New-York tribune., 1922-09-10

watermelon, cantaloupe, pears and
grapes, the housekeeper has not
only a wealth from which to choose
and plan her daily menus, but she
also will find that they are the best
of all material for making the most
delicious pickles, conserves and cat.
sup.
Melons
This is also an excellent season to
sput up" a few jars of these deli
cacies at time when you happen
| to have leisure and perhaps SUI
perabundance of fruit on hand.
When you are serving a large
watermelon the rind will furnish
four or five small jars OF delectable
pickle, with practically no expense
save the vinegar, sugar and spices.
For some reason this pickle is con-
sidered hard to prepare, but if the
tested recipe is carefully followed
there will be no difficulty.
In selecting watermelon, if it is
plugged you may taste what you
are buying; but with cantaIoupc
or honeydew melon it is largely a
matter Of Judgment. Select g
melon heavy for its size, with d
strong, juicy aroma and a thick,
rough skin. BY pressing the stem
end you can judge by the softness
whether 1t is fully ripened.
Pears are host in themselves,
and from the luscious Bartlett pear
down through the piquant seckel,
russell and alligator (of salad faue)
varieties, they are extremely popu-
lar. Try serving for dinner a thor
oughly chilled juicy Bartlett pear
with bit Of fine cheese, crackers
and demi-tasse and see what an
excellent dessert you will have with
out any culinary labor save making
the coffee.
The watermelon filled with wine
and chilled is memory that will
linger with those who have partaken
of it. Lately, however, / have used
white grapejuice, with very little
powdered sugar and just dash of
ground cinnamon with excellent re-
suits; but the melon must be al
most a quarter frozen to be at it's
best.
Grapes and Plu,ns
The grape family, including
Niagaras, Concords, catawbas, Isa-
| bellas and the aristocratic Califor-
MIA and tokay varieties, furnishes a
choice to suit all tastes, and as even
the most expensive may now be
bought two pounds for a quarter
they are not an expensive luxury.
Plums include the large green
cages, the purple damson and the
mottled red varieties. Unfortunate
ly, they are one of the most perish
able of fruits and spoil quickly, even
when kept in cold place. For eat
ing they should be purchased only
In small quantities and Immediately
laid out on platter, so that they
Will not touch one another. If you
are buying them for putting up"
be sure that they are not overripe.
Both pears and plums make a de-
licious compete when stewed and
served on a bed of steamed, sea-
soned rice. Bits of preserved GIN
ger, sliced lemon or orange and a
few whole cloves give added zest to
the pears, and the plums will be dill
the better for having a little lemon
juice added before the hot fruit and
syrup are poured over the rice.
Picked Plurns
For sweet picked plums wipe five
pounds of plums with a damp cloth
and prick each with a needle five
times. Put two and half pounds
OF sugar into saucepan, pour over
one quart Of mild vinegar and add
spice bag containing one ounce
each of whole cloves, allspice and
mace and two ounces Of broken
stick cinnamon. Cook the spiced vim
egar for seven minutes; after it be-
gins to boil pour over the plums and
let stand overnight. In the morn
ing drain. cook the syrup for an
other ten minutes and again pour
over the plums. Let stand for ten
hours, reheat fruit and syrup to the
boiling point, and after remov;ne
the spice bag store as for canned
fruit.
Grape Cup
For delicious grape@cup crush
three pounds of Concord grapes. add
tour whole cloves, scant teacupfu,
OF sugar, the juice of four ORANGES
with bit of the grated rind and
two leaves of lemon verbena BRING
to the boiling point, cool and let
stand to ripen in the ice chest for
several hours. Press through a
& q -. n