Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-04
PRESERVING DAYS
A Bunch of Old Southern
Recipes.
READ MIGHTY FINE
MAKING JELLIES AND JAMS OF
SMALL FRUITS.
Kettle Must Be Clean, Fire Clear, Jars
Dry and Cupboard Not
Too Warm.
READ MIGHTY FINE
for The Evcnir e Star.

Inc month of August is one time or the
year when the mistress of the household
becomes absolute monarch OF her kitchen
for at least few hours of the day each
week. The cook. who has hitherto been
autocratic In the sway OF her special do
main. is obliged to become second in COM
mand, and give place TO higher culinary
| officer, the preserving commissary general.
| In other words, this is the preserving sea-
son Of the year par excellence Fruits are.
unfortunately for the comfort of their
manipulation, at their best and cheapest
during these very trying hot days, and
| madam. willy nilly, must needs brave the
| heat and burden of the day to satisfy the
demands of the sweet loving members of
the family.
Self-sacrfficng may be the housewife
of today, her task is light compared with
that Of the cooks of long ago, who made
great use of fruit, though not in the same
methods OF today. Their conserves, sirups
and cordials were the result OF leisurely
gathering and 1t was deemed important
that this gathering should be done between
| the new and full moon. Woe betide the
foolish wight who so far tempted Provi-
dence as to expect success from fruit
wrenched from the parent stem in a waning
moon. All the other painstaking, plodding
preparation they went through makes one
| glad not to have lived in the yesterdays.
| twenty different roots. sixteen separate
kinds of flowers and nineteen species OF
seeds. to say nothing of hve other ingre-
| dents and from these sixty items concoct
a liquid which was to be charm against
| the plague. had an energy, a patience and
| a faith which we may admire, but In the
| twentieth century will hardly seek to emu
late.
| Our fruit, whether from shop or garden.
| has quite other uses than the exercising of
| spirits the prevention of pestilence or the
cure of sickness. In this material age we
eat 1t for the stomach's sake alone. 1t 10
| true there are on the market beautifully put
| up and expensive fruit jellies and preserves,
but think most persons will agree that
the homemade articles have a taste and
charm which are wholly lacking in those
| made in a factory.
Always the Best.
Quite naturally the woman who does her
| own preserving thinks her formulas the
| superiors Of any others. but have known
| some cases in which though the boosted
recipes were used the wind has been taken
| cut OF my lady's conceit because her jelly
wouldn't "jell' or some equally direful mis-
hap befell the preserves.
The recipes I about to recommend
| are recipes which any intelligent cook may
| use with the greatest safety and If follow-
| ed carefully will insure her perfect success
They have all been taken from an old south
| ern cook book COMPLIED, like the HAD
| ton. IL culinary art age is not always
venerated. the modern scientific cooking
| has made wonderful strides. In the pre-
serving line. nevertheless, those charming
| ladies of the old regime may still give their
up to- date sisters of 1903 lesson in Jam
| and jelly making which 1T may well behoove
them to take.
| Here is what they have to say concerning
| the making of red and black currant and
strawberry jams The fruit must be pick
| ed perfectly dry and perfectly ripe. In the
| case of red currants the fruit is stripped
| from the stem and put, with half a pint OF
raspberry juce-which is great improve
ment-to every three pounds of fruit into a
preserving kettle and boiled over a moder-
| ate fire for quarter of an hour-that is.
| let the fruit come to the boiling point and
continue to boil a quarter of an hour Then
| add Sugar of equal weight with the fruit
and boil until quite clear, which will be
about half an hour. Do not skim the jam
| or put it in jars until entirely cool. When
cold cover the jars with brown kitchen pa
| per soaked in fresh milk. The latter-day
cooks prefer paraff1n poured directly over
| the jelly, which when cool forms cake
| easily removed. Whatever the protection
the connection is now ready to label and
put away for use.
First Pick Clean.
When black currants are the fruit in
| hand they should be carefully picked so
| that no small or unripe ones are taken.
| They must be bruised in bowl with
wooden spoon, then put in a pan with a
| teacupful of water and boiled twenty MIN
| utes. Two and half pounds of sugar to
| two pounds of the currants are then added.
Boil all an hour longer and put into Jars,
| tie down and label before
| Cherries require the addition of red cur
| rant juice in the proportion Of half pint
| to four pounds of fruit. Raspberries need
three pounds of sugar. The fruit and
| rant juice must be boiled twenty minutes
together. then equal weight of sugar
added and boiled on slow fire nearly half
| an hour longer. When the jam looks clear
| try spoonful on a plate and If 1t will set
| it is sufficiently done.
Black currant jelly is an admirable spe-
cific for sore throat upon which we olden
times set much store. and is made in the
following proportions: To every pound Of
black currants add one-third of pound OF
white currants If procurable, and half 4
pint of water. Set them over fire to scald
but not to boil. Brufse them well with a
wooden masher remove from the fire ana
| Immediately press through hair slave. To
each pint of juice thus obtained put q
pound of loaf sugar and boil exactly ten
minutes. taking off any scum which may
arise When finished and cold place irr jars
| covered with paper dipped in brandy.
Mix Red and White.
Red currant jelly, which in winter find
delicious served with mutton or game, and
| which is also used as a dainty adornment
| to many smart dessert. is made In this
way: Put one-third of white currants and
| two-thirds of Ted just as they come from
the bush, unpicked, through a fine sieve.
| This Juice is made hot in a brass kettle. but
| is not allowed to boil To every pint Of
| juice a pound of finely powdered sugar IL
added which is stirred by degrees until
all is dissolved The sugar must not be
| hot when added to the juice, but be pre-
| viously heated in the oven on a fiat dish for
| this purpose.
Although not rela ted to the jelly family
very nearly, I would like to introduce to
you a delicious fruit cheese, which Is an
| old world dainty highly priced:
Green Gooseberry Cheese.-To make this
cheese successfully the berries should be
| firm and gathered just before they begin
| to rfpen After being topped and tailed
| the berries are soaked in cold water for
| two hours then taken out of the water
| and bruised in a wooden bowl The next
move is to transfer them to a Dress kettle,
| in which they are stirred over clear fire
until tender. When reduced to pulp add
six pounds of fruit, four pounds
of sugar and let boil until very
thick stirring frequently, then pour into
moJds This cheese may be made Of all