juice is used in place Of vinegar.
Among the new fruits which are begin
ming to make their appearance in the
larger fruit shops are the loquat or Jap
anese plum and the king-kang or Chinese
kumquart. The loquat. which grows on
spreading bushes in Cuba. Porto Rico and
southern California, Is yellow, with a large
center pit divided in four sections It
makes a most delicious jelly, and is used
in these fascinating sweetmeats known as
pastas. These pastas are made by boiling
down the fruit with white or brown sugar
until almost solid, and then pouring the
substance into long, rectangular molds
The king-kang is about the size and shape
Of the smallest yellow tomatoes, and is
sometimes called a mandarin orange It
resembles the ordinary sour orange In
skin and cOlOriQ2. II Is Ia nd in,
China and Japan, where 1t is put up In an
extra rich syrup for the highest class of
noblemen. 1t is the most costly of all pre-
serves there. The American king-kang or
kumquart (Which is the Cantonese pronun-
citation Of the native name) comes from
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