FOOD PREPARATIONS. 355 
FOOD PREPARATIONS. 
PICKLES AND CANNED FRUITS. 
MRS. ANNIE BONNIWELL, HUTCHINSON. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:—It seems to me that our worthy 
secretary has given me rather a hard task to perform. I was requested 
to make a report on pickles and canned fruit, and, of course, you will ex- 
pect something new, and it is almost impossible to do this, 1s every news- 
paper is teeming with receipts, and receipt books whose name is legion 
fill every nook and corner of every housekeeper’s domain. So, really, how 
can you expect me, who fills but a small cornerin this great department 
of cooking, to give receipts that will be of real value to the readers of our 
reports. Butas I have been requested to perform this task, I will pro- 
ceed to give what few receipts I have been able to gather, that I consid- 
er the most valuable. 
CANNING STRAWBERRIES. 
Put in a porcelain-lined kettle one-quarter of a pound of sugar to each 
pound of fruit, add one teaspoonful of boiling water to each jar and dis- 
solve; prepare the syrup before you do the fruit, and cook the fruit in 
the jars. When done, add one and one-third cups of syrup and bane 
warm water to fill the jar. 
CANNED PEACHES. 
Pare the peaches with a silver knife ,if possible; cut in half and lay in 
cold water till ready; put on the stove a pound of sugar with a quart and 
a half of het water turned over it, and let it cook to a syrup. Set your jars 
on a cloth in hot water, and fill them. with the cold peaches, putting a 
_ layerof sugar between the peaches. When the jaris full of peaches, fill 
up with the hot syrup and seal immediately. 
CANNED GRAPES. 
Carefully pick from the stems and wash the grapes, removing the skins, 
and drop the pulp in one vessel and the skins in another. When all are 
thus prepared put the pulp in a preserving kettle over the fire, and stir 
constantly until the seeds come out clean; then pressthe mass through 
acolander, add the skins to the pulp,weigh them, and to one pound of 
grapes allow one-half pound of sugar. Boil one hour and a half and put 
in glass jars while hot and seal. 
PICKLED PEACHES. 
Take ripe, but not too soft peaches and put a clove in each one; take 
two pounds of brown sugar and one gallon of vinegar, boil up twice and 
skim, pouring while hot over the peaches and covering tight; in a week or 
two pour off and scald again, after which they will keep nicely. 
