Chapter VIII: Part 8

If you find that after awhile the vegetables have absorbed the liquor, so that there is danger of their not having a sufficiency, prepare some more seasoned vinegar and pour it over them.

East India pickle is very convenient, and will keep two years. As different vegetables come into season, you can prepare them with the salt and water process, and add them to the things already in the jar. You may put small mangoes into this pickle; also plums, peaches and apricots.

TO PICKLE OYSTERS FOR KEEPING.

For this purpose take none but the finest and largest oysters. After they are opened, separate them from their liquor, and put them into a bucket or a large pan, and pour boiling water upon them to take out the slime. Stir them about in it, and then take them out, and rinse them well in cold water. Then put them into a large kettle with fresh water, barely enough to cover them, (mixing with it a table-spoonful of salt to every hundred oysters,) and give them a boil up, just sufficient to plump them. Take them out, spread them on large dishes or on a clean table, and cover them with a cloth. Take the liquor of the oysters, and with every pint of it mix a quart of the best vinegar, a table-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of whole cloves, the same of whole black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of whole mace. Put the liquid over the fire in a kettle, and when it boils throw in the oysters, and let them remain in it five minutes. Then take the whole off the fire, stir it up well, and let it stand to get quite cold. Afterwards (if you have a large quantity) put it into a keg, which must first be well scalded, (a new keg is best,) and fill it as full as it can hold. Do not put a weight on the oysters to keep them down in the liquor, as it will crush them to pieces if the keg should be moved or conveyed to a distance. If you have not enough to fill a keg, put them into stone jars when they are perfectly cold, and cover them securely.

For pickling oysters and all other purposes use only the best cider vinegar. The sharp pungent vinegar made entirely of chemical substances will destroy the oysters, and is too unwholesome for any culinary purpose. No one should purchase it. It may be known by its excessive sharpness; being violently pungent without any pleasant flavour.

SWEETMEATS.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The introduction of iron ware lined with porcelain has fortunately almost superseded the use of brass or bell-metal kettles for boiling sweetmeats; a practice by which the articles prepared in those pernicious utensils were always more or less imbued with the deleterious qualities of the verdigris that is produced in them by the action of acids.

Charcoal furnaces will be found very convenient for preserving; the kettles being set on the top. They can be used in the open air. Sweetmeats should be boiled rather quickly, that the watery particles may exhale at once, without being subjected to so long a process as to spoil the colour and diminish the flavour of the fruit. But on the other hand, if boiled too short a time they will not keep so well.

If you wish your sweetmeats to look bright and clear, use only the very best loaf-sugar. Fruit may be preserved for family use and for common purposes, in sugar of inferior quality, but it will never have a good appearance, and it is also more liable to spoil.

If too small a proportion of sugar is allowed to the fruit, it will _certainly_ not keep well. When this experiment is tried it is generally found to be false economy; as sweetmeats, when they begin to spoil, can only be recovered and made eatable by boiling them over again with additional sugar; and even then, they are never so good as if done properly at first. If jellies have not sufficient sugar, they do not congeal, but will remain liquid.

Jelly bags should be made of white flannel. It is well to have a wooden stand or frame like a towel horse, to which the bag can be tied while it is dripping. The bag should first be dipped in hot water, for if dry it will absorb too much of the juice. After the liquor is all in, close the top of the bag, that none of the flavour may evaporate.

In putting away sweetmeats, it is best to place them in small jars, as the more frequently they are exposed to the air by opening, the more danger there is of their spoiling. The best vessels for this purpose are white queen's-ware pots, or glass jars. For jellies, jams, and for small fruit, common glass tumblers are very convenient, and may be covered simply with double tissue-paper, cut exactly to fit the inside of the top of the glass, laid lightly on the sweetmeat, and pressed down all round with the finger. This covering, if closely and nicely fitted, will be found to keep them perfectly well, and as it adheres so closely as to form a complete coat over the top, it is better for jellies or jams than writing-paper dipped in brandy, which is always somewhat shrivelled by the liquor with which it has been saturated.

If you find that your sweetmeats have become dry and candied, you may liquefy them again by setting the jars in water and making it boil round them.

In preserving fruit whole, it is best to put it first in a thin syrup. If boiled in a thick syrup at the beginning, the juice will be drawn out so as to shrink the fruit.

It is better to boil it but a short time at once, and then to take it out and let it get cold, afterwards returning it to the syrup, than to keep it boiling too long at a time, which will cause it to break and lose its shape.

Preserving kettles should be rather broad than deep, for the fruit cannot be done equally if it is too much heaped. They should all have covers belonging to them, to put on after the scum has done rising, that the flavour of the fruit may be kept in with the steam.

A perforated skimmer pierced all through with holes is a very necessary utensil in making sweetmeats.

The water used for melting the sugar should be very clear; spring or pump water is best. But if you are obliged to use river water, let it first be filtered. Any turbidness or impurity in the water will injure the clearness of the sweetmeats.

If sweetmeats ferment in the jars, boil them over again with additional sugar.

CLARIFIED SUGAR SYRUP.

Take eight pounds of the best double-refined loaf-sugar and break it up or powder it. Then beat the whites of four eggs to a strong froth. Stir the white of egg gradually into two quarts of very clear spring or pump water. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, and mix with it the water and white of egg. While the sugar is melting, stir it frequently; and when it is entirely dissolved, put the kettle over a moderate fire, and let it boil, carefully taking off the scum as it comes to the top, and pouring in a little cold water when you find the syrup rising so as to run over the edge of the kettle. It will be well when it first boils hard to pour in half a pint of cold water to keep down the bubbles so that the scum may appear, and be easily removed. You must not however boil it to candy height, so that the bubbles will look like hard pearls, and the syrup will harden in the spoon and hang from it in strings; for though very thick and clear it must continue liquid. When it is done, let it stand till it gets quite cold; and if you do not want it for immediate use, put it into bottles and seal the corks.

When you wish to use this syrup for preserving, you have only to put the fruit into it, and boil it till tender and clear, but not till it breaks. Large fruit that is done whole, should first be boiled tender in a very thin syrup that it may not shrink. Small fruit, such as raspberries, strawberries, grapes, currants, gooseberries, &c. may, if perfectly ripe, be put raw into strong cold sugar syrup; they will thus retain their form and colour, and their freshness and natural taste. They must be put into small glass jars, and kept well covered with the syrup. This, however, is an experiment which sometimes fails, and had best be tried on a small scale, or only for immediate use.

TO PRESERVE GINGER.

Take root of green ginger, and pare it neatly with a sharp knife, throwing it into a pan of cold water as you pare it. Then boil it till tender all through, changing the water three times. Each time put on the ginger in quite cold water to take out the excessive heat. When it is perfectly tender, throw it again into a pan of cold water, and let it lie an hour or more; this will make it crisp. In the mean time prepare the syrup.

For every six pounds of ginger root, clarify eight pounds of the best double-refined loaf-sugar. Break up the sugar, put it into a preserving kettle, and melt it in spring or pump water, (into which you have stirred gradually the beaten whites of four eggs,) and half a pint of water to each pound of sugar. Boil and skim it well. Then let the syrup stand till it is cold; and having drained the ginger, pour the syrup over it, cover it, and do not disturb it for two days. Then, having poured it from the ginger, boil the syrup over again. As soon as it is cold, pour it again on the ginger, and let it stand at least three days. Afterwards boil the syrup again, and pour it _hot_ over the ginger. Proceed in this manner till you find that the syrup has thoroughly penetrated the ginger, (which you may ascertain by its taste and appearance when you cut a piece off,) and till the syrup becomes very thick and rich. Then put it all into jars, and cover it closely.

If you put the syrup hot to the ginger at first, it will shrink and shrivel. After the first time, you have only to boil and reboil the syrup; as it is not probable that it will require any further clarifying if carefully skimmed. It will be greatly improved by adding some lemon-juice at the close of the last boiling.

TO PRESERVE CITRONS.

Pare off the outer skin of some fine citrons, and cut them into quarters. Take out the middle. You may divide each quarter into several pieces. Lay them for four or five hours in salt and water. Take them out, and then soak them in spring or pump water (changing it frequently) till all the saltness is extracted, and till the last water tastes perfectly fresh. Boil a small lump of alum, and scald them in the alum-water. It must be very weak, or it will communicate an unpleasant taste to the citrons; a lump the size of a hickory nut will suffice for six pounds. Afterwards simmer them two hours with layers of green vine leaves. Then make a syrup, with half a pint of water to each pound of loaf-sugar; boil and skim it well. When it is quite clear, put in the citrons, and boil them slowly, till they are so soft that a straw will pierce through them without breaking. Afterwards put them into a large dish, and set them in the sun to harden.

Prepare some lemons, by paring off the yellow rind very thin, and cutting it into slips of uniform size and shape. Lay the lemon-rind in scalding water, to extract the bitterness. Then take the pared lemons, cut them into quarters, measure a half pint of water to each lemon, and boil them to a mash. Strain the boiled lemon through a sieve, and to each pint of liquid allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf-sugar, for the second syrup. Melt the sugar in the liquid, and stir into it gradually some beaten white of egg; allowing one white to four pounds of sugar. Then set it over the fire; put the lemon-peel into the syrup, and let it boil in it till quite soft.

Put the citrons cold into a glass jar, and pour the hot syrup over them. Let the lemon remain with the citrons, as it will improve their flavour.

If you wish the citrons to be candied, boil down the second syrup to candy height, (that is, till it hangs in strings from the spoon,) and pour it over the citrons. Keep them well covered.

You may, if you choose, after you take the citrons from the alum-water, give them a boil in very weak ginger tea, made of the roots of green ginger if you can procure it; if not, of race ginger. Powdered ginger will not do at all. This ginger tea will completely eradicate any remaining taste of the salt or the alum. Afterwards cover the sides and bottom of the pan with vine leaves, put a layer of leaves between each layer of citron, and cover the top with leaves. Simmer the citrons in this two hours to green them.

In the same manner you may preserve water-melon rind, or the rind of cantelopes. Cut these rinds into stars, diamonds, crescents, circles, or into any fanciful shape you choose. Be sure to pare off the outside skin before you put the rinds into the salt and water.

Pumpkin cut into slips, may be preserved according to the above receipt.

CANTELOPES OR MUSK-MELONS.--Take very small cantelopes before they are ripe. Shave a thin paring off the whole outside. Cut out a small piece or plug about an inch square, and through it extract all the seeds, &c. from the middle. Then return the plugs to the hole from whence you took them, and secure them with a needle and thread, or by tying a small string round the cantelope.

Lay the cantelopes for four or five hours in salt and water. Then put them into spring water to extract the salt, changing the water till you find it salt no longer. Scald them in weak alum-water. Make a syrup in the proportion of a pint of water to a pound of loaf-sugar, and boil the cantelopes in it till a straw will go through them. Then take them out, and set them in the sun to harden.

Prepare some fine ripe oranges, paring off the yellow rind very thin, and cutting it into slips, and then laying it in scalding water to extract the bitterness. Cut the oranges into pieces; allow a pint of water to each orange, and boil them to a pulp. Afterwards strain them, and allow to each pint of the liquid, a pound of the best loaf-sugar, and stir in a little beaten white of egg; one white to two pounds of sugar. This is for the second syrup. Boil the peel in it, skimming it well. When the peel is soft, take it all out; for if left among the cantelopes, it will communicate to it too strong a taste of the orange.

Put the cantelopes into your jars, and pour over them the hot syrup. Cover them closely, and keep them in a dry cool place.

Large cantelopes may be prepared for preserving (after you have taken off the outer rind) by cutting them into pieces according to the natural divisions with which they are fluted.

This receipt for preserving cantelopes whole, will do very well for green lemons or limes, substituting lemon-peel and lemon-juice for that of oranges in the second syrup.

You may use some of the first syrup to boil up the pulp of the orange or lemons that has been left. It will make a sort of marmalade, that is very good for colds.

PRESERVED WATER-MELON RIND.--Having pared off the green skin, cut the rind of a water-melon into pieces of any shape you please; stars, diamonds, circles, crescents or leaves, using for the purpose a sharp penknife. Weigh the pieces, and allow to each pound a pound and a half of loaf sugar. Set the sugar aside, and put the pieces of melon-rind into a preserving kettle, the bottom and sides of which you have lined with green vine leaves. Put a layer of vine leaves between each layer of melon-rind, and cover the top with leaves. Disperse among the pieces some very small bits of alum, each about the bigness of a grain of corn, and allowing one bit to every pound of the melon-rind. Pour in just water enough to cover the whole, and place a thick double cloth (or some other covering) over the top of the kettle to keep in the steam, which will improve the greening. Let it simmer (but not boil) for two hours. Then take out the pieces of melon-rind and spread them on dishes to cool. Afterwards if you find that they taste of the alum, simmer them in very weak ginger tea for about three hours. Then proceed to make your syrup. Melt the sugar in clear spring or pump water, allowing a pint of water to a pound and a half of sugar, and mixing in with it some white of egg beaten to a stiff froth. The white of one egg will be enough for two pounds of sugar. Boil and skim it; and when the scum ceases to rise, put in the melon-rind, and let it simmer an hour. Take it out and spread it to cool on dishes, return it to the syrup, and simmer it another hour. After this take it out, and put it into a tureen. Boil up the syrup again, and pour it over the melon-rind. Cover it, and let it stand all night. Next morning give the syrup another boil; adding to it some lemon-juice, allowing the juice of one lemon to a quart of the syrup. When you find it so thick as to hang in a drop on the point of the spoon, it is sufficiently done. Then put the rind into glass jars, pour in the syrup, and secure the sweetmeats closely from the air with paper dipped in brandy, and a leather outer cover.

This, if carefully done and well greened, is a very nice sweetmeat, and may be used to ornament the top of creams, jellies, jams. &c. laying it round in rings or wreaths.

Citrons may be preserved green in the same manner, first paring off the outer skin and cutting them into quarters. Also green limes.

PRESERVED PEPPERS.--For this purpose take the small round peppers while they are green. With a sharp penknife extract the seeds and cores; and then put the outsides into a kettle with vine leaves, and a little alum to give them firmness, and assist in keeping them green. Proceed precisely as directed for the water-melon rind, in the above receipt.

PUMPKIN CHIPS.--It is best to defer making this sweetmeat (which will be found very fine) till late in the season when lemons are ripe and are to be had in plenty. Pumpkins (as they keep well) can generally be procured at any time through the winter.

Take a fine pumpkin of a rich deep colour, pare off the outer rind; remove the seeds; and having sliced the best part, cut it into chips of equal size, and as thin as you can do them. They should be in long narrow pieces, two inches in breadth, and four in length. It is best to prepare the pumpkin the day before; and having weighed the chips, allow to each pound of them a pound of the best loaf-sugar. You must have several dozen of fine ripe lemons, sufficient to furnish a jill of lemon-juice to each pound of pumpkin. Having rolled them under your hand on a table, to make them yield as much juice as possible, pare off the yellow rind and put it away for some other purpose. Then having cut the lemons, squeeze out all the juice into a pitcher. Lay the pumpkin chips in a large pan or tureen, strewing the sugar among them. Then having measured the lemon-juice in a wine-glass, (two common wine-glasses making one jill,) pour it over the pumpkin and sugar, cover the vessel, and let it stand all night.

Next day transfer the pumpkin, sugar, and lemon-juice to a preserving kettle, and boil it slowly for an hour or more, or till the pumpkin becomes all through tender, crisp, and transparent; but it must not be over the fire long enough to break and lose its form. You must skim it thoroughly. Some very small pieces of the lemon-paring may be boiled with it. When you think it is done, take up the pumpkin chips in a perforated skimmer that the syrup may drain through the holes back into the kettle. Spread the chips to cool on large dishes, and pass the syrup through a flannel bag that has been first dipped in hot water. When the chips are cold, put them into glass jars or tumblers, pour in the syrup, and lay on the top white paper dipped in brandy. Then tie up the jars with leather, or with covers of thick white paper.

If you find that when cold the chips are not perfectly clear, crisp, and tender, give them another boil in the syrup before you put them up.

This, if well made, is a handsome and excellent sweetmeat. It need not be eaten with cream, the syrup being so delicious as to require nothing to improve it. Shells of puff-paste first baked empty, and then filled with pumpkin chips, will be found very nice.

Musk-melon chips may be done in the same manner.

TO PRESERVE PINE-APPLES.--Take fine large pine-apples; pare them, and cut off a small round piece from the bottom of each; let the freshest and best of the top leaves remain on. Have ready on a slow fire, a large preserving kettle with a thin syrup barely sufficient to cover the fruit. In making this syrup allow a pound of fine loaf-sugar to every quart of water, and half the white of a beaten egg; all to be mixed before it goes on the fire. Then boil and skim it, and when the scum ceases to rise, put in the pine-apples, and simmer them slowly an hour. Then take them out to cool, cover them carefully and put them away till next day; saving the syrup in another vessel. Next day, put them into the same syrup, and simmer them again an hour. On the third day, repeat the process. The fourth day, make a strong fresh syrup, allowing but a pint of water to each pound of sugar, and to every two pounds the beaten white of one egg. When this syrup has boiled, and is completely skimmed, put in the pine-apples, and simmer them half an hour. Then take them out to cool, and set them aside till next morning. Boil them again half an hour in the same syrup, and repeat this for seven or eight days, or till you can pierce through the pine-apple with a straw from a corn-broom. At the last of these boilings enrich the syrup by allowing to each pound of sugar a quarter of a pound more; and, having boiled and skimmed it, put in the pine apples for half an hour. Then take them out, and when quite cold put each into a separate glass jar, and fill up with the syrup.

Pine apples may be preserved in slices by a very simple process. Pare them, and cut them into round pieces near an inch thick, and take out the core from the centre of each slice. Allow a pound of loaf-sugar to every pound of the sliced pine-apple. Powder the sugar, and strew it in layers between the slices of pine-apple. Cover it and let it set all night. Next morning measure some clear spring or pump water, allowing half a pint to each pound of sugar. Beat some white of egg, (one white to two pounds of sugar,) and when it is a very stiff froth, stir it gradually into the water. Then mix with it the pine-apple and sugar, and put the whole into a preserving kettle. Boil and skim it well, till the pine-apple is tender and bright all through. Then take it out, and when cold, put it up in wide-mouthed glass jars, or in large tumblers.

TO PREPARE FRESH PINE-APPLES.--Cut off the top and bottom and pare off the rind. Then cut the pine-apples in round slices half an inch thick, and put them into a deep dish, sprinkling every slice with powdered loaf-sugar. Cover them, and let them lie in the sugar for an hour or two, before they are to be eaten.

PRESERVED LEMONS.--Take large fine ripe lemons, that have no blemishes. Choose those with thin, smooth rinds. With a sharp knife scoop a hole in the stalk end of each, large enough to admit the handle of a tea-spoon. This hole is to enable the syrup to penetrate the inside of the lemons. Put them into a preserving kettle with clear water, and boil them gently till you find them tender, keeping the kettle uncovered. Then take them out, drain, and cool them, and put them into a small tub. Prepare a thin syrup of a pound of loaf-sugar to a quart of water. When you have boiled and skimmed it, pour it over the lemons and cover them. Let them stand in the syrup till next day. Then pour the syrup from the lemons, and spread them on a large dish. Boil it a quarter of an hour, and pour it over them again, having first returned them to the tub. Cover them, and let them again stand till next day, when you must again boil the syrup and pour it over them. Repeat this process every day till you find that the lemons are quite clear, and that the syrup has penetrated them thoroughly. If you find the syrup becoming too weak, add a little more sugar to it. Finally, make a strong syrup in the proportion of half a pint of water to a pound of sugar, adding a jill of raw lemon-juice squeezed from fresh lemons, and allowing to every two pounds of sugar the beaten white of an egg. Mix all well together in the kettle. Boil and skim it, and when the scum ceases to rise, pour the syrup boiling hot over the lemons; and covering them closely, let them stand undisturbed for four days. Then look at them, and if you find that they have not sucked in enough of the syrup to make the inside very sweet, boil them gently in the syrup for a quarter of an hour. When they are cold, put them up in glass jars.

You may green lemons by burying them in a kettle of vine leaves when you give them the first boiling in the clear water.

Limes may be preserved by this receipt; also oranges.

To prepare fresh oranges for eating, peel and cut them in round slices and remove the seeds. Strew powdered loaf-sugar over them. Cover them and let them stand an hour before they are eaten.

ORANGE MARMALADE.--Take fine large ripe oranges, with thin deep-coloured skins. Weigh them, and allow to each pound of oranges a pound of loaf-sugar. Pare off the yellow outside of the rind from half the oranges, as thin as possible; and putting it into a pan with plenty of cold water, cover it closely (placing a double cloth beneath the tin cover) to keep in the steam, and boil it slowly till it is so soft that the head of a pin will pierce it. In the mean time grate the rind from the remaining oranges, and put it aside; quarter the oranges, and take out all the pulp and the juice; removing the seeds and core. Put the sugar into a preserving kettle, with a half pint of clear water to each pound, and mix it with some beaten white of egg, allowing one white of egg, to every two pounds of sugar. When the sugar is all dissolved, put it on the fire, and boil and skim it till it is quite clear and thick. Next take the boiled parings, and pound them to a paste in a mortar; put this paste into the sugar, and boil and stir it ten minutes. Then put it in the pulp and juice of the oranges, and the grated rind, (which will much improve the colour,) and boil all together for about half an hour, till it is a transparent mass. When cold, put it up in glass jars, laying brandy paper on the top.

Lemon marmalade may be made in a similar manner, but you must allow a pound and a half of sugar to each pound of lemons.

ORANGE JELLY.--Take twenty large ripe oranges, and grate the yellow rind from seven of them. Dissolve an ounce of isinglass in as much warm water as will cover it. Mix the juice with a pound of loaf-sugar broken up, and add the grated rind and the isinglass. Put it into a porcelain pan over hot coals, and stir it till it boils. Then skim it well. Boil it ten minutes, and strain it (but do not squeeze it) through a jelly-bag till it is quite clear. Put it into a mould to congeal, and when you want to turn it out dip the mould into luke-warm water. Or you may put it into glasses at once.

You must have a pint of juice to a pound of sugar.

A few grains of saffron boiled with the jelly will improve the colour without affecting the taste.

PRESERVED PEACHES.

Take large juicy ripe peaches; free-stones are the best, as they have a finer flavour than the cling-stones, and are much more manageable both to preserve, and to eat. Pare them, and cut them in half, or in quarters, leaving out the stones, the half of which you must save. To every pound of the peaches allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Powder the sugar, and strew it among your peaches. Cover them and let them stand all night. Crack half the peach-stones, break them up, put them into a small sauce-pan and boil them slowly in as much water as will cover them. Then when the water is well flavoured with the peach-kernels, strain them out, and set the water aside. Take care not to use too much of the kernel-water; a very little will suffice. Put the peaches into a preserving kettle, and boil them in their juice over a quick fire, (adding the kernel-water,) and skimming them all the time. When they are quite clear, which should be in half an hour, take them off, and put them into a tureen. Boil the syrup five minutes longer, and pour it hot over the peaches. When they are cool, put them into glass jars, and tie them up with paper dipped in brandy laid next to them.

Apricots, nectarines, and large plums may be preserved in the same manner.

PEACHES FOR COMMON USE.--Take ripe free-stone peaches; pare, stone, and quarter them. To six pounds of the cut peaches allow three pounds of the best brown sugar. Strew the sugar among the peaches, and set them away. Next morning add a handful of the kernels, put the whole into a preserving kettle, and boil it slowly about an hour and three quarters, or two hours, skimming it well. When cold, put it up in jars, and keep it for pies, or for any common purpose.

BRANDY PEACHES.--Take large white or yellow free-stone peaches, the finest you can procure. They must not be too ripe. Rub off the down with a flannel, score them down the seam with a large needle, and prick every peach to the stone in several places. Scald them with boiling water, and let them remain in the water till it becomes cold, keeping them well covered. Repeat the scalding three times: it is to make them white. Then wipe them, and spread them on a soft table-cloth, covering them over with several folds. Let them remain in the cloth to dry. Afterwards put them into a tureen, or a large jar, and pour on as much white French brandy as will cover them well. Carefully keep the air from them, and let them remain in the brandy for a week. Then make a syrup in the usual manner, allowing to each pound of peaches a pound of loaf-sugar and half a pint of water mixed with a very little beaten white of egg; one white to every two pounds of sugar.

When the syrup has boiled, and been well skimmed, put in the peaches and boil them slowly till they look clear: but do not keep them boiling more than half an hour. Then take them out, drain them, and put them into large glass jars. Mix the syrup, when it is cold, with the brandy in which you had the peaches, and pour it over them. Instead of scalding the peaches to whiten them, you may lay them for an hour in sufficient cold weak lye to cover them well. Turn them frequently while in the lye, and wipe them dry afterwards.

Pears and apricots may be preserved in brandy, according to the above receipt. The skin of the pears should be taken off, but the stems left on.

Large egg plums may be preserved in the same manner.

Another way of preparing brandy peaches is, after rubbing off the down and pricking them, to put them into a preserving kettle with cold water, and simmer them slowly till they become hot all through; but they must not be allowed to boil. Then dry them in a cloth, and let them lie till they are cold, covering them closely from the air. Dissolve loaf-sugar in the best white brandy, (a pound of sugar to a quart of brandy.) and having put the peaches into large glass jars, pour the brandy and sugar over them (without boiling) and cover the jars well with leather.

Pears, apricots, and egg plums may also be done in this manner.

PEACH MARMALADE.--Take ripe yellow free-stone peaches; pare, stone, and quarter them. To each pound of peaches, allow three quarters of a pound of powdered loaf sugar, and half an ounce of bitter almonds, or peach-kernels blanched in scalding water, and pounded smooth in a mortar. Scald the peaches in a very little water, mash them to a pulp, mix them with the sugar and pounded almonds, and put the whole into a preserving kettle. Let it boil to a smooth thick jam, skimming and stirring it well, and keeping the pan covered as much as possible. Fifteen minutes will generally suffice for boiling it. When cold, put it up in glass jars.

Plum marmalade may be made in this manner, flavouring it with pounded plum-kernels.

PEACH JELLY.--Take fine juicy free-stone peaches, and pare and quarter them. Scald them in a very little water, drain and mash them, and squeeze the juice through a jelly-bag. To every pint of juice allow a pound of loaf-sugar, and a few of the peach-kernels. Having broken up the kernels and boiled them by themselves for a quarter of an hour in just as much water as will cover them, strain off the kernel-water, and add it to the juice. Mix the juice with the sugar, and when it is melted, boil them together fifteen minutes, till it becomes a thick jelly. Skim it well when it boils. Try the jelly by taking a little in a spoon and holding it in the open air to see if it congeals. If you find, that after sufficient boiling, it still continues thin, you can make it congeal by stirring in an ounce or more of isinglass, dissolved and strained. When the jelly is done, put it into tumblers, and lay on the top double tissue paper cut exactly to fit the inside of the glass; pressing it down with your fingers.

You may make plum jelly in the same manner, allowing a pound and a half of sugar to a pint of juice.

TO PRESERVE APRICOTS.--Take ripe apricots; scald them, peel them, cut them in half, and extract the stones. Then weigh the apricots, and to each pound allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put them into a tureen or large pan, in alternate layers of apricots and sugar; cover them, and let them stand all night. Next morning put all together into a preserving kettle, and boil them moderately a quarter of an hour. Then take them out, spread them on dishes, and let them stand till next day. Then boil them again in the same syrup another quarter of an hour. Afterwards, spread them out to cool, put them into glass jars, and pour the syrup over them.

Peaches may be preserved in the same manner. Also large plums or green gages; but to the plums you must allow additional sugar.

TO DRY PEACHES.--The best peaches for drying are juicy free-stones. They must be quite ripe. Cut them in half, and take out the stones. It is best not to pare them; as dried peaches are much richer with the skin on, and it dissolves and becomes imperceptible when they are cooked. Spread them out in a sunny balcony or on a scaffold, and let them dry gradually till they become somewhat like leather; always bringing them in at sunset, and not putting them out if the weather is damp or cloudy. They may also be dried in kilns or large ovens.

Apples are dried in the same manner, except that they must be pared and quartered.

Cherries also may be dried in the sun, first taking out all the stones. None but the largest and best cherries should be used for drying.

TO PRESERVE QUINCES.

Take large, yellow, ripe quinces, and having washed and wiped them, pare them, and extract the cores. Quarter the quinces, or cut them into slices half an inch thick, and lay them in scalding water (closely covered) and boil them till tender--lest they harden in the sugar. Put the parings, cores, and seeds into a preserving kettle, cover them with the water in which you coddled the quinces, and boil them an hour, keeping them closely covered all the time. To every pint of this liquor allow a pound of loaf-sugar; and having dissolved the sugar in it, put it over the fire in the preserving kettle. Boil it up and skim it, and when the scum has ceased rising, put in the quinces, and boil them till they are red, tender, and clear all through, but not till they break. Keep the kettle closely covered while the quinces are in it, if you wish to have them bright coloured. You may improve the colour by boiling with them a little cochineal sifted through a muslin rag.

When they are done, take them out, spread them on large dishes to cool, and then put them into glasses. Give the syrup another boil up, and it will be like a fine jelly. Pour it hot over the quinces, and when cold, cover the jars, pasting paper round the covers.

TO PRESERVE QUINCES WHOLE.--Take those that are large, smooth, and yellow; pare them and extract the cores, carefully removing all the blemishes. Boil the quinces in a close kettle with the cores and parings, in sufficient water to cover them. In half an hour take them out, spread them to cool, and add to the cores and parings some small inferior quinces cut in quarters, but not pared or cored; and pour in some more water, just enough to boil them. Cover the pan, and let them simmer for an hour. Then take it off, strain the liquid, measure it, and to each quart allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the sugar to melt in the liquid, and let it set all night. Next day boil the quinces in it for a quarter of an hour, and then take them out and cool them, saving the syrup. On the following day repeat the same; and the fourth day add a quarter of a pound more sugar to each pint of the syrup, and boil the quinces in it twelve minutes. If by this time they are not tender, bright, and transparent all through, repeat the boiling.

When they are quite done, put quince jelly or marmalade into the holes from whence you took the cores; put the quinces into glass jars and pour the syrup over them. If convenient, it is a very nice way to put up each quince in a separate tumbler.

QUINCE JELLY.--Take fine ripe yellow quinces, wash them and remove all the blemishes. Cut them in pieces, but do not pare or core them. Put them into a preserving-pan with clear spring water. If you are obliged to use river water, filter it first; allowing one pint to twelve large quinces. Boil them gently till they are all soft and broken. Then put them into a jelly-bag, and do not squeeze it till after the clear liquid has ceased running. Of this you must make the best jelly, allowing to each pint a pound of loaf-sugar. Having dissolved the sugar in the liquid, boil them together about twenty minutes, or till you have a thick jelly.

In the mean time squeeze out all that is left in the bag. It will not be clear, but you can make of it a very good jelly for common purposes.

QUINCE MARMALADE.--Take ten pounds of ripe yellow quinces; and having washed them clean, pare and core them, and cut them into small pieces. To each pound of the cut quinces allow half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Put the parings and cores into a kettle with water enough to cover them, and boil them slowly till they are all to pieces, and quite soft. Then having put the quinces with the sugar into a porcelain preserving kettle, strain over them, through a cloth, the liquid from the parings and cores. Add a little cochineal powdered, and sifted through thin muslin. Boil the whole over a quick fire till it becomes a thick smooth mass, keeping it covered except when you are skimming it; and always after skimming, stir it up well from the bottom.

When cold, put it up in glass jars. If you wish to use it soon, put it warm into moulds, and when it is cold, set the moulds in luke-warm water, and the marmalade will turn out easily.

QUINCE CHEESE.--Have fine ripe quinces, and pare and core them. Cut them into pieces, and weigh them; and to each pound of the cut quinces, allow half a pound of the best brown sugar. Put the cores and parings into a kettle with water enough to cover them, keeping the lid of the kettle closed. When you find that they are all boiled to pieces and quite soft, strain off the water over the sugar, and when it is entirely dissolved, put it over the fire and boil it to a thick syrup, skimming it well. When no more scum rises, put in the quinces, cover them closely, and boil them all day over a slow fire, stirring them and mashing them down with a spoon till they are a thick smooth paste. Then take it out, and put it into buttered tin pans or deep dishes. Let it set to get cold. It will then turn out so firm that you may cut it into slices like cheese. Keep it in a dry place in broad stone pots. It is intended for the tea-table.

PRESERVED APPLES.

Take fine ripe pippin or bell-flower apples. Pare and core them, and either leave them whole, or cut them into quarters. Weigh them, and to each pound of apples allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the apples into a stew-pan with just water enough to cover them, and let them boil slowly for about half an hour. They must be only parboiled. Then strain the apple water over the sugar into a preserving kettle, and when the sugar is melted put it on the fire with the yellow rind of some lemons pared thin, allowing two lemons to a dozen apples. Boil the syrup till clear and thick, skimming it carefully; then put in the apples, and after they have boiled slowly a quarter of an hour, add the juice of the lemons. Let it boil about fifteen minutes longer, or till the apples are tender and clear, but not till they break. When they are cold, put them into jars, and covering them closely, let them set a week. At the end of that time give them another boil in the same syrup; apples being more difficult to keep than any other fruit.

You may colour them red by adding, when you boil them in the syrup, a little cochineal.

BAKED APPLES.--Take a dozen fine large juicy apples, and pare and core them, but do not cut them in pieces. Put them side by side into a large baking-pan, and fill up with white sugar the holes from whence you have extracted the cores. Pour into each a little lemon-juice, or a few drops of essence of lemon, and stick in every one a long piece of lemon-peel evenly cut. Into the bottom of the pan put a very little water, just enough to prevent the apples from burning. Bake them about an hour, or till they are tender all through, but not till they break. When done, set them away to get cold.

If closely covered they will keep two days. They may be eaten at tea with cream. Or at dinner with a boiled custard poured over them. Or you may cover them with sweetened cream flavoured with a little essence of lemon, and whipped to a froth. Heap the froth over every apple so as to conceal them entirely.

APPLE JELLY.--Take twenty large ripe juicy pippins. Pare, core, and chop them to pieces. Put them into a jar with the yellow rind of four lemons, pared thin and cut into little bits. Cover the jar closely, and set it into a pot of hot water. Keep the water boiling hard all round it till the apples are dissolved. Then strain them through a jelly-bag, and mix with the liquid the juice of the lemons. To each pint of the mixed juice allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put them into a porcelain kettle, and when the sugar is melted, set it on the fire, and boil and skim it for about twenty minutes, or till it becomes a thick jelly. Put it into tumblers, and cover it with double tissue paper nicely fitted to the inside of the top.

The red or Siberian crab apple makes a delicious jelly, prepared in the above manner.

APPLE BUTTER.--This is a compound of apples and cider boiled together till of the consistence of soft butter. It is a very good article on the tea-table, or at luncheon. It can only be made of sweet new cider fresh from the press, and not yet fermented.

Fill a very large kettle with cider, and boil it till reduced to one half the original quantity. Then have ready some fine juicy apples, pared, cored, and quartered; and put as many into the kettle as can be kept moist by the cider. Stir it frequently, and when the apples are stewed quite soft, take them out with a skimmer that has holes in it, and put them into a tub. Then add more apples to the cider, and stew them soft in the same manner, stirring them nearly all the time with a stick. Have at hand some more cider ready boiled, to thin the apple butter in case you should find it too thick in the kettle.

If you make a large quantity, (and it is not worth while to prepare apple butter on a small scale,) it will take a day to stew the apples. At night leave them to cool in the tubs, (which must be covered with cloths,) and finish next day by boiling the apple and cider again till the consistence is that of soft marmalade, and the colour a very dark brown.

Twenty minutes or half an hour before you finally take it from the fire, add powdered cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to your taste. If the spice is boiled too long, it will lose its flavour.

When it is cold, put it into stone jars, and cover it closely. If it has been well made, and sufficiently boiled, it will keep a year or more.

It must not be boiled in a brass or bell-metal kettle, on account of the verdigris which the acid will collect in it, and which will render the apple butter extremely unwholesome, not to say poisonous.

TO PRESERVE GREEN CRAB APPLES.--Having washed your crab apples, (which should be full grown,) cover the bottom and sides of your preserving kettle with vine leaves, and put them in; spreading a thick layer of vine leaves over them. Fill up the kettle with cold water, and hang it over a slow fire early in the morning; simmer them slowly, but do not allow them to boil. When they are quite yellow, take them out, peel off the skin with a penknife, and extract the cores very neatly. Put them again into the kettle with fresh vine leaves and fresh water, and hang them again over a slow fire to simmer, but not to boil. When they have remained long enough in the second vine leaves to become green, take them out, weigh them, and allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar to each pound of crab apples. Then after the kettle has been well washed and wiped, put them into it with a thick layer of sugar between each layer of apples, and about half a pint of water, for each pound and a half of sugar. You may add the juice and yellow peel of some lemons. Boil them gently till they are quite clear and tender throughout. Skim them well, and keep the kettle covered when you are not skimming. When done, spread them on large dishes to cool, and then tie them up in glass jars with brandy papers.

TO PRESERVE RED CRAB APPLES.--Take red or Siberian crab apples when they are quite ripe and the seeds are black. Wash and wipe them, and put them into a kettle with sufficient water to cover them. Simmer them very slowly till you find that the skin will come off easily. Then take them out and peel and core them; extract the cores carefully with a small knife, so as not to break the apples. Then weigh them, and to every pound of crab apples allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar and a half pint of water. Put the sugar and water into a preserving kettle, and when they are melted together, set it over the fire and let it boil. After skimming it once, put in the crab apples, adding a little cochineal powder rubbed with a knife into a very small quantity of white brandy till it has dissolved. This will greatly improve the colour of the apples. Cover them and let them boil till clear and tender, skimming the syrup when necessary. Then spread them out on dishes, and when they are cold, put them into glass jars and pour the syrup over them.

The flavour will be greatly improved by boiling with them in the syrup, a due proportion of lemon-juice and the peel of the lemons pared thin so as to have the yellow part only. If you use lemon-juice put a smaller quantity of water to the sugar. Allow one large lemon or two smaller ones to two pounds of crab apples.

If you find that after they have been kept awhile, the syrup inclines to become dry or candied, give it another boil with the crab apples in it, adding a tea-cup full of water to about three or four pounds of the sweetmeat.

TO PRESERVE GREEN GAGES.