The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-08-31
HOMEMADE GOODIES.

may not be aware of this fact, but 1t is true nevertheless. When the atmos- phere IS clear fires burn better, fruit is less liable to spoil and the cooks tenn per is usually at its best, a conjunction of good things most conducive to the successful turning out of preserves and
 pickles. Leave out any of these in gredients, and disappointing lot of sweets and savories will often be- the result.
 I When there is an abundance of fruit even the most negligent housewife is inspired to preserving efforts, and she wisely uses the wealth of Summers mello wprime to cheer the dearth of Winters rime." The last few Summers we have not been surfeited with Sum mer's mellow rime. Some unforeseen catastrophe of wind, weather or bugs comes along, and our fruits and hopes are blighted. In spite, though, of the l grocers' high prices and the general scarcity each year the housewife mana ges to supply her storeroom pretty com- fortably. The first step in the pre- serving direction Is to make sure that Il the utensils to be used are in perfect order. If not absolutely new, they must be in immaculate condition. The unwieldy copper preserving kettle has had it's day in the kitchen and Is now promoted in some cases 10 the dignity of holding handsome palm or acts in
 an artistic rather than useful capaci- I ty. Agate saucepans have taken it's
 place. and they are much lighter and easier to keep clean and to handle. l For the preserving process, besides saucepans, the utensils needed will be
 a pair of trustworthy scales, measuring lcups, an agate colander, a small dipper, and several agate spoons of different
 sizes, and when jelly is being made
 two rthree bags of double cheesecloth. Last, but by no means least, are the preserving jars which, if used before, should be equipped with new rubbers
 and covers.
 Now that the modus operandi is pro-
 vided for, selection of fruit is the lnext consideration. Fruit should be
 used when in perfect state for eat- ling raw and should be of uniform ripe
 ness and free from blemishes. When
 small fruits are being preserved, hull
 and stand them in colander placed in a large pan of cold water which just lcovers the fruit Change the water twice and then drain the fruit through cheese
 cloth This process washes the berries I perfectly. Peaches and similar fruit
 should be pared with a silver knife,
 whic hto avoid discoloration, should be rubbed with lemon juice. Plums and tomatoes are scalded to remove the Iskins, and to retain the flavor of the Ifruit they should be quickly cooked in small quantities.
 There is a general rule for preserving which says take equal weights of sugar land fruit, adding a cup of water to each pound or quarters of pound of lsugar. These quantities make a very lsweet preserve, and nowadays up-to- date housekeepers are favoring canned
 fruit rather than the old-fashioned pre-
 serves.
 j Fruit for canning must be of the
 best quality and perfect a sto shape. lit Is prepared according to the re- Iquirements of the fruit used and placed
 in jars, and sirup poured over 1t bcil- ing hot and of a rich, clear color.
 The proportions for making the sirup Iare usually one cup fsugar and one
 cup of water for each pint jar of ber-
 ries or small fruit or one cup of sugar and two of water for large fruit. Most
 housewives prefer putting their fruit into pint jars, especially when the fa- Imily is small. a fresh supyly being in this fashion insured at each using. The jars into which the fruit to be canned lis placed should be we'll scalded and
 kept in hot water until ready to fill. A safeguard to prevent the jars from
 cracking is a place a silver spoon in
 them before filling with the hot sirup.
 Be sure to fill them to overfowing and
 see that the sirup completely covers
 the fruit This may be accomplished
 by running a tablespoon around among
 the pieces of fruit, separating them and
 making a space for the juice to circu- late. @t#
 The covers of the jars must be put ] on securely, and a good idea is to give them an extra turn every halfhour un-
 til the fruit is perfectly cold. When can ming is done in this way there is not 8 :. chance of its turning out a failure ii the jars are placed bottom up and kept in dark place.
 The. old Virginia colored cooks were : noted for their preserves and pickles
 and the following are some recipes
 taken from the notebook of an 'auntie' , celebrated for her culinary goodies, es, ? pecially in the pickling line.
 Peach Mangoes. These are not seer as often on the Winter table as the epi ] cure would like to see them. They art not difficult for the novice to prepar, } If done properly. Take large, cleal stone peaches before they are fully rip, l and rub the fur off with coarse towel , Split them in halves and take out tht } stones. Have ready equal quantities O ground ginger, mace, cloves, lallspice } Icinnamon and black pepper we'll mixed t together. Sprinkle this compound or : the inside of each hal fof the peach ant fill with black and white mustard seeC [ and some scraped horseradish. Thel l tie the halves of the peach securely to gether with string. Let one and } half ounces of vinegar into which ha !. been put an ounce each of the differen : kinds of spices mentioned above conn l to a boil Pour this mixture over tn 5 peaches,4 and a delicious mango is tn : result
 { In 'mammy's" book this recipe fo h E H . . |