The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1937-05-27
Homemakers' Column
Edited by Miss Mildred Barton, Home
Demonstration Agent, Oakland
STRAWBERRIES


each family has its own pet dishes
For breakfast there may be ring of
the freshly washed, uncapped berries
around little cone of powdered su-
gar. Or the berries may grace the
morning dish of cereal. For lunch per-
haps they are in a fruit salad with
bananas or fresh pineapple. For des-
serts, in gelatine, ice cream, ices, Ba-
varian cream, custard or folded into
whipped cream, or sweetened and
used for a cake sauce. Just plain
strawberries and cream are most salts
flying to some people.
Strawberry shortcake is perennial
favorite, of course. Another delicious
pastry is fresh strawberry pie or tarts,
faky crust filled with large, selected
uncooked berries, and a clear straw
berry sauce poured over them. To
make the sauce, cook up small berries
and strain them through cheese cloth.
Sweeten, then thicken the juice slight
ly with corn starch, not flour. Flour
would make it cloudy. Add some but
ter to give brilliant, glazed look to
the sauce, and pinch of salt.
The seasons surplus can be used
for preserves and jam, the finest ber-
ries for preserves, the smaller for jam.
Heat is the arch enemy of color and
flavor in strawberries; so preserving
methods use the minimum processes.
For all methods eight pounds of pre-
pared fruit at time is about the max
imum for best results.
Proceeding according TO Method 1
you would use pound of sugar for
each pound of the berries, and COM
bine the two in alternate layers, then
let them stand to 10 hours before
cooking. No water should be added, as
the sugar draws enough liquid out of
the fruit. AS soon as they are ready
boil them rapidly Is or 20 minutes or
until the strip is rather thick. You'll
need to stir is occasionally but care
fully so as not to break the berries.
Method utilities small berries for
juice to pour over the choice fruit.
Crush these small berries and cook
them about 3 minutes, stirring con-
stantly. Strain. For each pound of the
big berries take n cup of this juice
and one pound Of sugar. Heat the su-
gar and the juice slowly until the sugar
dissolves, then drop the large berries
into the strip and simmer to min
utes. Then boil rapidly 10 to Is min
utes or until the fruit is somewhat
clear. Remove the scum and let the
preserves stand over night in the ket-
tie. The next morning fill hot sterilized
jars hree-quarters full of the drained
berries, without relocating them. Then
boil the strip rapidly until it is fairly
thicker, pour over the berries and seal.
Method 8, sun preserving, can't be
satisfactorily used unless the sunshine
is hot enough to cause rapid evapora-
ton. For each pound of choice berries
take one pound of sugar and one tea
spoon lemon juice. Prepare a straw
berry sirup from smaller fruits and
sugar as in Method 2, add the berries
and simmer to minutes. Then drain
off the sirup and put the berries
on shallow enameled pans or china
platters. Boil the strip 10 minutes, I'M
til it is fairly thick, remove the scum,
add the lemon juice, and pour the strip
over the berries. Cover with window
glass propped up Il inch from the
plate. Sun for or days, until the
strip is jellied, turning the berries
over every day. Without relocating,
put the preserves into hot sterilized
jars, and seal.
For jams, strawberries and rhu-
barb make a fine combination, using
equal weights of the two. Strawberry
and fresh pineapple together make a
delicious jam, with half as much pine
apple as strawberries. The pineapple
should be boiled 10 minutes with an
equal weight of sugar, before the
strawberries and their quota of sugar
are added. The dietitian is interested in
the strawberry chiefly as source of
vitamin C.
H. d. A. Schedule.
Monday, May 81, holiday.
Tuesday, June l, Finzel All club,
1:30 p. M, at the school house; Finzel
Homemakers club, 2:30 at the school
house.
Wednesday, June 2, Grantsville
Homemakers club, 200 p. M, at the
home of Mrs. Fred. Livengood.
Thursday, June 8, Mars Hill Home
makers club, 1870 p. M, at the home Of
Mrs. Elmer Beachy.
Friday, June 4, Avilton All club,
$3.50 p. M, at the school house.
Saturday, June 5, Oakland Junior
All club, 200 p. M, office of Home
Demonstration Agent.