Chapter XVII: Preface (16)

_Cherry Marmalade._--If you cannot procure morellas, (the best of all cherries for sweetmeats) use the large Virginia or carnation cherries. Black cherries are unfit for cooking. Stem and stone your cherries, saving all the juice you can. Allow a pound of powdered loaf sugar to every pint of cherries. Boil the fruit and the sugar together, uncovered, for an hour, skimming and stirring. When cool, put it in white-ware marmalade pots and paste the lids.

_Orange Marmalade._--Quarter some large ripe oranges, and remove the rind, the seeds, and the strings or filaments, taking care to save all the juice. Put the pulp, with the juice, into a porcelain kettle, and mix with it an equal quantity of strained honey, adding sufficient powdered loaf sugar to render it very thick and sweet. The honey alone will not make it sweet enough. Boil it uncovered, and skim it till very thick, smooth, and clear. Taste it, and if necessary add more sugar, and boil it longer. When cold, put it up in tumblers or white-ware marmalade pots, and cover it securely. This marmalade is exquisite, and very superior to any other.

_Orange Milk._--Take four dozen large ripe juicy oranges, and roll them under your hand. Cut them in two; remove the seeds, and squeeze the juice into a large clean stone jar. Have ready four pounds of the best double-refined loaf sugar, dissolved in a gallon of French brandy. Pour it into the jar that contains the orange juice; stir the mixture well, and add the yellow rind of the oranges, pared so thin from the white as to be transparent, and divide it into bits. Cover the jar, and let it stand four days, stirring it frequently. Then take a gallon of new unskimmed milk, (the morning's milk of that day,) boil it alone, and when it comes to a hard boil pour it into the mixture of orange, sugar, and brandy. Cover it closely, and let it stand till quite cold. Then strain it into another vessel through a linen jelly bag. Bottle it immediately, and seal the corks. It improves by keeping. To use it, pour it out in half tumblers, and fill up with ice water, or serve it round undiluted in small cordial glasses, after ice-cream. It is much admired, and in orange countries may be made in large quantities. Lemon milk is made in the same manner, having a larger proportion of sugar.

_Fruit in Syrups._--Make a syrup in the proportion of half a pint of water to every pound of sugar, and a pint of the juice of any sort of fine ripe fruit. Boil and skim it till very clear, but not till it congeals or jellies. Then bottle it, and cork the bottles. As the fresh fruit comes again into season, select the finest, largest, and ripest. For instance, half fill a white-ware preserve jar with fine fresh strawberries, and fill up from a bottle of strawberry syrup; or ripe raspberries with raspberry syrup; currants, with currant syrup, &c. Cover them closely till wanted for immediate use.

PRESERVED CITRON MELONS.--Take some fine citron melons; pare, core, and cut them into slices. Then weigh them; and, to every six pounds of melon, allow six pounds of the best double refined loaf sugar, and the juice and yellow rind (grated very fine,) of four large fresh lemons, and _a quarter_ of a pound of root ginger.

Put the slices of lemon into a preserving kettle, and boil them half an hour or more, till they look _quite_ clear, and are so tender that a broom twig will pierce through them. Then drain them; lay them in a broad pan of cold water, cover them, and let them stand all night. In the morning tie the root ginger in a thin muslin cloth, and boil it in three pints of clear spring or pump water till the water is highly flavored. Then take out the bag of ginger. Having broken up the sugar put it into a clean preserving kettle, and pour the ginger water over it. When the sugar is all melted set it over the fire, put in the grated yellow peel of the lemons, and boil and skim it till no more scum rises. Then put in the sliced citrons, and the juice of the lemons; and boil them in the syrup till all the slices are quite transparent, and so soft that a straw will go through them; but do not allow them to break. When quite done, put the slices (while still warm,) into wide-mouthed glass or white-ware jars, and gently pour on the syrup. Lay inside of each jar, upon the top of the syrup, a round of white paper dipped in brandy. Put on the lids of the jars, and tie leather over them.

This will be found a delicious sweetmeat; equal to any imported from the West Indies, and far less expensive.

PINE-APPLES PRESERVED.--Take six fine large pine-apples, as ripe as you can get them. Make them very clean, but do not, at first, pare off the rind or cut off the leaves. The rind and leaves being left on while boiling will _keep in_ the flavor of the fruit. Put the pine-apples whole into a very large and very clean iron pot. Fill it up with cold water, and boil the pine-apples till they are so tender that you can pierce them through the rind to the core, with a splinter skewer or a twig from a corn broom. Then take them out of the pot, and drain them. When they are so cool as to be handled without inconvenience, remove the leaves, and pare off the rind. Cut then into round slices about half an inch thick, extracting the core from the centre as to leave a small round hole in every slice. Weigh them, and to each pound of fruit allow a pound of double refined loaf sugar, broken up and powdered. Cover the bottom of a large dish or dishes with a thick layer of the sugar. On this place a layer of pine-apple slices; then a layer of sugar; then a layer of fruit, and so on till the slices are all thickly covered, finishing with a layer of sugar at the top. Let them stand twenty-four hours. Then drain the slices from the syrup, and lay them in wide jars. Put all the syrup into a clear porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. Then pour it hot upon the pine-apple. While warm, cover the jars closely with white paper cut to fit, and dipped in brandy; and then tie on a piece of bladder. There is no better way of preserving pine-apples, or that retains the flavor so well.

Quinces may be preserved in the same manner.

PRESERVED LEMONS OR ORANGES.--The fruit must be perfectly ripe, of the best quality, with a smooth rind and fine color. Cut out from the stem end of each, a piece not quite the size of a quarter dollar, and with a small knife scoop out all the inside, keeping the rind as whole as possible. Put the pulp and juice into a large bowl, and clear it from the strings and seeds. Lay the skins in a tureen of cold ice water, and change it twice during the day, (fresh water and fresh ice); and at bedtime put ice only. Next morning boil the skins slowly in a porcelain kettle with plenty of water, keeping them well covered. Continue to boil till they are tender all through, and can easily be pierced with a splinter skewer. Then drain them, and lay them in cold water immediately. Take care to boil with them the small round pieces that come out of the top. Make a thick jelly or marmalade of the pulp and juice of these, and some additional fruit, allowing to a pint of juice a pound of loaf sugar. When the jelly has been boiled till clear and firm when held in the air, fill with it the skins so as to swell them out into a good shape. Replace the small circular pieces that have been cut off the top of the fruit, and tie them on securely with packthread, so as to keep in the jelly. Next make a thin syrup, allowing to a pound of broken-up loaf sugar half a pint of fresh juice, and the beaten white of an egg. Boil and skim it till no more scum rises. Then having put the oranges into large glass jars rather more than half full, pour the syrup on them, filling up to the top.

_To Green Small Lemons or Limes._--Boil them first in a little hard water, placing them in a porcelain kettle with a thick bed of fresh vine leaves under them and a thick cover of vine leaves over them. Boil them till green and tender in two or three waters, putting entirely fresh vine leaves whenever you change the water, and persisting till they are well greened. Then make holes in the stem end, and extract the pulp, strings, and seeds, and proceed as directed in the last receipt. The skins, as soon as empty, being laid in cold water, and then filled and shaped out with lemon jelly, and the jars filled up warm with lemon syrup. Or by putting a larger portion of sugar, and boiling the syrup longer, you may candy it all over the surface of the fruit.

Green limes are preserved in the above manner, filling the skins with lemon jelly. To candy the syrup use a double portion of sugar, and boil it till it bubbles and sparkles in the kettle.

PEACHES PRESERVED.--Take the finest ripe free-stone peaches. Pare them, cut them in half, and remove the stones. To every pound of peaches allow a pound of double refined loaf sugar, and half the white of an egg (slightly beaten) with half a pint of very clear soft water. Put the sugar into a porcelain preserving kettle, mix it with the water and white of egg, and when it has entirely dissolved, set it over the fire, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise, which will be very soon, if the sugar is as good as it should be. There is no economy in using inferior sugar for sweetmeats, as much of it will be lost in skimming and sediment. In the mean time, boil in a little sauce-pan a bunch of fresh green peach leaves that have been cleared from all dust; or a handful of broken-up peach kernels. When the flavor is well extracted, strain this water and mix it with the syrup. Then put in the halved peaches, and boil them (uncovered) till quite clear and soft, but not till they break. While warm, put them up with the syrup in glass or white-ware jars.

Apricots are preserved in the same way.

_Preserved Green Gages._--Get the largest and ripest green gages, or egg plums. Scald them in boiling water to make them peel easily; the skins of all sorts of plums becoming very hard and tough when preserved. Remove the stems; they are no ornament, and render them troublesome to eat. Make a syrup in the usual way, allowing to each pound of plums a pound of the finest loaf sugar, half a pint of water, and half a white of egg. When well skimmed and boiled put in the plums, and boil them gently till quite clear and soft, but not till broken. All plums may be done in this manner. If not as ripe as possible, they will require to each pound of fruit a pound and a half of the best sugar.

BRANDY PEACHES.--Take large juicy _free-stone_ peaches, not so ripe as to burst or mash on being handled. Rub off the down from every one with a clean thick flannel. Prick every peach down to the stone with a large silver fork, and score them all along the seam or cleft. To _each_ pound of peaches allow a pound of double-refined loaf sugar, broken-up small, and a half pint of water mixed with half a white of egg, slightly beaten. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, and pour the water upon it. When it is quite melted give it a stirring, set it over the fire, and boil and skim it till no more scum rises. Next put in the peaches, and let them cook (uncovered) in the syrup till they look clear, or for about half an hour, or till a straw will penetrate them. Then take the kettle off the fire. Having allotted a pint of the very best white brandy to each pound of peaches, mix it with the syrup, after taking out the fruit with a wooden spoon, and draining it over the kettle. Put the peaches into a large tureen. Let the syrup remain in the kettle a little longer. Mix the brandy with it, and boil them together ten minutes, or more. Transfer the peaches to large glass jars, (two thirds full,) and pour the brandy and syrup over them, filling quite up to the top. When cool, cover them closely, and tie some bladder over the lids.

_Green Gages_--Are brandied in the same manner. Also, large egg-plums. Pears also, having first peeled them. To pear sweetmeats always add lemon rind grated, and lemon juice.

PRESERVED TOMATOS.--This is an excellent and popular sweetmeat, when flavored well with lemon, which is indispensable to making it palatable. Also, it should be well penetrated with sugar, therefore it is best not to attempt preserving tomatos whole. The best time for doing them is in the height of the lemon season. The most convenient for preserving are those with smooth even surfaces. If fluted or cleft they are difficult to peel when scalded, as the skins do not strip off so easily. Having weighed the tomatos, (which must be full-grown and quite ripe) allow to every two pounds, two pounds of the best _brown_ sugar, a large spoonful of ground ginger, and the juice and grated yellow rind of one large ripe lemon, rolled awhile under your hand. Having scalded and peeled all the tomatos, and mixed with the sugar a little beaten white of egg, put them into a porcelain-lined preserving kettle, (uncovered,) and add, gradually, the sugar. Boil the tomatos and sugar _slowly_ together, till the scum ceases to appear. Then add, gradually, the lemons, (peel and juice,) and boil slowly for an hour or more. The tomatos must all have bursted, otherwise they will not keep, from the sugar not getting sufficiently into them. When done, take them off the fire, and transfer to glass jars the tomatos with their syrup.

For yellow preserves take yellow tomatos, scald and peel them, and prick each with a silver fork. Lay them in a porcelain preserving kettle with plenty of fresh vine leaves under and over them. Boil them with the vine leaves till they become a finer yellow. Then wash out the kettle and boil the tomatos, as above, with the _white_ sugar, and add the lemon.

_Green Tomatos Preserved._--Take green tomatos when they are full grown, but have not yet begun to turn in the least red. Scald and peel them, and lay them in a porcelain kettle with plenty of fresh vine leaves at the bottom. Cover them thickly with another layer of vine leaves at the top. Boil them very slowly with the vine leaves till they have all turned yellow. Then take them out, and spread them on large dishes. Wash the kettle, put in fresh vine leaves under and over the tomatos. They should become a fine green with the second boiling in vine leaves; otherwise repeat the greening. Then take them out, wash the kettle again, and return the tomatos to it with _a pound and a half of white sugar_ to each pound of tomatos. Boil and skim, till all is clear and nice. Then add the grated yellow rind and the juice of one large lemon to every pound of tomatos, and boil slowly an hour longer. All the tomatos should burst, that the sugar may thoroughly enter the inside. Before you cover the jars, stir into each an additional quarter or half pound of powdered sugar. Green tomatos require a high flavoring of lemon, as they have no peculiar taste of their own.

PRESERVED QUINCES.--Take the largest and ripest yellow quinces; after they have remained on the trees till the first frost. Wipe them clean, and boil them whole till they are tender all through, and can be easily penetrated with a splinter skewer. Save and strain the water in which they were boiled. When cool, pare and core the quinces, and carefully remove the blemishes. To every pound of fruit allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf sugar. Make a syrup of the water in which the quinces were boiled, allowing half a pint of this water to every pound of sugar. When melted, set it in a porcelain kettle over a moderate fire, and boil and skim it till no more scum appears. Then put in the fruit, either whole or quartered, or cut into circular slices about half an inch thick; and boil it uncovered. When the quinces are quite clear and soft, (but not the least broken) take them out, and spread them on large flat dishes. Afterwards transfer them to large glass jars, rather more than half filled; pour the syrup warm over them; and when cool cover the jars, and tie pieces of bladder over the covers. You may boil, by themselves, the cores and parings, in as much water as will cover them well, till they are entirely dissolved. Then strain them through a linen bag, and while hot stir in as much powdered loaf sugar as will form a thick jelly. If the quinces have been preserved whole, fill up with this jelly the holes left by the cores; or if sliced, spread the jelly over the slices. Quinces soon become very hard and tough, unless they have been well boiled by themselves, before putting them into the sugar. Merely scalding or coddling them is not sufficient. If you have not jelly for filling up the holes, substitute marmalade. To keep quinces well, requires plenty of rich syrup.

PRESERVED CRAB-APPLES.--Take the finest Siberian crab-apples, which being always red, and having a pleasant acid, are the only sort now used for preserving. Rub each crab-apple with a dry clean flannel, and then prick every one in several places with a large needle to prevent their bursting. To every pound of fruit allow a pound and a half of double-refined loaf sugar, and a pint of water. First make a syrup of the sugar and water, boiling it in a porcelain kettle, and skimming it till perfectly clear. Put in the crab-apples, adding for each pound the juice and grated yellow rind of a large lemon. The lemon is indispensable to this sweetmeat. Simmer them slowly in this syrup till tender all through, so that they can be pierced with a twig of broom-corn; but do not allow them to break. When done, put them up warm in glass jars more than half full, and the syrup over them. You may heighten the fine red color with a little prepared cochineal--that is, cochineal powder kept in a bottle after being boiled with alum and cream of tartar.

_Bellflower Apples or Large Pippins_--May be preserved whole in the above manner. They look handsomely on a supper table, covered all over with a thick meringue or icing flavored with lemon or rose, and spread smoothly over every apple with a real rose-bud stuck in the top of each. You may color the icing a beautiful pink, by mixing with it a little prepared cochineal.

PRESERVED CHERRIES.--No cherries are worth preserving except morellas, or the large Virginia red, or carnation cherries. Stem and stone them carefully, saving the juice; and strew them thickly with powdered white sugar. To a quart of cherries allow a pound of the best loaf sugar. Make a syrup, allowing half a pint of water to a pound of sugar. Boil and skim it, and when the scum has ceased to rise put in the cherries and their juice, and give them a slow boil up. Put them up warm in glass or white-ware jars, and tie bladder over the lids.

FINE PRESERVED STRAWBERRIES.--Have ready two sorts of strawberries, one half being of the largest and finest scarlet sort, (not too ripe,) the other smaller and less expensive, but quite ripe and perfectly fresh and nice. Put the smaller ones into a porcelain kettle, having allowed three quarters of a pound of double-refined loaf sugar to every quart of fruit. Boil the sugar and small strawberries together; skimming well, and stirring down to the bottom after every skimming, and mashing it to a jam. When done, set it to cool in a large pan; wash the kettle clean, or take another one, and make in it a clear syrup, allowing to each pound of the best loaf sugar a _small_ half pint of water. When melted set it over the fire, and boil and skim till the scum ceases to rise. Put the large strawberries in this, and give them one boil up. If boiled too long they will break. As soon as they have come to a boil take them (one at a time,) with a silver tea-spoon, and lay them separately on large flat dishes. Then mix the syrup with the jam thoroughly together, and boil it a quarter of an hour. Put the large strawberries, one at a time, into glass jars, (more than half full,) and fill up to the top with the hot jam. When cool lay a round of brandy paper on the surface, and secure the lids by tying pieces of bladder over them.

STRAWBERRIES IN WINE.--Put a small quart of fine large scarlet strawberries into a glass jar, having sprinkled among them a quarter of a pound of the best loaf sugar. Fill up the jar with madeira or sherry. They are served at parties in small glass saucers, heaped on the top with whipped cream, or with white ice cream. What is sold by many confectioners as strawberry ice cream, has in reality no strawberries about it; as may be known by its beautiful rose color, such as strawberry juice never produces, particularly after being preserved with sugar. This fine delicate pink tinge comes in reality from alkanet. Most of what is called strawberry cordial, is in reality alcohol colored with that elegant dye.

STRAWBERRY WINE.--Fill four glass jars holding each a quart, with fine ripe strawberries that have been hulled or picked clean. Cover them; set them in a large kettle of cold water, and place it in a moderate heat till it gradually comes to a boil. Then let it boil but five minutes. Cork the jars, and seal them closely before you take them out of the water. Use the cement of two-thirds resin and one-third beeswax. Keep the jar for four weeks in a dry cool place. By that time you will find the strawberries with a thick white scum at the top, and a clear juice at the bottom. Pour it into clean bottles, through a funnel with a fine straining cloth. Cork the bottles, but do not drive the corks hard down, lest the bottles should burst if too tight. Arrange the bottles on the kitchen mantleshelf, where they may have some heat from the fire. You will see when a vinous fermentation takes place. It may continue a week. When it has entirely subsided, and is very clear, strain off the liquid from the sediment into fresh bottles, and cork them tightly. When you put them away, lay the bottles on their sides. This is a delicious cordial, and requires no brandy in it.

_Preserved Gooseberries._--Top and tail the gooseberries, which should be of two sorts, and as ripe as you can get. The best kind quite ripe, large, and of a light amber color. Wash the others, and boil them in a porcelain kettle with barely water enough to keep them from burning. When they are soft and broken, mash the pulp through a sieve, or squeeze it through a linen bag. Measure it, and to each pint allow a large pound of powdered loaf sugar. Boil the sugar with the pulp, skimming and stirring it till it begins to jelly. Then put in the large gooseberries, and give them one boil up. When done take them out separately, and spread them on a large flat dish. Continue to boil the syrup a while longer, till you find it congeals well on holding out a spoonful in the open air. Then put the large gooseberries into jars, and pour the syrup over them while still hot and liquid. Put them up warm.

_Raspberries_--May be preserved as above, reserving the finest for putting whole into the jelly. The large white raspberries make a fine sweetmeat, done whole in jelly or jam of white currants.

Black currants should always be made into jelly or jam. They require less sugar than other sweetmeats, (a quarter of a pound less) their juice being naturally very thick.

COUNTRY PLUMS.--Gather your plums when perfectly ripe, and ready to fall from the trees. Split them with a knife, and remove the stones. Spread them out on large dishes, so as not to touch, and set them in the hot sun on a sunny roof or balcony; taking them in every evening before dark, and not putting them out till after the dew is off in the morning. Repeat this for three or four days. Then pack them down in stone jars with a large quantity of the best brown sugar, a layer of plums and a layer of sugar alternately, (sugar being at the bottom and top) and cover the jars closely. Let them remain undisturbed till February or March. When opened, you will have plenty of rich syrup among them. They make good spring pies, and will be prized for family use at that season.

_Country Grapes._--The little wild grapes have a very pleasant taste after the first frost in the autumn, and should not be gathered till that time. Until frosted, they are too sour to eat. To keep them all winter, strip them from the stems and put them in stone jars with layers of good brown sugar, till the jars are three parts full. Then fill up to the top with West India molasses. They will make good winter pies, when cranberries, dried peaches, and dried apples are scarce.

_Persimmon Jam._--Do not gather persimmons till late in the fall, when they are well sweetened with the frost. They are unfit to eat till all the leaves are off the trees, and till they are ripe enough to mash. Then pack them in jars with plenty of brown sugar. Maple sugar will do. In the back-woods they will be valued. When cooked they will be improved by the addition of a little _sweet_ cider.

PICKLES.

For pickles the articles should all be fine and freshly gathered. They are generally too hard to be cut or eaten conveniently, and there is too much unnecessary fear of pickles proving soft. It is not now customary to keep them for weeks in salt and water; two or three days will be sufficient for this part of the process, and some kinds do not require it at all. The arts of both preserving and pickling are of late years much simplified. All pickles have nearly the same taste, and there is no use (and much trouble) in multiplying varieties, when a few sorts of the very best will be found amply sufficient for any table. One important point to be always observed, is to use none but the most wholesome vinegar, (the genuine cider,) as all that is made of drugs is unwholesome to the eater and destructive to the pickles. On no consideration boil them in brass, copper, or bell-metal--things which fortunately are now nearly exploded from all kitchens; iron lined with Delft, (called porcelain,) being universally substituted.

To green pickles boil them with a thick bed of fresh vine leaves, both under and over them. This will first render them yellow; then boil them again in a clean kettle with fresh vine leaves. If not green enough when you think they are done, repeat the boiling again, with fresh vine leaves and fresh water. Avoid eating pickles that are of a fine verdigris green. They are greened with copper, and are poisonous.

If you cannot obtain vine leaves, you may green pickles by boiling them with fresh cabbage leaves under and over. The first boiling will turn them yellow, the second with new leaves should render them green. But vine leaves are better and more certain. Put them up warm in stone or, glass jars with broad flat corks; and tie kid leather over them.

INDIA PICKLE.--For this pickle you may use a variety of _young_ fruits and vegetables. For instance, red cherries, grapes, plums, apricots, young peaches, or lemons, limes, button-tomatos, cauliflowers sliced, white cabbage sliced, hard-boiled eggs sliced, little onions, nasturtions, small cucumbers, &c. Having nicely prepared these things, put them all together into a large porcelain kettle, and scald them in a strong brine made in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of fine salt to a quart of boiling water. Pour it hot over the pickles, and let them remain in it till next day. Then take them out, and drain off all the brine through a sieve. Spread them out (so as not to touch,) on large flat dishes or old japan servers, and set them in the hot sun for three or four days; carefully taking them in at evening, and if the weather becomes damp or cloudy. Afterwards put them into a cullender or sieve, wash them well through cold water, and then wipe them all dry with a coarse cloth. Put them into a large pan. Mix together a quarter pound of grated horse-radish, sliced; two cloves of garlic; half a hundred small white onions; two ounces of mace; a quarter of a pound of ground ginger; two nutmegs, powdered; two pounds of powdered loaf sugar; half a bottle of the best ground mustard; half a pound of yellow mustard seed, and an ounce of turmeric powder, which must on no account be omitted, as a yellow tinge is indispensable to this pickle. Mix all the seasoning with sufficient excellent cider vinegar to render it liquid, and pour it over the pickles in the pan, and then stir them up from the bottom. Let the whole rest till cold. Then transfer it to stone jars. Have ready some more vinegar, pour it boiling hot on the pickles, &c., but do not fill up to the top, as they expand and rise.

PICKLED PEACHES.--Take eight fine large free-stone peaches, (white or yellow,) when nearly but not quite ripe. Wipe off the down with a clean flannel, and put them into a brine strong enough to bear up an egg. In two days take them out, and drain them for several hours on an inverted sieve. Tie in a piece of thin muslin one ounce of whole white pepper; one of broken-up ginger; eight blades of mace, and two ounces of mustard seed. Boil this seasoning for ten minutes in a quart of the best cider vinegar. Lay the peaches in a broad-mouthed stone jar, with the bag of spice at the bottom, and pour the vinegar boiling hot upon them. At the top add a table-spoonful of salad oil. Put them up warm, and secure them with broad flat corks, and rounds of leather tied on carefully.

_Peach Mangoes._--The above sort of peaches are best for mangoes. Steep them in brine for two days. Cut a small piece out of each, and carefully loose the stones from the inside with a small sharp knife. It will then be easy to thrust them out of free-stone peaches, and none others should be used, either for pickling or preserving. Make a filling for the places that were occupied by the stones. For this purpose, use fresh mustard seed moistened with vinegar; scraped horse-radish, powdered ginger, a clove of garlic, or a minced shalot or very small onion, and a very little chilli or red pepper minced very small. Also a little powdered mace, and a little chopped peach. With this mixture stuff the peaches hard. Replace the bits that were cut off, and tie them on firmly with fine packthread, crossing the peach. Boil a quart of the best vinegar, seasoned with white spices and mustard seed, tied up in muslin; and when it has boiled ten minutes, pour it hot over the peach mangoes in a stone jar. Add at the top a table-spoonful of salad oil; cork the jar immediately, and tie leather over it. Where there is no dislike to cloves, you may stick half a dozen into the outside of each peach; but we think a few small bits of mace will be preferable, as the clove taste will overpower every thing else.

MELON MANGOES.--Take the small green melons, used only for this purpose, and let them lie in a strong brine for two days. Take them out and drain them well. Cut a small square bit out of one side, and through this hole extract all the seeds and filaments. Have ready a stuffing made of grated horse-radish, white mustard seed, minced shalot, or a clove of garlic chopped fine; a very little chilli or red pepper, and a little powdered mace. Wet this stuffing well with vinegar, and then fill with it the cavity of the mango. Replace the bit that was cut out, and tie it in with packthread, crossing all over the melon. Then place the mangoes in a stone jar. Have ready a sufficiency of the best vinegar, (a large quart or more, for eight or ten mangoes,) boiled ten minutes, with a seasoning of mustard seed, ginger, mace, grated horse-radish, and chopped shalot or little onion, or a clove of garlic minced very small--all tied in a bit of muslin. Pour the vinegar boiling hot over the mangoes, having placed among them the bag of seasoning. Finish with sweet oil at the top of the jar.

MUSHROOMS PICKLED.--For pickling, the small button mushrooms are best. After cutting off the stalk closely, and with a sharp penknife peeling off carefully their thin outside skin, measure two quarts, taking care that they are all of the right sort, and freshly gathered; the outside of a dull whitish color, and the underside of a fine pinkish salmon tinge. If very white above and below, or if bright yellow, they are poisonous. _Good_ mushrooms grow always in open fields or airy places; never in woods or marshes. To pickle two quarts, prepare eight little bags of very clear muslin; and tie up in each bag six blades of mace, six slices of root ginger, and half a nutmeg broken up. Have ready four glass jars, such as are considered to hold a quart. Lay a bag of spice in the bottom of each. Having sprinkled the mushrooms well with salt, let them rest till next day. Then divide the mushrooms and their liquor into four pints. Put one pint into each jar, with a bag of spice at the bottom, and another at the top. Pour on boiling cider vinegar of the best quality, and finish with a table-spoonful of salad oil. Cork the jars immediately, and tie leather carefully over the top. All mushrooms turn brown on the under-side the day after they are gathered, and sometimes sooner.

Boiling the spice in the vinegar will weaken the mushroom flavor. When you open a jar of pickled mushrooms, immediately cork it again; tie on the leather cover, and use it up as soon as possible. Therefore, pint jars, with half a pint of mushrooms in each, are convenient.

BELL-PEPPERS PICKLED.--Take fine full-grown bell-peppers. Make a brine in a stone jar of salt and water, strong enough to float an egg, and let the peppers remain in it two days, putting a weight on the cover to keep it down. Then take them out, wash them well in cold water, drain them, and wipe them dry. Cut a slit in the side of each, and extract all the seeds, as if left in, they will be entirely too hot. Through these slits let all the water run out. Put them into a clean stone jar. Boil sufficient of the best cider vinegar, interspersed with the muslin bags of broken-up cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg. Pour it, boiling hot, on the peppers in the jar. Distribute the bags of spice among the peppers, and cork the jar warm. You may stuff the peppers in the manner of mangoes, with pickled red cabbage finely shred, minced onions and minced cucumbers pickled, and seasoned with a little mustard seed, ginger, and mace. Tie up the slit with packthread, crossing all round. Fill up the jars with vinegar, putting sweet oil on the top.

Your may green bell-peppers in the usual way, with vine leaves or cabbage leaves.

All pickles should be kept in a dry place. If you find them mouldy they are not always spoiled. Take them out of the jar, wipe off all the mould carefully, and throw away the vinegar. Wash the jar very clean, scald it, and set it in the sun to purify still more. Make a new pickle with fresh seasoning, and put them into that.

PICKLED CAULIFLOWERS.--Take large, ripe, full-blown cauliflowers. Remove the leaves and stalk, and divide the blossom into pieces or clusters of equal size. Throw them into a porcelain kettle of boiling water, (adding a little salt,) let them simmer, and skim them well. When they come to a boil, take them up with a perforated skimmer, and lay them on a sieve to drain. Put them into stone jars, (three parts full.) Season with mace and nutmeg infused in sufficient of the best cider vinegar, and simmer it for a quarter of an hour. When it comes to a boil take it off the fire, and pour it hot over the cauliflower in the jar, filling quite up to the top, and adding sweet oil at the last. Cover it while warm, and tie leather over the top. If you wish to have the cauliflowers yellow, boil with the vinegar some turmeric powder tied up in thin muslin. This is a very nice pickle.

Broccoli is done in the same manner, but should be previously greened by boiling it with vine leaves.

PICKLED BEETS WITH CABBAGE.--Take a large fine _red_ cabbage, wash it well, and drain it. Quarter it, (having removed the stalk) and slice it with a cabbage-cutter as for coldslaw. Boil some beets in the usual way till quite tender, (they require a very long time) and while warm peel and slice them in round pieces, or split them down, and cut them into long bits. Lay them in a large stone jar, alternately with layers of the shred cabbage, till the jar is more than half full. Have ready some scalding vinegar that has been boiled with a seasoning of blades of mace and sliced ginger root, and some nutmeg. Pour the vinegar, boiling hot, upon the cabbage and beet, till you have the jars quite full. Finish with a large table-spoonful of sweet oil. Cover the jar with leather, and put it away warm.

PICKLED CUCUMBERS.--Take small young cucumbers, freshly gathered, and free from blemishes. Make a brine strong enough to float an egg, and let the cucumbers lie in it till they become yellow, stirring them down to the bottom twice a day. Then pour off all the brine, wash the cucumbers in cold water, and drain them. Lay a thick bed of fresh green vine leaves in the bottom and sides of a porcelain kettle. Put in the cucumbers, and pour on sufficient cold water to wet them all plentifully. Then cover them, closely, with more vine leaves, and pour on more water, packing the leaves well and pressing them down. Fill up to the top with water and vine leaves, and cover the kettle closely to keep in the steam. Hang it over a slow fire where there is no blaze, and keep it _warm_ all night, but not _hot_. In the morning if the pickles are not a fine deep green, remove the vine leaves and replace them with a fresh supply. After this, they will be generally green enough; but if not, continue till they are. Then drain the cucumbers on a sieve, and transfer them to a very clean stone jar. To fifty cucumbers allow four quarts of excellent vinegar, and a bit of alum about the size of a large grain of corn, with half an ounce of mustard seed, half an ounce of mace, a broken-up nutmeg, and half an ounce of root ginger, sliced. Tie up the spice in three muslin bags, and boil them ten minutes in the vinegar. Then take out and lay them among the cucumbers in the jar; one to the bottom, one in the middle, and one at the top. Pour over them the vinegar boiling hot; add a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and cork the jar immediately, tying a leather over it. Keep wooden pickle spoons in the pantry for taking out pickles, and always be careful to close the jar immediately after.

You need not keep the bags of spice in the jars more than two or three weeks.

PICKLED ONIONS.--Take the small silver-skinned white onions. Peel off the outer skin. Make a brine strong enough to float an egg, skim it well, and when it begins to cool pour it upon the onions. Let them stand in it (closely covered,) till quite cold. Then take them out, peel off another skin, and wash them through a cullender in cold water. Next, boil them in milk till tender all through, so that you can easily pierce them with a needle. Then drain off the milk. Measure them, and to a quart of onions allow a quart of the best cider vinegar. Boil in the vinegar two muslin bags tied up with broken-up nutmeg and mace. When it has boiled, pour it hot over the onions in the jar; having laid one bag of spice at the bottom, and one in the middle. The onions should fill two thirds of the jar, and the vinegar the remainder. Finish with a table-spoonful of salad oil, and cork the jar immediately, and tie on the leather cover.

As onions pickled this way are generally much liked, it is well, when doing them, to make several jars full.

_Cucumber and Onion Pickle._--To a dozen fine cucumbers allow three large onions. Pare the cucumbers and peel the onions, and cut both into thick slices. Sprinkle salt and pepper over them, and let them rest till next day. Then drain them well, and put them into a stone jar. Pour boiling vinegar over them. Close the jar, and set it in a warm place. Next day repeat the boiling vinegar, and cork the jar. Next day repeat it again, with a bag of mace, nutmeg, and ginger, boiled in the vinegar. Then cork the jar, and tie it up. When the pickle is finished, divide it in small stone jars, with sweet oil on the top of each.

WALNUTS OR BUTTERNUTS PICKLED--Gather them in early summer, when they are full-grown, but so tender that a large needle will easily pierce them all through. Rub off the outer skin with a coarse cloth, and then lay them in salt and water for a week, changing the brine every other day. Allow for this brine a small quarter of a pound of salt to a large quart of water. Make enough to cover all the nuts well. Place a large lid over the pan, and keep them closely from the air. The last day take them out of the brine, drain them, and prick every one quite through in several places with a large needle. Drain them again, spread them out on large flat dishes, and set them to blacken for two days in the hot sun. For a hundred nuts, allow a gallon of excellent cider vinegar, half an ounce of black pepper-corns, half an ounce of cloves, half an ounce of allspice, an ounce of root ginger, and an ounce of mace. Boil the spice in the vinegar for ten minutes, tied up in eight small muslin bags. Then take them out, and having divided the nuts in four stone jars, distribute among them, equally, the bags of spice, and pour on the vinegar hot, an equal portion in each jar. While warm, secure them with flat corks, and tie leather over them. Done this way, you may begin to use them in a week. If you have not enough of vinegar to fill the jars up to the top, add some cold, and strew among the nuts some blades of mace. Finish with a large spoonful of salad oil at the top of each jar.

PICKLED PLUMS.--Take large fine plums; perfect, and quite ripe. To every quart of plums allow half a pound of the best white sugar powdered, and a large pint of the best cider vinegar. Melt the sugar in the vinegar, and put it with the fruit into a porcelain kettle; all the plums having been previously pricked to the stone with a large needle. Lay among them some small muslin bags filled with broken nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon; and if you choose, a few cloves. Give them one boil up, skimming them well. Put them warm into stone jars, with the bags interspersed, and cork them immediately. Green gages may be done in this manner, first rendering them greener by boiling with vine leaves in the usual way.

_Damsons Pickled._--Do these in the same manner as plums; but as they are much more acid, allow brown sugar of the best kind. Plums or damsons may be pickled plain, and with little trouble if full ripe, pricked with a needle, and packed down in a stone jar with profuse layers of brown sugar between the layers of fruit; the jars filled up with cold cider vinegar, and putting sweet oil at the top.

_Pickled Cherries._--Take the largest and finest red cherries, fully ripe. Morellas are the best. Either remove the stems entirely, or cut them short, within two inches of the fruit. Have ready a large glass jar. Fill it two thirds with fresh newly-gathered cherries, and then fill up to the top with the best vinegar. Keep it well covered, and if both fruit and vinegar are of excellent quality, no boiling is necessary, and no spice, as the cherry flavor will be retained, and they will not shrivel.

_Button Tomatos._--The small round tomatos, either red or yellow, will keep perfectly, if put whole into cold vinegar of the _really_ best quality. You may add a bag of spice if you choose.

_Nasturtion Seeds._--Keep a large glass jar of cold cider vinegar, and put in the green seeds of nasturtions after the flowers are off, and the seeds full-grown, but not hard. Remove the stalks. In this simple way nasturtions will keep perfectly well, and are an excellent substitute for capers with boiled mutton. They can be raised profusely, even in a city garden, and the blossoms are very beautiful. With pepper-grass and nasturtion flowers from your own garden, you can have a nice salad for a summer evening tea-table.

The three pickles above (cherries, button tomatos, and nasturtion seeds,) are cheap, easy, and palatable. Try them. To flavor them with spice, boil the vinegar with a bag of spice in it, and pour it on hot, leaving the bag among them in the jar.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK.

CHICKEN BROTH.--Skin and cut up a fine full-grown fowl. If but little is wanted, take only the dark meat for the broth, and put it into a pot with a small quart of water, and slowly boil it to rags. Strain the liquid and return it to the pot, and thicken it with two spoonfuls of arrow root, if no vegetables are permitted. Otherwise, you may boil with the chicken some sliced onion and sliced turnip, with a grated parsnip and a sliced potato, straining out the vegetables with the shreds of fowl. You may reserve the white meat of the breast and wings to make another dish, if the patient is permitted to take it. This is the white meat cut off the bones, and stewed slowly in fresh oyster liquid, with a bit of nice butter. If the patient is well enough, stir in a beaten egg just before the stew is taken from the fire.

_Oyster Soup for Invalids._--Remove the gristle from a dozen fine large fresh oysters. Take half their liquor and mix it with an equal portion of very good milk, seasoning it with three or four blades of mace, and a stalk of celery scraped and cut into pieces. When it has boiled and been skimmed well, strain it over the oysters, and let all simmer together till the oysters are plumped, but do not let them come to a boil. Serve it up in a bowl, with some milk biscuit to eat with it.

_Clam Soup for Invalids._--Where salt is permitted, cut up and boil slowly in their own liquor a dozen or more small sand clams. When well boiled and skimmed, strain the liquor into a clean sauce-pan, and thicken it with bread crumbs, and a small bit of nice fresh butter. The clams are of no further use. Throw them away.

MUTTON BROTH FOR THE SICK.--Take two pounds from a nice neck of mutton, and leave out some of the fat if there seems too much. Cut the meat from the bones, and put it into a pot with a large quart of water, and no seasoning. Boil it till the meat is all in rags. Do not skim it, as the fat on the surface is very healing, if without salt or pepper. When done, strain it into a bowl. Let the patient eat with it a slice of very light wheat bread, having the crust cut off. It is excellent for the dysentery. When the patient is convalescent, a little seasoning may be allowed, and some well-boiled mashed turnips stirred into the bowl of soup with a boiled onion sliced, and a thickening of arrow-root or farina, stirred in about half an hour before the soup is taken up. Pour it off clear from the shreds of meat at the bottom.

_Veal Broth for Invalids._--Take a pound of knuckle of veal cut in pieces, four calf's feet, split up. Boil them in a large quart of water, till they are all reduced to rags. Then strain the liquid, and add to it the soft part, only, of half a dozen fine oysters, and three or four blades of mace. Set it again on the fire, and as soon as it simmers well, take it off, and serve it up with very light milk biscuit, or little bread rolls, to eat with it. Veal broth may be made with a piece of knuckle of veal cut small, and boiled in the liquor of clams instead of water. The clams themselves must be omitted, as they are always tough and indigestible for an invalid, but their liquor adds a pleasant relish to the insipidity of the veal. As the strength of the patient improves, a grated carrot, a sliced onion, and some sliced turnip, may be added to the veal from the beginning.

_Raw Oysters for the Sick._--Take large fine fresh oysters, and carefully cut out the hard part or gristle. They are considered very good for convalescents, being, when raw, cooling, refreshing, and nutritious. Drain them well from the liquor, making them as dry as you can; and if permitted, accompany the oysters with black pepper and vinegar, and a plate of bread and butter.

_Birds._--Convalescents, not yet allowed to eat meat, can generally relish birds nicely broiled, or stewed in their own gravy, with any appropriate seasoning, and a little _fresh_ butter, if they are not very fat. When dished, lay under each a piece of nice toast, dipped for a minute in hot water.

_Beefsteak for Invalids._--When this can be eaten with an appetite, there is no greater promoter of returning health; but it must be of the best sirloin steak, very tender, well broiled, and thoroughly done on both sides, the gravy being carefully saved to serve up with it, a little fresh butter being added after the meat comes off the gridiron. If the taste of onion is desired, merely rub the plate with a peeled onion. A very tender lamb-chop well broiled may be eaten by way of change; but a tenderloin steak is better. Avoid pork, or veal cutlets.

_Gravy Sippets._--For invalids who cannot yet eat meat, a light and relishing preparation may be made with one or two slices of the best wheat bread, divested of the crust, and spread on a hot plate, while some nice well-skimmed gravy is poured over them; the gravy of roast beef, veal, or mutton, that has had no butter about it. Gravy sippets will form a variety to the usual broths, and other beginnings for the resumption of animal food.