Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-27
GOOD HOUSFE EFpfNG
I,y Henrietta tfauel.
RULES FOR GOOD
JAMS AND EIfTTTR.

With thorough understanding of the
results wanted. Jam making should present
difficulties Ia The hnme cook If the
fruit ia grown at hoiuc. tho expense Of
making IT IL small and the pleasure OF
always having good homemade Jam OF
hand cannot bc ovcrcqtlmated.
but there arc difficulties, and ] know
more about them than most Of our
readers. for. vou all tell me your troubles
troubles that could not occur II you
knew what YOU were about far instance,
woman writes this. NV elderberry
Iclly Is Just like syrup What shall do
Please help me before II spolls lnvesti-
CATION showed she had used rlpcst of elder
berries and to five pounds Of fruit had
added nine pounds of sugar Then WHEN
the thick, ropv syrup resulted she poured
IN a quart ot cider vinegar. thinking that
vinegar had the same quality rs fruit
because II was sour After boiling this
20 minutes she sliced IN peck ot sweet
apples, and when they would not cook
tender. she strained the dreadful com
polnd INTO a crock and wrote To me for
help Her entire trouble was due to a
lacl, Of clear understanding. She had no
rules 10 follow and knew nothing about
the character of the fruit she Was working
with
Elderberrics for Jelly should not be
entirely ripe. as then they lack peetln the
Jclly-maklng principle that ~ never found
IN very ripe fruits with few exceptions
Having only ripe berries, she could still
have had a beautiful wcll-llavorcd jelly
if she had added a half peek OF crab apples
or sour apples to peck OF elderberrles.
Vinegar has no ielly-making principle
about it, and does not change the charac-
ter of syrup in the least
The rules for Jam are similar to those
for Jelly Do not use brass, tin, pewter,
iron or other metal except aluminium to
touch the fruit rs 1t will rum the color
and flavor Gather the fruit on a dry
sunny day, II should be Just ripe, and In
perfect condition for fruit docs not come
from the kettle any better than when 1t
entered 1t.
Jam should be cooked fast to keep the
color of the fruit bright. II burns quickly,
and the slightest SCareh Will run II So II
must he stirred constantly. All the scum
must be removed as 1t rises II the fruit
seems iuicy. crush IT before putting 1t
over the heat and il will not need to have
any water added II rich, smooth jan
is wanted, add a glass of apple, or any
other jclly, in place of water English
COOKS always I}tit vi u l8N tdlS III SNtt't~
cnrd. welI-cookcd rlulburd juice in which
to cook fruits for Jams MS they do not add
water to the fruit. thinking and rightly
that il makes tho jams thin after they
have been made some tlme.
Boil the jam until il holds its Shape
when dropped on = cold saucer, then pour
it into small containers and seal when
convenient
While there arr no difficulties about
jam-making, and even a child can make
jam, you see il docs require some knowl-
edge of fruits sugar, proportions, weather
conditions, action Of metal on acid. and
so on and, like everything else. careful
watching But with attention to the
above details, ii is true anyone can make
good Jam"
Miss Grauel will be glad to answer
either in her column or personally. In
quirics regarding food conservation, recipes
and the like For personal replies three
cent stamp must he enclosed.