Evening star., 1936-09-23

the Winter, for many fruits ana vege-
tables linger in our Washington mar
kets that are sufficiently high in
quantity and low in price to make 1t
well worth while to tmprtson their
flavor and wholesomeness in glass jars.
With this situation In mind, the
bureau has prepared some simple In
structions for putting up tomatoes,
pears, plums, ounces and 30 forth;
also some good directions for drying
corn. They say that more and more
people are becoming fond Of dried
corn these days, and many prefer this
method of keeping it to canning, be-
cause results are usually better. AS
for tomatoes and tomato juice, they
are insistent on the good that both of
these items do In this worldl
Il n y
"CANNED tomatoes-home canned
or factory canned-are probably
richer in vitamin G than tomato juice
canned alone" says the Bureau of
Home Economics. For vitamin values.
therefore, the best and cheapest way
to get the Juice Is to strain it of the
canned tomatoes. But serve 1t at
once. Don't let it stand uncovered,
because it loses vitamin value when
exposed to the air for any length Of
time.
"The bureau gives directions for
canning tomatoes as follows:
Select firm. ripe tomatoes of me-
dium size and uniform shape. free
from spots ana decay. Put into trays
or shallow layers in wire baskets and
dip in boiling water for about q min
ute, according to ripeness. Then
plunge quickly into cold water, drain,
peel, and core promptly. Pack into
the containers as closely as possible.
Fill with hot tomato juice and add l
TEASPOON of salt per quart. If using
tin cans, exhaust them to minutes
before sealing. Process in q boiling
water bath, As minutes for pint or
quart jars, IS minutes for No. 2 and
tin cans.
"Or cut the tomatoes in quarters.
heat just to boiling, and pack hot, and
process minutes.
Corn is one Of the most difficult
vegetables to can successfully because
it contains little or no acid, and makes
such a dense pack that it Is hard to
heat sufficiently hot all through to
destroy the organisms that cause 1t
to spoil. For this reason, canned
corn should be processed in a pres
sure Gamer, and not in a water bath.
In particular. do not rely on an oven.
However hot the oven itself. the corn
never gets above the boiling point.
which Is not hot enough to sterilize .
thick, pasty mass like corn.
0DRYING corn is not at all difi-
~ cult, and the product is excel
lent. The directions are:
Gather the corn when in the milk
stage, but gather only as much at
time as can be handled Immediately,
and do not allow to stand In . warm
place, because corn deteriorates rap
idly under those conditions. Husk
and trim the ears with q knife to re-
move any worm injuries, but silking
is unnecessary. Place in wire baskets
or wire-bottom boxes and plunge them
into boiling water for to IL minutes.
for 'blanching,' that is, until the milk
Ia set and no fluid escapes when the
grains are cut across. As the younger
corn takes q longer time for blanch-
ing than do the more mature ears, d.
vide the corn for husking into older
and younger lots.
AFTER blanching, empty the corn
upo.. a table, let 1t drain and cool
enough to handle, then cut the grains
from the cobs with a strong, sharp
knife. Spread the kernels II to a
inch deep upon trays for drying
For best results, begin drying al
rather high temperature (165 degrees
to ITS degrees F., and lower this
as the corn becomes nearly dry. Stil
from time to time to keep the grains
separate and permit them to dry
easily. Properly dried corn is hard
and transparent, and the kernels
break with q clean, glass-hke frac.
ture. A drier to use over cook
stove can be made Of packing box
with cleats to hold the trays apart.
Pears for canning-Kiefiers in the
South and central regions, Bartletts
in the North-are at the height oi
their season now. Kieffers, by the
way, gathered when just mature but
not ripe, are much better If stored
before canning for 2 to az weeks
at a temperature Of go to IS degrees
That is about the temperature o1
a cellar or a basement room at this
time Of the year. and this treatment
mellows the Kieffers and gives them
flavor. Seckel pears, now ripening
are best for picking.
4 II
I"GREEN GAGE plums are 'on hane
now, and in the more Northern
sections there will soon be damsons
Grapes are coming along in tht
middle northerly sections-slipskir
grapes, especially Concords. The New
York and other Northern crops vii
follow in October In Michigan and
New York, and some other Northern
areas, there will be peaches all through
September-yellow freestones for can.
ming and preserving.