Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-09-10
Cranes and Peaches.

w0ulQ probably bettie upon grapes auu
peaches as those We could not dispense
with. They have the look and flavor of
Eden still; they are pheasant to the eye
and good for food"
And vet we are far from seeing to
what infinite variety of uses these fruits
can be put. Take grapes, and see how
decorative they can be when arranged
with some attention to their beauty Of
coloring and their contrasting shades.
The large green California grapes with
their pale silvery foliage are themselves
enough to make artists of US all. A tall
glass dish of these, dropping over the
edges here and there, and a large circle
of leaves and grapes around the base,
form a centerpiece fit for any dinner
table.
Or the dark red Tokay grapes; put
them in Bohemian glass dish of their
own color, such dish as we once used
for card receiver, possibly, and mix
them with dark red asters or small
chrysanthemums and the whey grape
leaves just touched by frost, and you
will have something so rich in color as
to amaze you with its beauty.
Or take our own homegrown Concord
and Niagara grapes and mix the purple
and green clusters in a rough basket,
brown or dull green, and fasten little
punches of them to the handle with tiny
leaves, and see how pretty the effect can
be. For something more delicate, espe-
cially for long narrow dinner table, try
putting three comportes of varying size,
one large and two small ones, in a row;
fill these with grapes of contrasting
cOlors, and festoon small grape leaves
and tendrils from one to the other.
A punch-bowl surrounded with white
and dark grapes in alternate punches
is lovely, and grape leaves can easily be
fastened to the edge of the bowl by
bending bits of wire in the shape of let
ter U and pressing these down over the
stem.
AS to the uses OF grapes for meal.
these are as various as their decorative
uses. One delicious thing is a salad
made with them.
| WHITE GRAPE SALAD.
Wash and wipe dry large white Cali
fornia grapes; with sharp penknife
open place on one side and press out
the seeds; slip in in their stead small
half of pecan nut and press the edge
partly together. When enough grapes
are prepared lay them on individual cup
shaped lettuce leaves aud arrange these
on glass platter; just before serving
pour over some French dressing, made
with three tablespoonfuls of oil, two
tablespoonfuls of lemon juice, and lit
tie salt, well mixed. Serve very cold.
| GRApE TARTS
Seed the white California grapes as
before and put six or eight each in little
shells made of rich pie crust baked in
muffin tins; boil half cup of sugar with
a tablespoonful of water till it threads,
and when partly cool pour little over
the grapes till they are coated; as this
cools, the grapes will be found glazed
Serve the shells on individual plates.
JELLIED GRAPES.
Seed the white grapes as before Soak
half a box of gelatine in half a cup OF
cold water for an hour; put two cups of
boiling water into saucepan on the fire
with cup of sugar and three slices of
lemon, and stir till the sugar has dis
solved; pour while hot over the gelatine
and stir till smooth. Cool, add the juice
of lemon, strain through flannel, and
let it stand until nearly cold. Fill a
mould with the grapes-a circle mould
is best-and pour in the jelly, When
firm surround with whipped cream
GRAPE sHERBET.
Put two cups of bottled grape juice
on the fire with small cup of sugar;
let this simmer while you dissolve a
teaspoonful of gelatine in little cold
water; add the juice and grated rind of
two oranges and the juice of one lemon
to the grape juice, and pour all over the
lgelatine; strain and cool. Beat stiff the
whites of four eggs, fold these in and
freeze. Serve in glasses, with few
small grape leaves and tendrils on the
plate under each glass.
GRAPE JUICE PUNCH.
Make a pint of strong lemonade,
sweetening with boiled sugar-and-water
syrup. When cold add quart of bot
tied grape juice and pour over a block
of ice in a bowl; add bits of sliced
orange, lemon and pineapple.
GRAPE JUICE FOR PUNCH AND sHERBET.
Select fine Concord grapes, not too
ripe; stem them and simmer in deep
kettle, putting in small cup of water
at first to prevent burning. When they
bubble take them off and put them into
a cheese cloth bag and hang them up all
might, with clean kettle below to catch
the juice. In the morning warm the
Juice, strain through flannel, and put on
the fire again; sweeten to taste, slowly
bring to a boil, stirring and Swimming
till the juice is perfectly clear. Then
put while hot into hot bottles, which
have been sterilized by baking half an
hour in the oven, and put in perfectly
clean new corks; dip the tops of the bot
ties into hot sealing wax.
Like grapes, peaches are to be used in
many different ways. They, too, have
immense decorative value, used alone
with their leaves or mixed with other
fruit; and they can be made into deli
cious desserts of all sorts.
PEACH coMPoTE.
Put into a saucepan three cups of
sugar and two of water, and boil hard
five minutes Have ready some ripe but
firm peaches cut into very even pieces,
not too small, they must be cut from
one end of the peach to the opposite end,
around the stone in the usual way, only
large and all the same size. Drop these
into the hot syrup, few at time, and
slowly cook them, but take them out be.
fore they begin to lose shape, using a
skinner. Arrange them in overlap.
ping rows on a round fiat dish, piling
them as you do SO; when all are out,
boil the syrup till it makes thread, and
cool; then pour it over the peaches lit.
tie at time; they will become stiff and
glazed; serve with whipped cream. A
few of the peach kernels cooked in the
syrup add to the flavor Of this dish.
PEACH TARTs.
Prepare some smaller pieces of peaches
in this same way, and put them into
shells of puff paste; cool the syrup and
pour over them.
PEACH PIE.
Line deep round pie tin with rich
pie crust, and leave high, fluted edge
all around; prepare the peaches as
above, but use halves only, all cut evenly.
Put these into the crust in regular cir
Giles, and in each one put blanched
almond; pour the thick syrup over till
the peaches are just covered and bake
five minutes. Or make the thick syrup,
put the peaches into tho baked crust
without cooking them, and bake till soft.
Serve cold, but fresh with plain cream.
PEACHES AND ICE CREAM.
Take some fine branded peaches and
drain them we'll; make pint or more
of rich vanilla ice cream; roll each peach